“Did you speak to Jamie and Max yesterday?”
“Yep. They’re back in London and they will be attending the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony later today, in the press gallery. It’ll be on TV here at some god-forsaken hour of the day, I guess, but I’ll wait for the re-run.”
“Do you plan on reuniting with them?”
“I’m hoping to be best man at their wedding!” Todd laughed.
“They are being married?” the Sheikh asked, surprise evident in his voice and his raised eyebrows. Todd grinned, nodding.
“Oh, yes. They just don’t know it yet.”
***
In London, Max was just waking up to find a wet towel on the bed and female underwear draped almost artistically over the headboard.
“I went to all the trouble of getting separate bedrooms, as you requested, and then you bivouac in my bedroom and clutter up my en-suite. You are one untidy lady!’
A second wet towel landed in his face as Jamie walked, naked, in the general direction of her underwear. She pretended to be stern.
“Maxwell Richmond. As I recall, I didn’t take my underwear off last night, someone else did.”
Max smiled at the recollection and threw back the covers.
“Come on, get back in.”
“But I have wet hair,” she protested, but not too strenuously.
“Well, that’s a good start,” Max joked wickedly, and Jamie leapt on him, causing him to gasp.
Twenty minutes later, as Jamie blow-dried her hair, Max wondered how he would manage without this whirlwind of a woman if, in two weeks’ time, she returned to active duty in New York without him. Jamie’s proposed return to the NYPD was as much a tribute to her dad as it was a comment on her dissatisfaction with her deskbound assignment in Homeland Security.
“Are you taking that job with the Guardian?” Jamie asked loudly, to make herself heard above the sound of Max’s primitive hair dryer.
“No. I’ve had another much worse offer, but I’m considering it.” Jamie switched off the hairdryer and looked at Max enquiringly, her interest piqued. “It seems that the London Times are looking for a New York correspondent to cover the UN and to sub edit the Metro area crime column.”
For the second time that morning Jamie leaped on Max, forcing the breath out of his lungs before they both laughed and tears filled Jamie’s eyes.
J Jackson Bentley writes both fiction and non-fiction books and has been a published author for over sixteen years. He now works as a Legal Consultant in the Middle East, the UK, the USA and the Far East. His spare time is spent writing at home in Dubai, the UK and in Florida. Married with four grown children, he is currently compiling a book of short stories for 2013.
Find out more, or, follow J Jackson Bentley at:
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Acknowledgements
For authenticity, I have kept locations and places exactly where they appear in reality. Obviously in any work of fiction it is necessary to have fictional locations but where this has been done the fictional locations are situated in real places. If buildings or places are given a historic background then they exist and can be seen by walking around the city in which they are sited.
I have taken very few liberties with the transport arrangements mentioned in the book, and most journeys can be travelled as described.
The people and public authorities in the UAE have been helpful to me and the operators and constructors of power stations in the region were particularly insightful.
I am grateful to the experts in firearms, physical combat and security who freely and enthusiastically give their time to allow us authors to maintain authenticity.
I reserve my most grateful thanks for Sue W, my editor, who has proof read and improved all of my books since Macmillan published my first book in 1994.
My readers are also worth a mention for their encouragement and support and for pointing out errors, kindly. Thank you.
Finally, I acknowledge the assistance given by Fidus Books on taking the Emirates and City of London Thrillers into electronic format for the Kindle and other e-readers.
If you have a comment, criticism or just want to email me about this specific book you can also email me at [email protected]
J Jackson Bentley, Dubai.
November 2012
Shadow of the Burj Page 33
