swallow and breathed out the last word, and it almost broke him. “Alone.”
He pushed away from the window and began pacing the room. He stopped as he faced the window again, his thoughts focused on the terror of that one thought. It was more horrific than anything that had come before. A shudder ran through him, deep and agonizing. He couldn’t imagine his baby sister alone, possibly terrified.
“She’s tough,” Kate said. “That was clear in everything I’ve read. And, truly, what I said earlier, I’m sorry. I’ve only added more worry by introducing the possibility.”
“Don’t be.” He cut her off, hearing the gravel edge of emotion in his voice.
“I doubt very much if it’s true. There’ll be another demand. Those men might be a splinter group or part of the main group who wanted you out of the picture for whatever reason, and me, as well. I think both those explanations hold more validity than my other theory.”
“We can’t discount anything.”
“And definitely not the fact that they’re going to be demanding more money. Three hundred and fifty thousand, considering what your family is worth, isn’t a lot for all the trouble they’re going to. They seem to know you won’t call the authorities.” She cleared her throat. “And having said that, ignore my last hypothesis—that there are no others. It doesn’t fly.”
“You’re right.” He took a breath. “But why are they taking their sweet time to demand more?”
“To put you on edge. Which will obviously give them an advantage. You are kept guessing, the stress of waiting, of inertia, wears you down.”
He knew she was right about everything but the thought of Tara alone, left in the desert to find her own way out or die. Once that idea had been introduced, he knew it would be almost impossible to dispel.
“I think our original theory that they are a group who, for some reason, started acting against each other is far more plausible,” Kate said. “Forget my earlier musings. I was thinking aloud, exploring possibilities.”
There was something intuitive about her; a calming presence that put him off balance and made him want to take her in his arms and kiss her.
“Emir?”
He pushed the inappropriate thought from his mind and gave her his full attention.
“It was a theory that probably isn’t very plausible. Hopefully we’ll have more information, a direction, before we hit the road. If not, we get moving, anyway. With any luck, by this time tomorrow, this will be over—or...” She hesitated. “Or at least close.”
Silence hung between them for a minute then two.
“Do you think they meant to keep you from leaving Marrakech and following them?” Kate asked as she mulled over the profiles of the deceased pair of attackers.
“By attempting to kill me or, more appropriately, us?” He could hear the amusement in his voice. If it hadn’t been about Tara, he would have enjoyed sparring with her—going over the theories, discounting them, coming up with new ones.
“I don’t think they expected me or Dell. And when they realized you weren’t alone, it all fell apart.” She stood, paced the length of the office.
“So, opening fire at the edge of airport property was to threaten the family.”
“Exactly. You were the one who would go after them. They knew that.”
“And Faisal or any of the others wouldn’t?”
“Faisal is an ocean away. Zafir is more apt to play their game and, of course, Talib will agree with Zafir. He usually does.” She smiled. “Not that Talib doesn’t have his own mind, but he tends to think much like Zafir.” She looked at him. “Whereas you? You will play to a point but it won’t stop you from going after her. You’re more like Faisal than you know.” She smiled. “You’re wondering how I know that.”
“Am I?”
“I’ve studied many of the agency’s past cases and I’ve spoken to Adam. I might not be completely right, but I think I’m close. As far as Talib is concerned?” She put a finger to her chin as if considering. “Middle child. I filled in the blanks—classic.”
“Assumption,” he said with a pained attempt at a smile. “But impressive.”
“And you? Oldest child, responsibility of raising a younger sibling foisted on you at a young age. Serious. Determined. In charge. Textbook.”
“So this was all about getting me out of the way?” he asked and couldn’t kill the sarcasm in his voice. “The theory must seem like overkill, even to you.”
“Maybe. Or maybe not,” she said. “Think about it.”
There were so many different angles in any kidnapping case and because it was Tara, there seemed even more. The silence since the last call they’d received from the kidnappers terrified him, not for himself but for Tara. She was everything and it was up to him to make sure she came back, for their family was nothing without her.
“Emir...” Kate began, her hand reaching for his.
He shook his head. He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d felt any lower, any more desperate. It was an out-of-control feeling that terrified him and he knew he had to get it together.
He looked at Kate and wished that he hadn’t. He couldn’t handle the compassion in her beautiful eyes. Her lips were slightly parted and seemed to offer the only chance at hope he had in this dark and dreadful night.
He leaned down and, as his lips met hers, he felt the power of what the two of them were and had proved only a few hours ago. Now he felt a different power, the power of where her soft lips could take him, where the taste of her could lead, where... He drew back, leaving the kiss as only a sweet meeting, a gentle caress, leaving the potential behind.
“I’m...” He wasn’t sure what he’d been about to say. His emotions were playing with his logic and all he wanted to do was to kiss her again. He shoved the feeling back. The life-and-death adrenaline rush had awoken another primitive need, nothing more.
But as he turned his back to her and faced the city, the haunting tones of the call to prayer began. The ancient notes pierced the silence and taunted the occupants of that one room in the Al-Nassar compound with the reminder of how life was so much more important than the moments that defined it.
And worse, that time was slipping away.
Monday, September 14, 8:15 p.m.
Emir’s phone beeped just as the call to prayer ended, as if the solemnity of the one had somehow influenced the other. He pulled the phone out of his pocket as his eyes met Kate’s and he knew they were on the same page. She connected with him like no one, no woman, ever had. It was different than how he connected with Zafir, for this connection felt intimate. It was another thought he didn’t want to consider. All he wanted to consider right now was that they were
