and tell me?”
He smiled as he hung up the phone and went to the elevator. It would seem Amelia had no interest in returning to the lobby. She’d left Kaffar Mosheen with Mauve. Harad couldn’t be certain of her exact reason, but he knew that it was a good sign as far as her intentions toward the doctor were concerned. He felt as if he’d gained ground in the battle.
Tapping on her door, he waited until she opened it. She was still dressed in the coral sheath, and she nodded toward a grouping of seats in the sitting room of the suite he’d rented for her.
“So, you found a guide for me?” she asked.
He thought he detected some reservation in her voice. Perhaps she was reconsidering.
“My conscience wouldn’t allow me to abandon you. The desert can be deadly. I gave Omar my word I would make sure you were safe. I’ve found a guide. He’s a trustworthy man, and he has the knowledge and resources to take you to Omar and Beth.”
Amelia’s face remained emotionless. “Thank you, Harad. It was kind of you to go to that trouble, and to do it so quickly.”
He nodded. “I still would not advise you to make this trip,” he said. “It’s a difficult journey, and dangerous. Not because of bandits or wild beasts. It is simply the endless sand and sun. A tiny miscalculation, and you could end up wandering for days.” He paused. “Or forever.”
His words were working on the chink in Amelia’s determination. If he judged it just right, he might be able to let her talk herself out of the entire misadventure.
“The guide you hired is reliable, though?”
“Yes, the very best. I was lucky he hadn’t already been engaged. But he is quite expensive. I warn you, you get what you pay for in this business, and it’s always best to purchase the finest. In equipment and personnel.”
“Yes.” She went to her purse and brought out a checkbook. “I’ll gladly reimburse you.”
He pulled the bills from his pocket and handed them to her. With a little help from Tep the guide, he’d padded them quite successfully. Once Amelia conceded the trip, he would personally refund all of her money.
He saw her eyebrows lift at the figure. “Ten thousand dollars?”
“Yes, he gave me a very good price, don’t you think?”
“I had no idea. I thought—” She bit off the rest of the sentence.
It was hard for Harad not to grin. “You will have Tep the guide, and one additional man. This amount will also cover all provisions, tents and camels.”
“Camels?” Amelia’s head snapped up. “I thought there were horses. Those Arabians. You know, The Black Stallion, King of the Wind, that kind of horse.”
“Unfortunately, this trip might be too arduous for a horse,” he continued to fib. “The camel has more stamina. More ability to survive if you should become lost. The hump. Perhaps you remember studying camels in some of your science classes.” He found he was having a delightful time, even if his conscience nagged at him. Still, his first priority was to protect his people.
“There are air searches, should someone become lost, right?”
“They are seldom successful. The desert is so vast. There are no landmarks. It makes air searches next to impossible. Of course, we would try…” He let his sentence fall away then stood. “Now I must go. The directions are written out for you. Be at that address at dawn.”
“Dawn?”
“An early start puts you that much ahead of the blaze of the sun. I believe the hotel shops are still open. If I were you, I’d invest in all the sunblock they have. Your skin is so fair. The sun here is unkind to such skin. After two weeks, you’ll look much older. It should assist you in your professional life. I understand that older women are given more respect.” He went to her, lifted her hand and kissed it gently. “Good luck, Amelia Corbet. It was a pleasure to meet you.”
He hurried out of the room before he burst into laughter. Maybe for the first time in her life, Amelia Corbet was behind the eight ball instead of aiming it at someone else.
Chapter Four
Dawn was just breaking in the eastern sky as Amelia got out of the taxi on the outskirts of Alexandria. Instead of the spices of the city, she caught the scent of horses and leather. The wind tugged gently at her white cotton blouse. To the south was the wide-open vista of the desert. She was at the right place.
The low, stucco building was the only place to go, and she paid the cabbie and lugged her recently purchased backpack over to the building and leaned it against the wall. Her shopping spree had been hasty and limited to the hotel shops, but she’d managed to find jeans and a few cotton blouses.
She was hesitating about leaving the backpack with her important papers against the wall, when the whinny of a horse caught her attention. She wished she wasn’t headed across the desert on a camel. She loved horses. In fact, she’d been the top jumper in the stables where she’d taken lessons years ago. That memory made her think of Beth, who also rode, but with a more conservative approach.
It would be good to see Beth. Far too much time— almost six months—had passed since they’d been together. That was what she had to focus on, not the camels or the hot sun or the desert. She looked again at the vast expanse of rolling waves of sand. The sun had begun to highlight the dunes with pink and gold, and Amelia was captured by the beauty of a place she’d never thought could be beautiful. To her the word desert had always meant thirst, burning heat and death. Untamed was the word that now came to mind. It was a wild beauty that the desert claimed.
And it was a little intimidating. Well, a lot intimidating. She could admit that, as long as no one was listening to her thoughts.
She walked into the building and was instantly captured by the beauty of the horses. A low whinny drew her to the first stall. “What a beauty,” she whispered to a gray mare. She was petting the horse’s forehead when she heard footsteps behind her.
“Ms. Corbet,” the man said, bowing. “I am Tep.” He smiled at her from beneath a white headdress. His flowing robes could not conceal the fact that he was tall and thin.
“You must come this way,” Tep said, taking her elbow and steering her through the stables and to the back. “I have retrieved the pack you left out front. All is ready and we must depart.”
Amelia saw the camels instantly. There were five of them, two standing and three kneeling on the ground. Without even giving her a chance to hesitate, Tep pushed her toward one of the kneeling camels and in a matter of thirty seconds she was on its back. The animal rudely complained as Tep forced it to its feet.
Amelia forgot about everything except hanging on to the wooden cradle that passed for a saddle. The rocking motion of the animal made it impossible to sit, and she hung on for dear life. Though Tep had put some rope reins in her hand, she could neither steer nor slow her camel as it began to run toward the desert.
“Halt! Halt!” Tep called after her. “Pull the ropes!” he cried.
“I am. It isn’t doing any good!” she yelled back, hauling on the reins. Then she didn’t bother
