water and offered it to her.
Her reward was a shaky smile. “Thanks.” She drank quickly, but when she lowered her hand, the cup slid out of her grasp.
Simone picked it up. She had the nagging feeling she’d seen the woman somewhere before. But where and when? Her speech was American, and she had the put-together look of a professional woman. She wore tailored navy pants and a long-sleeved white shirt with the kind of easy elegance Simone envied. The woman would have been attractive but for her waxy skin and the way her short-cropped dark hair was sticking to her face.
Annoyed at feeling helpless, Simone looked around. Fine time for the attendant to be on a break. “Shall I find a doctor for you?”
“No, thanks. I just need to get back to my car.”
Suddenly she bent forward, clutching her stomach. She didn’t moan, but her tightly compressed lips suggested she wanted to. Alarmed, Simone said, “You’re in no condition to drive. I’ll find someone who works here to help you.”
“No.” The command rang with unexpected authority as the woman straightened. “Please don’t,” she added in an obvious effort to soften the command.
Stayed at the entrance, Simone turned back. “You could have food poisoning, or some kind of bug. You need a doctor.”
The woman smiled wanly. “I’ll see someone as soon as I get back to my hotel. My car is in the closest parking lot.” She levered herself to her feet, but tottered when she took a few steps.
Simone was at her side instantly. “At least let me help you as far as the parking lot.”
As they stepped out into the heat the woman’s breath caught but she steadied herself. Simone steered her to the blue rental car she indicated, noting that it took the woman three tries to get the doors unlocked with the remote. How on earth did she expect to drive anywhere? “Look, there’s a first-aid center near the restroom. Why don’t I—”
The woman placed a clammy hand on her arm. “Please don’t. There’s too much at stake.” Too much of what? Sounding as if the effort cost her, she said, “I’m not…I can’t…explain any more. But I need you to give something to Markaz.” She fumbled in her bag.
Was the woman delirious? “He’s surrounded by guards. I couldn’t even get close,” Simone protested.
“You must, please. His life is at stake.”
What had Simone gotten herself into? She hadn’t been able to get close enough to the sheikh’s party to look for her half uncle. Now she was supposed to take a message to the sheikh from a woman who was either ill or delusional, possibly both.
“You need a doctor,” she tried again, adding in desperation, “Why don’t I drive you back to your hotel?” Arriving in a cab, Simone had no car of her own to worry about.
The woman clenched her teeth, but not before Simone had seen them chattering. “I’m not crazy. Tell Markaz you met Natalie. Give him…oh, God, he’s coming.” She wrenched a ring off the third finger of her right hand and closed Simone’s fingers around it, then gave her a shove that almost knocked her off her feet. “He mustn’t see you with me. Go.”
Regaining her balance, Simone looked in the direction of Natalie’s wild-eyed gaze. The only other person nearby was a stocky, dark-haired man in a business suit and reflective sunglasses, weaving his way between the cars. He stopped and spoke to a woman seated in another car. Nothing in his actions seemed to justify Natalie’s panic.
Simone debated taking Natalie’s keys away from her, but was daunted by the strength she’d felt in that shove. If the woman was demented by the heat or illness, she might become even more violent. Simone reached a sudden decision. “I’m getting help whether you want it or not.” She didn’t wait for more arguments, as she set off across the parking lot in the direction of a first-aid center she’d passed earlier.
She was almost there when she heard a distant cry and swung around. The man in the business suit was standing over Natalie.
Simone froze. Was the man Natalie’s husband, taking care of her at last? But she’d sounded terrified when she’d said, “He’s coming.” Then the man pushed Natalie into the car and slammed the door.
Before Simone had the thought fully hatched, she was racing toward the car. The man looked up. Seeing her, he sprinted around the car and wrenched open the driver’s door and threw himself inside. Seconds later the engine roared into life.
The car was moving by the time she reached it. Futilely she hammered on the window as it slid past her. Natalie was slumped in the seat, but opened her eyes at the sound. Was it Simone’s imagination or did she mouth the word Markaz before the car picked up speed?
Jumping clear seconds before being run down, Simone could only watch as they sped off, her sense of despair growing. She should have done more to help. But what?
Becoming aware of metal biting into her palm, Simone unclenched her fist and looked at the ring the woman had pressed on her. The gold was incised with symbols, among them a beaver holding a piece of wood. On the shank was a design of two men and a lamp. Nothing that explained what Simone had just witnessed.
Unless the ring meant something to the sheikh.
Outside the main building, a flurry of activity told her he was emerging. The crowd was several people deep, but desperation enabled her to push her way to the front and grab the arm of the nearest guard. “You must help me. A woman’s been abducted in the parking lot.”
“Report this to Al-Qasr’s own security,” the guard responded in guttural English. “I cannot leave my post.”
“I don’t want you to leave your post.” You muscle-bound moron, she barely resisted adding. “You must tell the sheikh that Natalie needs help urgently. She sent him this.”
The guard looked at the ring as if it could bite. “Gifts should be sent to the palace.”
“It isn’t a gift, it’s a message. The sheikh knows the woman who sent it. She needs his help.”
The man’s determination wavered, but only for a second, before his jaw hardened and he gestured Simone back. “Take this to local security.”
A scattering of applause greeted the appearance of Sheikh Markaz, once again shadowed by his giant bodyguard. What would happen if she threw the ring to the sheikh and called out, “catch”? A vision of being tackled by the giant, her bones breaking under the impact, stopped her.
But she wasn’t defeated yet. She reached over the cordon and tugged at the guard’s sleeve. “You must give this to His Highness. A woman’s life is at stake.”
The guard roared a response in Arabic. “Persist and you will find yourself under arrest,” he said in English.
Having already considered the possibility, she felt chilled, but her determination notched higher. “The woman told me the sheikh’s life is in danger, as well.”
That got the guard’s attention, she saw, but his barked command also had his colleagues lifting their weapons. The ring glinted in the sunlight as she raised her hands instinctively. “I’m not the threat, but Natalie knows who is. You must find her.”
The
