Page 35 of Rescuing You

“They should fear?” Mostafa’s voice pitched lower, angry. “I worry about us. I risked everything to save her—for you, because she was your friend. But now we have three children…” His words became tender. “Almost four.”

Leila imagined Mostafa touching his wife’s swelling belly. Yes, they had a family to protect. But what were they afraid of? Surely, Baba wouldn’t blame them for her escape, and even if he did…

“They are more powerful than ever,” Mostafa said. “I will not risk this family for her. Not again.”

Leila waited for Heba to argue, to take up her cause. The longer the silence stretched, the more her hope slid away.

“In the morning,” Heba said. “Let them rest tonight.”

Betrayal hit like a blow to the chest.

But Heba had to obey her husband. And protect her children.

It wasn’t fair for Leila to expect anything else.

She hurried back to the bedroom. “We must go.”

Her sister sat up. Leila expected to see shock, but her sister’s expression was resigned as she bent to put on her shoes.

Leila did the same, trying to figure out how to get out of the house without alerting Heba and Mostafa. Would he stand guard all night?

Would Heba alert her husband if she caught them escaping?

With their things gathered, Leila went to the window and raised the pane.

The roof of the attached garage was only a few feet down.

Jasmine bumped her shoulder and whispered, “What are you waiting for? Go.”

Leila crawled out and lowered herself gingerly onto the tiles, praying the sound wouldn’t carry.

She turned to help Jasmine, but her sister was already climbing out beside her. “Which way?”

Leila led the way toward the front of the property, not wanting to be caught within the walls that enclosed the side and back. It was maybe a ten-foot drop to the gravel driveway.

Was there another way? A ladder would be nice. Even a trellis. But no.

She lowered her body over and dangled by her fingertips from the slick clay tiles. Please, don’t let either of us get injured.

This escape was going to be hard enough without a sprained ankle.

She dropped to the hard ground, fell back, and landed on her butt.

She stood, and when Jasmine dropped beside her, she grasped her sister and kept her from falling.

They ran back to the motorcycle.

Jasmine had been right. They’d wasted hours and hours.

Leila should have listened to her sister. She should have listened to Michael.

She’d told Mostafa their plans to go to Baghdad. At least she hadn’t told him where the safe house was. Even so, if Baba and his guards hadn’t guessed already, when Mostafa called them, they would know where to look.

Assuming Leila and Jasmine managed to get all the way to the city. Which, considering the glow on the eastern horizon, wasn’t going to happen tonight.

Leila and Jasmine needed to hide. They’d been traveling toward Baghdad since they’d reached the motorcycle thirty minutes before, but the sun was nearly up. Who knew how many men Baba had looking for them? He’d once held a position of power in Baghdad and had friends all over the country.

But Baba wasn’t the one Mostafa feared.