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t him from worrying about Erin. “I met your lovely daughter when Shira brought her along to a celebration between Jewel Oil and the Addams Group.” Kamal paused, not quite sure how to navigate the rest of their history with her mother.
Patty saw him pause and took pity on him, “If you’re trying to find a polite way to tell us Erin is carrying your child, Talib already spared you that task.” Seeing the storm clouds gathering in Kamal’s eyes, she hurried to soothe them, “In his defense, I don’t believe he meant to tell us, but he mentioned she had been ill and one thing led to another. I can be very persistent when I need to be.”
Kamal took a slow breath and then released it, “I wish I could say I am sorry, but in truth, I am not. Erin’s pregnancy simply gave me the added incentive to bring her to Jawhara sooner than later.”
“Talib said she has been suffering from morning sickness. Have the doctor’s been able to help alleviate any of it?” Tom asked, thinking back to how sick Patty had been while she was pregnant with Erin. She had suffered from morning sickness around the clock, for the entire nine and a half months. Thus, the true reason Erin had been their only biological child.
Kamal nodded, “Yes, as long as she eats carefully and takes the medications that have been prescribed for her, she seems to be feeling much better. I worry how she will handle the sickness without those things. She has lost quite a bit of weight and…”
Patty reached across the sitting area and patted Kamal’s hand, “My Erin is strong. She will do whatever is needed to keep her child safe.”
“I know,” Kamal replied with a grim look, “That is what worries me most.”
Before he could comment further, his cell phone rang and he quickly answered it, “Tell me what is happening?” Kamal didn’t feel the need for niceties and knew that Talib would understand his abrupt response.
“Your Majesty, the camp had been thoroughly searched when I arrived. Another, more thorough search was undertaken after my arrival, but she had already been removed from the camp. We believe we’ve located her with a lone kidnapper, heading for the western border and mountains there.”
“You saw her?” Kamal asked.
“On the satellite images, yes, I believe we identified her. She was sitting astride a donkey, being led by the young palace guard we believe is related to the former Minister of Foreign Affairs.”
“The man who was assassinated during the coup?” Kamal asked, not liking where his thoughts were heading. On his last visit to the Sumari capital, he had been informed that the Minister of Foreign Affairs had been the ringleader of the small Islamic extremist group that had taken responsibility for killing the previous ruler.
The extremists had been attempting to overthrow the current leadership by infiltrating positions of authority within the government. Once their plans had been made known, the liberal rebels had risen up and eliminated everyone who had aligned themselves with the extremists. Not only had the Minister of Foreign Affairs been assassinated, but several other advisors and the interim ruler had been deposed as well.
The rightful heir to the throne had been released from the prison where he was being secretly held, the public having been told he had died in a bizarre accident. The extremists had been warned to stop their coup games, or leave the country. Many of liberally-minded citizens had fled into Jawhara, fearful that further action would be taken against them for their religious beliefs or lack thereof.
Kamal hadn’t realized that among the refugees there were any extremists. How that information had escaped his own people was something he intended to find out once Erin was rescued.
Kamal had been furious to find out that his country had been drawn into a religious war, rather than a humanitarian or political one. He had informed the new Sheikh that it was up to him to learn to co-exist with the staunch followers of Islam if he ever wanted to rule in peace.
In an effort to make that happen, an agreement had been reached between the remaining extremists still in the country and the Sheikh to allow them to live in designated areas, unhindered by western influences. Either the palace guard imposter hadn’t received that information, or the extremists were still bent on taking over the country.
“The very same. It would appear that the unrest was not merely political in nature.”
“Extremists.” Kamal didn’t ask, he stated fact. He recounted to Talib the rumors he’d heard on his last trip to meet with the new leadership. “I was led to believe a peaceful agreement had been reached, this situation leads me to believe the exact opposite.”
Talib was silent for a moment and then his voice came through the phone, “I am wondering if anyone other than the kidnapper and his accomplice in the camp know he has Miss Malone as a hostage. There is absolutely no cell reception in the area, and he was travelling alone.
“The American security team and myself have come up with a plan. With your permission, we will go after your woman and bring her home, hopefully before her kidnapper reaches his destination.”
“Talib, thank you. Whatever you need, you only have to ask and it is yours. Bring her home to me.”
“I will, Your Majesty. I will.”
Chapter 5
Talib disconnected the phone and then looked up to see PJ and the other five Americans watching him; waiting for him to speak. “Sheikh Kamal extends his gratitude for your willingness to help retrieve his bride. No demands have been made as of yet, so we must assume that as of right now the kidnapper is working alone.”
Brett Larson spoke up, “Won’t that change as soon as he crosses the border with her?”
“Maybe. But the closest settlement is fifteen miles inside Sumari, and even then cell phone reception is almost impossible to rely upon. According to information Sheikh Kamal was given on his last trip into Sumari, a peaceful agreement had been reached between the extremists and the current ruler. Either our young kidnapper is not aware of that, or the agreement is only a façade. Either way, we need to capitalize on the fact that he is most likely working alone at this time. Since we’ve seen no sign of other’s approaching the border, we can assume he won’t be able to contact whomever he’s working with until he gets to some sort of civilization.”
“So that means we have additional time to find him and retrieve Miss Malone.” PJ didn’t look up as she made the statement, she was already busy looking at the maps and trying to figure out where the kidnapper might head.
“PJ?” Talib said, waiting for her to look up at him before he continued. “You are correct in that we now have maybe an additional day before he could make contact with other extremists, however, the mountains inside Sumari are riddled with caves. Some of those are rumored to network for miles inland with booby-traps and safeguards to keep others out.”
Talib looked each man in the eyes before turning his gaze back to PJ, “Our best Brock of finding her is to locate them before he goes underground with her.”
