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without mercy. She looked at Ahmed and Tad and realized that she could lose
either or both of them in less than two seconds. Her face went white.
Ahmed pulled her close against his side. "This is no time to become
fainthearted," he said quietly. "You must have the bearing and dignity of high
office, even when under fire. It will be expected of you."
Because he was a high official of his country, she realized. She searched his
dark eyes. "I'm not worried for myself, you know," she said gently.
"I realize that. Nor I, for myself."
She smiled at him. "I won't let you down."
He brought her palm to his mouth. "Cowardice is the last thing I would ever
expect from you."
She beamed. "Same here."
"Could you stop exchanging praises and just go about your business?" Lang asked
amusedly.
"Of course." Ahmed let go of her and went back to the science magazines he was
looking over with Tad.
The boy was wearing a new pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. He looked
healthier, but he was still pale and weak. Ahmed studied him, noticing that he
was as game as Brianna.
"You make me proud that I shall become part of such a family as yours," he told
Tad.
The boy smiled. "That goes double for me. Will we live in your country, then?"
he asked, because he knew already that he wasn't going to be left behind when
Bri married. They'd made a point of telling him so.
"Most certainly."
"I'd love to learn to ride a horse. They say there are no horses in the world
like the Arabians."
"This is true," Ahmed agreed. "However, the horses I own are magnificent in
their own right. They are bred in Austria, and I..."
The attack was so sudden that Brianna wondered for a space of seconds if she was
asleep and having another nightmare. The front door burst in with explosive
force and men in masks carrying automatic weapons were spraying everything in
sight with bullets.
Ahmed pulled Tad to the floor in a spectacular tackle while Brianna dropped
behind the counter as soon as she heard the explosion.
The exchange of weapon fire sounded more like firecrackers popping than like
real guns. It was surreal. Brianna knew better than to dare lift her head. She
curled up on the floor to make as small a target as possible and hoped that the
government agents were accurate with those nasty-looking weapons she'd seen
under their suit coats. She didn't dare think about Ahmed or Tad, or she'd go
mad.
There was a cessation of noise. A clink of glass falling. There were quick, hard
footsteps and then Ahmed and Tad were bending over her.
"Are you all right?" Ahmed asked quickly, rolling her over and gathering her up
close. His eyes were wild, his face pale under its natural darkness.
"Yes. Are both of you?" she asked, her eyes going frantically from Tad to Ahmed.
"We're fine," Tad assured her, but he was pale and his voice was shaking. "Gosh,
that was some... something, wasn't it?"
Brianna clung to Ahmed, shivering with aftershock. Those men had come to kill
him. The bullets had been meant for him. She gasped.
"All clear," Lang said, repocketing his automatic under his jacket. He looked
down at Brianna, his face still showing traces of ferocity from the ordeal. He
glanced over his shoulder. "Don't let her get up yet," he told Ahmed.
"Haven't you caught them?" she asked fearfully.
"Oh, yes," Lang said, and there was something in his eyes that she didn't want
to see. She looked quickly down again.
Ahmed cradled her in his arms and sat with his back against the cabinet. Tad
started to peek around the corner but Ahmed jerked him back.
"No," he told the boy, and his face was unusually stern.
"Okay. I was just curious."
"Curiosity sometimes carries a high price," he was told. Ahmed looked down at
Brianna's white face. "It is over," he told her softly. "All over. Lang told me
earlier that he was in contact with my government. The perpetrators will be
caught now. The coup attempt has failed."
"Your king will be relieved," Tad remarked. "Is he okay, do you think?"
"Oh, yes," Ahmed said absently, stroking Brianna's dark, damp hair back from her
face. "The king has never teen better, I am sure."
Later, when the devastation was cleared away and the enemy agents removed, Ahmed
and Brianna and Tad were moved out of the wrecked apartment and into another.
Brianna had noticed stains on the carpet, but when she tried to ask about them,
she was ignored.
"I'm not a baby, you know," she told Ahmed.
His smile was a little strained. "No. But I am older than you, and I have seen
more. Believe me when I tell you that you need not know all of what has happened
today. Trust me. Will you trust me, cherie?"
"Yes."
He brushed his mouth over her eyelids and left her with Tad while he moved out
into the hall to talk to Lang. "Well?" he asked the agent.
Lang was still high-strung from the experience. He leaned back against the wall,
squeezing a hand exerciser to relax himself.
"I hate to be the one to tell you this," he told Ahmed. "But they've taken your
sister into custody." He held up a hand when Ahmed tried to speak. "They haven't
connected her to the takeover coup. They've only connected her husband. It was a
preventive measure only. But you're going to have to go back with all haste and
set things right. You knew that already."
"I knew. Brianna has not been told," he added. "She must not be. I need time to
settle my affairs before I attempt to involve her in them. This, today, has been
a salutary experience."
"It isn't the first time you've been shot at," Lang reminded him.
He nodded, looking darkly arrogant. "But it is the first time that she and Tad
have," he replied. "For that alone, I have no regrets about the outcome."
Lang stared at the hand exerciser. "Assassination attempts are few and far
between, you know. Your father had one. This is your second."
"This is connected to the same people, however," he said, "and they are now in
custody. I must see what I can do for Yasmin. She would not try to kill me. I
know this."
"Get a good lawyer," he was advised.
"I must," he said heavily. "Our court system is even harsher than yours, and we
do not play dice with the death penalty. The ringleaders of this plot will be
executed if they are convicted, and there will be no stays or appeals."
Lang whistled. "Harsh justice, indeed."
"The old ways are cruel," Ahmed agreed. "Brianna may not be able to accept
marriage when she knows my true identity. It is regrettable that I could not
tell her the truth from the beginning."
"That was our decision, not yours," Lang said.
He smiled ruefully. "Will it matter, in the end, who decided?" He moved away
from the wall. "I will be ready to leave first thing in the morning." He paused,
and turned back to face Lang. "Thank you for what you have done. And the others.
Whatever they pay you, it is not enough for the risks you must take."
"We get paid enough," Lang mused. "The occasional pot of spaghetti and a bread
pudding are icing on the cake."
"You are brave people," he said sincerely. "If your government ever fires you, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]