Two From Isaac's House

by Normandie Fischer

  “I’m so glad you did. I was shaking in my bare feet, afraid to come around the corner because I knew he’d shoot my head off as soon as I did.”

  “Whatever. You stepped forward and did the work. Good aim.”

  “Luck.”

  His cousin finally answered the phone. Tony barked into it. “We have one down and in need of an ambulance. The other is trussed up below. When will the locals be here?”

  “They’re on their way. But you’re both okay?”

  “Adam and I are fine. I’m on my way to find Rina now. I’ll call you back.”

  Tony tucked the gun in his belt before bending to grab Jamal’s. “Take this.” He handed it to Adam and rifled in the downed man’s pockets, producing a room key and a moan when his probing got too close to the wound in Jamal’s side. “Keep that thing pointed at him. He’s bleeding, but happily for him, I didn’t kill him.”

  “You think she’s there?” Adam nodded toward the key.

  “I’ll find out.”

  “You don’t imagine there are any more like him, do you?”

  “No. Look, I’ll be right back.”

  He’d just rounded the corner when he heard what sounded like a rough cough and then the thunk of something hitting a wall. He ducked back, grabbed Adam, and yanked him to the floor.

  “What was that?” Adam crawled with Tony out of sight of the stairs.

  “That was a bullet.”

  “A bullet. It didn’t sound like a gun.”

  “A silencer.” He kept his voice at a whisper. “Obviously, I was wrong about this fellow having no other friends. You keep that gun trained on Jamal so he doesn’t get any ideas. Shoot if he moves.”

  Adam nodded. Tony eased back toward the stairs, but his head had barely cleared the wall’s protection when another zing came his way. Lord, please let Rina be all right.

  “Tony,” a voice called from the stairs. In Arabic, it said, “I know you’re there. You won’t get away from me. You may have stopped Jamal, but we are many. You will not escape.”

  “Sami?” Tony tried to gauge the distance by the sound of Sami’s voice. He didn’t want to kill the kid. But he didn’t want Sami killing him either. “Why are you here?”

  “As if you didn’t know.” Sami’s shout came from just below.

  He had to keep the boy talking. “How can I?”

  “You killed my brother.”

  “I didn’t. The last I saw of Bahir, he was aiming a gun at me. You were there.”

  Tony heard a growl, a curse, and then Sami’s voice filled with frustration. “You know perfectly well you killed him! He showed you mercy by taking you to the desert instead of leaving you to Achmed. All for friendship. And yet you came back to make sure he’d never try again.”

  “He left me for dead. Your brother left me in the desert to die.”

  A door banged open, and footsteps came from below, several pairs of boots hitting the stone steps.

  “Sami,” Tony called. “Sami, listen to me.”

  “I’m going to see you dead, you traitor.”

  “Sami, they’re coming. You’ve got to put down your weapon now. I did not kill Bahir. I would never have hurt your brother or you.”

  “Liar!”

  A deep voice from the stairs spoke in Arabic. “Son, lower your weapon.”

  Tony heard a scuffle, but no more shots. The deep voice came again. “All clear?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He stood and turned to Adam. “I’ve got to find her.” Adam nodded.

  A man Tony didn’t know mounted the stairs, followed by two uniformed policeman. “Talk to him,” Tony told them, pointing to Adam. “He’ll explain. I’ll be right back.”

  As soon as he rescued Rina

  49

  RINA

  Her fears mushroomed at the sound of a gunshot. She’d been working to wiggle free of this mess, but movement seemed to tighten the bindings. All she could think of was a dead Tony and a soon-to-be-dead her.

  When eventually a key turned in the lock, she braced myself. Then she heard the door open, a breath indrawn, and footsteps approaching. The scent of male hit her, but the odor wasn’t Jamal’s. Hands touched her skin, but they weren’t Jamal’s.

  A voice spoke. The most beautiful voice in the world. “Just a minute, love, and I’ll get you free.” He sounded worried and loving and full of promises as he untied the blindfold, loosened the gag, and pulled the rag from her mouth. “Now I’m sorry I didn’t kill him. You might have choked on this.”

  It took a moment for her tongue to work well enough for speech. “I thought I would.” She moistened her lips. “Pretty disgusting, isn’t it?”

  “Thank God, you’re okay.” He unwound the sheet, rubbed the circulation back into her hands and arms. His grim expression softened when he looked up at her. Then he smiled, his funny-wonderful face adoring her in spite of her ragged appearance.

  Tears gathered and spilled from her eyes. He reached up to wipe them with his fingertips. “It’s over, love. Don’t cry.”

  “I-I couldn’t see. I-I didn’t know where you were, what he’d done to you.” Her whole body shook. “I heard a shot.”

  He picked her up. She shouldn’t have let him, not with that arm of his, but she needed to be held, needed his touch. He carried her to the bed and sat with her on his lap. His good arm moved across her back, his touch gentle as he imparted calm to her. She felt herself sinking into him. “It’s over, love,” he repeated. “It’s okay now.”

  Her shaking eased. The tears dried. And she became conscious of his right arm held tightly to his side. “You’ve stressed it again, haven’t you?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  She sat up and squinted at him. The movement reminded her head that it ached. “Where… where’s your sling?”

  “He hurt you.” Tony didn’t make it a question.

  “My head seems to attract these people.”

  “Oh, love.”

  She tried to make light of it. “He doesn’t like Americans.”

  “I hope the bullet I put in him hit a really sensitive spot and they extract it with a blunt instrument and a sledge hammer.”

  The fierceness in his voice brought a smile to her lips, that and the image of a writhing Jamal.

  “I’m sorry my aim was off, but at least I stopped him from shooting Adam—or me.”

  “My uncle’s here?”

  “He’s talking to the police,” Tony said, helping her when she tried to stand. “Take it slowly.”

  Men’s voices came from the end of the hall. And then he was there, her beloved Uncle Adam, enfolding her in his arms, drawing her close. “Sweetkins,” he whispered.

  Tears betrayed her again. She backed up, dashing at the wet with her fingers. Adam reached in his pocket, brought out a handkerchief, and she lifted it to her face. It smelled of peppermint.

  “Your candies.”

  He barked out a laugh. “I don’t eat them much any more—my teeth, you know—but I sometimes carry one around. It’s comforting.” He dug out one. “I brought yours.”

  “Our secret.” She slid the candy into her mouth and let the memory soothe her.

  One of the men hovering at the head of the stairs spoke with Tony. She surveyed the scene. “The body?”

  Adam grinned. “In an ambulance. I’m afraid he will live.”

  She returned his grin in spite of the pain. “I suppose we should be better people and say we’re glad Tony didn’t kill him.”

  “We should,” Adam agreed. “Tony saved my life. I can afford to be charitable.”

  “I’m working on it. But that man—Jamal—is a sadist and a particularly horrid specimen of humanity. So charity doesn’t leap to first place in my thoughts.”

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “My head encountered his gun.” And that brought to mind the other gun that had made contact with her head. She needed to find out if Jamal could have been in Perugia about the time someone showed up in her room. Pe
rhaps knocking people unconscious had been part of Gun Use 101 at terrorist school.

  “Tony’s going to need to talk to those men, but I’ll take you to your room. You need to lie down.”

  Tony winked at her when he handed Adam her room key. All she wanted was aspirin and bed. Oh, and Tony next to her.

  Adam fixed a compress, and she closed her eyes to let it work. Tony joined them soon after, and took her hand. “Any better?”

  “It will be.”

  “I’m going to have to spend a little time with the locals in the morning, so we’ll stay here tonight.” He rubbed her back gently.

  “She shouldn’t be left alone. Concussion possibility, you know.” Adam lifted the washrag and took it back to the bathroom.

  As she focused on the sound of water splashing against porcelain, she imagined a deep bath where all this tension could seep from her to the water. Where she could wash off the lingering scent of Jamal’s sweat, the memory of his snarling face.

  “You seemed to know the other one,” Adam said. “What did you call him? Sami?”

  “Sami’s big brother, Bahir, was my best friend.”

  Adam whistled as he sat down in a chair he’d pulled over. “The one who put that hole in your shoulder?”

  “Sami thinks I walked out of the desert and went on a murdering spree to kill Bahir. He came to punish me.”

  “Oh, Tony, no.” She took his hand as the pain in his eyes deepened. Just speaking about Bahir and Sami seemed to have etched new lines between his brows. “Jamal told me his job was to take you to Achmed, and Achmed would give the leftovers to Sami so Sami could cut you in pieces. Jamal gloated over it.”

  “If Achmed wanted first access at dismembering me, he’d hate the idea of Sami eliminating me.” Tony sighed. “The young hothead.”

  “True.” Her uncle nodded wisely. “Do you think this Achmed will send others after you now that you’ve thwarted these three?”

  Whatever answer Tony might have given was stifled when a siren began its warning bleat. “Rockets.” He leaned down to help her as Adam gathered her purse. “Let’s go.”

  Later, she lay in the bed, her heart finally steady after the throat-filling terror of those sirens and the worry that another would come in the night. The lingering headache kept her awake in spite of the aspirin and compresses. Beside her, Tony slept, his chest rising and falling with each breath. Alive. Here. Hers.

  That’s what she’d dwell on, Adam present in the next room and Tony at her side. A longing filled her for his touch, but after a few tender, delicious kisses, he’d said, “Enough, or I won’t be in any shape to share a bed and not take advantage of you.”

  The thought of him taking advantage of her appealed to her more than she wanted to admit. How could she not be curious to know more, to feel more?

  Hello, human here…

  She squinted into the dark. Jason had wanted her pure and his, but after seeing him on all those social media sites, she wondered if he’d been working under a double standard. Oh, well.

  Tony stirred, turned, and opened his eyes. Seeing her awake, he smiled. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay. Better.”

  “But not sleeping.” He sat up, tucked another pillow under his head, and pulled her to his good side. “There’s something I need to ask you, but we haven’t exactly had much down time to do it.”

  She touched his chest, covered only by a T-shirt, and listened to his beating heart. His steady heart.

  “Back in Perugia, I decided I should leave you alone until I got my life straightened out. You know, free from danger and intrigue. That’s why I backed away from telling you how I felt that night after the dance. But even now, my life isn’t completely free of baggage. It may never be.”

  He spoke so solemnly that she pushed away and sat up. “This sounds like one of those talks where we should be face to face.” Light from the street provided partial illumination. “Now,” she said, “what did you mean, you have baggage? Like people trying to kill you?”

  “Achmed may not quit.”

  “But you have a new name. Once we leave here, he won’t be able to find you.”

  “That’s what we’re hoping. I plan to use my new name to become invisible to them. Which brings me to the point.”

  The point? What point?

  “Would you be willing to go into invisibility with me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Until I can be certain that there’s no one left who can link us together, I can’t put you at risk more than I already have. But the idea of losing you has me tied in knots.”

  He was about to tie her in knots with talk like that. “Why do you have to lose me? I mean, why should you? I’m in this with you, aren’t I?”

  “We could fix it so you weren’t. I think. Because if you come with me, you’ll also have to be invisible with me.”

  “You mean like in one of those witness protection programs?”

  He nodded. “Maybe not as bad as running from the Mafia, because these guys won’t have the same resources in the U.S., but it would still mean we’d have to establish a new paper trail for you. That is, if you’re willing to marry me under those terms.” The worry was still there in his wrinkled brow.

  “Willing?” She swiped at a tear that blurred her vision. “You oaf.”

  “What? You won’t? It’s too much to ask?”

  “Of course, I will. But what a way to propose.” She sniffled. “I thought you were getting ready to dump me. You know, because I’d slow you down.”

  “Oh, love, never.” He drew her to him. “I adore you, Rina Lynne. I just hate that I don’t come to you unencumbered.” He took her chin in his hand and drew her lips to his.

  Oh, those lips again. Those tantalizing, delicious lips. She melted into a puddle of yearning and barely noticed any pain in her head.

  When he drew back, he showed her a wide grin. “I think we should get married right away. Immediately, if possible.”

  “You didn’t think I’d balk at a little thing like a name change after I’ve kissed you so passionately, did you?”

  His hoot made her slap at his bicep.

  “For your information Mr.-Anthony-Walker-whoever-you-are, I do not make it a habit of throwing myself into kisses of that caliber. And we did it in public at the airport. I mean, really.”

  “Good to know.” His eyes twinkled. Those twinkles always stirred her up. “You and Jason get into it like that?”

  She didn’t turn. Didn’t speak.

  “I mean, you were, after all, planning to marry him.”

  “That, sir, is none of your business.”

  “Hmm. Well, how’s this. We’ll leave the past in the past, but from now on, those sorts of kisses stay between us.”

  “No more questions about other relationships?”

  “None.”

  It was probably better that she couldn’t ask. Yes, she’d been—was—a relative innocent, but it stood to reason a thirty-two-year-old man was not. And she really didn’t want to think about his former loves. Or of him touching some other woman. Kissing another woman as he’d kissed her. Intimately. Hungrily.

  Stop that.

  Jason may have kissed her with fervor, but none of his kisses had made her toes curl as Tony’s did. And there they went again, curling and tingling just because she remembered how his lips felt on hers. She’d surrendered to the pull from him more than once. That promise of what could be.

  “We’ll speak to your uncle about us marrying. He’ll know how to do it.”

  She had trouble concentrating on the issues and the complexities of a marriage in Israel because all she wanted was to crawl all over him. Her wayward feelings worked a whole lot better than aspirin to make her forget the pain.

  She reached up to lay a palm along his cheek and brought it down to his strong chin. Her fingertips touched his lips. His breath caught.

  Oh, glory. She was in for it.

  “You’re killing me, Rina.
” His voice sounded slightly hoarse.

  “Oh.” Her face heated up again, but she found the thought delicious. Very, very delicious. Still, she removed her fingers.

  “Yep,” he said. “Better just go to sleep.”

  She released a laugh. “You’ve turned me into a wanton woman. I can’t believe what I’m feeling.” She raised herself on her elbow to look at his face.

  He shot her a rueful grin. “I’m glad. But we’ve got to wait on that license.”

  “Ah.”

  “I’m serious. We do this the right way, and we’ll be blessed. I’m enough my father’s son to believe that. Too bad he’s no longer around to see how often I try to emulate him.”

  She bit her lower lip. She had waited all these years with none of this tug against restraint because Jason had never stirred her to this level of passion. And yet, what if this following God thing were really real? What if God wanted them to wait?

  “Poor Jason,” Tony said as if reading her mind. “He really must have been a dull boy.”

  “I’m beginning to think he was incredibly dull.” She curled on her side, not touching him.

  Tony sighed. “Goodnight, my love. Try to sleep.”

  Her eyes drifted closed, but her thoughts wouldn’t shut down. When had Tony’s faith taken such preeminence? In the desert? There were no atheists in foxholes, and being left to die from a gunshot wound probably counted as a foxhole.

  And what about her? What did she believe? She’d prayed just like a trapped soldier when Jamal had trussed her. And they’d survived. More than survived. They’d found each other.

  Cause and effect or merely coincidence?

  Adonai?

  She listened, but heard only the soft, steady breathing of the man next to her. Well, his being here was an answer to her prayers, wasn’t it?

  She woke to the sound of a key in the lock. The door opened, and Tony, in a clean dress shirt and slacks, came in, carrying a tray of cups and a bag of what looked like breakfast treats. Oh, yes, and the scent of fresh brew.