Covert Danger
Page 20
Slowly she stood and raised her hands to the sky. Her red silk robe looked out of place in the pristine hotel room with its white plaster walls, but he knew from experience that otherworldliness would take over her and she would be beyond time and place. Her wizened face turned colder than a stone statue. “I, coming forth am Amen, the hidden one.”
A breeze ruffled through the room as the spirits gathered. Her words reverberated through his being. His chest expanded and he felt lighter than air.
In her right hand she drew her ivory wand inscribed with hieroglyphics from her pocket. She waved it once in the air. “I am the keeper of Akashic Records. All of which is, and which shall be. Eternity and Everlastingness, open your portals.” She put her left hand on the deck. “May I fly like a golden hawk. May I see the truth revealed.” She stood absolutely still. Her eyes closed as if as if she listened to distant voices.
Bakari breathed deeply.
A wave of calm flowed over him as he looked at her transformation. She had opened her eyes, and they were glazed over, no longer her own.
She waved the wand once before him. “Son of Isis, Seaker of truth…” She faltered and the candle flickered.
Bakari swallowed.
“I see a storm.”
“Tell me.”
“A violent storm will ravage your life, all that you care about, all that you know…” Her head fell backward, her face looked to the ceiling. “You are at a turning point. You could still turn around and go the other way. You could dedicate your life to helping others, heal your Karmic path.” She stopped for a breath. “If you go forward this storm will gust and swirl around you until the world as you know it comes to an end.”
Bakari stilled the shiver coursing through his body. “I must have the amulet.”
“You want power that is beyond your reach. It is not meant for you.” Her voice no longer sounded like her own, or the one she usually used during readings. This voice was male and menacing. “Do not go against the gods.” Djeserit’s whole body trembled.
Bakari fell to his knees. “I must save Rashida.” Sweat ran from his every pour of his skin. It dripped off his face and down his back. His shirt clung to his body.
The sorceress reached over and touched his head. Her hand felt like liquid fire. An electric jolt ran through his scalp and down his spine. When he looked at her ethereal eyes the power behind them at first humbled him, then diminishing him into a million broken pieces swept-up by the river of eternity. Its relentless current dragged him through his own sins, like a kaleidoscope… into darkness.
He put his hand in front of his face to protect himself. “Let me save her. I beg of you.”
Sounds of lightening, thunder and crackling fire flooded his ears. The smell of smoke burned his nostrils. The currents from the otherworld pulled harder until he thought he would not survive. He held on to the one and only thought that mattered: his love for Rashida. “Please Djeserit, let them know my heart.”
The sounds eased and then eased some more. He took a deeper breath and waited.
“If you are prepared to pay for upsetting the balance of all that is, and all that will be, if you are prepared for the cost to your soul and the souls of your descendants then this is what you must do. Take the smaller ankh you gave the woman and use its power to guide you. It will be stronger now that it has been lying next to her pure heart. Use its energy. Go to the museum and take the Emerald ankh. Let no one get in your way.”
The words flowing through the body of the sorceress echoed in the room. He felt the floor beneath his knees shake and the candle went out. He closed his eyes. He had his answer.
***
After he left, Djeserit said a prayer for Bakari and one for herself. Her body trembled as tears flowed down her face. It didn’t matter how much she cared for the man, she could not change his destiny, or hers.
36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Pacing the carpet hadn’t helped Sadie. Nor had taking a shower to wash off the memory of Bakari’s disgusting touch.
Time to lighten up. But how? The crazy idea of camp letters nudged her memories.
If she had the luxury of writing a camp letter home to the perfect suburban family she never had it would begin: Dear Mommy and Daddy, I suck. My best friend has been captured, I’ve been mauled by a maniac (not by a bear) and I am about to steal a fancy rabbit’s foot because said maniac thinks it will heal all his pain. Don’t count on seeing me soon, if ever. I really really suck. Your devoted screwed up daughter Sadie xo. The thought made her smile.
Then there would be her star-crossed Dear John letter to Sebastian: Hey Sailor, I got a thing for you. But love is not enough. At least I think I may possibly love you, or am falling in love with you. Never really felt like this before. I get all lightheaded whenever I think of your wicked smile. And other parts.
There was Mitchell to consider. Dear Mitch… The words wouldn’t come. How do you apologize to someone who will die because of your stupidity? Maybe it was her pride and not her sorely lacking IQ that got her into this mess. Even after all the warnings Jeremiah tossed her way, she thought she could take Anubis down. Why did she think she could? Reality really sucked. Dear Mitchell, I’m sorry… eternally yours, Sadie.
Her quirky sense of humor usually buoyed her spirits, but not today. Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt that had been delivered to her door, ready to do Bakari’s bidding she waited.Uggh.
Picturing the insides of the hotel and the museum, she recounted the number of exits in each and their locations. There had to be a way to turn things around. She considered and weighed every friggen fix-it option she could conjure up. But the brutal fact remained that if she succeeded in escaping, Mitch would die.
But he might die anyway. Stalemate? She could get information to Jeremiah, but then again she’d be signing Mitch’s death certificate.
Time laced with regret ticked slowly by.
Two insufferable hours later, she heard a knock on the door.
Old Deadeyes did not disappoint. He strode into her room smelling of garlic dressed to kill. Literally. Black work boots, black pants, black jacket. Monochrome dressing taken to a sleaze ball lethal extreme. Probably had rubber gloves in his pockets. Above his Grim Reaper duds she found his scowling leer. Above that, his deader-than-dead eyes. Rushing in, he slammed the door behind him, grabbed her by the arms and threw her against the wall with surprising force.
Her back hit first and then her head in a whiplash motion making a thud that rang in her ears. Air rushed out of her lungs.
“I want to kill you.”
She spat in his face.
Wiping the phlegm away with his beefy hand, he hissed, “Qah’ba.” He grabbed the amulet that hung from her neck and ripped it off her body. Then he put his forearm up to her throat and pressed hard, cutting off her breathing.
Her well-aimed knee got him in the groin and he doubled over. His dead eyes came alive with rage.
Sadie put her hand to her throat and gasped for air. “Bak…Bakari would not like this.”
“Dead women can’t talk,” he muttered. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Sweet Jesus, he smelled worse up close.
“You think he won’t find out?”
His lips curled like he wanted to say something, or do something, but couldn’t.
“Bakari gave me his word. If I keep my end of the bargain, he will release me unharmed.”
Deadeyes grunted. Not a pretty sound.
“Bakari would want you to treat me well.” She pulled the hem of her top down. “I must look good when I go to the airport with his treasure. I’m guessing he said something like that to
you.” She spoke slowly not knowing how well he understood English, or how well his synapses connected. Her neck throbbed with pain, but it probably wouldn’t bruise because of the way he’d exerted the pressure. Maybe, he hadn’t intended to hurt her. Maybe, he wasn’t as stupid as he looked. Nothing in Bakari’s world turned out to be as it appeared. Why should Deadeyes be any different? She exhaled the breath she’d been holding.
“So cut the shit. You don’t scare me. Just tell me what to do.” She turned her back on him and walked to the sofa like she was the queen of some foreign land. She made it all the way there before he spoke.
“You are flying out on Egypt air flight 986 leaving at 6:30 tonight. Pack your stuff in the new luggage I brought you and be ready to leave here at 4:30.”
“The package?”
“I will bring it with me and put it in your bag when I come to pick you up.”
“And Bakari?”
He shook his head. “Be ready for my return.”
After he left she went back to pacing. The heist would happen today, this afternoon. How could she get word to Jeremiah? Should she get word to him? Her fingers tingled as her mind weighed her options.
She picked up the remote for the TV. She’d see if she could access the Internet from there. But the remote didn’t work. It must have been tampered with. Crossing her fingers, she picked up the hotel phone, but it didn’t work either. Her luxurious hotel room lost its elegance. It was a prison, the place she’d be stuck while Bakari’s men broke into the Metropolitan Museum.
In broad daylight? How could he hope to pull that off?
37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Sebastian looked out the side window of the commercial plane as the wheels left the tarmac. He didn’t want to tempt fate by taking Joos’s private jet for another ride. The last thing he wanted was to be thrown in jail.
His mind fixated on Sadie. One good thing about beauty is it gets noticed. Her strong independence, love of life and raw courage drew him, but there was no denying her physical beauty. Even in a city as big New York, people would stop and stare at Sadie. Some would recognize her face from magazine covers, all would respond to her sensuality. So finding her shouldn’t be that hard. The hard part would be convincing Sadie to let him help her.
Women. Why did they feel the need to act so ‘kick-ass’ these days. Why couldn’t they just accept that they’re weaker? Well physically, that is. Sadie had the balls of a Navy SEAL. He’d giver that, but she was no match for the kind of men Bakari al-Sharif would hire. Hopefully she continued to hold the upper hand by using her brains. He didn’t like to think of her in bed with the geiten neuker. Didn’t want him to put one finger on her. His jaw clenched.
No matter how much he tried to decipher his undeniable attraction to Sadie he came up with the same simple, but devastating answer. This must be what it feels like to fall in love. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Tante Zenneke had said Sadie was the one. How could his aunt have known? Sadie’s ballsy spirit pulled him like a fucking magnet.
She wanted him too. He could feel it in every fiber of his body. If she wasn’t so patriotic and determined to take down that asshole…
But, he’d never try to change her. Her she-warrior thing was sexy. He just wished she’d let him help. He looked out the window again. Cairo shrunk into the distance. It would be a long flight.
Once through customs, he picked up a text message from Xander: “Sadie last seen at the Central Station Hyatt.”
Forty minutes later he walked up the wide staircase at the street entrance of the Hyatt hotel by the monolithic white face statue to the lobby. Sounds of the busy Manhattan streets faded inside the old hotel.
If only he could strangle someone. He couldn’t seem to breathe properly. His body had gone into a fucking, permanent fight or flight mode. The dark haired woman in a hotel uniform at the desk smiled at him, but then the delicate corners her lips quivered and her eyes started darting around as she took him in.
He knew the signs. Being an angry six foot five guy scared the shit out of people. Normally he hid his agitation because he didn’t like to be looked at as a monster.
“Hotel security please,” he said with an affected Dutch accent to emphasize his Europeaness. “I’m with Interpol.” The fact that he sounded a bit like his crazy Aunt Zeneke made him wince. That he lied didn’t bother him.
“Do you have identification.”
“Call security. Now.” He let all his anger vibrate through his body.
She blinked once and picked up her phone with trembling fingers. Sebastian turned around and scanned the enormous lobby filled with chairs, sofas and hanging banners. People of all nationalities and races wandered about. There were Arabs in the mix, but evil comes in many colors and Bakari could hire anyone to be his henchmen.
Two minutes later a man dressed in a well-tailored suit appeared on his right side. He looked like the younger cousin of Schwarzenegger on extra strength steroids. “I am Leandro Laiche, head of Security. Can I help you?”
“Where’s your office?”
After ten fucking-yada minutes with the Security guy, Sebastian took the elevator to the ninth floor, where he found a short stocky man dressed in black walking the length of the hallway. The man looked up and reached inside his jacket when Seb emerged from the elevator. The burly guy’s eyes held a violent determination to kill. Seb had seen that look before. Time stood still.
Seb would have taken on a fire breathing dragon at this point. Gritting his teeth, he willed his legs to saunter down the narrow carpeted hallway even though he wanted to run. When he came alongside the man, he turned and gave him one hard punch in the solar plexus. The man’s eyes bulged and he folded over. Seb hit him in the head and then hit him again for good measure. The guard fell to the floor unconscious. Seb used the key the Security man had given him and opened the door.
Across the room, Sadie’s with her unbelievably long legs stood on the window ledge. Her right hand attacked the edges of the window seal with a butter knife. She stopped when he entered and turned to look at him. Their eyes met.
***
How the hell did Sebastian find her? She shouldn’t be surprised. He always found her. A warm glow flowed through her body. She never thought being rescued would feel good.
She jumped down to the floor. “What took you so long?”
Sebastian strode across the room and pulled her into his strong arms. His familiar scent and rock hard body made her want to pull him to the floor and take him right there, but the clock was ticking. She let her body sink into their embrace and the long deep kiss that followed. Panting she stepped back. “Got a phone?”
Sebastian pulled a hand through her hair and studied her face. “Only you would let me kiss you like that and then ask for my phone.” He reached into his pocket and handed his over to her. Meanwhile, he scanned her body she guessed for injuries, but his scrutiny made her hot.
Sadie turned her back to him so she could concentrate. He kept his hands on her shoulders. Her heart beat wildly. She punched in Jeremiah’s number and on speaker phone told him that Sebastian had rescued her and Bakari was hitting the museum right now. She knew they’d heightened security there because of the threat, but she doubted anything could stop the determined Anubis.
“I’ll notify the FBI, send in a SWAT team and the police. You can stand down.”
“Yes sir.” Like hell, sir. She turned to Sebastian. His blue eyes filled with compassion as he traced her jawline with his long fingers. His ‘rough skin – soft touch’ melted her.
After a couple minutes of silence Jeremiah came back on the line. “Do you know what his plan is?”
“The man is brilliant. I don’t know how he plans to pull it off, but I have no doubt he’ll succeed if we don’t stop him.”
“Sadie, you need to get to a safe place and stay there. The last thing we need is for Bakari to use you as a hostage.”
She blew out a long slow breath. “He already has Mitchell
.”
“Where?”
“In Amsterdam. He threatened to kill him if I didn’t help smuggle the Emerald Ankh, the piece he’s most interested in, back to Cairo.”
She could almost hear the sage spy nodding his head while he reached to knock over a pawn on his chess set. Collateral damage. Damn it. Maybe, she shouldn’t have phoned him. It could cost Mitchell his life. But her training told her she had to let her handler know the situation. He would help her. He had resources. He was on her side. He… She bit her lip. Bottom line: he didn’t care about Mitchell.
“Sadie, I’m ordering you to find a safe place. Take your friend with you and wait for my call. We’ll handle the museum heist and find your friend.”
“But…”
“The best thing you can do is stay out of the way.”
Being the queen on his chess board, she could see the logic of his decision. But the heart knows no logic. “Will you send…”
“Yes, I will have a team of operatives look for your friend and alert the Amsterdam police as well. Trust me.”
Trust? She’d always trusted him. The fact that he’d asked for it made her wonder. There was a hollowness to the tone of his voice. Mitchell could be sacrificed for the greater good. And all that bullshit. She couldn’t swallow it anymore.
A horrible coldness clutched her. Mitchell didn’t have a chance without her. A tear slid down her face. “Yes sir…”
Sebastian reached in and turned the phone off. “Let me contact my people in Amsterdam. They’ll find him.” He wiped her tear away. “Don’t give up hope.” He took the phone from her and walked away.
Sadie listened as he phoned his friend Xander and set things in motion. He clicked off and turned towards her. “What now?”
“We go to the museum.”
“That’s my woman.”
She punched him lightly in the stomach as she brushed past him. “I’m nobody’s woman, but my own.”