“Leave them to me. You and Nick pick out a fast boat and let’s haul ass.”
Silas barely wedges between the line of cars and the pedestrians on the sidewalk to get us out of traffic and onto the side road. The instant we moved out of line, the cars behind us surged forward, cutting off anyone who may have thought about getting over. Before our vehicle comes to a stop in the marina parking lot, I’m already out and running toward the docks.
A party of at least seventy people is lined up to board a large yacht. The deckhands are busy checking in each person and assisting them on board. The captain is in the cockpit, running through his last-minute inspection, and the guests are lively and animated in their formal dresses and black-tie tuxedoes.
I stick out like a sore thumb.
There’s no way anyone will buy the line I’m late for this party.
All the more reason for me to distract the couple of guys who don’t have their hands full already. I trot toward them, frantically looking around, and stop when I get just past them. They turn, and their gazes track my movement.
That’s it, fellas. Eyes on me. I’m over here.
“Have you seen a little girl wander by here? She’s five, wearing a pink princess dress. She has a little tiara on her head and a purse on her arm. She was beside me one minute and gone when I looked down the next. I’m afraid she got on one of these boats, pretending it was hers. Or, God forbid, she fell in the water. You haven’t heard a splash, have you? You don’t think she’s under one of these boats, do you?” I’m laying it on thick, letting the alarm overtake my voice and my face.
Panic-stricken, they leave the guests to the other workers and rush to help me. If I keep them busy checking the multitude of yachts lining the five rows of docks, Silas and Nick can manage to get one of the smaller, faster fishing boats untied and ready to take off without being seen. The engines on the party yacht are loud enough to mask a vessel the size we need… for a few minutes, anyway. They’ll realize it soon enough.
The two men split up and board each boat, checking every nook and cranny inside after they’ve finished with the outside. I would feel bad for my blatant lie and their dedication to finding the lost child if a life wasn’t truly in danger right now. But Tawnee is my first and only priority—so I can’t focus on anything except reaching her.
While the men are busy, Silas and Nick slip past me and hurry to the end of the dock where the smaller center console boats are tied. Nick unties one of the lines while Silas starts the engines, then he unties the second line before pushing off. The longer he lets it idle in neutral, the better off we are. When they drift far enough away from everything that Silas can put it in gear to go forward, Nick motions for me to join them. I rush to the end of the dock, Silas swings by close enough for me to jump on, and we haul ass out of the marina and around the bend to the hotel.
I haven’t worked out how we’ll get up to Rafael’s suite yet. The elevator requires a room key to move off the lower floors, making it almost impossible. We arrive at the hotel in no time, thanks to the powerful engines on the back of the fishing boat. They’re designed to take the fishermen out far and fast, so they can be the first to the prize. Now if I can just make it to my prize in time. Silas sidles up alongside the concrete retaining wall around the hotel so Nick and I can jump off to secure the boat’s fore and aft lines to the palm trees.
We race across the green grass and through the middle of an ongoing wedding reception. I don’t think much about it until I catch a glimpse of Tony lurking in the back. After he checks our surroundings, he motions for me to join him around the corner. I’m well aware it could be a setup, but I’m willing to take the chance. His expression before he saw me was genuinely distressed. I’m going on a hunch that he truly wants to share information with me.
When I turn the corner, Tony’s leaning against the side of the hotel with his head hung low and his shoulders drooping.
“What’s happened, Tony? Where is she?” I can barely catch my breath, but it’s not from exertion. My heart is racing a hundred miles an hour.
Then it stops beating when I realize what I just ran through.
“Did he force her to marry him somehow?” I’m about to lift Tony off the ground by the lapels of his dress jacket if he doesn’t start talking.
“No, he let something far worse happen to her.” He begins talking and doesn’t stop until the entire sordid story is out in the open. “He was in league with a handful of Saudi oil investors in a bid to take over the oil company. Most of the Saudi men are very traditional—and very resistant to change. They didn’t want their state-owned company on the New York Stock Exchange. They didn’t want foreigners to have any piece of it, but they were willing to do business with Raf under the pretense they’d get it all back. Only Raf never told his business partners that he bought the oil shares under Tawnee’s name. He did that to protect himself because he knew the Saudis would be enraged if they found out he planned to keep his shares. He’s still an outsider, you know. His business partners could have snuffed him out at any moment.
“Raf thought he had more time to convince her to marry him before things got out of control. He could put the company in both their names without her ever knowing. By then, it wouldn’t matter if they got to her—he’d be in control of it all without having lost anything. Later, he could dump the shares at more than twice the price, knowing the Saudi people would buy them up to regain control. Or he could decide to keep them long-term.”
“Okay. What went wrong? Whose wedding was today? Where is she now?”
“What went wrong? Everything. He overestimated his charm and underestimated Tawnee’s love for you.” That “you” was a little forced and a little bitter. “Tabitha pretended to be Tawnee today—fake identification included—and married Raf. When his Saudi business associates heard Tabitha say Tawnee’s full name, they immediately realized who she was… and that they didn’t need Raf anymore. Raf never dreamed they’d double cross him, but then he never seemed to consider all the angles of his cockamamie plans. That’s why he’s had so many advisers over the years—he didn’t build this empire alone like he tells everyone.”
“You advised him, didn’t you? That’s why he kept you so close to him.”
“Yes, I did. But he wouldn’t listen to me on this one. I told him those men couldn’t be trusted. I told him that Tawnee wasn’t here for his money or his status, that she wasn’t that type of person. He believed everyone wanted him for his wealth and nothing else, though, so he quit caring about others at all. He hid it well, but I knew better. Tawnee and I butted heads more than a few times over the years when Raf was being an ass and putting her in more risk than necessary. I couldn’t tell her that, though.”
“Why are you telling me this now? And where is she, Tony?”
“His four Saudi business partners took her before the wedding was over. They didn’t even wait until Raf and Tabitha made it down the aisle as man and wife. One of them punched Tawnee, knocked her out, and threw her in the back of a car. I tried to stop them, but I was too late. Raf was furious when he found out because he sank a lot of money into those shares and they just cut him out of it altogether. He doesn’t care about her, though.
“I’m telling you all this for three reasons. First, I just quit my job because Raf refused to go after them and save her. Second, you’ve got to save her because she’s about to die. They would have taken her outside of Dubai to a private airstrip to board a jet bound for Riyadh. That’s where they were every time Raf had a video conference call with them. And third, because I love her. I’ve been in love with her for a long time, but I know she never felt that way about me. I was willing to step aside and let her marry Raf if that’s what she wanted—at least he could provide for her in a way I never could. But now, I’m done with him, I can’t help her, and I’m hoping you can.”
“What were their names, Tony? Who are his associates? I need names to find out where they’d be and where she’d be held.”
“Here are their names.” Tony hands me a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “And I can tell you where they’ll hold her —where they hold all the women they to torture and get away with whatever they want. Dar Al Reaya, the female torture chambers in Saudi Arabia where they send all the victims to pay for the crimes they didn’t commit.”
Ice-cold blood runs through my veins at the mention of that name. I’ve heard of those places. I know what they do to women in them. My Tawnee is a prisoner in one of those godforsaken locations, where the guards get their rocks off by torturing, raping, and mentally abusing women who have no one to care about them. Sometimes they sell the women in an arranged marriage, where they face the same horrors, only in some man’s house instead of a typical prison cell.
“So, they’ll torture her, break her down, and make her transfer her shares to them… then they’ll kill her anyway.”
“Exactly. Raf is a coward. He wouldn’t even try to save her from their clutches. In his twisted mind, he blames her for making him lose all that money. I mean, her name is the one on the company, after all. Right?” His laugh is humorless and full of disgust.
“Where is Raf now?”
A helicopter takes off from the landing pad that hangs off the top edge of the building. Tony looks up at it and points. “On his way to his ‘honeymoon with Tawnee.’ He’s getting out of town before any Saudis come back for him. They’re going to Paris.”
Without looking, I know Silas and Nick are behind me. They have been there the whole time, ready to give support when I need it. “One of you tell me you have pull in Saudi Arabia to get us across the border without visas.”
“Sorry, man, but I don’t. Had it been Russia, maybe I could have helped. The border crossings into Saudi Arabia are heavily guarded, and the airport customs and immigration area is just as strict. They don’t want foreigners in their country.”
“You know I don’t have Saudi contacts. Sorry, Roman,” Nick adds.
“I can help.” A man steps out from behind the landscaping, seemingly out of nowhere, and I didn’t even know he was there. I jerk my head to the side, and my eyes fly wide open.
I openly gape at him for a minute. Something about him is very familiar. “Oh my God. Shadow? Is that you? Where have you been?” I can’t believe my eyes.
“We’ve been working, Roman.” He motions to the man who steps up next to him.
“Reaper? What the hell is going on? What have you two been doing?”
“Holy shit. I didn’t even recognize my own brother.” Silas laughs and steps back to get a good look at both men.
“That’s because he’s wearing a dress, Silas. I bet you’ve never seen either of them in a dress before.”
“Roman, they’re not dresses. They’re called thobes, and nearly every Saudi man wears one exactly like it. We had to blend in and appear to be one of them while doing recon.”
“You two can speak and read Arabic?” My tone is notably skeptical.
“Yes, we can. We had to learn it for this mission. Imagine being caught while dressed up as a Saudi man and not being able to speak the language. Our paperwork is all set, and we’re your sponsors to enter the country. They will hold Reaper and me responsible for your behavior while there, so don’t make us look bad.”
“I would never. I’m just going to kill anyone and everyone who gets in my way. But I’d never make you look bad while doing it.”
“Do you have a way home, Tony?” Nick asks.
“Yes, don’t worry about me. Just hurry and get Tawnee out of there before it’s too late.” He walks off with his shoulders hunched and a shuffle in his steps.
“What’s the plan, Shadow?” I’m back to business. Tony is a big boy. He can find his way home.
“Tell me, how do you feel about wearing a dress?” The huge grin on his face not only confirms I’m fucked but also that Shadow will enjoy this particular screwing more than he should.
Chapter 22
Roman
“You’ve got to be fucking with me right now.” I look at my reflection in the mirror and still can’t believe my eyes. “This will never work.”
“It’ll work because you’ll be sitting in the back seat, keeping your mouth shut like the good little girl that you are.” Shadow points his finger in my face as he issues his implied threat.
“Just so we’re clear… your ass is the first one I’m kicking when we get back home.”
“Is that any way to speak to your male guardian? No wonder I’m throwing my daughter in the detention center. She’s disrespectful, disobedient, and just plain ugly.” Shadow walks off laughing, leaving me to stare at my reflection again.
I’m in a head-to-toe black triangular tent. There’s no other way to describe it. I have an opening for my eyes—one slit in the fabric—that’s it. “They will never believe I’m a woman, Shadow. Look at me. I’m too tall and too broad to be a Saudi woman.”
“It’ll be fine. They won’t pay much attention to you, anyway. Plus, we’ll be in a Land Cruiser, not some tiny compact car. We’ll put you all the way in the back, in the third-row seat.”
“Whatever works, man. I don’t care. Just get me to her.”
We pile into the SUV, but we’re so much farther behind the men who took Tawnee than we already were because every move we make takes planning, discussions, and contingencies. My impetuous nature still has a hard time dealing with all the waiting this job requires. It’s not that I don’t understand the reasons—it’s knowing Tawnee needs me and I’m not there to protect her.
We’re driving across the UAE to the border of Saudi Arabia, roughly 600 miles, because they will definitely question my status as a woman in an airport. But with the Saudi license plate and registration, we’re simply returning home from a family visit to Dubai. Once we’re inside the country, Shadow has a private plane waiting to take us the rest of the way to the capital. All we have to do is make it past the border guards first.
Piece of cake.
When I look like an enormous woman in a country where the average female height is barely over five feet tall.
I can’t help where my thoughts stray on the six-hour journey to the border. Only six, thanks to the liberal speed limits throughout the UAE and Shadow’s lead foot. We roll up to the covered booths, where groups of soldiers wait for the nod to descend on someone trying to gain illegal entry. My instincts tell me to account for every threat—the location, the type of threat, and estimate the likelihood of an attack. But I’m scrunched down in the back seat to make myself appear smaller. I purposely keep my gaze low to avoid eye contact with anyone outside the vehicle. And my demure little girl act is keeping us all alive.
The guard takes the documents from Shadow, and they have a brief conversation in Arabic. The reason I don’t look at them now is that I’m afraid he’ll speak to me and I have no way to reply. I’m at a complete disadvantage in this country on every front. But there’s no part of me that wants to back out of this. My girl is in an even worse position, and I know she isn’t giving up. She doesn’t have it in her to surrender.
I release a huge sigh of relief when we’re waved through the checkpoint without an extensive search. When we pick up speed again, I finally feel safe enough to speak.
“Can I take this ridiculous outfit off now?”
“Silence, woman. You’re not allowed to speak until spoken to first. Learn your place.”
“Shadow, you should know that I’m telling Elle every mean word you say to me. She will make you pay for it when we get home.”
“That’s cold, man.”
The entire vehicle breaks out in laughter, releasing some of the stifling tension that’s made it hard to breathe all day.
“Seriously, you can’t take it off yet. They’re known to have random roadblocks just to harass people, make sure they have all their paperwork in order, and that they’re following all the religious laws. We can’t let them see your face.”
“Good point. I’ll keep it
on. But you should know this thing is really uncomfortable and I’m developing claustrophobia under here.”
“I get it. You hate wearing a niqab and an abaya. But a lot of women in this region like them. It’s usually by personal preference, but in this case, your father has deemed you unworthy of staying with the family. So you have to wear it to cover your disloyal face.”
“The entire world needs therapy, man. You. Me. Them. Everyone.”
After another two hours on the road, we finally reach the private jet that will carry us the rest of the way. When we land outside of Riyadh, I calculate they had a ten-hour head start on us, and we’re still not caught up. The men we meet on the hard-packed sand landing strip are obviously also CIA, putting their lives and their covers on the line to help a fellow brother-in-arms.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” One man approaches me, wearing the traditional thobe and headdress.
“Without a doubt. Holy shit. You’re Jason, aren’t you? You worked with Tawnee.”
“Yeah, that’s me. John and I were on assignment to follow Rafael Cruz.” He nods toward the other man helping us. “We had to pull back when everything got crazy with the whole fake wedding bullshit. We have tabs on where he’ll be, though, so we’re helping get Tawnee back first.”
“We appreciate the help. Why didn’t you tell us we were on the same team when we first met? You must have known Silas and I were CIA.”
“Sure, we did. Silas’s reputation precedes him. But then so does Shadow’s, and we were under orders not to give anything away. We knew we couldn’t trust the others, so we just kept playing along until we couldn’t anymore.”
“We’re glad to have you on our team. What do you have for us?” Nick asks.
“I don’t know where you’ll stick this to keep them from finding it, but I’ll leave it up to you to find a spot.” He hands me a small military-grade stun gun.
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