Freedom Does Matter (Mercenaries Book 2) (10 page)

It took Beckie a couple of hours and considerable teasing out of answers before she could sit back and review.

When she began, Noorah was astounded and not a little fearful. The little peeks she kept giving Beckie… Well, she probably expects me to kill her. In halting words, Noorah explained that she was motivated solely by her sheikh’s threats to kill, first her brother, and second her sister, if she failed to halt the negotiations by killing Ian and then Beckie.

Noorah believed that her sheikh believed the land to be his tribe’s “by right of birth and working.”

Of those, the first was the only one of importance, since Beckie had no way of knowing how well Noorah understood the sheikh. The girl could think of no other reason, but admitted he had told her essentially nothing beyond where to go and what to do.

And Noorah’s motivation applied here and now. The third time she broke down saying, “I have failed again. My sister will also be forfeit,” Beckie tried to comfort her but, being the cause of the girl’s distress, she found it difficult. After a moment, she stood and walked back and forth across the room.

The girl was the cause of
her
distress as well as Ian’s near fatal injuries. Beckie sat and mused in uncomfortable silence. Do I hang her out to dry? She’s looking out for her family. Yeah? And who’s looking out for Ian? Her sympathy for the girl’s motivation didn’t overcome her anger. Yeah, I want revenge, too! ‘Specially if Ian… doesn’t recover. But it’s not really her, is it? What about her fucking sheikh? He’s the one. Can we get rid of him? She took a deep breath. But first, does she know anything else? How would I gain her confidence?

After several minutes, she realized, I do have a little empathy for her. “I am tempted… Do you understand tempted?” When the girl nodded, Beckie said, “I am tempted to race in and take your whole family away. I suppose your sheikh would not like that, which doesn’t bother me. And while your brother and sister might be happy, your mum might not be, being snatched from everything she knows. Still, it would have the advantage of getting you out of a bad situation. At least to me it seems bad.”

This time, Noorah’s brow furrowed and her eyes slitted. “I cannot say. It is what I know.” But before the girl’s face had darkened, Beckie’d seen a flash of… something. Hope, maybe?

“There is powerful risk, too. Something’s going on, close by, according to the clerk. That adds to the problems.”

Noorah nodded, then hung her head. “Do you not hate me?”

Beckie’s head snapped around to gape at her. “What? No!” In a second she recognized the truth in her reflexive answer. “But I have to admit, that’s because the doctor gave me good news.” She stood and gazed at the girl lying awkwardly against the wall. “Like me, you did what you thought you had to. While I wish you’d found a different thing to do, I can’t hate you for trying to protect your family. It’s what I’d do, too. What I’ve done.”

“I see.”

Beckie could tell Noorah lied; the girl was confounded by her answer.

She put her Kevin hat on. He’d want to call the cops… or whomever, and get rid of her. I think there’s good odds they’d give her a medal and send her on her way. And no matter what, they won’t tell us anything they might discover.

Noticing that Noorah’s eyes followed her the whole way, she stood and went to the window, pulling the drapes the rest of the way open. “Wow,” she said, looking at the sun coming up over the sea, “we’ve been talking longer than I thought. I’m gonna roll you over and untie your feet. With your hands tied, and half-naked, I guess you won’t be anxious to run outside.” She waited until Noorah’s expression of shock faded, then went and dug in her bag until she retrieved her throwing knife. A gift from Sue and Elena, it was double edged, flat, seven inches long but only one wide except at the tapered pointy end. It had no handle to speak of; she held it so Noorah could see and recognize it. As she flexed the stiff blade, she said, “For throwing. I’m pretty fair with it, especially when the target’s as big as your back. Don’t run.” She carefully sheathed the knife in her back pocket.

She needed twenty minutes before Noorah sat on the chair.

When she’d gotten close, Beckie found the girl’s odor unbearable; she forced her to the bathroom, to the shower. She didn’t untie Noorah’s arms, and she didn’t allow her clothes except for a clean pair of shorts. A tube of antiseptic took care of the cuts and scrapes.

“Now,” Beckie said. “What next? Can you eat?”

“I suppose I could be traveling, so may be permitted to eat after sunrise. Besides, as a woman, or as a child, honoring that rule is less important.” Beckie smiled internally at the girl’s look of disgust.

“Will there be room service?”

Noorah nodded, still staring at the expanse of her bare skin above and below the shorts, which were not as long as Bermuda length. “Many staff remain.”

Beckie used the room’s phone to request a large breakfast, which, she was assured, would be delivered directly. She hid Noorah in the bathroom when the tray arrived. When Beckie had laid out the food, she used Noorah’s knife to cut the tie at her wrists, then together they cleaned the plates.

When the dishes had been piled near the door, the girls took seats next to the window. They talked, in that Beckie asked for more details and Noorah repeated what she’d said. When the sun rose to warm them in spite of the air conditioning, they pulled the chairs back from the glass.

Beckie gazed out the window again, longing to be back at the Nest… but then admitted it was because of Ian, not the beach. Still, this beach was almost as nice as at the Nest, and she’d not taken advantage of it so far. “Will anyone recognize you if we go to the beach?”

Noorah had a strange expression as she waved a hand at herself. “I would not go out—”

With a laugh, Beckie said, “Of course not!” To herself, Can I trust her? I still need the sheikh’s name, which she hasn’t given up… yet. I can give her some of my clothes. She’s thin enough to fit… or give her my abaya. But that would make it easier for someone to identify her. No matter what she said, she can’t be here alone. 

“Why do you not kill me?”

Beckie nearly fell off the chair. When she caught herself, she said, “Why would I kill you? Or even harm you?” She dragged her chair closer and took the girl’s hands. “You hurt Ian, but he’s gonna be okay.” I hope! “I guess you tried to kill me, but you got the worst of it. I got some exercise and a scrape.” She rubbed her knee. “So, even for revenge, I have no reason to kill you. Besides, that’s the wrong way to solve problems. Part of what we’re doing here in the negotiations.” She dropped Noorah’s hands and leaned back in the chair; the girl’s bare chest was beginning to be a distraction. “Did you really want to kill me? Or even injure me?”

“I want my brother and sister to be safe. How can they be safe if I fail?”

Beckie shook her head. “I’ll work on that.” She dug in her bag, pulling a patterned shirt out. “Here, wear this. No one has seen you wearing something like this, I’ll bet.”

Now Noorah shook her head, but she did draw the shirt closed, buttoning it up. When she had it tucked in, she gave Beckie a questioning stare. “Yup. Looks fine.

“Let’s go outside.”

Beckie looked both ways at the door before turning toward the right, toward the sea. Her glance to the other side confirmed that the Jeep was still there. We can’t leave till eleven. Whoa! Already planning to take her? Facing the sea, the beach and water were so inviting, the on-shore breeze blowing her hair back and bringing the tang of the salt water to her nose—even with infrequent scents of things the waves had tossed onto the strand.

As she stepped into the passage, a piece of paper taped to a door on the other side fluttered in the breeze. She glanced at it long enough to determine it was in Arabic. She caught Noorah’s arm as the girl peered out. “What does this say?”

She stepped into the hallway and scanned the paper. “It is a statement that until the… exercise? I think. Until the exercise is complete, the resort is closed and under the protection of… of our tribe, and our Sheikh Sedki.” She turned back. “That’s all.”

Beckie nodded with a smile. So Sedki’s the one I’m after. She took Noorah’s hand and ran toward the waves. 

After forty-five minutes of talking about Noorah’s life—research, Beckie insisted as she kept asking about numbers and arms and how well their camp matched the land Haleef had shown her—while wading, walking and sitting on convenient rocks, Beckie was happy she’d chosen a white shirt, though she missed the head scarf she had left in the room. “The sun will bleach the color outta my hair, I’ll bet,” she said as she combed her fingers through the dark brown strands. “Already looks lighter.”

“I can tell no difference,” Noorah told her before she scrubbed her hand over her own short hair. “Mine is always black.”

“Well…” Beckie stood, stretching to the sky. Suddenly, the rock shook; she lost her balance and fell. “Whoa! Oww! What the hell was that?”

Noorah’s face was drawn tight, her eyes wide. “I… I do not know, Miss.”

“Well, it’s passed for now.” Beckie stood again to rub her rear. “Felt like a pretty good one.” She stared out over the water. “I wonder where…”

Noorah was making sobbing sounds, as if she were muffling them. After a few moments watching the waves, Beckie turned to look at the beach. Except for Noorah, hands covering her face, nothing had changed.

She began to sit just as the rock moved again. It wasn’t as violent this time, but her balance was precarious, between standing and sitting, and again she landed hard. “Ooof! Ow!” She rubbed her butt again. “That’s not good,” she muttered.

 “What’s not good?” Noorah cried. “What—”

“Keep calm,” Beckie said, pulling the girl into an awkward hug atop the now still rocks. “No need for hysterics. How far apart were those two shocks?”

“I don’t know. Less than a minute? I didn’t look at the watch.”

“Yeah, okay.” She put her chin on her hand and contemplated. If those were the, what’d they call them, the shock waves from an earthquake… She cudgeled her mind, reviewing the Earth Science course last semester, the segment that dealt with earthquakes. Africa doesn’t have
that
many… rift zones. But… I’ll bet… Shit! Just like in history, the Hellenic Trench! She looked back over Noorah’s shoulder at the sea, placid and calm. And tsunamis. She did a few quick calculations, based on the things she recalled. If the two shocks were those waves, and about forty-five or fifty seconds apart, the quake would have been… about… four or five hundred kilometers away. “Noorah, where is your family?”

“My family? Why do you ask?”

“Are they here? Close by?” Beckie was trying to remember how fast tsunamis traveled. If her estimates were reasonable, they might have forty-five minutes. Egypt wasn’t like Hawaii; no warning sirens here. “What time is it?”

The barrage of questions brought a blank stare from Noorah until the last one. “Ten and forty-five.”

“Okay. We need to get out of here. If we’re lucky, nothing will happen.”

“And if we are unlucky, Miss?”

“If we are a little unlucky, the water won’t reach us as we get away from the coast.” She glanced at the sea again. “If we’re a lot unlucky, the water will catch us. That will certainly happen unless we start to move inland. So, your brother and sister, are they here?”

“Water, Miss? I don’t understand.”

Beckie turned to see Noorah’s wide eyes and blank expression. If I’m… If
we’re
gonna get through this, she needs to understand. And then, something to hang on to. “Do you know what a tsunami is?”

The blank expression didn’t change.

“Hmm. How about a tidal wave?”

Noorah snapped her head around to gape at the Mediterranean, then back to Beckie. She choked the words out. “Yes. Is… Is that go… going to happen here?”

“I don’t know for sure, but it could. And it’s better to be safe.”

“My brother and sister are in the wadi.”

“Okay.” Beckie again wondered if Noorah
was
here alone, but put that question aside for later. “You should warn the others here.”

“Yes.”

Noorah ran up the beach to the cabins. Long before she reappeared, Beckie was bouncing on her toes, anxious to get out, to get away from the water, the beach. For the umpteenth time, she looked behind her, expecting to see a wall of water. For the umpteenth time, the surface of the beautiful blue water rippled with waves not more than two feet high. No sign of disaster, yet. She counted to three hundred twice before trotting toward the resort cabins where Noorah had disappeared. As she approached, Noorah came thru the opening between the buildings. 

As she did, Beckie felt uncomfortable. A chill—why?

The quiet. The susurrus of the waves: missing! She ran before she looked. She didn’t want to see what she expected, but couldn’t resist. Taking a glance over her shoulder, she caught her breath. Sand and rocks behind her, but no water. That answers that, she thought grimly, not that I wanted proof. Before she finished the thought, she’d tripped and sprawled headlong in the sand.

No sound escaped except an “Oof!” muffled by the sand filling her mouth and left ear. Spitting and shaking, she cleared most of it and crawled to get to her feet. She brushed sand from her shirt as she began running.

Noorah had stopped at the opening between the buildings, frozen like an ice sculpture as she watched Beckie regain her footing and run toward her. The idea brought a smile to Beckie’s lips if not her heart. Ice on this beach! By now, she had reached the Egyptian girl; she snatched at Noorah’s arm and yanked her around to follow.

Her panting was now loud enough to cover the missing sound of the sea. As she pulled Noorah between the buildings, she snapped a glance back. The water had not yet begun to return… Wait… A blue-green line, well off shore, was visible. As she watched, white foam began to appear.

Noorah’s shirt nearly ripped off as Beckie wrenched. “Com’on! We’ve gotta get out, higher!” She didn’t recognize her voice, but Noorah held on and ran with her.

The silence had been swallowed by the increasingly louder sound of breakers rolling onto the beach. But where ordinary breakers crashed to the sand, these kept growing in volume. Beckie snatched a glance back; over the buildings hung a roiling mist, leaping and gathering itself for the final assault.