“I know. I understand. But you should know that I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my brother, too,” Sunny said, then walked back toward the conference room.
Chapter Forty-Five
A jolt slammed into Mena’s back and her body tumbled forward, banging against hard plastic. Stunned, she opened her eyes and struggled to regain her balance. Twisted around her body was a heavy blanket that reeked of gas and mothballs. Hakeem had directed her to hide underneath the dark blanket as he drove them across Kenya, trying to avoid dangerous men who wanted to kidnap her and turn her over to Tubeec Hirad.
The rays of the morning sun felt warm across her cheek as she grabbed the blanket and maneuvered onto the back seat.
“Yes, that’s the right account number. I will be notified when the funds are transferred … Wait … You’re changing locations now? I’m halfway to Wajir … fine, I’ll head east. About a couple hours away from that airstrip.” Hakeem spoke in a low, hushed tone.
Mena raised her head. Hakeem had a cell phone pinned between his shoulder and his ear. Where had he gotten another phone? He’d destroyed the phone after she’d made the mistake of trying to call Julian.
“Look, you make sure you have everything ready for a quick exchange. I don’t know how much time I have before they figure out what I did,” Hakeem said, then was silent for several more minutes.
Mena strained to see if he was still on the call. Hakeem held the cell phone in his hand, shaking his head, then slipped it into a pocket on his shirt.
Propping herself up on an elbow, Mena stretched as if she’d just awoken. She wanted to ask Hakeem about the call, but felt herself hesitating. A strange tension in the air made her uneasy.
“Sorry about the bumps. Didn’t mean to wake you, but I need to stay off the main roads,” Hakeem said from the driver’s seat.
She watched his eyes through the rearview mirror watching her. “It’s okay, I’m not complaining.”
Her throat was dry and cracked. Mena grabbed the water bottle from the floorboard. Twisting the cap off the top of the bottle, Mena pressed it against her lips and drank the sun-warmed liquid. Leaning her head back, she caught a glimpse outside the side window. The desolate landscape was littered with the occasional shrub brush or tree with mud houses in the distance. They should be close to Nairobi by now, but the landscape was still remote and rural. She was expecting to see highways, neighborhoods, and the tall skyscrapers of the modern city coming into view. It couldn’t be much longer before they entered Nairobi. Soon, she would be back with Julian, ready to put this entire nightmare behind her.
“Any sign of threats during the night?” Mena asked.
“A few,” Hakeem said, steering the Jeep to the left. “Lucky for me you’re a sound sleeper and don’t snore. I got stopped a couple of times and questioned by some rebels, had to pay some bribes to pass through, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”
Mena had never been a sound sleeper and she hadn’t expected to sleep at all last night, but at some point she must have drifted to sleep although she didn’t remember when.
“There’re some pop tarts in the knapsack if you’re hungry. Just stay low so you can’t be seen through the windows,” Hakeem said, pointing behind him.
Mena grabbed the shiny metallic package and tore it open, sliding a cold frosted strawberry pop tart out of the package. She’d much rather be feasting on her mom’s chicken and waffles, but at this point she couldn’t turn down any type of meal. Her hunger pangs had hunger pangs.
Stuffing a large chunk of the pastry into her mouth, Mena stole another glance out of the window. Her eyes locked on a house in the distance. Shifting to a half-sitting position, she strained to adjust her eyes to the sunlight.
It couldn’t be possible. Could it?
Was that the faded blue concrete home where she and Julian had hidden? As they passed the home, Mena’s eyes were drawn to the mosaic tile cross that hung above the door. The sunlight shimmered off the tiles, sending a prism of light across the porch.
It was definitely the house.
How could they still be near this place if they were only hours away from Nairobi? Julian had explained that the house was in the northeastern part of Kenya, hundreds of miles from the Kenyan capital. How could Hakeem be driving by the house? If he’d driven all night, like she thought, they would be far away from this house by now. What the hell was going on?
Heart rate skyrocketing, Mena glanced over at Hakeem.
Was Hakeem really who he said he was?
Or had she spent the last three days with a man she should have been running from?
“How much longer?” Mena asked, her voice low as she forced the words from the tightness in her throat.
Hakeem glanced back at her, then looked back at the road. “Just a couple more hours. Cover up.”
He was lying, Mena knew.
Hakeem wasn’t taking her back to Nairobi.
Mena looked through the window, watching the house grow smaller and smaller from view.
