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“You’re lying. There is no gun. You just want to escape away without me.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
Her smile was sweet. “Look,” she said. “The water’s almost at the top of the tub.”
“Yeah. Fine.” Cam turned off the taps. “Okay. I’m going to open this door and—”
“You’re going to open the window,” she said, and let out a blood-curdling scream.
Cam’s eyes widened in disbelief. He cursed, slapped his hand over her mouth, but it was too late. Something smashed against the doors in the other room.
He spun around, threw the bolt on the bathroom door. It was old and it wouldn’t hold up to more than a few blows, but any delaying action was better than none.
Salome was already at the window, pushing at the lock.
“It’s jammed!”
Cam cursed, shoved her aside, beat at the lock with his fist. The nail file. Would it…? Yes. A couple of jabs and the lock sprang open.
The sounds from outside the other room grew louder. The doors would give way any second.
“They’re coming,” she said in a panicked whisper. “They’re coming!”
“What a surprise,” Cam muttered as he ripped the shutters away, kicked out the glass and hoisted himself onto the wide sill.
“Please! Don’t leave me behind!”
He jerked around, looked down at the woman, saw her golden hair streaming over her naked breasts, saw her sky-blue eyes filled with hope and terror. She’d gotten herself into this mess, come to this hellhole for whatever she could get from Asaad, and now she’d forced him into making his escape unprepared. The Beretta that might be his only chance at survival was as much beyond his reach as the world he’d left behind when he left Dallas.
“Please,” she whispered, “don’t leave me.”
The sounds from outside the bedroom grew louder, as if the door were being pounded with a battering ram.
“Please,” she said desperately.
With a muffled curse, Cam leaned toward her. “You give me a minute’s trouble and so help me, I’ll dump you. You got that?”
“Yes. Yes, yes, yes!”
He held out his hand. She grabbed his wrist and he yanked her onto the sill beside him.
“We’re going to jump,” he said, “and hit the ground running.”
“Run where?”
“Wherever I tell you. Ready?”
She nodded. “Ready.”
He could hear her teeth chattering. She was scared to death. Good, he thought grimly. Scared, she just might be tractable.
“One,” he said. “Two…”
He laced his fingers through hers. They jumped and she landed on her feet, despite the sky-high heels.
Cam took a quick look around. They were in a walled passageway; overhead, a thin slice of lemon-yellow moon cast a cold glow over the hardpacked earth where, hours before, he’d first set eyes on Salome.
“Are you as good at running as you are at playing games in bed, Salome?” He didn’t expect an answer, nor did he intend to wait for one. Instead, he shoved her behind him. “Follow me,” he said. “Run as if the hounds of hell were on your heels.”
