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“Maybe not now,” I said lightly, a delicious thrill skimming down my spine from the heat of his fingers I felt through the fabric. “But someday.”
I had to remind myself that he had a betrothed.
Whit stepped away from me as if I were an open flame. “I’ve finished. Unless you’d also like me to brush your bloody hair and braid it for you?”
“Do you know how to—”
“No.”
I quickly braided it and followed him out of the room, trying to catchup to his long stride. We reached the lobby and briskly walked around, looking outside on the terrace and then the several alcoves in the adjacent rooms. Elvira wasn’t in the dining hall, nor was she in the ballroom. The clock read close to noon.
“Whit,” I said slowly, panic rising in a smothering wave. “Where is she?”
“Let’s go speak with Sallam again,” he said. “Try not to worry. She might have linked up with an old acquaintance.”
“She knows no one here,” I protested as he led me to the front desk. The lobby teemed with people and we had to skirt around them.
“Don’t forget that Cairo has an extraordinary number of visitors this time of year,” he said. “Look around, she might have seen an old friend.”
Sallam greeted us with a smile. “Good afternoon, Mr. Hayes and Señorita Olivera. It’s nice to see the two of you together. You’ve just missed Señor Marqués—he was off to a business meeting. I believe you’re expected to join him? Shall I acquire a hackney cab for you?”
“Not at this moment,” Whit said. “Can you tell us if you’ve seen Señorita Montenegro this morning?”
He blinked and stoked his graying beard. “Come to think of it, I thought I saw you, Señorita Olivera, getting into a carriage this morning, but wearing a different dress. It must have been your cousin, then.”
I stood motionless, refusing to believe my cousin could have been so silly. “What kind of carriage? Did you see who she was with?”
Sallam shook his head. “It was only a quick glance, I’m afraid, but he bore the look of your uncle. Tall and broad shouldered. In fact, I assumed it was Ricardo.”
“My uncle? Tío Ricardo took her somewhere?” I repeated, fear pricking my heart. Now I understood why she’d gotten into the carriage in the first place. She had known her companion. I turned to Whit. “What do we do? How do we find her?”
Whit placed a gentle hand on my arm, about to lead me away from the front desk, when Sallam said, “A message arrived for you this morning, Señorita Olivera.” He rummaged through the cubbies and produced a small, square-shaped envelope. The handwriting looked vaguely familiar.
I took the note and thanked him, and followed Whit as I tore it open. There was a single sheet of paper inside, along with two tickets: one for a seat on the train leaving for Alexandria the next morning, and another for a steamship heading to Argentina. I impatiently yanked out the note and read the scant few lines.
Then I read it again, my heart beating wildly against my ribs as if it were a wild animal locked in a cage. I barely noticed Whit stopping and taking hold of the note.
He read it quickly and the strong line of his jaw locked. It might have been made of iron. “Shit.”
My pulse thundered, making me strangely light-headed. I barely recognized my surroundings as Whit took me back up the stairs, down the long corridor, and inside the room I shared with my cousin.
Elvira.
Elvira, who had been kidnapped.
“Give me the note,” I demanded, rounding on Whit. “There’s been some mistake.”
He handed it back to me wordlessly, his eyes blazing as I lowered my gaze and read the lines again, written in a messy scrawl.
Dear Inez,
I’m afraid I had to take very drastic measures to ensure your safety. Elvira is lost to you, and while I’m sure you will never be able to forgive me, I do hope you’ll understand in time. Perhaps when you have a daughter of your own.
You must leave Cairo tonight.
It will only be a matter of time before they’ve realized they’ve taken the wrong girl to the docks and come after you.
Lourdes
