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“Because he isn’t qualified. Sheikh Kamal doesn’t believe in nepotism,” Talib told them, his opinion apparent in the tone of his voice.
Trent thought quickly. “But is he qualified to know how to sabotage the oil wells,anddoes he have access?”
Everyone was quiet, looking at Talib for an answer. His lips pressed together in a line before he gave a curt nod. “He is and he does.”
There was a brief silence before Slade spoke. “Bethany, you’ll work with Talib to see if you can figure out exactly how motivated Amalia and Zaid are. Put a trace on where the money went and check their finances to see if other large sums of money have been transferred in either direction. We need to get eyes on all the players and potential players before we land. Once we do, Travis will take the boxes through customs, and then rendezvous with Al Shabib. Trent and I will be on comms, monitoring everything. Anything else?”
“We’ll let the sheikh know what’s going on and see what actions he wants to take. Since we don’t know if Amalia is acting alone, out of a desire to help her son, or if she’s part of a bigger plan, we’ll let a few folks in Bashiria know, so they can put pressure on her to see if she cracks. The Bashirian government has gone out of their way to work with the sheikh, and they’ll be quick to help render assistance if it looks like it could negatively impact their country.” Brock smiled. “With increasing international interest in Jawhara and their neighbors, they won’t want to do anything that paints them as the bad guys.”
“Agreed. We’ll touch base when we land, and be sure to forward anything of value. Since we don’t know the role of Chloe Baker in this op, we have to assume she’s a wild card and need to plan accordingly.”
Trent wanted to lunge across his seat to stop Slade from speaking, but Travis grabbed his shoulder, squeezing it, and he held back. No way was Chloe willingly in this.
Slade disconnected the video call and turned to face him. He gestured to where Travis still had his hand on him. “This is why Travis is making the drop.” Trent opened his mouth to argue, but Slade held up his hand to silence him. “I get it. We all do. If it was Bethany or PJ or Keira, we would all be doing the same thing and having the same argument. For our safety, including Chloe’s, you will be on comms. Got it?”
Trent stared at Slade, willing him to change his mind. Travis gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I got this, bro. Besides, you’re faster on the cams. With you monitoring CCTV, we’ll have a better chance of stopping everyone.”
His brother was right and so was Slade, not that he’d want to tell him. Giving a curt nod, he said, “Okay.” Then he had a thought. “I know we tagged all the photos we took at Kale and Shira’s wedding and reception. I’ll go through those and run it against the list of family members who also work for Jewel Oil. Maybe we can get a cross list of additional suspects.”
“Good idea, but have someone else do that while you take a nap for an hour or two before we land. You haven’t slept since we boarded, and you won’t be of much use if you’re dead on your feet,” Slade told him.
Shaking his brother’s hand off him, he reached for his laptop. “No, I’m good. I can go at least two days without sleep, same as you two. No way am I going to rest until this is over.”
Pulling up the photos from the wedding, he began to sift through them, but his thoughts kept returning to Chloe. No way was she intentionally involved in all of this.
I’m coming, Chloe.
19
When Brad and Anna had approached Chloe to go to Jawhara, she’d initially thought to say no, but then she thought about what Trent had said about the sheikh and his family, and how they were good people, so she’d said yes. Now that she was here, she didn’t know what she’d been thinking. Trent was the superhero, not her. Why did she think she could help when she had no idea what was going on?
From the moment she’d boarded the private plane, to well after they’d landed in Jawhara, Anna hadn’t said more than two words to her, making for a lonely trip and leaving Chloe to question her decision over and over. Once they were through customs, they were immediately whisked away to an older building near the airport. Chloe had been left in a common area while Anna had disappeared behind closed doors.
Chloe tried to hear what was being said, but she couldn’t hear anything, and when she’d tried to open the door, she found it locked. Wandering over to the exit, she decided to get some fresh air, but when she opened the door, she was surprised to see the limo driver guarding it.
With nothing to do, she’d sat down on an old couch and her thoughts had turned to Trent. She wondered where he was. He was supposed to have left for Jawhara yesterday, and while she’d told him that she’d talk to him when he got back, she’d sort of expected to hear from him. Or at least, hoped to. That was until the battery died on her phone and she couldn’t find her charger. She’d remembered reading on travel blogs that if you forgot something, sometimes you could borrow what you needed from the lost and found boxes in hotels, and she’d hoped to do that with a charger, but first they needed to get to their hotel.
At some point, Chloe had fallen asleep and when she woke, it took her a moment to remember where she was. For her first trip out of the country, this wasn’t going very well.
She heard the tap of Anna’s shoes as she came out.
"We’re leaving.”
Now, they were back in the limo, and Chloe stared out the window, barely seeing the passing landscape. Larger and newer buildings came into view and when the limo slowed down, pulling smoothly to the curb and the door opened, she thought they’d arrived at their hotel. Assuming she was supposed to get out, she was surprised when she was pushed back into the car before she could fully step out.
“Hey! What was that for?” she demanded as Anna slid out of the car, leaving her behind.
“Oh, Chloe, darling, meet Mr. Al Shabib. He’s going to meet with your friend. Be a dear and keep him company.”
“But wait! Anna! What am I doing?”
Anna ignored her, and the man in question climbed into the backseat next to her. Chloe found herself sliding closer to the other door to put more distance between them. The older man was dressed impeccably in a traditional robe over his suit. He sniffed, looking her up and down, leaving Chloe with little doubt as to what he thought of her.
Having spent the past twenty plus hours traveling, she’d been looking forward to checking into her hotel room to freshen up and change, but that wasn’t happening. Running her fingers through her messy hair, she settled on pulling it back into a somewhat tidy bun and securing it with a pen she found in her bag. Grabbing the bottled water she’d saved from their flight, she took a sip and found a mint to suck on.
She cast furtive looks his way, but he ignored her.
She had no idea how long they’d been in the car when the limo pulled to a stop. The driver opened the door and Mr. Al Shabib got out and then snapped his fingers at her to follow. Getting dutifully out, she looked around.
