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Get a hold of yourself! Sure, he’s exactly the type of guy that makes your mouth water, but this is neither the time nor the place!
PJ smoothed her hands down her legs, refocusing her mind on the task at hand.
“We look over the satellite feeds and hope we can pinpoint where they’re headed. We also hope they contact the palace soon with their demands.”
PJ looked at him from the corner of her eye. “The sheikh would negotiate with them?”
Talib smirked at her. “To a point. He might appear to be cooperating, but only until he could assure himself of Miss Malone’s safety. After that, he’ll move heaven and earth to avenge her kidnapping. Any threat against the royal family, extended or otherwise, is punishable by death.”
PJ swallowed before asking, “How?”Did they shoot them, or stone them to death? From what she’d seen, some parts of Jawhara still seemed pretty archaic to her.
“Firing squad, although if Miss Malone is injured in any way, the Sheikh might consider something more painful, like hanging.”
PJ looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. “Wow! So, just like the Old West.”
Talib cocked his head. “Old West?”
PJ waved him off. “Sorry! During the early years of westward expansion in America, cowboys and settlers used hangings quite often.”
Talib grinned. “Yes, I remember reading some of the literature from that time period. Very interesting how they meted out justice, although I personally believe a bullet would have been much faster.”
PJ grinned at him. “Funny, I’ve always thought the same thing myself. I believe they were aiming to make an example of the criminal, to deter others from going down the same path.”
Before Talib could reply, his laptop buzzed, notifying him the satellite images were ready to be viewed. PJ stepped closer to him as he pulled up the images from the last two hours and began to scroll through them.
She watched the images, scouring them for any signs that humans had traveled back across the border. When nothing showed up, she mentally cursed and huffed out a frustrated breath.
Talib met her eyes before he spoke. “Do not give up. We will find her. We just haven’t looked in the right place yet.”
3
TALIB
Talib started manipulating the images, and pretty soon they could see the edge of the refugee camp come into focus. As he started to scan through the images once again, PJ took another step closer, leaning her head down towards the small laptop screen to get a better view. She was practically leaning against his back in an effort to see the screen more clearly over his shoulder.
“Stop! What is that?” PJ asked, pointing to the screen where a small, dark shadow had appeared.
Talib squinted as he focused on where her finger was pointing. “I don’t know.” He ignored the way his heart rate had sped up as her arm brushed against his shoulder. Swallowing quickly, he moved the cursor to enlarge the image and advance the playback, grinning when the sight of someone leading a donkey with a rider appeared. They moved farther away from the camp, dropping down over the nearest sand dune, and then continued to head towards the border. Talib smiled.
We’ve found them!
“That’s them, isn’t it?” PJ asked, excitement and energy evident in her voice. She pulled her arm back and straightened as Talib turned to face her.
Talib nodded. “Yes. If the palace guard is the one who took her, then we can assume that’s him on foot, and I’d bet my life that the rider is Miss Malone, hidden under a burqa.”
“So now what? She appears to be upright, and she’s not fighting or trying to escape.”
“Remember that appearances are often misleading. There are many ways to force someone to do something they don’t want to. I doubt she went with him freely without some sort of threat being made against her or the baby she carries.”
PJ reared back a step. “What did you just say?”
“Miss Malone is carrying the future heir of Jawhara. She is only a few months pregnant, and the news has not been made public in light of the fact that the wedding has yet to take place.”
“Pregnant? Why wasn’t I told? Is there any chance the guard who took her knows about her condition?” PJ’s fingers beat a staccato on her leg as she spoke. “If the kidnapper knows she’s pregnant, it will make things that much harder. She’ll be less likely to risk an escape attempt. Damn it! Did Slade know about this?”
Talib was asking himself the same question; he only wished he knew the answer. “The possibility is there. Many of the palace guards have been made aware of her condition because she has been very ill and has only recently begun to feel better. If Slade did not know of her condition, he would have been told when she went missing.”
PJ shook her head. “This situation just keeps getting better and better. So, maybe the guy who took her threatened to harm the baby. That would certainly ensure her cooperation.”
