pushed the inappropriate thought from his mind and gave her his full attention.
“It was a theory that probably isn’t very plausible. Hopefully we’ll have more information, a direction, before we hit the road. If not, we get moving, anyway. With any luck, by this time tomorrow, this will be over—or...” She hesitated. “Or at least close.”
Silence hung between them for a minute then two.
“Do you think they meant to keep you from leaving Marrakech and following them?” Kate asked as she mulled over the profiles of the deceased pair of attackers.
“By attempting to kill me or, more appropriately, us?” He could hear the amusement in his voice. If it hadn’t been about Tara, he would have enjoyed sparring with her—going over the theories, discounting them, coming up with new ones.
“I don’t think they expected me or Dell. And when they realized you weren’t alone, it all fell apart.” She stood, paced the length of the office.
“So, opening fire at the edge of airport property was to threaten the family.”
“Exactly. You were the one who would go after them. They knew that.”
“And Faisal or any of the others wouldn’t?”
“Faisal is an ocean away. Zafir is more apt to play their game and, of course, Talib will agree with Zafir. He usually does.” She smiled. “Not that Talib doesn’t have his own mind, but he tends to think much like Zafir.” She looked at him. “Whereas you? You will play to a point but it won’t stop you from going after her. You’re more like Faisal than you know.” She smiled. “You’re wondering how I know that.”
“Am I?”
“I’ve studied many of the agency’s past cases and I’ve spoken to Adam. I might not be completely right, but I think I’m close. As far as Talib is concerned?” She put a finger to her chin as if considering. “Middle child. I filled in the blanks—classic.”
“Assumption,” he said with a pained attempt at a smile. “But impressive.”
“And you? Oldest child, responsibility of raising a younger sibling foisted on you at a young age. Serious. Determined. In charge. Textbook.”
“So this was all about getting me out of the way?” he asked and couldn’t kill the sarcasm in his voice. “The theory must seem like overkill, even to you.”
“Maybe. Or maybe not,” she said. “Think about it.”
There were so many different angles in any kidnapping case and because it was Tara, there seemed even more. The silence since the last call they’d received from the kidnappers terrified him, not for himself but for Tara. She was everything and it was up to him to make sure she came back, for their family was nothing without her.
“Emir...” Kate began, her hand reaching for his.
He shook his head. He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d felt any lower, any more desperate. It was an out-of-control feeling that terrified him and he knew he had to get it together.
He looked at Kate and wished that he hadn’t. He couldn’t handle the compassion in her beautiful eyes. Her lips were slightly parted and seemed to offer the only chance at hope he had in this dark and dreadful night.
He leaned down and, as his lips met hers, he felt the power of what the two of them were and had proved only a few hours ago. Now he felt a different power, the power of where her soft lips could take him, where the taste of her could lead, where... He drew back, leaving the kiss as only a sweet meeting, a gentle caress, leaving the potential behind.
“I’m...” He wasn’t sure what he’d been about to say. His emotions were playing with his logic and all he wanted to do was to kiss her again. He shoved the feeling back. The life-and-death adrenaline rush had awoken another primitive need, nothing more.
But as he turned his back to her and faced the city, the haunting tones of the call to prayer began. The ancient notes pierced the silence and taunted the occupants of that one room in the Al-Nassar compound with the reminder of how life was so much more important than the moments that defined it.
And worse, that time was slipping away.
Monday, September 14, 8:15 p.m.
Emir’s phone beeped just as the call to prayer ended, as if the solemnity of the one had somehow influenced the other. He pulled the phone out of his pocket as his eyes met Kate’s and he knew they were on the same page. She connected with him like no one, no woman, ever had. It was different than how he connected with Zafir, for this connection felt intimate. It was another thought he didn’t want to consider. All he wanted to consider right now was that they were back in business.
“Zafir,” he said for Kate’s benefit. He’d known without looking at his phone, with an instinct that they’d had since birth, that it was his twin. “What do you have?” he asked. He nodded at Kate’s look and pressed the speaker button as he alerted his twin, “You’re on speaker.”
“An ID on one of your attackers. Unfortunately we couldn’t find anything on the other. But the one we did find...well, he’s got an interesting trajectory.”
Emir looked up and met the full impact of Kate’s thoughtful yet intense look. She was leaning forward, her chin in the palm of one hand and her phone in the other. He started when he realized she was recording the call. She was good, proving once again that she was one step ahead of him.
For a minute it was as if neither he nor Kate breathed. It was the news they were looking for, hopefully a lead. Emir gritted his teeth. He was almost afraid to ask but he hadn’t succeeded in life by being afraid or by clinging to superstitious silence. “Who is he?” he asked, allowing for only a brief hesitation.
“Atrar Tashfin. Berber—and one would think that’s simple enough but there’s something a bit strange about him.”
Emir choked back an impatient involuntary reaction at what he considered Zafir’s theatrics. Short and simple, that’s what he lived by and what he preached to his siblings. But he was cut off almost immediately by Zafir’s next words.
“Here’s the thing. We tagged Atrar. That’s the one you thought came out of the Sahara. You know, the one with the fancy boots? The sand and camel dung—”
“Knock-off Ralph Lauren,” he interrupted as if that mattered.
“Yeah, it’s the same one. He belongs to a Berber village on the south edge of the Atlas Mountains. The village of Kaher. I looked it up and it’s pretty remote, backs the mountains but fronts the beginnings of the Sahara. I think you need to pay it a visit. There might be answers there and it’s a good place to start. It might be better than what you’ve been doing. So you can get moving now, rather than waiting, agreed?”
“Agreed,” Emir said shortly. “Someone in that village may know something.”
Kate’s attention was fixed on him but there was a troubled look on her face and he knew she was already going through possibilities. He’d never lacked confidence, but with her beside him, he felt like he could have scaled Everest without equipment. No woman had ever made him feel like that. No woman had needed to, but Kate... He let the thought trail, not sure what it all meant.
“What about the other?” Emir asked, looking over as Kate nodded approval, as if he’d read her mind or, at least, as she’d showed in the short time she’d been here, that she was on the same wavelength.
“Can’t get anything on him. Not yet,” Zafir replied. “I’m sure the authorities will have an ID eventually, but we can’t wait. So I’m giving you what I’ve got.”
“Emir!” Kate whispered urgently.
“Just