Alveus (ABC's Inc. Romance #1) (12 page)

Unable
to rest with his mind churning up images of Lexi and what she was being forced
to do, Dane pulled on a pair of sweatpants and headed to the gym. He was in
dire need of something to punch!

Two
days later the team flew into the UAE, rendezvoused with Rash, and transferred
to a small plush private plane, heading for the Badr properties. Everything was
going according to plan, with the exception of a small confrontation between
Gretchen and Dice over who would be piloting the craft. Gretchen won – of
course.

Dane
and Dice were on the last leg of the trip, riding horseback. Dusk was falling,
turning the sky above the desert sands into rich shades of ocher; the only
sound was the crunch of the horses’ hooves in the sand. It was a companionable
silence the two men shared, each in their own thoughts. Dane focused on the challenge
of the mission, and on keeping his emotions out of the equation. He turned to
scrutinize the man riding beside him, curiosity surfacing.

“How
did you come about the nickname of Dice?” he asked. The big man didn’t
acknowledge Dane’s question, just checked on the third horse he was leading and
then returned his gaze straight ahead.

“Ever
heard of the phrase ‘dice with death?’” he finally responded.

“Meaning,
to take serious risks,” Dane ascertained, “the marines?”

“My
men decided that I put myself in unwarranted danger to get them out of tight
situations. I figured it was my job, that’s all.”

“But
you kept the name,” Dane stated the obvious, encouraging an explanation.

“Like
it better than the one I was given at birth.” Dice ended the subject.

They
rode in silence again; stars were beginning to appear in the evening sky. Dane,
still uncomfortable with his thoughts, spoke up again.

“So,
what’s the deal with you and Gretchen?” Again, Dane thought his quiet companion
wasn’t going to acknowledge his question, but after a pensive space of time, he
answered.

“That
woman seems to have an affinity for being impossible.”

Dane
laughed, “Yes, she does,” he agreed. “Gets under your skin, eh?” He heard a
kind of rumble come from his companion. Dane wasn’t sure if it was a snicker or
a growl.

“Does
she have a man in her life?” Dice asked, and then quickly recanted with, “I
mean, does she like men, at all?”

“That,
I can’t help you with, my friend. It’s been almost two decades since I knew
her.”

“The
answer would be: no and yes,”
came a disembodied
voice from their earbuds. Dane chuckled at the embarrassed groan emanating from
beside him.

“How
are things going, Greig?” he asked, stepping in to ease the big guy’s
discomfort.

“Everything’s
still a go,”
Carsten answered.
“The rest seem to
be having a great time at the party, apparently the pit-fired lamb is a big
hit.”

Dane’s
stomach growled. “Thanks for that bit of informative news,” he said wryly,
hearing a responding chuckle from the earpiece.

“You
should have the palace grounds in your sights, very soon. The infrared shows
the area closest to your approach to be free of activity. Actually, it seems that
the outside grounds are quiet tonight. There should be no problem getting in
without being spotted, that’s barring any surveillance cameras, of course.”

Greig
had called it right; within minutes they could see the lights from the palace.
Dice led them to a dark area near the stables. Rash told them he thought he’d
seen women near an outdoor pool a short span from where the horses were corralled.
He pointed out a high cement wall, and steered the horses in that direction.
Climbing off his mount, he motioned for Dane to do the same.

“The
horses should be fine to leave here while we search,” he said. The steeds were
trained to stay where the reins were grounded. They followed the wall to where
it ended, peered around it and spotted a swimming pool.

“It
appears lady luck may be on our side,” Dane observed.

Keeping
close to the wall, they crept closer to the patio doors. They could hear voices
coming from inside, unmistakably female. Without warning the door slid open;
Dane and Dice froze in their tracks. Two beautiful women strolled out, closing
the door behind them while continuing their conversation. One was dark-skinned
and the other a blonde. Their conversation switched from Arabic to English, and
then abruptly halted as they spotted the strangers. Dane held his finger to his
mouth, hoping to keep them from calling out.

“Please,
we’re here to find an American girl named Lexi,” he said. “Do you know where
she is?” The tall blonde motioned them to a corner and stood blocking them from
the window.

“She
was here,” she informed them in Australian accented English. “But, she
disappeared a couple of weeks ago.”

“The
night after she was missing, I heard a scream coming from behind the stables,”
the other girl explained. This one spoke with a French lilt. “We think she is
dead!” Her eyes filled with tears.

“Are
you sure?” Dane asked, grabbing the girl’s arm. His stomach took a dive,
no
– it can’t be true!
The blonde stepped between them, gently releasing
Dane’s grasp from her friend.

“No,
we have no proof,” she said. “Cadie has been troubled since the night she heard
the scream. There’s been no word about Lexi. Perhaps she was sold; we know that
the crown prince was not pleased with her.”

“Negative
– keep calm, it seems she’s still on the property,”
Greig’s voice spoke from Dane’s earbud.
“Hold on, I’m listening to Fani’s
conversation with the sheikh’s daughter.”

“Cadie,
go back inside and make sure no one comes out. You know what kind of trouble we
could get into if the sheikh finds out we talked with these strangers.” Cadie
scurried through the sliding door, all too eager to get away from them. The
blonde led the men to the edge of the wall, while still blocking them from
sight.

“Guys,
she was thrown into a ground pit as punishment for being caught on the sheiks
telephone. The princess has been sneaking out to see her and provide her with
water and food, but she’s been unable to for days now. She seems extremely
concerned.”

“A
ground pit?” Dane repeated aloud to the blonde.

She
shook her head. “I don’t know where it is. We’re not allowed to explore the
outer grounds.”

“Behind
the horse stables,”
Greig quickly filled in.
“English,
it sounds like you’d better hurry, she was in there during the sandstorm!”
There was a pause.
“The sheikh is getting suspicious of Fani’s conversation
with the princess, we might have problem if he figures out something’s up –
hurry, bro!”

Dane
turned to the blonde, “Thank you…uh…”

“Clare,”
she filled in. “Lexi was my friend; just find her and get her home.”

Dane
gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Here, if you ever need help, call me.” He handed
her a card with his information. Dice was pulling him away.

“We’ll
take one of the horses,” he told Dane. “The others can stay here and we’ll pick
them up on our way back.” He grabbed the closest rein and led the horse toward
the side of the stables. “Can you spot anyone near us, Greig?” he asked.

“No
activity,”
he answered.
“Good luck, guys; we’re
praying for her.”

Dane
sent God a word of thanks that the night sky was clear. It was easy to find
their way around in the moonlight, and they found the dry pit right away. There
was a heavy iron grid covering the wide hole in the ground. Dane ran to look
inside; he could hear a faint coughing.

“Lexi?”
There was no answer, but there was someone down there, and she was having a difficult
time breathing.
Thank God she’s alive!
He turned to find Dice readying a
strong rope. He kept one end free to tie to the horse and made a sling out of
an old blanket for the other end. Dane tried to move the grid, but it
stubbornly clanked back in place. Dice grabbed the opposite side and together
they made an opening large enough to fit through. They pulled the rope through
the grid to keep Dane from banging on the side of the pit once he retrieved
Lexi. After assuring the rope was tied securely to the saddle, Dane grabbed the
sling and swung into the hole.

The
deeper he went, the darker it got. He hadn’t forgotten a flashlight; he just figured
it would be kinder not to shine a bright light in Lexi’s face. Besides, it was
possible the light would draw unwanted attention to their task. Dane’s eyes
became accustomed to the dark and he could see a bundle near the middle of the
floor. He touched down and shuffled over to the wheezing figure lying in a
fetal position.
Oh, God Pips – what the hell have they done to you?

“I’ve
found her,” he announced to Dice. “She won’t be able to help us.” Dane pulled
her into his arms, but she tried to brush him away.

“No
Willie – stop it!” she croaked out, sparking another fit of coughing.

“Shh,”
he hushed her, “It’s Dane, liebling. I’ve come to take you home.” His words
seemed to sooth her. She stopped resisting, allowing him to wrap the blanket
around her, securing them both in. “Okay, Dice – bring us up.”

“Guys,
Stefan’s getting bad vibes,”
Greig said.
“The
sheikh’s been pow-wowing with his men. He thinks he’s suspicious – can you
hasten things up a little?”

“On
it,” Dice replied.

They
made it back to the horses just in time to hear Clare calling out to someone.

“Hey,
you guys what ya doing out here?” They heard other voices, but couldn’t make
out what they were saying. “Nope, I’ve been out here all night and it’s been
deader than dead, if you know what I mean. When’s the sheikh getting back? Oh,
that late? I guess he won’t be wanting any company, then.” She sounded
disappointed.

They
grabbed the horses and got out while she kept the guards distracted. They made
it safely onto the doctor’s property and transferred to the ATV’s. Dane had
Dice tie Lexi to him so he could share his body heat with her and still keep
his hands free. He tried to feed her some water but just succeeded in starting
up another bout of coughing.

They
made it to the airstrip and headed toward the ramp leading into the bay of the
plane. Greig had been keeping tabs on their progress and the rest of the team
was in place to leave. Gretchen had the engines started, Stefan waited in the
bay, and Stefani and Rash were making polite goodbyes, trying not to attract
attention. Suddenly a squad of armed men stepped out to block their way, guns
pointed at their heads. As Dane and Dice slowed down, they closed in around
them, forcing them to stop.

“I
believe you have something which belongs to me,” Sheikh Saleh shouted over the
engines.

Dane
stepped out of the vehicle, still cradling Lexi. He walked toward the ruler of
Hejd, knowing that the guards would follow him. He turned to see Stefan taking
his place in the ATV and, since they were no longer blocked, the two men drove
the vehicles onto the plane. The ramp closed.

“This
woman is a free citizen of The United States of America,” he said. “She is not
a possession to be owned.”

“Your
laws have no jurisdiction here. However, we do have severe punishments for
stealing. Hand it over to my men, and I will overlook your ignorance of our
rules.”

 “What
good is she to you, dead?” Dane wanted to punch the arrogance off of the
asshole’s face, but then he would have to put Lexi down, and he had no
intention of letting go of her. “I found her in a hole, thrown away as if she
were garbage!”

A
small crowd was forming behind the sheikh. Dane motioned for Stefani and Rash
to get onto the plane. After a brief hesitation, an anxious Fani allowed Rash
to escort her to the boarding ramp. Lexi remained oblivious to her
surroundings, only the gentle wheezing as she took in breath alerted Dane to
the fact that she was still alive – but, for how long? Sheikh Saleh turned to a
young man beside him.

“Is
this the way I taught you to take care of your property?” he asked. The young
man shrugged.

“It
is just a female,” his son answered.

“Are
you willing to have the government of the US as an enemy?” Dane interrupted. He
didn’t have time to wait through a father-son learning session.

Ahmad
stepped forward. “I grow weary of her obstinacy. I will sell her to you for
say… 300,000?” His father glared at him.

“Done,”
Dane agreed.

Dr.
Badr came hurrying out of the house with his bag in hand. “I heard about your friend’s
injuries. I shall come with you and attend to her until you can get her to the
hospital.”

“Thank
you, doctor. Would you mind taking her onboard while I finish my business with
the sheikh?” Dane asked, reluctantly handing her over to the doctor’s waiting
arms.

“No-no-no-no,
no-no-no,” delirious, Lexi chanted as if reciting a nursery rhyme.  Again,
Dane’s emotions twisted into a painful knot. He loathed letting go of her, but she
was in need of the doctor’s care.