Freedom Does Matter (Mercenaries Book 2) (23 page)

“We will then continue tomorrow morning. I believe that unlikely.” Al-Kassis looked at Al Hosni, who clearly agreed.

Beckie gave the attendant a quick look; he refilled her cup. She took a sip before continuing. “I met with a tribal member who told me the attack on Mr. Jamse was intended to disrupt our negotiations. The sheikh who leads that tribe believes they have a prior claim on the land you two gentlemen are discussing.”

Sheikh Al Hosni fell back in his chair as Beckie finished. “That… that cannot be!” He focused on al-Kassis. “We both have
^c
Urf
ī contracts?
I
do.”

Al-Kassis nodded. “Our dispute arises from the signatories of the contracts.”

“I recall,” Beckie said. “This claim is said to arise from… If I can say it correctly, Wad al-Yad? And by right of working.”

“But that… Wad al-Yad has no validity!” the two men shouted at once.

“
^c
Urf
ī contracts supersede the Wad-al-Yad and right of working when no contract has been put in place,” al-Kassis continued while Al Hosni nodded in vigorous agreement. “Who is this sheikh?”

“I believe I cannot give you his name.” She sipped while musing. “A moment, please.” Beckie rose and went to where Kevin stood. They walked a few feet from the doorway. “Can you ring Millie and ask her—”

“If Noorah minds you giving the name? Sure.” He grabbed his phone. “Go on back in. I’ll let you know what she says.”

“No, not ask. I want her to
tell
Noorah I’m going to give them Sedki’s name. While I doubt… Shen should be on guard, too, just in case. Okay?” She paused to peer at his phone. “It’s kinda early, there, isn’t it?”

Kevin glanced at his watch. “Maybe she’ll be up late.”

Beckie nodded and returned to the table. “Very well. Let’s leave that for a minute. What do you wish to talk about?”

“We both have concern over the expense incurred should the negotiations be extended due to the tsunami,” al-Kassis said. “Our agreement was for twenty-two days. Unless we complete…”

“Yeah,” Beckie said, musing. “Oh, sorry. Yes. And your work with Mr. Jamse used nearly three weeks, I believe?” She turned to look at Kevin, nodding in agreement. He still held the phone to his ear.

“Correct. And with you, another six days. While we are close, with the disruption—”

“I agree,” Beckie said. “And I also agree we shouldn’t rush to finish to meet an artificial deadline. I’m not aware of any reason to finish on a particular date. Is there one?”

“No,” Al Hosni agreed. “In fact, with the current state of affairs, with the people, the government, the military and the President still in conflict, no one other than we will notice, I suspect.”

“For now,” al-Kassis said. “Though it grieves me to so say.”

“Then we’ll have no more talk about the deadline. I will lay the extension to the change in negotiators, and the financial aspects of our agreement need not change.” She stared both of them in the eye, gratified when they sat back in their chairs. “I hope that will be satisfactory?”

“Yes, for me,” Al Hosni said.

Beckie looked at al-Kassis. “Likewise,” he said. “I agree. We are near to completion, but we should not rush.”

“Very well. Are there other questions?”

“That was the primary one,” al-Kassis said with a look across the table.

“May we plan on reconvening—” Beckie felt a touch on her shoulder; Kevin stood behind her. “Please excuse me a moment?”

In three minutes she returned to her seat. “The sheikh who, according to my information, wishes to interfere with your negotiations is named Abdul-Bari Sedki. I do not have all his famil—”

“No matter. We know him. As you said earlier, his claim is based not on contract, but Wad al-Yad, and has no validity in the face of…” Al Hosni stopped, his face tightening. “I was going to say in the face of my contract, but the same is true of my brother al-Kassis’ contract.” He gave Beckie a long look. “How certain is your information?”

Beckie chewed her lower lip while she considered responses. What do I give up telling him Noorah’s a girl? “I can’t judge. While… she gives every indication that her information is…” Beckie rose and walked to the side table. She took a bottle of water and opened it. “I speak of the girl who attempted to kill first Mr. Jamse, and then me. While she understood her mission—”

The amazed reactions of the men stopped her.

She spent the next few minutes telling the two men the parts of Noorah’s story she wanted them to know.

Al-Kassis goggled at her for a long moment before he responded. “This… girl… barely a woman…” He took a deep breath. “She is the one who invaded our conference and shot at Monsieur Jamse. And after you met with us, she made an attempt on you, as well?”

Beckie nodded. “If you are correct and Sedki has no viable claim to the land, what is his motivation? I don’t understand why he thought attacking the negotiators would help. Or what benefit he might gain. Those are questions I would like to pose to you.”

Al Hosni stood and looked at her. “May we have a break?”

The break lasted until the next morning.

Al Hosni arrived before al-Kassis. He allowed Haleef to precede him; the younger man was wearing a suit. “My grandson Haleef, if you recall?”

“I do, from the meetings earlier, and most recently the underwater road near Almaza Bay?” Beckie said with a grin.

Haleef welcomed her, but gave no clue about his presence this day. Beckie paused, then gave Al Hosni a long look. Maybe I can use Haleef to gain more information on Sedki. Would it seem too forward? Well, he can only say no. “If it is permitted, I would share dinner with you and he…” She turned to look at Kevin, who nodded back most definitely. “Yes, we, along with Mr. deVeel, would share a dinner with conversation unrelated to our meetings here.”

Al-Kassis and two of his aides entered as Beckie finished; he gave both her and Al Hosni a hard look.

“Do not worry, brother. This conversation concerns my grandson.”

Al-Kassis took his seat. “If that is the case, you will not object to—”

“Of course not,” Beckie told him with a laugh. “Though it’s likely to be dead boring!”

“Very well,” al-Kassis said. “I’ll decide later. Now, coffee, and we begin.”

Six hours later, Beckie sat in the empty room reviewing the meeting. The reparations are the big sticking point, she thought. And, now feeling some dismay, they’ll continue to be. Maybe… She wondered if it made sense to leave them aside and go after the lower hanging fruit. Like Sedki. They didn’t bring me any information. After dinner, when I talk to Ian…

A tap on the door frame roused her; she turned to see Kevin there with Dan behind him. “Ready to go?”

“Got them out safely?”

He nodded. “Al Hosni will pick us up about eight. He said he would choose the restaurant. Al-Kassis decided he’d had enough, as long as we are ‘honorable men.’”

“Hmm. I suppose he meant to include me, too.”

Kevin just grinned as he held the door.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Day Twenty-five - The Nest

AFTER TWO DAYS, AMY HAD gotten Tahirah to walk down to the beach. Walking to the beach hadn’t been the problem; it was getting the girl comfortable in a bathing suit. But Shalin had helped, and maybe Tahirah would survive her bare arms and legs—as long as no men showed up!

Today, Noorah had been allowed out of the hospital, for an airing, Amy thought with a little giggle. When Tahirah gave her a questioning look, she scooped a double handful of the clear blue water in the girl’s direction, watching as she turned and ducked.

Amy led the way to the umbrella shading Noorah. “Com’on out, over here. Time for some sun block. I’ll do you and you can do me.”

Amy enjoyed rubbing the lotion into Tahirah’s skin. Didn’t expect that, she thought. Only Abby…

She pushed thoughts of Abby aside and turned to Noorah. “Now Tahirah’s slathered up, let’s see about you.”

Noorah had opted for shorts and shirt rather than a bathing suit, and Millie had agreed, providing a waterproof bandage for the stump where her hand had been.

“You can wade, but no getting it wet, hear?” had been Millie’s admonition.

After thirty-five minutes, Amy’s phone rang. Her mother suggested they’d been in the July sun long enough. They took the short walk to Shalin and Kevin’s home.

The small run-about was far enough off-shore that the girls had paid it no mind beyond noticing it. But when Amy returned to Shalin’s kitchen after swapping her swim suit for shorts and a clean blouse, Noorah mentioned it as they settled themselves.

Amy nodded to Noorah and turned to Shalin. “Can you watch these two for a little while? I’ll tell Mr. Go about the boat, and then I have something I have to do.” She gave Shalin a pleading look. “Please?”

“Surely. When will you return?”

“Not long. Thanks!”

Amy skipped along the path, but throttled her emotions when she caught a toe and lost her balance. She recovered without falling, but she thought, Guess I better slow down a little. Abby’d be so mad if I’m scraped up.

But Go Shen was next. Amy walked to the pier and sailed one of the skiffs across to Bon Secours Cay. Ashore, she made her way to the Admin building next to the hospital.

In the Security office, two of Go’s associates assured Amy the boat was under surveillance, once they’d shown her the video feed and she agreed it was the one she and the girls had seen. As the thought struck her, she turned to the amiable female officer. “You watched us out there, too, didn’t you?”

“Off and on,” she admitted. “But there were more interesting things to focus on.”

Not quite certain how to interpret the woman’s words, Amy forced a smile and left the office and the building.

She boated north to Cottage Cay. There, a neighborhood of small cottages, comfortable for one, or two in a pinch, had been established for the few single members of the team. Amy hurried from the dock to the fourth building along the palm-lined lane.

A quick rap-rap and she fell into Abby’s arms when the door opened.

“Hey, Amy! I missed you on the beach the past couple days. Afraid you didn’t want to run with me anymore.”

Amy leaned back to see that Abby was teasing her. “God, I missed you, too! I’m so sorry.” She gazed into Abby’s eyes from a nose away. “One of the women asked me to watch out for a couple of girls from Egypt and this is the first chance I had to get away.”

Abby’s eyes opened wide. “I heard about them. But why you?”

“Not sure.” Amy allowed Abby to break the embrace and lead her to the kitchen. She focused on Abby as the woman collected sodas from the refrigerator. Though it was nearing noon, the woman was dressed causally: a tired light blue tee-shirt with “Columbia” arching across the front. Her shorts were darker blue sweat pants cut off at Bermuda length, though the way they hung on her hips, her knees were covered. Her short black hair struggled to escape a knit Columbia head band. While Amy admired Abby’s easy motion and svelte figure, she kept talking, hoping Abby wouldn’t notice her examination. “Beckie had to go back to Egypt, ‘cause Mr. Jamse said—”

“They said he’s getting better?” Abby set the soda cans down and hitched up her shorts, indifferent to the fact that they immediately fell back to their former height.

“When I saw him, he looked okay, except for a massive bandage on his head. Anyway, she was watching Tahirah and so she asked me to watch the girl.” Amy paused a second. “I shouldn’t be so dismissive. She’s the same age I am. Anyway, Beckie left Thursday night and I’ve been with Tahirah since.” She drank from the can. “This is good, thanks.” She watched Abby spill a couple of vitamins into her hand and swallow them down. “Make you strong, eh?”

Abby came over to stand behind her. She leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Can’t show you yet, I’m afraid.” Amy grabbed her hands and drew them down her front, but Abby resisted. Amy tipped her head back to complain, but Abby’s smile stopped her. “Tell you what. Let’s go over to Nassau tomorrow for the day.” She stood up and said, “I’ll take the Piper; it’ll be fun!”