My Desert Rose (15 page)

The panic of
his mother’s voice hit him down the phone.

"Tariq, thank
God! She’s gone!"

A bolt of shock
sliced through him. "Who’s gone?" Had Katie left him already? The
thought of her just upping and leaving him was inconceivable, yet
possible. Hadn't he taken her against her own free will? If it had
been the other way around, the second he had a chance to escape, he
would have taken it.

"Oh Tariq, we
must find her. Amira said she couldn’t go and she’s so independent
that she just took off anyway."

Tariq’s heart
was pumping hard in his chest. Amira said she couldn't go where?
"Mother, calm down, you’re not making any sense." He could hear her
take a few deep breaths as she struggled for composure.

"Amira and
Katie left for the port at eight-thirty tonight. Miriam said she
was retiring early. Anyway, I took her up a cup of cocoa, as she
was still upset that Amira said she couldn’t go with them, but her
room was empty. We’ve searched everywhere."

"Miriam has
gone missing?" He caught Hassan’s questioning eyes from over the
desk. He also felt relieved that his mother wasn't talking about
Katie, but that did nothing to stop the concern for his sister from
rising.

"Yes," wailed
his mother. "It’s rare for her to leave the house alone Tariq and
I’m worried."

Something else
registered in his brain. "Did you say that Amira and Katie were
coming here?"

His mother
stalled for a moment as if she was having difficulty thinking about
something other than Miriam. "Why yes, Amira came to Katie’s suite
while she was trying on the wedding outfits and said you’d
requested her presence."

Tariq ran his
hand through his hair. Why would Amira do that? He didn’t know, but
now he had two problems. If they'd left at eight-thirty, then they
should've been here by now. "Look mother, put Thebes on the phone
and don’t go far in case I have to call you, okay?"

‘Okay," she
whispered.

After he’d
asked Thebes to contact his father on his mobile and to notify Rob,
who ran the security across the island, to instruct him to do a
thorough search, he turned to Hassan. "Did you know Amira was on
her way here with Katie?"

Hassan had sat
down while Tariq had been on the phone and he now shuffled in his
seat. "She said something about bringing Katie to the house at the
port to surprise you."

Tariq nodded
and let out the puff of air he'd been holding in his lungs. "Can
you call Amira and ask if they’ve arrived yet and tell her to let
Katie know that I’ll be on my way as soon as I’ve located Miriam."
His insides turned to mush at the thought of finding her waiting at
the house. He only wished he'd thought about giving Katie a mobile
phone.

"Sure."

Hassan pulled
out his phone while Tariq made another call to one of Miriam’s
closest friends. As he was waiting for the pick-up, he overheard
Hassan asking Amira if they’d arrived and if she’d had to use any
of the reserves he'd given her.

A few hours
later, there was still no sign of Miriam. Tariq had exhausted all
of his contacts and was now as frustrated as hell. Hassan had left
and he'd rung the house by the port, but no-one had picked up. He'd
purposely never stored Amira's number in his phones. The less she
made contact with him the better, but now he needed it. Murad
reeled it off to him, but it went straight to voicemail.

Finally, after
pacing the floor he decided to leave and go to the house. What he
could accomplish at the office he could work on at the house and
Katie's presence would be a soothing balm to his soul. Before
leaving the office, he did a final check-in with Murad, who had an
apartment at the back. "Any further news on the ship or Miriam,
please call me immediately."

Murad nodded a
response.

The house was
only a short walk away from the docks, down one of the well-lit
streets. It was one in a line of white terraced houses. Opening the
door, he saw that the hall light had been left on low by one of the
few staff that oversaw the running of it. Quickly, he mounted the
stairs and made his way to his suite of two rooms, which were at
the back, overlooking the small garden.

Excitement
burned in his stomach at the thought of finding Katie asleep in his
bed. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was now the early hours
of the morning. Tiredness had left his bones the minute he'd heard
that she would be here. Even in the short time that they’d had
together so far, he knew that she was different from anyone he'd
ever met before. It seemed that his wealth and position were of no
real importance to her. Somehow, she had the ability to look beyond
these and into the value of a person behind appearances. This was
indeed a rare gem to find.

As he opened
the door quietly, he found the room to be in total darkness.
Tiptoeing to the bathroom, he took a quick shower and put on a
clean pair of boxers from his dressing area. Turning the light off
before opening the bedroom door, he once again tiptoed and made his
way to the bed, nearly stumbling over a chair in his excitement.
Pulling at the covers, he climbed in and reached for Katie, only to
find himself hugging nothing but air. Tapping at the bed beside him
he realised that she wasn’t there.

He snapped on
the bedside light, squinting at its brightness. The room was empty.
Shocked, he threw on a dressing gown. Perhaps she’d chosen to sleep
in the guest room, but why would she do that knowing how they
fitted so perfectly together? Stomping down the hall, he checked
the guest room, but that too was empty. Now he was worried. Where
could she be?

The two staff
quarters were off the main hallway downstairs, so he made his way
down there to knock on the door of the housekeeper.

"Mr Hammoud,
wake up!"

Tariq didn’t
need to call twice. The door was swiftly opened by the aged butler.
Fully dressed without a crease and as sprightly as ever, Tariq
wondered if he ever slept.

"Yes,
Sayyid?"

"Have you seen
my wife?"

The man’s mouth
dropped open. "Wife, Sayyid?"

Tariq would
have laughed if the circumstances weren’t so serious. "Yes, I was
married very recently and she was to arrive here this evening, at
about nine o’clock, with Amira."

Mr Hammoud went
quiet for a moment before he spoke. "I’m sorry, Sayyid, only your
father arrived about two hours ago, but he stayed just for ten
minutes to pick up some things and headed back to the main house in
the light of Miss Miriam being missing. No-one else has come to the
house this evening, not even Sayyid Hassan."

A small bubble
of panic began to stir in Tariq’s gut. Running back upstairs, he
dug out his mobile and called Hassan. No answer.

Shit!

Next, he called
his father who answered on the first ring. His voice sounded
exhausted. "Ah Tariq, I was about to ring you and give you an
update. We still have no news of Miriam yet. I’ll be sending
helicopter scouts out at first light."

Tariq’s insides
twisted at the news. He wished that they would find Miriam and
focus on this other situation, which was getting more complex by
the minute. "Father, when you arrived at the port house this
evening did you see Katie at all?"

"No, son. I
found out from your mother that Katie was on her way and I thought
Amira must have dropped her off with you at the office."

Very loud alarm
bells were ringing in Tariq’s skull. "Has Hassan arrived home
yet?"

"No," replied
Malik with caution.

Tariq cursed
under his breath. Nothing seemed to be adding up. Miriam was
missing, he couldn't locate Katie and neither Amira nor Hassan was
answering their phone. "Not to add further worry to the pot, but
Katie also appears to be missing."

"What?" his
father exclaimed. "This is just too much to bear."

Tariq didn't
know what to make of it all either. What if she'd decided to leave
him after all and Amira was helping her? The other option he didn't
like to consider was that Katie was in some sort of trouble, with
Amira as the instigator. "Look, don’t tell Mother yet until I can
confirm it."

"Keep me in the
loop, son, something's not adding up right."

Tariq swiftly
threw on some clothes before dialling the driver’s number. If
anyone knew where Katie had been dropped off this evening, it would
be him. It rang for a while before a sleepy voice answered.

"Sir?"

"Sorry to wake
you, Ali, but did you drop Amira and Katie off at the port this
evening?"

"Yes, Sir, they
were my last drop before my shift ended."

"Where exactly
did you drop them?"

"At portside,
dock number 52"

Damn! Why on
earth would they be stopping at one of the oil tankers due to leave
that evening? "Ali, were they alone? Did anyone greet them?"

"No, Sir, they
went onto the ship. I was under the impression from Amira that you
were waiting for them on board."

That was the
confirmation he needed of Amira's involvement. "Did you wait around
afterwards?"

"Well, I left
the port immediately, but I did pop in to see my brother at his
bakery in the main street. When I was leaving for home I noted that
the ship was pulling away."

A terrible
silence ensued as it registered with Tariq that Katie was still on
that ship. For that split second he couldn’t speak. Why had Amira
led her to a ship that was about to leave for the coast of Africa?
What the hell was going on!

"Is there
anything wrong, Sir? It’s just that Amira was adamant that you were
waiting for them on the ship, and she is my employer..." his voice
trailed away.

"It’s okay,
Ali, you weren’t to know. Keep this quiet until I can find out
what’s happened, okay?"

"Yes, Sir, so
sorry for any trouble I’ve caused."

Tariq ended the
call and headed back to the office to check on the schedule sheets
for his fleet of ships. At dock 52 was one of the larger tankers,
el-Tayeb101. It had one hundred thousand tonnes of oil on board. It
had arrived earlier that evening for refuelling and was heading for
Tanzania. Looking up the Captain’s name and the ship's satellite
phone listing, he dialled the number.

"Is ka warran?"
answered a thick African voice.

Tariq put down
the phone. A Somali pirate had just answered the Captain’s phone on
his
ship. In that moment, Tariq knew that this particular
ship had not only been ambushed, but that they’d docked and
refuelled without anyone knowing that the pirates had commandeered
his ship. The small oil tanker which had been targeted earlier had
only been a red herring while the real hijack was taking place.

Black fury
erupted from within. Not only had they stolen his ship and his oil,
but they'd also taken his wife. That little bitch Amira had been
behind the whole thing, luring Katie aboard that ship. What must
she be going through right now? He didn’t know, but if they hurt
even one hair on her head, he’d personally destroy each pirate
himself.

He knew right
there and then that his dummy shipment was no longer needed. This
was it. This was where the line stopped. Clenching his fists in
sheer rage, he mentally told himself to breathe. The wrath at their
audacity wasn’t helping with his rational thinking. Getting out a
pad and a pen, he wrote down the key points.

The ship left
approximately five hours ago. At a speed of 13 knots, Tariq had
four days until its arrival in Tanzania, but if their destination
was to be Somalia, then he had only another six hours in which to
catch the ship and find Katie.

Picking up the
phone, he dialled his father. After he had spoken to him about his
suspicions of Katie being on the ship, they'd decided to bring in
reinforcements. Malik was going to leave the main house now and
return to the office, calling Prince Saud on the way.

No sooner had
he put down the receiver than his office door opened and Hassan
entered.

Tariq was
instantly annoyed. "Where the hell have you been?" he demanded.
"Your wife led Katie onto a ship that has now left the port." But
before he could say anything further, Hassan pulled out a gun and
aimed it between Tariq's eyes.

"Just shut up!"
he spat.

Tariq was
stunned. "What the -"

"I said shut
up!" Hassan pulled out of his pocket a set of documents and tossed
them onto the desk. "Sign these."

Tariq picked up
the papers and quickly scanned through them. "They're transfer of
ownership?" To say he was shocked was putting it mildly. These
papers assigned all of his company shares to Hassan.

"I only need
your signature as you own the majority of power. If you don't do
it, I will have Katie killed," he said in an icy tone.

Tariq drew in a
sharp breath. "Hassan, this is blackmail. We are brothers. You
don't need to do this." He had suspected his brother's involvement
all along, but to hear him threaten to have Katie killed chilled
him to the bone. Saving his business wasn't worth the loss of
Katie's life.

Hassan must
have thought his moment of reflection was hesitation, as his next
words seared Tariq's soul for life.

"If you don't
sign them, there's only one other option, and right now you are
worth more to me dead than alive," he sneered.

Tariq needed to
buy himself some time. His father would be here in twenty minutes.
Murad was probably asleep in the adjoining apartment and it would
depend on where Saud was in the port. "Hassan, just tell me why
you're doing this first," he pleaded gently. They'd never been
close, but still, they were brothers. What had led Hassan to hate
him so much that he wished him dead? It made Tariq question his
life.

Standing there,
facing that gun was giving him an insight into everything he'd ever
done and not done. A deep knowing of all the implications of his
actions and how far and wide they'd reached in affecting lives.
Tariq felt that somehow his heart was being weighed by a higher
power, determining whether his life so far had resulted in any
value to the peace of humanity or whether it had been purely about
wealth and prestige. He guessed that all of his choices had played
a part in making him who he was today, but at least he still had a
heart. What he did know for certain was that his brother had
somehow lost his heart along the way. What was now in its place was
a black evil presence, so grotesque that it was willing to kill
others to have more wealth and prestige, the things that didn't
actually count at the point of death. Wasn't being a millionaire
and part of a billion dollar company enough for one person?
Clearly, Hassan had thought not.