Pussycat in Peril (Pussycat Death Squad Book 3) (10 page)

“May I help you, Minister Boulos?” he asked the tall, almost skeletal man as he made his way across the showroom.

Boulos’s face moved in a motion that on anyone else would’ve been a smile, but given his dour countenance looked almost painful and anything but cheerful. “Yes. Yes, I believe you may.”

Kaeden simply raised a brow in inquiry waiting for the man to state his business.

“You are an American. An American soldier,” Boulos said with as much inflection as he would give commentary about the weather, which as usual, was hot.

The breath
whooshed
out of Kaeden’s lungs with the force of a blow as the words registered. His hand went instinctively to the lethal blade he kept in a holster at the back of his waistband.

The man held up one hand in a gesture of appeasement. “No. No. There is no need for violence. I only know this because I was a translator in Iraq. During the First Gulf War, naturally. I became familiar with American speech patterns and mannerisms, especially their service members,” Boulos said. Though he still looked like Skeletor his face had relaxed somewhat, warming his expression. Even so Kaeden continued to stare at the man. He had no doubt he’d have little trouble killing him, but he didn’t want to take a life if he didn’t have to.

“I’ve been watching you for a while and it’s clear to me that we can solve one another’s problems. Laritrea is not a safe place for you and your wife. I can help you leave. Provided you carry a bit of cargo for me.”

Kaeden frowned. This wasn’t what he had been expecting. He’d assumed the man would want a bribe. Extortion was fairly commonplace these days, and with the money Faisal Ibrahim had left they would be able to pay a reasonable amount. But this? What the hell could the man be trying to get out of the country? Even smugglers were avoiding the place.

“I understand your concern,” the man continued when Kaeden remained silent. “But trust me, this plan is uncomplicated. In two days a package will be brought to you. Shortly afterwards the cargo will arrive. Then you will have the necessary papers for yourself and your lovely wife and the cargo, of course, to leave the country.”

“And if I don’t help…”

“You do realize I have sufficient authority to have everyone in this house jailed and summarily executed? Fortunately it doesn’t have to come to that. You can, as you Americans say, scratch my back and I will scratch yours.”

“Not drugs. I have no desire to spend the rest of my life in a Laritrean prison.” Even in the chaos of two governments, dozens of rebel groups and the attempted establishment of a caliphate, all the rival groups had one belief in common; narcotics were haram and the penalties for usage and smuggling were unbelievably harsh.

“I would never be so pedestrian, Mr. Nasser. This is far more important. The future of this country depends upon this.” And with that oblique statement, the man turned and walked toward the door. Before he reached the exit he turned to face Kaeden again. “Oh, and do you have any cell phones? Mine has regrettably died.”

Kaeden shook his head in the negative. “No. The quarantine.”

“Yet another useless measure,” Boulos said displaying far more emotion about the lack of cell phones than he had about treachery, murder and collapsing governments. “I understand.”

Kaeden immediately put the closed sign on the door and then sat down at his worktable. His hands were shaking too much to resume work and he could only play the conversation over and over again in his head, wondering if he’d made the right decision.

*****

As soon as Astaria returned to the house Kaeden hustled her upstairs to their bedroom to tell her what had happened.

“But what on earth could want us to smuggle out of the country? After all the weeks of quarantine, there’s hardly anything left,” she said from their perch on the bed. She shivered from the chill racing down her spine, and snuggled closer to Kaeden’s side.

“I don’t know. I think we should try to get out of here. At least we could relocate,” he said.

Astaria shook her head. Much as she wanted to agree with him because the whole situation was terrifying, running away wouldn’t work for one simple reason. “Where could we go? He’s a government minister. He would be able to find us. Besides he would have Aunt Sarai and Uncle Dawood arrested, even killed. No. We have to stay. We have to cooperate.”

“I’m so sorry baby. I should’ve gone with my first instinct and just killed the fucker,” he said through gritted teeth.

Astaria shuddered. “No. No more killing. There’s been so much death. Too much. If we can avoid it we should. Besides we would’ve had to dispose of the body, and you know how complicated that can be.”

“With a war going on? Dead bodies are everywhere.”

“Thankfully not here in Laria,” she said. Compared to the bloodshed in Amaru, Laria had been strikingly violence free since the Uprising and the killing of al-Fariq and the royal family. Of course, that bloodbath had been more than enough gore for anyone.

“Yet,” he said grimly.

Astaria couldn’t argue the point. Presumably he felt the same sense of foreboding that she had. The air over the past few weeks was ripe with threats of violence to come. “Right. Yet. And if we can help keep the carnage to a minimum I would rather go that route. I’m glad you didn’t kill him.”

“Can we work with him without telling your folks?”

“I think we have to tell them. It’s their house, after all. Whatever it is he wants us to smuggle out is probably illegal. If there are people watching it puts them in danger too,” she said.

“You’re right, of course, but I wonder what the hell it is.”

*****

They didn’t have to wonder for long. A package was delivered to the store in two days just as Boulos had said. Since there had been no regular shipments of merchandise to the store in days they knew immediately that it had to be the anticipated package. Astaria took it from the deliveryman and placed it on a table in the workroom. By tacit agreement they didn’t open it until after the workday was over. Given that they had no clue what it contained, it would be a bad idea to open it while any customers were in the store. The box was large and unwieldy; at least a yard long and a similar width. It was lighter than she’d anticipated based on the size.

That evening they gathered at the coffee table in the living room. Kaeden and Astaria sat on the sofa while Sarai took the flanking chair with Dawood standing behind her. Kaeden made quick work of opening the box with the large knife he kept on his person at all times. He referred to it as his Arkansas Toothpick and it was sharp enough to shave with. Once it was opened she shook her head in confusion at the contents. Clothes. Children’s clothes. Three outfits each for a girl and a boy. The clothing was plain, and could be found on any child in the neighborhood. The four of them just stared at the clothing for a long moment after Astaria spread them on the coffee table.

“I don’t understand,” Sarai began.

“I know Amati Sarai. I mean, I think we all suspected that they wanted us to smuggle people. But children?” Astaria said.

“And whose children?” Kaeden asked, pulling back the flaps of the box. “There is no adult clothing here.”

“Do you think he’s trying to get his own children out?” Astaria asked.

“He would hardly need us to do that. He’s a minister. They can go wherever they like. No questions asked,” Dawood said, a heavy frown creasing his handsome face. The man seemed to have aged just in the weeks they’d been there. Astaria could hardly contain her distress at this fact. She had so few loved ones left.

Astaria leaned forward when Sarai made an exclamation as she removed a piece of cardboard from the bottom of the box. Hidden underneath she found a police officer’s uniform. With a gasp Sarai immediately shoved it back into the box. To even be caught in possession of that uniform could send them all to prison. The uniform was their first clue as to Boulos’s plan. With it they could literally take anyone anywhere, no questions asked.

“The only child I can think of who someone would take these type chances for is the crown prince,” Dawood said, quietly pacing back and forth in the small space.

Kaeden frowned. “Who? I didn’t know Laritrea had a royal family.”

Astaria was stunned she hadn’t made the connection herself. She had been Lelia’s right hand when they were in al-Fariq’s Guard. Connecting the threads of the various byzantine plots that were always underway during his regime was a major part of her job. She still served in that role as an operative in Lelia’s agency, though in a less perilous capacity now. Clearly she was losing her edge.

“Of course, Ami. Crown Prince Abdullah, he’s only four. And the girl’s clothes must be for Princess Ravia.”

“Crown prince?” Kaeden asked.

Dawood finally took the time to answer Kaeden’s question. “You’re right. Laritrea doesn’t have a royal family. At least, not anymore. Not since the Civil War, thirty years ago. The old king abdicated to end the war, but his daughter, Princess Nevea stayed in the country even after his death.”

“I never understood that,” Sarai said. “Especially after she had children. Wasn’t she afraid Colonel al-Fariq would have them killed?”

“Most assuredly she was,” Astaria said. “I was detailed to protect her a few times and we had several discussions about it. Yes, she was afraid of the Colonel. Believe it or not, that’s why she stayed. She said if she’d gone to another country the Colonel was so paranoid he would always assume she was scheming against him. Eventually he would’ve had her killed, if for no other reason than to eliminate the aggravation of having such a big loose end outside his control. The colonel was not a fan of loose ends. Or anything he couldn’t control, for that matter.”

“Who is? Loose ends have a way of getting people killed.” Kaeden said with a wry twist of his lips. “I still don’t get why her staying  would make a difference. Seems like he’d be more apt to kill her, simply out of convenience,” he said.

Astaria smiled and shook her head, grateful for all the lectures Lelia had given her on the way the Colonel’s mind worked, but it was so hard to explain to outsiders. She struggled with the facets of his personality herself and she’d known him all her adult life. “Yes he could, but why bother? Colonel al-Fariq was both paranoid and arrogant. It made for some odd circumstances to say the least. He believed he had this country under his thumb. And for the most part he did. He would never acknowledge being afraid of anyone or anything in this country. He was the man in charge. That was the front he showed the world.”

“So he sold a lot of woof tickets,” Kaeden said, switching to English.

Astaria raised a brow in inquiry at the idiom.

“He talked big to intimidate people, like a big dog, but in reality he was a puppy afraid of his shadow.”

“Ahhh,” Astaria said, nodding her comprehension. “I think that’s exactly right. Remember, he took power through a military coup, overthrowing the old king in the middle of the Civil War. He was neither elected by the people, nor could he claim right to rule through royal lineage. Her continued presence gave his regime a validity it wouldn’t have otherwise had. After all, if she stayed she must approve of his government. With her husband in his army, and her here where he could easily have her watched he would be less worried.”

“Crazy as it sounds, that actually makes sense. In a megalomaniacal dictatorish sort of way,” Kaeden said.

“Princess Nevea understood the Colonel better than anyone I know, except for maybe Lelia, and even Lelia has her blind spots. King Abdullah was the only man the Colonel ever feared, so he killed him, but killing him was never enough and he spent the rest of his life fighting his ghost and other apparitions of a coup, of being usurped the way the King was. Of course, the princess feared him on a level Lelia never experienced, at least not until the end. The Colonel killed the Princess’s entire family. She hated him too and always thought he would kill her. Ironic that they were both killed by the same people in the Uprising,” Astaria said.

“So you think Boulos is trying to smuggle these children out of the country,” Kaeden said.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Dawood said. “There’s been a rumored power struggle for some time. The children could be an excellent pawns for whoever holds them.”

“So, do we help him or not?” Kaeden asked.

“I don’t see that we have a choice,” Astaria said.

“The children aren’t safe here,” Sarai said.

“Poor babies, I don’t think they’re safe anywhere,” Astaria said. “That’s why I’d probably help even if I had a choice. I was detailed to protect them, and protect them I must.”

Kaeden gave her an incredulous look. “You were detailed to protect them by a crazy sonofabitch, who by the way, killed a helluva lot of people, including members of your own Guard, tried to have Lelia killed, and, most importantly, is dead now. I’m pretty sure his death rescinds those orders. Unless, of course, he’s a zombie and in that case all bets are off.”

“Yes, I know he was not a good man, but his actions and death don’t have anything to do with my own personal honor. I made a vow, and that’s on me,” she said.

“I’ll be damned,” Kaeden said and it was a declaration of intent. “You really are crazier than all hell.”

“Are you really going to swear in front of my aunt?” Astaria said.