Читать книгу Familiar Oasis - Caroline Burnes - Страница 13

Dawn was just breaking in the eastern sky as Amelia got out of the taxi on the outskirts of Alexandria. Instead of the spices of the city, she caught the scent of horses and leather. The wind tugged gently at her white cotton blouse. To the south was the wide-open vista of the desert. She was at the right place.

The low, stucco building was the only place to go, and she paid the cabbie and lugged her recently purchased backpack over to the building and leaned it against the wall. Her shopping spree had been hasty and limited to the hotel shops, but she’d managed to find jeans and a few cotton blouses.

She was hesitating about leaving the backpack with her important papers against the wall, when the whinny of a horse caught her attention. She wished she wasn’t headed across the desert on a camel. She loved horses. In fact, she’d been the top jumper in the stables where she’d taken lessons years ago. That memory made her think of Beth, who also rode, but with a more conservative approach.

It would be good to see Beth. Far too much time— almost six months—had passed since they’d been together. That was what she had to focus on, not the camels or the hot sun or the desert. She looked again at the vast expanse of rolling waves of sand. The sun had begun to highlight the dunes with pink and gold, and Amelia was captured by the beauty of a place she’d never thought could be beautiful. To her the word desert had always meant thirst, burning heat and death. Untamed was the word that now came to mind. It was a wild beauty that the desert claimed.

And it was a little intimidating. Well, a lot intimidating. She could admit that, as long as no one was listening to her thoughts.

She walked into the building and was instantly captured by the beauty of the horses. A low whinny drew her to the first stall. “What a beauty,” she whispered to a gray mare. She was petting the horse’s forehead when she heard footsteps behind her.

“Ms. Corbet,” the man said, bowing. “I am Tep.” He smiled at her from beneath a white headdress. His flowing robes could not conceal the fact that he was tall and thin.

“You must come this way,” Tep said, taking her elbow and steering her through the stables and to the back. “I have retrieved the pack you left out front. All is ready and we must depart.”

Amelia saw the camels instantly. There were five of them, two standing and three kneeling on the ground. Without even giving her a chance to hesitate, Tep pushed her toward one of the kneeling camels and in a matter of thirty seconds she was on its back. The animal rudely complained as Tep forced it to its feet.

Amelia forgot about everything except hanging on to the wooden cradle that passed for a saddle. The rocking motion of the animal made it impossible to sit, and she hung on for dear life. Though Tep had put some rope reins in her hand, she could neither steer nor slow her camel as it began to run toward the desert.

“Halt! Halt!” Tep called after her. “Pull the ropes!” he cried.

“I am. It isn’t doing any good!” she yelled back, hauling on the reins. Then she didn’t bother trying to yell anything as the camel hurled itself away from civilization and into the heart of the desert.

Amelia knew that she’d made a serious mistake. Her pride and stubbornness had led her to a sorry pass, and now she was about to experience the consequences.

SITTING ASTRIDE his Arabian stallion, Harad laughed out loud as he followed the progress of Amelia’s runaway camel through binoculars. Tep was as good as his word. He’d promised that he had a young camel that would give Amelia the ride of her life.

He laughed again as the camel hung a sharp right and nearly unseated Amelia. She was hanging on with all of her strength, and in a matter of a few hours she would sincerely regret her decision to storm into the desert. Ah, he would savor the moment of sweet defeat when he went to rescue her and bring her back to Alexandria. And hopefully on her way home to safety.

Harad scanned the remainder of Amelia’s traveling party and wasn’t surprised to see a wicker basket strapped to the back of the last camel. The lid popped up slightly and he saw Familiar’s head peep out. The cat had attached himself to Amelia, just as he had to Beth. Harad had no explanation for it, and he didn’t need one. Cats were extraordinary creatures, and it only stood to reason that some were more exceptional than others. Familiar fell into that category. The cat would watch out for Amelia for the next forty-eight hours as Tep softened her up and prepared her to welcome Harad as her savior.

Laughing out loud, he turned his horse and headed back to the stables. Tep would run Amelia around in circles in the desert for the next two days. Once she believed she was lost and in a hopeless situation, he would appear. Amelia would agree to come back another time, and the City of Con would be safe. And although he’d made plans with Tep to check in at certain points to ensure Amelia’s safety, he wouldn’t be stuck with her twenty-four hours a day. It was a brilliant plan, even if he’d conceived of it himself.

As for himself, he had business to attend to in Alexandria. He was meeting several foreign businessmen to discuss an international merger on a building in Cairo that would become the central focus of Middle Eastern contemporary art. He wanted to be part of that building, a place that would preserve for the future the creativity of the present.

He groomed his gray stallion, Pooldar, and called his car and driver. As they entered the heart of Alexandria, the city was already alive. Merchants were putting their wares out in kiosks in the open market, and those who ran the large, more European department stores were unfolding awnings that had been closed for the night.

In front of Dukhan Enterprises, Harad got out of the car. He stopped to buy two cups of fresh coffee and a selection of fresh rolls, carrying them with him to his office. Both Tut, his cat, and his executive assistant were there to greet him. His secretary was on vacation.

“What are you up to?” Marie Johnson asked. “And don’t bother to deny it. I see that look in your eyes. You’re either on a hot deal or you’re into some mischief.”

“Mischief,” he answered. Marie had been an American diplomat’s wife. The marriage had ended, and Harad had hired the petite brunette at a salary that exceeded her ex-husband’s. She spoke four languages and could run the most complicated set of numbers in her head. She was his most valuable secret weapon in the business world.

“I pity the fool that ends up in your gun sights,” she said.

“No harm will come of this,” he assured her. “Just a little bit of damaged pride and possibly a bruised posterior.”

Marie held up a hand. “TMI—that’s too much information. Don’t tell me another thing. I don’t want to be called as a witness against you.”

Laughing, Harad handed her a cup of coffee and the bag of fresh buns. “If I could only teach you to make coffee,” he said.

“Watch it, buster. I don’t make coffee, and I don’t dust.”

Marie had grown up with five brothers. It was one of Harad’s delights to hear some of her “tough” expressions.

“Many of my business associates are interested in proposing marriage to you until I tell them the long list of things you will not do. No coffee, no dusting, no running errands, no laundry, no vacuuming. They decide then that you would be a wife with too much time on her hands.”

“Tell them when they want a partner instead of a servant to give me a call.” Marie went to her desk. “On a less personal level, you had a call this morning from a Dr. Mosheen. He said something about some blood tests.”

Harad felt his lighthearted mood evaporate. Mosheen again. He took the slip of paper from Marie’s hand.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, instantly recognizing the change in him.

“What did he say about the blood tests?”

Marie thought. “He said that something else had shown up and that he was looking for Amelia Corbet.”

“Thanks.” Harad took the number and went to his private office. Tut followed him and jumped into his lap as he placed the call.