-
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"Sick," she mumbled.
"You had a reaction to the drug Enrico used to knock us out." Rashid pushed his hand
through his hair, looking as exhausted as she felt. "You went into a convulsion."
"Where is this place?"
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis...aar/Catherine%20Asaro%20-%20The%20Veiled%20Web.html (66 of 359)20-2-2006 21:09:18
Catherine Asaro - The Veiled Web
"The airport in Oujda, near the Algeria-Morocco border."
"Are we in trouble?"
"I think so." His words had a ragged edge. "I don't know who to trust. Enrico and the
other men couldn't have been working alone. Now that you're caught in whatever this is,
we're both targets."
"What do they say?"
He exhaled. "I can't get any real answers from Issam, the officer in charge. First he
spoke about the immigration and naturalization office. Then the American consul. Then
something about the embassy. But that's in Rabat. He keeps evading my questions. He
hasn't arrested either of us, but he finds excuse after excuse to keep us from leaving or
contacting anyone. I'm afraid he is connected to this, that he has called for
reinforcements and is stalling until they arrive."
She struggled to process his words through the daze the drug left in her mind. "What
will they do to us?"
"I don't know." He grimaced. "The kidnappers claim I kidnapped them."
"What? No. How can they say that?"
Dryly Rashid answered, "When I crashed, everyone on board was tied up but me."
"It would have been stupid to land this way if you were the kidnapper."
"I don't know what Issam thinks. He wants to separate us "
"No!" Lucia tried to sit up straighter. Rashid was her only anchor in this sea of
confusion. Without him, she would be stranded in a foreign country, barely able to stay
conscious, unable to speak the language, with no idea where to turn, and where
someone might want her dead.
Yet she knew so little about Rashid. Did the airport authorities have valid reasons to
believe he was involved? If she made the wrong choice now, she might never see home
again, might not even live past this day. How to choose? Her experience with the world
was limited to her home and MDT. A mutual attraction was hardly grounds to put her
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis...aar/Catherine%20Asaro%20-%20The%20Veiled%20Web.html (67 of 359)20-2-2006 21:09:18
Catherine Asaro - The Veiled Web
life in the hands of a stranger in a foreign country.
But her response to Rashid went beyond that. She had seen his unaffected sincerity
when he spoke of his work, heard the integrity and concern for humanity in his words.
That had been genuine. She had to trust her intuition now; she had nothing else to go on.
Looking up at him, she saw a visionary, a man who dreamed of a better world.
Softly she said, "Stay with me. Please." Her voice shook. "Don't let them separate us."
He brushed the hair back from her face, as if that gesture could protect them both. "I
won't desert you. I swear it. But I don't know what to do. I don't think this abduction
originated in Italy. The pilot comes from Russia and the copilot is an Algerian who lives
in Morocco now."
"And we can't leave here?"
"Issam claims your passport has some problem. But he won't say what. How do we
know, if he brings an 'official' to help you, that we can trust this person? If we go with
them, we may end up captives again." He swallowed. "Whoever took us never intended
you to be part of it. Now you're a witness, a liability they probably don't want." In a
strained voice, he said, "You are a beautiful woman, Lucia. If they have nothing else to
lose& "
She understood what he left unsaid. If the kidnappers only wanted him, they might kill
her. And if they were willing to commit murder, what else might they do with her first?
She shook her head, trying to clear it, but instead nausea washed over her. The drugs
muddled her mind and she only caught snippets of Rashid's words:& you're not a
citizen& enter the country?& man in my position shouldn't travel alone with you in
Morocco& shouldn't really even be alone in this room&
Her apprehension surged. What if he felt he couldn't stay with her? "Rashid, please. We
have to stay together."
"Are you sure?" He spread his hands. "It is the best solution I can see. But before we
make this choice, you must understand what it means."
He had a solution? She had lost his train of words. "Tell me."
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis...aar/Catherine%20Asaro%20-%20The%20Veiled%20Web.html (68 of 359)20-2-2006 21:09:18
Catherine Asaro - The Veiled Web
He took a breath. "I know one of the policemen. His sister works at my company. He [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
- doc.pisz.pl
- pdf.pisz.pl
- zambezia2013.opx.pl