The Black Sheep Sheik (12 page)

“Indeed not.” Darek sneered. “Because I’m going to tie up all loose ends. But I’m not completely unfair. Khalid blood might make it to your throne if your sister plays her cards right. After consoling the proud Saida in her grief over your death, I might just marry her as my second wife. My son will be your nephew. And after my death, Jamala’s throne will be his. You must admit, it’s a certain kind of justice. For our friendship’s sake.”

Amir stood tall. “You are a disgrace to everything that is honorable.”

The pain that held Isabelle tight intensified. A gasp escaped her lips. Her hands flew up to her abdomen.
Not yet. Please.

“Is she in labor?” Darek turned to her. “She better not slow us down. Having her body found in the wreckage is not imperative. She could always just disappear. As you said, nobody would connect her to you, would they?”

The men outside were getting into their vehicles.

“How long does labor last?” Amir asked Isabelle, standing as close to her as possible, an arm around her waist, helping her to hold herself up.

Darek was arguing with the men, swearing at them for something, paying no attention.

“Average first labor? Anywhere from twelve hours to twenty-four. Or it could go on for days.”

He felt the blood run out of his face.

“I don’t think mine will,” she told him. “Everything seems to be progressing. Contractions are ten minutes apart.”

“I apologize.” Whether she blamed him or not, this was all his fault.

“We don’t have time for apologies.” She breathed loudly.

“If I knew there would be any danger to you….” He’d come to Wyoming with distinct plans for Isabelle, but those fantasies didn’t look anything like this. He had hoped for a couple of days together. Days of passion once again, but longer this time, maybe a week or even more.

He brushed his free hand over the screwdriver in the waist of his trousers, in the back, making sure his shirt fully covered it. “I’ve been a fool.”

Her gaze searched his. “For coming back to Wyoming? Not like you knew that you’d be attacked here. We’re not exactly a hotbed of criminal activity. I don’t think anything like this has ever happened in Dumont.”

He didn’t have time to waste. Whatever he wanted to tell her had to be said now, in case they didn’t have time later. “I’m a fool for not realizing right away that I wanted you forever. I should have known nine months ago. I should have searched you out right after you left that morning. I wasted all this time.” His hands fisted.

Ever since he’d gotten off the plane, things had gone from bad to worse. First the limousine blowing up; Bahur, his guard who drove the car, dying; him going into a coma. Which drew Isabelle into the circle of danger. And now his friends were headed into an ambush.

If any one of them died, it would devastate COIN. If all of them died, it would destabilize the region, and their countries would suffer for years, if not decades, in the ensuing power struggle.

Had Efraim understood his hints? When he’d asked who was in the room, Efraim had listed the four royals, plus Jake Wolf and Wade.
You should all come, but no one else,
he’d told Efraim. So six would come instead of the four, Darek expected.
Trust no one outside that room.
He hoped they understood that meant Darek, the only one of their circle who hadn’t been in the room at the time.

“When we are in the car, I’m going to distract them. I’ll take out as many as I can. No matter what happens to me, you grab the steering wheel and drive away as fast as you’re able.”

“Because I look like I would enjoy a car race right about now?” She was gasping for air.

“Because you look like you would do anything to have our son born in safety.”

She held his gaze for a long time; then she nodded, a single tear rolling down her face. “Our chances are not too good, are they?”

“I would have loved you. We would have had a good marriage.” He didn’t have time to say more.

Darek was turning to them, grabbing Isabelle’s arm to drag her after him.

“Out to the SUV.” His free hand held the gun on Isabelle. He knew he could keep Amir in line by threatening her.

Four other men stood around the two vehicles. Three of them had come with Darek; the fourth was their initial kidnapper.

One of the men shoved Amir into the back of the SUV; another tried to do the same with Isabelle.

“Let her sit in the front,” Amir told Darek. “At least let her be comfortable as long as she can be.”

A sneer crept onto the man’s face.

“You will have a wife someday,” Amir told him. “We were friends once.”

“So long ago I can barely remember,” Darek said but then nodded toward Isabelle, and the man holding her arm helped her into the front passenger seat before going around and sitting behind the wheel.

The other two men got into the back, bracketing Amir on each side. Darek went to ride in the black van.

“How far is it to the airport?” Amir asked the men when they started rolling.

“An hour, I guess. Anxious to die, Sheik?”

B
REATHE DEEP
. B
REATHE
evenly. Easier said than done. Isabelle braced one hand against the dashboard, trying to cope as best she could, which wasn’t going well. The baby was coming. She had to watch for some sort of a sign from Amir, at which point he would fight off the men while she drove away.
Right.
Was he insane?

But they had to do
something.

He was not going to take out three armed men alone. Which meant that she had to take out the driver. She was closest to the man, so it was the only logical thing. Could she do it? Could she really kill a man in the middle of labor? It went against the whole “bringing new life into the world” theme of the moment.

And even if she did, and Amir handled the other two—that “if” being the size of Bow Mountain—there was the small matter of the black van driving ahead of them on the narrow road. She had no way of passing. Which meant she would somehow have to turn the SUV around and drive off in the opposite direction.

Sure. That would happen.

Except that it had to happen.
Deep breath.
Because she was
not
going to die today. She was going to give birth to her son, keep him safe, and she was not going to let the bastards have Amir, either. She didn’t know when it happened, she didn’t know whether she liked that it had happened, but she was pretty sure she was falling in love with the man, God help her.

He wanted to protect her and stand by her side and all that nonsense, and she was barely freaked out by the thought anymore. It was official. Pregnancy hormones did give her brain damage.

She gritted her teeth as a contraction came. Squeezed her eyes shut.
Breathe.
The pain got worse with each contraction. She handled it. Then the long, agonizing seconds were over at last, and her focus had to be back on their current situation again.

They drove through a wooded area, came out into an open field, scaring a couple of grazing antelope into the bush. But soon they were in the woods again. The black van got farther ahead of them, then disappeared around a bend.

“Now,” Amir said at the same time as he went for the screwdriver at his back with his right hand and stabbed it into the throat of the man who sat on his right. With his left he punched the driver hard in the temple. Then, almost simultaneously, he plowed into the man on his left, reached for the door handle and shoved the door open, causing both of them to tumble from the vehicle.

“Amir!” She slammed her elbow into the driver’s face with all her strength, then grabbed the gun from his lap, her mind struggling to catch up with what had just happened.

Driving from the passenger seat with her left hand was no picnic, especially since she was watching in the rearview mirror as Amir wrestled in the middle of the road, fighting for his life. He wasn’t going to last long. He was still too weak.

And he had to have known that, too, must have known all along while he made and executed his crazy plan. He had prepared to die so she could get away.

Blazing buzzards.

She aimed the gun at the driver, who was reviving and was trying to grab her. The mother of all contractions ripped through her. “Make my day,” she said to the man through clenched teeth.

Probably didn’t look too pretty, but it proved to be effective. The man assessed his situation correctly and took his foot off the gas, then jumped from the car as it slowed. Good riddance.

The giant SUV had enough room in the front for her to slide over. The black van was still out of sight up ahead. She made a shaky three-point turn as soon as the contraction passed, was ready to run the man over if he stood in her way, but he wasn’t that dumb.

She sped by him, going back for Amir.

He was off the road, rolling in the dirt by a stand of bushes, Darek’s man on top of him.

She put the car in park. Slid out. Stopped for a second to breathe hard. When the pain in her side passed, she marched up to the men and put her gun to the idiot’s head. “Let him go.”

The guy looked at her but didn’t seem to believe her.

“So help me God, I will shoot you dead right now, right here. I’m a pregnant woman in labor. Do I look like I’m kidding?”

It was enough to make him hesitate. Which was enough for Amir to punch him and roll out from under him. He grabbed after Amir, so she shot in the general direction of the guy. He took the hint, pushed to his feet and started running toward his buddy.

“Get in the car.” Amir grabbed her elbow and tried to drag her after him, but he was pretty beaten up, so it wasn’t immediately obvious who was dragging whom. “You shouldn’t have stopped. You could be a mile down the road by now.”

“You shouldn’t have planned a suicide mission. How could you? You are the father of my son!” She climbed in, holding her belly. “You ask me to marry you and then you try to get yourself killed? What kind of a follow-through is that?” She was yelling, anger furrowing her brows, but deep inside she was so relieved she could have cried. They’d gotten away.

The man Amir had stabbed in the throat had bled to death and Amir shoved the body out of the back, then jumped in behind the steering wheel. “You don’t want to marry me, anyway,” he reminded her as he put his foot on the gas and the SUV shot forward.

“I can change my mind. It’s every woman’s prerogative around here.”

He flashed her a surprised look while the car gathered speed. “Have you?”

“Not yet, but maybe I will. You’re not going find out if by the time I make up my mind, you’re dead!” Another contraction was coming. She was running out of breath.

He was grinning like an idiot.

Then the black van slammed into them, jarring her so hard her teeth rattled. Thank God she’d had the presence of mind to put on her seat belt. She craned her neck, then bit her lip in despair. Their enemies were right at their back.

“Go faster!”

“I can’t.” Amir’s face darkened. “They busted one of the back tires.”

Again, they were bumped. She held her belly. Being jiggled hurt like hell. “I don’t know what this is doing to the baby.” She cried out in pain when the next jostle came. “Make them stop.” She didn’t want to think what might happen if she hit her stomach.

Amir held her gaze for a long moment. Then he took his foot off the gas pedal and put it on the brake. He threw the gun out the window so the men behind them could see it.

“Where are the other two guns?” Darek shouted.

“I don’t have those. I swear. We surrender.” Amir opened the door and got out, his hands in the air.

And just like that, their brief flight to freedom was over.

T
HEY WERE STRAPPED
in the back of a chopper. Isabelle’s contractions were five minutes apart. Amir was no expert, but he was pretty sure that meant the baby could come very soon now.

Darek was with them, more of his men hidden around the abandoned airstrip. A cloud of dust was coming closer and closer. The royals were arriving in two separate vehicles.

“Wait.” Amir wiggled his hand, trying to loosen the ropes that bound his wrists to the armrests. “You should have my signet ring. If Saida ever does have a son, I want him to have it. It’s been in the family for generations.”

Darek shrugged and came over.

Amir bent his finger slightly so that the ring wouldn’t come off so easily. Darek had to put the gun down so he could hang on to Amir’s hand with one hand and tug the ring with the other, probably wanting that symbol of Jamalan royal power for himself.

What he wanted didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that he was close enough at last, within reach.

Now.
Amir slammed his forehead into Darek’s with all the strength he had left. Pain reverberated through his skull. For a second, he saw double.

“You…” Darek blinked hard, faltered, dealing with the impact in his own way.

Outside, the royals’ vehicles were coming to a stop. It would all be over within minutes.

Darek lifted his hand. He was going to shoot.

Amir lurched against his restraints. Growled when he couldn’t break free.

But instead of shooting, Darek collapsed to one knee. This was it. Their last chance. Amir kicked him in the head, using whatever strength he had left. And at last, the man folded.

“Watch out! Watch out! It’s a trap!” Amir shouted but wasn’t sure whether he could be heard outside the chopper.

“It’s a trap!” Isabelle added her voice to his, screaming at the top of her lungs, using the pain of her labor as inspiration, because she way outdid him.

Darek’s gun lay on the floor, inches from Amir’s feet. He stretched to drag it closer with his foot, then kicked his shoe off, guided the weapon up his leg with his toes until he could reach it with his fingertips.

“Got it,” he grunted to Isabelle, who stopped screaming.

“Watch out!”

Darek was reviving, lunging for him.

With his hand tied, aiming correctly was impossible, but he emptied the magazine in the general direction, hitting Darek in the hip by pure chance and sending him sprawling back. Not as satisfactory as a clean kill, but at least the gunfire would definitely tip off his friends to trouble.

Gunfire erupted outside, too.

Isabelle moaned, drawing his attention.

“Can you hold on a little longer?”

Her eyes were closed as she focused on her breathing, a sheen of sweat covering her forehead. “Three minutes apart.”

“Coming on board,” a voice shouted from outside.

Jake Wolf was the first onto the chopper. Took in Darek. “I knew something wasn’t right with him.” He pulled a knife from his belt and cut Isabelle’s ropes first, then Amir’s, handing him a gun at the same time.

Which he tried to use to finish off Darek.