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Someone named Tala?"
I frowned in her direction, more confused than ever, as she handed me a note.
Scribbled in French she'd written, "Emergency. Come at once. Kara to be married."
Chapter 12
It's either a testament to my selfishness, or to how deeply I did care for Rhys, that I ignored Tala's plea
for help until my friend was cleared by a doctor.
In the meantime, it was enough to learn that for the second time in a week, Rhys's injuries were not as
severe as I'd feared. Maybe I should believe in coincidence after all?
"I never knew being a priest came with those kinds of perks," I teased, my arm around him to help him
from the hospital to a cab so that I could take him back to the Hotel Athens.Not severe meant only that
he was neither dead nor staying in the hospital. He still had a terrible headache and his arm, which had
taken fourteen stitches, was in a sung. Both the doctors and d'Alencon ordered a day's bed rest before
he even thought about going back to work, much less to diving. "I guess the Big Guy watches out for his
own, huh?"
"Don't& blaspheme," warned Rhys through the painkillers, but he also smiled a loopy grin. "What
was& the big emergency?"
I got him settled in the cab, even buckled his seat belt, then came around to the other side and told the
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driver our destination. "Something about Kara getting married."
His eyes widened. "She's barely twelve!"
"I'm going over there as soon as I get you settled at the hotel," I assured him.
"Hotel be damned. We have& we have to& "
He was wincing more with each word, and his good hand fisted as if he were trying not to put it to his
head.
"Youhave to get better," I warned. "I'll find out everything I can while you're resting, then I'll report back.
I promise."
He looked suspicious.
"Ipromise" I repeated. "We'll figure something out."
"Maggi." For a moment I thought he was losing his balance as we turned a corner; then I realized he was
trying to lean closer to me. I stretched closer to him instead.
"If we must get her out of the country, I'll do it," he whispered I guess to keep the cabbie from hearing,
which wasn't a bad idea. "Let Tala and Jane know that."
He meant he would risk imprisonment on kidnapping charges if we failed or would risk doing
something martyrlike to make sure we succeeded. I stared at him, overwhelmed by how blatantly,
flat-outgood he could be.
Uncomplicated. Unquestionable. "Rhys "
"Ifwe must. You and Jane have livelihoods to protect. I threw mine away "
"You did not! If the church allowed priests to marry, you'd be saying mass today!"
"Tell them," he whispered, closing his eyes to rest them.
Luckily, we arrived at the hotel before I had to make yet another promise.
I still wasn't wholly comfortable returning to Tala Rachid's villa, especially not on my own. My memories
of what had happened that first time were still a mysterious blank.
Even when I'd visited with Rhys a few days ago to report what little I'd learned inCairo, I'd declined the
offer of a drink. Just in case.
This time, Tala's servant opened the door to me even before I finished paying the taxi.
"Come in, please," the girl said softly, bowing. "Thesitt is anxious."
Anxious didn't begin to describe the mood in the parlor to which I was led. Jane's eyes were wild and
puffy from crying. Even Tala's usual well-groomed composure, as she stood at my appearance, had a
brittle edge to it.
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Kara, looking particularly frail on the sofa, glanced from one adult to the other with nervous suspicion.
The child actually had a doll on her lap!
Not exactly your standard bride-to-be.
"Hello, Kara," I greeted awkwardly, unsure how much the girl knew. "I need to talk to your mother and
grandmother for a little while about some grown-up things. Could you "
"No," protested Jane, but Tala interrupted.
"Perhaps you can listen to your new CD, dear?" Kara's stepgrandmother suggested.
Kara rolled her eyes but obediently drew a Discman from her tote bag and put on earphones. A moment
later, we heard rhythmic white noise whispering from her music and she began to make her doll dance. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]