Page 40 of The Angel and the Agent

“Yes, but not here. This area’s too far gone. I usually go to Nigeria, Libya, Morocco, Egypt. Sometimes Liberia and Somalia.”

“Are you going to have to kill me now that you’ve told me the truth about your life?” she asked.

“No, but I might have to do something else with you,” he said. His hand smoothed up and down her arm. “Cold?”

“Yes, that’s precisely why I have goose bumps. Brr.” She feigned chafing her hands up and down her arms.

Ethan laughed and then stopped short, studying the town before them.

“What’s the problem?” Amelia whispered.

“That woman was wearing a burka,” he said.

“So am I,” she said.

He shook his head. “You’re wearing robes and a scarf.”

“What’s the difference?”

“About twenty pounds of fabric. Think of the difference in our country between someone who is a conservative evangelical and someone who is old-order Amish.”

“Why is it concerning she’s wearing a burka?” Amelia asked.

“It means the area’s been infested by either Boko Haram or Isil,” he said. “It means this area is hostile and dangerous.”

“Can’t we go around?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Stay behind me, keep your head down, don’t speak unless I tell you to, and do exactly what I say.”

“Okay,” she agreed, taking a step behind him and dropping her eyes demurely.

If the area had been infested, the only chance they had of making it through was making people believe they weren’t alone. “Amelia, if I lie, don’t show it. Don’t act surprised. Go along with it, no matter what I say. Got it?”

She nodded.

“Okay, here we go.” He took her hand and they walked the remaining mile to town.

Amelia felt conspicuous, as if everyone was staring at her. She wasn’t sure if all of Ethan’s warnings had made her paranoidor if it was because people were actually staring at her. She had rarely been more afraid, mostly because she knew Ethan was afraid. He was one of the most fearless, adventure-loving people she had ever met. If something made him nervous, it was because there was good reason to be nervous.

They made it a half-mile or so when a man holding a gun stepped out of a building and yelled for them to stop. Ethan kept going, and it occurred to Amelia that he had no idea what the man said.

“He told us to stop,” she whispered.

Ethan stopped and faced the man, tucking Amelia behind him.

“Who are you and why are you here?” the man demanded. Amelia translated. Ethan answered, and she translated that, too.

“My team and I are mercenaries sent by an animal rights group to stop the rhino poachers. We became separated on a raid. This is my translator. They’re waiting over the border.”

The man regarded them, looking them up and down. Amelia tried to look brave and important, a nearly impossible task when she was close to losing bladder control.

“How many of you are there?” the man asked.

“Twenty,” Ethan replied without missing a beat.

“All American?”

Ethan shook his head. “Mostly Australian, some New Zealand. Besides myself there are three other Americans. If we don’t meet when we’re supposed to, they’ll come to find us.” He was holding his weapon, Amelia realized. It was tucked against his chest, but it was in plain view and his hand was on the trigger. He might actually shoot this man. The man might shoot them. They were a hairsbreadth away from being a free-for-all, based on the believability of Ethan’s lie.

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