Page 81 of The Devil Wears Orange
“Did you really thinkI wouldn’t know?” Banning asks. “My wife would never bother with a random act of kindness, let alone a fireworks show.”
Seated in the Bentley’s front passenger seat, I twist around to peer out through the open door.
Banning continues, “And then I thought, who would arrange such a thing and why? One of my men mentioned he spotted you with Ms. Milton in a restricted area. It’s been amusing to see you work like busy little bees.” He smiles his terrifying grin at Rashid. “Now, if you’ll please tell your men to step out of the truck.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Rashid says.
“Oh, everything is possible. Especially when one’s outnumbered as you are.”
At his cue, several armed men step out from the darkness behind the copse of trees. One moves toward the Bentley, his gun aimed at me. I gasp and step out of the car, hands raised. Ilook over at Rashid, who has a peculiar smile on his face though I can’t understand what he has to smile about unless… well, surely, he must have a plan B that I’m unaware of.
“Out of the truck,” Rashid orders his men. Kassim and Amir slowly descend from the cab, arms up.
“And the men in the back,” Banning reminds Rashid. Amir heads toward the back door to let the other men out, and they emerge one by one. He rolls the door back down.
“Slowly remove your weapons,” Banning orders.
I can’t help notice, despite the situation, Banning’s calm and polite tone. There’s civility among thieves.
Rashid nods to his men, and they obey Banning’s instructions, reaching into their back holsters and holding their guns in a non-threatening manner.
But when a shot ricochets off the top of the bullet-proof truck, Rashid’s men scatter for cover behind it, guns firmly held in their hands, and aimed into the darkness.
Rashid pushes me to the ground and covers me. I hadn’t even heard his footsteps coming at me. A few feet away, Jack drops to the ground.
“What’s happening? Who fired? Who fired?” I scream.
Chaotic whispers surround me. It seems others are just as unsure as I am about our circumstances. Beside me, Rashid squirms, looking this way and that, peering into the darkness. Soon, the figure of a man appears where the shot originated. Others fall in line around him, and soon, there are enough, perhaps twenty of them, to outnumber and surround Banning’s men.
“Mr. Banning, tell your men to drop their weapons.”
In the darkness, guns are lowered and dropped to the ground.
I wonder how we became trapped in a reverse babushka doll where, instead of getting smaller, the group of armed mengrows. The mystery man steps into a sliver of moonlight. My mouth drops open when I recognize Levan.
Levan continues, “I do apologize, Hector, for intruding, but I believe the Prince has something that belongs to me.” He glares toward Rashid. “Please bring her to me.”
Rashid lifts me to my feet. I suck in a breath, eyes on Levan, and say in a low, strained whisper, “Does he mean me?”
“He means theMistress,” Rashid quietly assures me.
“But it’s not here.”
Banning’s voice booms above the quiet chatter and startles us both. “I won’t stand for this, Levan. I have business to take care of here. You can have the Prince when I’m done with him. All else belongs to me.”
“Hector, you’re still standing because I’ve decided not to have my men kill you, so if...”
A shot zings off a rock near Levan. He dives for cover as an array of bullets fly in the darkness.
I scramble to hide behind a nearby tree, calling to Rashid and Jack to follow. Bullets ricochet around me. Curled with my face against my knees, I cover my ears, the sound of gunfire drowning out my whimpers. From the shadows, I spot an armed man approaching.
My hands raised, I stumble off the ground and cry, “Please, don’t.”
A gunshot rings, dropping the armed man to the ground. The silhouette of a second person, gun in hand, draws closer. I scream, my voice raw, my heart pounding, the noise of the gunshot still reverberating in my ears. It’s not until the person wraps his arms around me and pulls me close that I relax just a bit.
“Are you okay?” Jack whispers in my ear.
I nod –yes– then shake my head –no– then nod again. I don’t know if I’m okay or not. How can I be when we’re in themiddle of this crazy world war? “Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”
