Page 115 of Sands of Sirocco
She stepped forward, then paled, seeing her servant by the stairs.“I have to inform her family of what’s happened.”Her fingers shook as she pushed her hair over her shoulder.Her eyes misted.“And Babu.I saw them shoot him in the courtyard before I hid.Are there any others?”
“We didn’t see anyone else.Do you have a telephone here, Mrs.Hanover?”Noah asked.
Sarah’s hands still appeared shaky.“In the library.”
Ginger rose from her seat and put a steadying hand on her elbow.
“Why don’t you gather what you need?”Noah said.“I’ll make a phone call to a friend of mine who can see to caring for the bodies in your home.”His voice was exceedingly gentle.Ginger snuck a glance at him, her heart warming.His ability to be both kind and competent in times of heartbreak was wonderful.
Sarah nodded and left them and went up the stairs.
Ginger went to Noah and tugged at his hand.She interlocked her fingers with his, trying to read his face, which was cast in shadow.“Do you think it’s wise to take her with us?”
“I don’t know.But she’s not safe here.If Osborne came after her, it’s because he thinks there’s something that only she can offer him.”Noah lifted Ginger’s hand to his lips and kissed the backs of her fingers.“Taking you both seems risky, to be honest.”
Heaviness weighed on Ginger.“It feels as though we’re being lured there, doesn’t it?And by taking Sarah aren’t we taking the piece of the puzzle that they’re missing?”
“I don’t know of any other option.Only that Jack would go for me if the roles were reversed.And if he’s as ill as Victoria says he was, it may be too late already.”
Ginger followed him to the library.“Is it safe to make a telephone call?”
Noah nodded.“It should be.This friend isn’t connected to the government.Just someone who does me favors occasionally when I need to obtain a respectful burial for someone.I won’t identify myself anyway.”
Ginger chewed on her lower lip.Intriguing as it was, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know more.
Noah’s phone call turned out to be in French.As he chatted in low tones, she moved toward the window, gazing over the courtyard of palm trees that surrounded the house.What sort of life had Noah occupied before the war?
Until hours ago, she hadn’t even known her new husband was half-Egyptian.
The things she didn’t know about him far outnumbered those she knew.
Movement in the courtyard caught her attention.She sucked in a breath, then squinted, trying to distinguish what she’d seen.
She leaned forward, one hand on the glass, searching the courtyard.
A man’s face appeared in the window, inches from her own.
Screaming, Ginger dove away from the window.Gunshots and breaking glass followed.Ginger covered her face with her arms, her ears ringing.
“Ginger, move!”Noah commanded.He’d dropped the phone and fired his gun at the same moment.The man who’d peeked in through the window lay dead, half-sprawled into the broken window.
She scrambled from the floor and rushed toward Noah as another figure came running up behind the dead man.Noah fired toward the window again, pulling Ginger behind him.She peeked out the window.
A second man, dressed identically to the first, twitched on the ground.“Who are they?”Ginger asked.
“Considering that they were holding guns, I wasn’t going to wait to find out.Let’s get Sarah and go.Who knows how many more are here.”Noah dragged her from the room.She ran at his side, hardly able to keep up.
Sarah was already back down the stairs, a rucksack over her shoulder.She hadn’t changed into a burqa but held one under her arm.“What happened?”
“More men with guns arrived.Do you have any weapons here?All of mine are in the boot of our motorcar,” Noah said.
Sarah led him toward a closet.After unlocking it, she flipped on a light and stepped back.Several rifles were inside.Noah eyed Sarah curiously as he slung them over his shoulder, grabbing ammunition.He lifted his brow at a crate of dynamite and hand grenades.
What on earth is Sarah doing with all this?
“You never know when dynamite will come in handy,” Sarah deadpanned.
Noah grabbed a bundle of dynamite.He lifted a few grenades.“And these?”
