Page 98 of Sands of Sirocco
Her family was upstairs.Noah was upstairs.
Everything Stephen was telling her could be a lie.
But if it isn’t?
If she did nothing to try to save them from the bomb, would they all perish?
She let out a shaky breath, then shouldered her way past Stephen, her head feeling dizzy with uncertainty.Who knew what she would find in the cellar, but what choice did she have?
“Save them, Ginny.”Stephen’s voice sounded behind her, a soft creepy whisper.“If you can.”
ChapterThirty-Two
Inside the stateroom, Noah searched the crowd.
So many people were here tonight.No wonder Victoria and Alastair had so easily concluded that this would be a good moment to strike.Where the hell is Alastair?He hadn’t turned up here yet.
Noah recognized fellow officers and members of Anglo Cairo, and he nodded stiffly at them as he passed.Much as his job required him to know how to navigate polite conversation with ease, he loathed it.He was not inclined to speak to strangers under most normal circumstances.Even casual acquaintances rarely roused him to conversation if he could avoid it.
At last, Noah stopped, spotting his uncle about thirty feet away.
His jaw clenched, rage snaking its way up his spine.All these people were in imminent danger.And Masry was heresmilingandlaughingwith them.Before he planned to kill them.
While last night his uncle had looked like the fierce leader of an extremist nationalist group, tonight he looked every bit the part of the refined gentleman in white tie from Egypt’s upper class.
Noah’s pulse leapt in his throat, as he tried to do everything in his power to keep his fury from controlling him.He needed to find Victoria, tell her to give the signal to Alastair that Masry was here.
“Captain Stephen Fisher, Viscount Huxley.”
The announcement of the newest person entering the room slammed into Noah’s gut with ferocity.Noah turned.At the entrance stood his enemy, dressed to the nines.
And free.
Fisher held a champagne flute.He lifted it to Noah in a mock toast.
How?How was he free?And walking so openly in society.
It meant more than just an escape.
Noah didn’t appear to be the only one who had noticed Stephen enter.Masry had left his spot and stalked toward Stephen, a scowl on his face.
As Masry reached Stephen, Stephen bowed his head.Then he whispered something, pointing toward Noah.
The distance between them was far enough that Noah couldn’t overhear Stephen’s voice.But he knew what he was saying.
Masry’s head jerked up, his eyes combing the room.
Whatever hope Noah might have held that Masry wouldn’t know him dressed like this faded away.The expression on his uncle’s face was a mix of twisted fury and hatred.
The noise of the crowd fell away to a dull din.
Masry started toward the exit.
Where was Ginger?Had she left yet?
Noah pushed his way toward Stephen.As he did, he bumped into a woman holding a champagne glass, spilling it all over them both.“My word!”the woman said.
Excusing himself, Noah sped past her.He’d almost reached Stephen when he nearly slammed into a guard.
