Page 68 of Defenders of Jawhara

“His mother? Where does she come into this?”

“According to the information they obtained, she is as radical as they come. She changed her surname to her husband’s after he died, and she has vowed to see that everyone involved in the coup pays for his death. They suspect she is among the refugees and helped her son take Miss Malone captive.”

“So, she goes by Bashai now? What was her name originally?”

“Hamrin.”

At Brett’s reply, PJ felt Talib stiffen behind her. She knew that he would have loved to go to the refugee camp personally to collect her.

“Send the palace guard to the camp now. Make sure it’s surrounded by daybreak. No gaps like the one that let Amir and Erin out. Do they have a picture of her?”

“Yeah. She shouldn’t be hard to spot. She was burned in a fire several years ago and most of her face is covered by scar tissue.”

“Find her and have them escort her back to the palace prison. She can wait there until we capture her son.”

PJ interrupted at this point. “Brett, if the guy’s working on his own, what are the chances that he has help waiting for him in the caves?”

“From what we can tell, the caves are empty. The nomads aren’t even there right now. We’ve been monitoring any movement in your direction, which was fairly easy since there wasn’t any.”

“So, he’s working alone, and this is more about revenge than religion?” PJ tried to sum up the situation.

“I’d say so. Religion is often used to disguise and justify irrational actions. He might not know the difference any more between what his sect tells him is necessary and what his anger is driving him to do. When he realizes he’s on his own in this endeavor, he may attempt to take both of their lives to prove a point,” Talib told them.

“What point? That he’s completely insane?” Carlos’s quick accent came through the radio.

“That point would certainly be clear to everyone.” Talib paused for a moment. “Can you spare two men?”

“Already ahead of you there. Brock and Tim headed out half an hour ago. They are going to flank your position, and once our target starts moving again, they’ll do their best to keep you in line of sight at all times, but they will be keeping their distance. It’s not ideal, but there’s a serious lack of cover where you are.”

Talib smiled. “What, don’t your men know how to become one with the sand?”

“Become lunch for every critter crawling around in your desert? No thanks. I spent time in Iraq, and I have firsthand experience with the scorpions that love this area.”

“Ah, you didn’t respect their territory and were stung?” Talib inquired.

PJ shivered at that. She remembered her brother sending her pics of them. Iraq had one particular type of scorpion that could kill people and liked to make its home under tents and ruined buildings. But there were plenty of others that were less dangerous. They all gave her the willies, with those long tails and hooked stingers.

“Respect had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t even one of the bad ones. I got stung or bit, whatever they do, and didn’t realize I was allergic to their venom. If the guy next to me hadn’t been our medic, I would have died right there. My throat swelled up along with my hand where it got me, and they had to evacuate me, even after the jab with the EpiPen. I spent three days in the hospital.”

“An unfortunate experience for you. Your plan will be sufficient. We have the element of surprise on our side,” Talib said smoothly.

“It’s more than sufficient. We’ve got to keep them out of the caves. The radios will be useless if he gets too far under the mountain, and of course the satellites won’t be able to track their movements or yours. Slade will be coming in from behind the target to prevent him from backtracking.”

“Slade’s in Jawhara?” PJ asked.

“Yeah. I spoke to him a few minutes before I contacted you. He brought only Blaine with him, but that should give us an edge. They’re heading out in a few hours by vehicle. They should be in position by the time the sun comes up.”

“Great! We will stop and make camp now. Keep this com unit open once you see movement,” Talib answered.

“Will do. PJ, you hanging in there, kid?”

“I’m fine,Dad. Stop worrying about me.”

“No can do. Slade would have all of our heads if something happened to you out here.”

“Slade trusts me to take care of myself.”

“My concern has nothing to do with trusting you. You shoot better than I do, and you know it.”

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