LITMIR.BIZ

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boy is Syrian.” It explained everything. Syrian refugees were an international problem. Desperate to escape their own land, they had exhausted all the escape routes into neighboring countries.

      “Ah.” Ali turned to Maja. “And you?”

      She seemed confused, so Adam came to her rescue. “It’s complicated.”

      Ali accepted the explanation without comment, appearing lost in thought as he drained his second beer. “Okay. The weather will be good tonight. We leave at midnight.”

      * * *

      In the hours between meeting Ali at the Masa Bar and joining him on the boat, they attempted to get some sleep in the car. Tarek dozed, but Maja stayed awake and worried about Adam. He looked increasingly weary. His face was pale and the fine lines about his eyes appeared more pronounced. Although he closed his eyes and leaned back in the driver’s seat, she got the feeling he didn’t sleep. When the time came, they abandoned Edith’s car in a side street and joined Ali at the harbor.

      Maja was surprised when Ali led them to a dinghy instead of to the fishing boat they had seen earlier.

      “Faster,” he explained as she climbed carefully into the small craft. “I am using my brother’s speedboat. We can reach Cyprus in under two hours this way.”

      Maja didn’t like water. It was a fact she had decided not to mention to Adam. He had enough worries to contend with without introducing her phobias into the situation. Besides, they were getting to Cyprus by boat; they weren’t swimming.

      The sea was mirror-still as the motor-powered dinghy skimmed across the water and Batroun disappeared in the moonlight. Within minutes, the dinghy bumped the side of the speedboat. Ali secured it to the stern of the larger vessel.

      Even though there was no light except that thrown out by the full moon, Ali sprang nimbly from the dinghy onto the rear of the speedboat. Holding out a hand, he helped each of them in turn onto the deck. Handing out life jackets, he explained that they should remain seated during the journey. He also gave Tarek a length of rope and instructed him to keep Leo leashed the whole time.

      “I am not turning back if your dog goes overboard.”

      Within minutes the boat had chugged to life and they were gliding over the dark waters. Tarek soon became engrossed in the technicalities of what Ali was doing, and their conversation switched to Arabic. Ali seemed content to answer the questions the boy fired at him, and Maja turned to look at Adam, who was leaning back in one of the cushioned seats that lined the deck.

      “You have pushed yourself hard,” she said.

      “What choice is there?” Adam nodded in Tarek’s direction. “What happens to him if I crumble?”

      Although she understood what he was saying, she was confused by the depth of his commitment to Tarek, a child he had only just met. Maja shared the same determination to ensure the boy was safe and well, but she had an advantage over Adam. She was invincible, while he was hurting, driving himself to his physical limits.

      He hadn’t talked much about his brother, but it was clear he had wanted to find him. Maja understood responsibility. But there was more than duty in Adam’s eyes when he looked at the man in the photograph. There was an emotion so powerful it tugged at her heart. But there were other feelings as well, ones she couldn’t name. They were similar to the ones that made her want to wrap her arms around Tarek and protect him from harm.

      “Was there an alternative to this?” she murmured.

      Although they were in darkness, he turned toward her and she could see his face in the moonlight. He raised a questioning brow.

      “Was there another way to help Tarek without putting yourself at risk?”

      He lifted his good shoulder in a one-sided shrug. “You saw those guys who came to the mission. They weren’t playing nice. If they’d found Tarek, they would have killed him, because they suspect he knows the name of their leader. He can tell the world who the Reaper is.” Adam gave a mirthless laugh. “What they don’t realize is the world won’t listen to him.”

      “What does that mean?”

      He shifted position slightly, resting his good arm on the seat cushions behind her. “I read an article some months ago that speculated about the very thing that Tarek said. It suggested that the Reaper wasn’t driven by religious or political motivation. I wonder now if the anonymous author of that piece could have been Tarek’s father. Whoever wrote it believed the Reaper was a large consortium or group of businesses.”

      “Some of the warriors in the great hall at Valhalla died fighting this thing you mortals call terrorism. They thought they were battling against an ideology. I don’t understand how they could have died because of something that was run by a business.”

      “Exactly. The article I read was widely discredited for that reason. No one was able to believe such a thing could happen. Even though, throughout history, appalling atrocities have been committed for monetary gain, it was impossible to believe that acts as awful as the Reaper’s brand of terrorism could be done for profit.”

      The boat had changed course and Adam’s face was shadowed from the moonlight, but she could tell his expression was troubled.

      “But Tarek said his father had proof of this man’s identity?”

      “And he was prepared to go public with his name.” Adam lowered his voice as he cast a glance toward where Tarek was still chatting eagerly with Ali. “He died the day after he spoke it out loud.”

      “You knew that name.” Maja studied his profile as he turned to look out over the moonlit water. “When Tarek told it to us, you knew who he meant.”

      Adam was silent for so long she wondered if he wasn’t going to answer her. “Knight Valentine is one of the best-known names in the business world. He is a billionaire property developer. No one in their right mind would believe him capable of something like this.”

      “So you think Tarek’s father was wrong?”

      Maja felt there was something more to this. Intuition wasn’t necessary to the Valkyries. They needed to be strong. Get in, get the job done, get out. That was what made them effective. More wasn’t required. But where Adam was concerned, Maja was developing an extra sense. Now and then, she could tune in to his feelings. She didn’t understand why that was, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. It was outside her sphere of experience to get so close to another person. But it was there. She was stuck with it. Right now, she sensed his turmoil and something more. She thought it might be anger.

      “No, I don’t think he was wrong.” He turned back to face her. “I know Knight Valentine well—too well for my liking—and I know there is nothing he wouldn’t do for money or power.”

      “How do you know him so well?”

      “Knight Valentine is my stepfather.”

       Chapter 6

      “Larnaca.”

      Adam followed the direction of Ali’s pointing finger and saw a line of lights on the horizon. It was the sweetest sight he had ever seen. Ali’s next words jolted him out of his happiness.

      “Patrol boat. British.”

      Some distance away, but between them and the welcoming lights of Larnaca, a searchlight was scanning the dark water.

      “What can we do?” If Ali said they would have to turn back, Adam might just pull out his gun and use it on him. That was how close to the outer limits of his endurance he was right now.

      “There is only one thing we can do.” Ali swung the wheel to the right. “I know these waters well. We get in close to the shore and keep out of sight. Play a game like the cat and the mouse.” He shook his head. “It could take many hours.”

      Frustration

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