“Just what we’re doing.”
And then she saw him.
Outside her window.
His chin was covered, his forehead obscured by a white-and-blue headdress. But she recognized his nose, and those piercing eyes, and the uneven eyebrows.
And then he peeled away, like the others, circling back around for another pass.
“Holy shit,” said Julia, whooshing back in her seat.
“What?”
“I know that man.”
“How?” Harrison demanded. “Why?”
“From the track. He gave me Millions to Spare’s name. He thought I was placing a bet.”
Harrison stared at her for a moment.
“Hang on,” he said, gearing down, popping the clutch and increasing his speed.
The Jeep rattled frighteningly, but the horses and camels began falling behind. At first they were lost in the dust. And then, as the Jeep reached fifty, she knew they had to be gone.
“It has to be a coincidence,” she said, more to herself than to Harrison.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
She was trying not to panic. She was seriously trying not to panic. “So he went to the track. Lots of people go to the track. Don’t they?”
“He learns you’re interested in Millions to Spare. Millions to Spare dies, and then he practically ambushes us in the desert? That’s one hell of a coincidence.”
“It could happen,” she insisted.
“You want to bet your life on it?”
Julia stared back at the dust plume funneling out behind them, then turned to the endless desert in front of them.
“Whatever you do,” she told Harrison, “don’t turn on the air-conditioning.”
Chapter Nine
Four hours later, death was beginning to feel preferable to spending another minute in the bouncing Jeep under the broiling desert sun.
Julia was half-asleep-or maybe she was half-delirious from thirst and heatstroke-by the time Harrison stopped the Jeep and killed the engine. She groggily blinked open her eyes. They’d long since run out of water. Dust had scratched her eyeballs raw. It had seeped into her hair, her clothing, her very pores.
Harrison lifted his sunglasses and parked them on top of his short, dark hair. “Are you all right?” he asked in a voice that sounded as raspy as hers felt.
“Great,” she answered, bracing her hands on either edge of her bucket seat and easing her body upright. “Where are we?”
“Khandi Oasis. I doubled back.” He pocketed the keys to the Jeep in the breast pocket of his dust-streaked dress shirt. “It should take them a while to find us.”
“How long’s a while?”
“Hopefully, forever.”
She tried to smile at his joke, but her dry lips felt as if they might crack.
She glanced around at the collection of white huts and square buildings set amongst coarse grasses, thorn trees and palms. “Is there a hotel here?”
“Not exactly,” said Harrison, setting the brake and reaching for his door handle.
“A tent?” she asked, getting less particular by the second. If it was out of the sun, out of the wind and had any kind of a beverage available, she was in.
“I have a friend here. He may have a cottage we can use.”
Julia breathed a sigh of relief. “Lead me to him.”
While she pawed at her door handle, Harrison rounded the front of the Jeep to help. He held out a hand while she straightened her reluctant legs. They were decidedly weak as she rolled to her feet.
Then the world began to buzz and spin.
“Uh-oh,” Harrison’s voice was hollow and distant, and she felt his arms close around her.
She woke up on her back, in a cool room, with a fan turning lazily above her. As she blinked her way back to reality, bright fabrics came into focus against stark, white walls. Woven baskets and hammered silver dotted the tables in the room, while bentwood, rattan chairs were interspersed with vividly colored rugs.
“Welcome back,” came Harrison’s soft voice, and she turned her head toward the sound.
He smiled down at her. His dark eyes were uncharacteristically warm and kind. She guessed swooning was what a girl had to do to bring out his softer side. Had she known, she could have swooned days ago.
His fingertips touched the cool cloth on her forehead.
“Thirsty?” he asked.
“I guess I passed out.”
“That you did.”
He slipped an arm beneath her shoulders, propping her up while handing her a glass of water.
She took a few sips of the tepid liquid. “Is there air-conditioning in here?”
“They use it sparingly.” He took the glass from her hand and let her lie down again. “The settlement has a generator.”
“It feels like heaven.”
He sat back in his chair. “I’m glad you approve. We may be here for a while.”
Reality crept back into her consciousness. “Are we safe?”
“As safe as I can make us.”
She nodded, feeling suddenly emotional and maudlin. “Thank you,” she croaked.
“No problem.”
She wheezed out a weak laugh. “Right. I can’t imagine I’ve been any trouble at all.”
He paused. “You are exciting. I’ll give you that.”
She willed her strength back, reminding herself they were still in precarious circumstances.
“Exciting is one way to put it.” She pushed herself into a sitting position.
He reflexively reached for her, but then backed off when it was clear she wasn’t going to keel over.
She took another drink of water.
Gazing down, she realized she was wearing some kind of loose cotton tunic and skirt instead of the evening gown. She blinked at the maroon-and-yellow fabric, layered over the full-length brown skirt. Had Harrison undressed her?
“Yes,” he answered her unspoken question.
She wasn’t sure how strongly she objected to him undressing her, or even if she objected at all. But she wasn’t going to let him know that.
“Well, I sure hope you didn’t look,” she said.
“I thought about closing my eyes,” he responded mildly. “But then I realized I’d have to feel my way around.”
“So you ogled me while I was unconscious?” She drank some more water, feeling stronger by the second.
He gave her an enigmatic smile, neither confirming nor denying the accusation.
“Is that what they teach you at Oxford?”
“You were wearing underwear. And you were dying of heat prostration.”
Julia reflexively scrambled to remember if her bra and panties matched. Stupid thing to worry about under the circumstances, but she couldn’t help herself.
And she really couldn’t remember. It had been too long since she’d dressed yesterday, and it was dark when she switched clothes with Brittany.
