A tall, distinguished man in a suit walked next to him. The two were deep in conversation.
Going on instinct, Aziza snapped a picture of the two of them. She didn’t know how she was going to broach the subject of seeing him with Ryan, but she’d figure that out when the time came.
“What is that, Auntie?”
“I’m taking pictures. It’s a camera,” Aziza said as her gaze swung back to Akbar.
As if he sensed someone watching him, Akbar’s gaze swept the immediate area around him. Then the man with him spoke and they stepped into a cigar store.
Her first reaction was to confront him, but Ryan’s warning held her back. Plus a flash of memory—an image of herself taking unsteady steps to the ladies’ room. His offer to help. Her refusal. Then another man appearing. Although they didn’t speak, she could have sworn they communicated with their eyes. That other man insisted on helping her down the corridor. From there, a blank space developed in her memory. Her next conscious thought came after waking up in that container feeling as if she’d been through a wringer.
She wasn’t certain Akbar had anything to do with selling her out, but her instincts killed her doubts. She distinctly remembered he was friendly with the men behind the bar and her drink was the only way they could have introduced drugs into her system. Proving he was involved in drugging and kidnapping her would be hard. Plus, there was the business of telling Ryan that she’d seen Akbar. He wouldn’t be happy about her being anywhere downstairs. Despite that, she had business to do and was relatively safe in the hotel and its surroundings. But Encounters should also have been safe.
When she faced forward, Sunita was watching her. “Are you okay?”
She had asked Sunita that question so many times in the last twenty-four hours, the child was now using that phrase back to her. Aziza smiled widely and patted her hand. “I’m fine, baby girl.”
But her appetite had left. She now felt threatened, but didn’t want to alarm Sunita. With a smile in place, she said, “Let’s go back to our room.”
They were halfway through the door when Akbar emerged from the shop and stood talking with the same companion.
Sunita tugged on her hand, but Aziza didn’t respond.
Their eyes met, and Akbar’s face twisted. His expression ran the gamut from consternation to horror. Instead of greeting her, he quickened his steps. “Aziza.”
At her side, Sunita pointed toward the man with Akbar. In a shaky voice, she cried, “I know him.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ryan closed his laptop and got up from the desk. He’d expected to find Aziza in the room, but she had disappeared. A look around the bathroom and in the closet told him she’d left under her own steam. Several items were moved out of place, the way she tended to do when she was going out. The question was why she left after promising she’d stay in the suite.
He had finished a brief telephone call with Myles and agreed to a virtual meeting in a few days to include their client in Jamaica. At that time, they would finalize several clauses in the draft contract.
Aziza still hadn’t returned, and he was sliding from anxiety into anger. She had to know he’d be worried if she disappeared for any length of time. Worse, she hadn’t left a note.
He sat on the side of the bed with his head cupped in his hands, fighting to stay alert. The lack of sleep made him drift in and out of consciousness, but he knew the moment Aziza arrived back at the suite. He felt her aura, but something was amiss. He sat up, then stood, poised to deal with whoever had dared to frighten her.
“Hurry! Go into the bedroom and close the door,” she yelled.
What the hell?
He stalked to the closet, opened the safe he’d secured only moments ago, and stepped back into the bedroom.
Sunita barrelled into the suite with tears streaking her cheeks. At the sight of him, she opened her mouth wide, as if to scream, but he put a finger to his lips and pointed to the closet. She followed his direction and dragged it shut.
He rushed toward the door at the same moment Aziza ran inside and tried to shut it. Ryan pulled her out of the way and let the person behind her stumble inside. He grabbed the man by the material of his shirt and pressed the gun to his forehead. “You better have a good explanation for why you’re in my suite and why you’re chasing this woman.”
The man sputtered, then spoke in a wheedling tone. “I wanted to talk to her.”
Aziza darted out from behind Ryan. “You only wanted to speak to me, but you chased us and scared us half to death?”
He grimaced and twisted his body to escape Ryan’s grasp. “If you do not mind, I will leave now.”
Ryan cocked the gun. “That’s not how this works.”
“I am—”
“Say a word or move a muscle if you want to meet your maker.”
Akbar lapsed into silence as both the pupils and the whites of his eyes expanded.
Without looking at Aziza, Ryan said, “My phone is on the bedside table. Get Dro on the line and tell him to come right now.”
She did as he asked while he backed Akbar into the living area.
Ryan pushed him into one of the chairs at the dining table, pulled out another, and faced him. “You’re going to tell me what business you have with my woman, so think carefully about what you plan to tell me.”
“He’s on the way,” Aziza said, stepping out of the bedroom.
“Thanks. Is Sunita all right?” Ryan’s attention did not stray from the man in front of him.
“She will be, no thanks to him.”
Akbar jerked back and looked at his watch.
“Need to be somewhere?” Ryan asked.
Arms folded, Akbar said, “I am on duty in another hour.”
Ryan’s attention shifted to the logo on his black shirt. “You
