It was just as well. She needed to fit in at the Intercontinental Hotel, so high-end clothing was for the best. All of the clothes that the woman had picked out were rich and vibrant and beautifully made. Daisy chose the deep purple, and it fit like a dream.
Perfect. I’m outta here.
When the woman tried to thrust some more clothes into the dressing room, Daisy stepped out.
“I choose this,” Daisy smiled.
“Excellent choice. I will get the shoes and chaddar to cover your hair. We can pin it here, so you will be unrecognizable.”
Within five minutes, Daisy had just spent more on her credit card than a night at the Ritz Carlton in New York. Thank God Leo had paid for lunch.
“No, no, no. The chaddar is still not right,” the woman said again. For the third time, she re-pinned Daisy’s scarf, until none of her hair showed, and it flowed softly around her face.
The saleswoman looked at her critically. “You’ll do.”
She shoved Daisy’s clothes and red purse into shopping bags. “Go out with a group of women, you’ll be less conspicuous that way.”
Damn, she was really getting into it. Maybe the Afghani woman wanted to be James Bond too.
Daisy stayed close to the entrance looking at a rack of clothes. When three women started to walk out, she walked close behind them, followed them to the left, and down the escalator. She looked up and saw the man in the windbreaker still standing in front of the women’s clothing store.
I did it!
She glanced at her watch. It was six-twenty. She’d be cutting it close.
As soon as she was on the ground floor of the mall, where all the food shopping was, she hurried to the south exit. How in the hell was Rayi going to recognize her when she got to the hotel?
One problem at a time, Daisy. First, just get your ass to the hotel on time.
When she got outside, she yanked her red purse out of the shopping bag and held it over her head.
Many drivers shouted at her to give her a ride.
“Miss Squires!”
She turned her head to the young man waving at her. He even looked like Malek. She hurried over to his car and got in.
“The Intercontinental Hotel.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
His tires actually screeched before she had a chance to put on her seatbelt. After she got it on, Daisy reached for her St. Christopher’s medal around her neck and held on.
Here she was again, in another hotel lobby about to meet another man who would hopefully have information about her father. She stood in front of the hotel gift shop, pretending to admire whatever it was they were selling. Her mind was so oblivious, she didn’t even know what she was looking at.
“That’s a nice watch, isn’t it?” A man asked her. “Who would you buy it for?”
“My stepfather. I try to always get him something from every country I visit. But I would like something that is made here, instead of something that he could buy in the US.”
“You are a good daughter. I believe our car is waiting.”
Daisy turned to look at the man. They were of a similar height and she could look directly into his kind and intelligent eyes.
She smiled. “You’re right, we don’t want to be late for our plane.”
Yay, I remembered my lines!
“No, we don’t.”
He indicated they were going back to the valet area, where the door was open, and he escorted her to the waiting limousine. She raised her eyebrow.
“This has a privacy screen,” he quietly answered her unasked question.
She nodded.
The valet opened the door for her, and the driver opened the door for Rayi on the other side of the vehicle. After they were settled, the limousine began to move at a sedate pace. It was nice to not have to worry for her life for a change.
“How do you know my stepfather?” Daisy asked.
“I did a few humanitarian stories that interrelated with Tajikistan, and I needed corroboration. Your stepfather ended up pointing me in the right direction.”
Daisy nodded, she could see Alistair doing that.
“So, do you have any information for me regarding Ethan Squires? Anything at all about what he might have been doing either here or in Pakistan?” It had finally occurred to her that the Haqqani Network spanned both nations and he could have just as easily enraged the Network on either side of the border.
He looked at her sadly.
“What? Tell me. What?”
“In Pakistan, one of the madrassas that he visited and inoculated children, was where Siraj Haqqani’s nephew attended. It was lucky he wasn’t killed while he was still over in that country.”
“I know that. I’m also thinking it was either Dr. Williams or a member of his staff who tipped off Siraj that it was my father who did the inoculation. It’s the only thing that made sense, since they wouldn’t be sure which doctor did it.”
Rayi nodded. “You’re right, but before that happened, a member of the Taliban, who didn’t want additional international trouble, told your father to immediately leave for the United States.”
Daisy felt like her head was going to explode. Did her father have a death wish, why in the hell didn’t he go home? What the hell had he been thinking? Fine, he did his normal shit, he ignored all common sense, risked his life, and put the life of Dr. Williams and the rest of his team in
