“Gun!” Leo roared in Arabic as he heard the distinctive pop, pop, pop of a pistol being fired. He felt a sting in his calf.
Abia screamed.
Oh God, is the baby hurt? Is Daisy hurt?
Then he heard something wonderful—Daisy crooning to Abia, calm as could be, trying to soothe the child.
Leo looked up to see what was happening, pissed as hell that he couldn’t have smuggled a gun into the country. He saw that one of the men he’d trained had the shooter on the ground with a gun to his head. Why the fuck he hadn’t killed him, was beyond Leo’s understanding.
Leo looked around the crowd, not wanting to let Daisy and Abia up until he was sure that was the end of the threat. All he saw were shocked faces.
He knelt down and tried to take a look at his two charges, but Abia’s arms were wrapped so tightly around Daisy’s neck, he couldn’t see anything. He tried to move the little girl, but that only made her scream louder.
“It’s okay, Baby Girl, I have you,” Daisy promised.
“Are you okay, Daisy? Is Abia?”
“I’m fine. I didn’t feel anything hit either of us, but you.”
“How badly did I hurt you? Can I help you up?”
Before she could answer, he heard the men he’d chosen pushing back a crowd of people who were trying to get to Daisy and the child. He turned around again and saw one of his most senior men coming over to him.
He turned back to Daisy, “Honey, can I help you to sit up?”
“That’d be great.”
He wrapped his arm around her back, taking care not to jostle the child in her arms, and got Daisy in a sitting position. “Do you want to stand up?”
Daisy shook her head. “We’re good right now.”
He turned his attention back to his man.
“What have you got, Abdul?” he asked in Arabic.
“He was acting alone. But, people have been talking about Madame Squires and how she is trying to elevate women. They are not happy. He is deranged and must be punished. I do not know how safe she is.”
Leo spared a glance over his shoulder at Daisy. Her already-pale skin looked positively translucent.
“Thanks, Abdul. He’s going to be handled by the Amen police?”
Abdul nodded. Despite everything that had happened to him these last few years, he still had his pride. He had served on the police force for many years, but when his leg was shattered in a bombing, he was let go. Eventually, he and his family, including his mother and father, ended up here.
Abdul crouched down to look at Daisy. “You are doing good work here, Madame. I am sorry that some of my countrymen are taking offense. With progress comes pain, and you are their focus. Unfortunately, you will always be the face of your organization.”
“Abia,” a woman cried from the crowd. “Let me see my baby.” Maysa made her way to the edge of people before one of Abdul’s men stopped her. Daisy tried to push herself off the ground while holding the little girl but it was impossible.
“Stay seated,” Leo growled at her.
“Abdul, that’s Abia’s mother, let her get by.”
Abdul made a hand gesture and nodded to one of his men who let Maysa go, and she came running toward them. She was immediately kneeling in front of Daisy and Abia. “My baby.”
Even though Abia’s sobs had somewhat abated, as soon as she saw her mother, they kicked back up into full gear. “Is she hurt?” Maysa asked.
“She fell down when the shooting started, but Daisy cushioned her fall. She’ll be bruised.” Leo didn’t go into any more details than that.
“All right, all right. Thank you for saving her. I’m taking her home now.”
All the while, Leo could hear her crooning in much the same way Daisy had done. Then he noticed that while Abia hung over her mother’s shoulder, she was licking at her piece of candy. The little rascal was doing just fine.
Daisy continued to sit in the dirt, her mind whirling over what Abdul had said. Abia had almost died because of her. What was she doing? Stroking her own ego? Feeling like Mother Theresa out here tending to the people so she could feel good about herself, when really she was bringing danger to their door?
She struggled to get up.
“Honey, let me help you.”
She smiled gratefully up at him. When he bent down, she noticed the blood on his ripped jeans and the blood on his calf. “Leo, you’ve been shot!”
Once again she scrambled to get up on her own power, even though she felt a couple of significant bruises starting to form. Leo practically lifted her onto her feet.
“Don’t do that. We need to get you to the aid station! How bad is it?”
“On a scale of one to ten of gunshot wounds, it’s a two.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Wasn’t meant to be.” He put his arm around her waist and walked slowly toward the aid station. She thought he must be really hurt if he was walking this slowly.
“Lean on me, Daisy. I know I hit you pretty hard to get you on the ground. How are you feeling on a scale of one to ten?”
“I haven’t been shot!” Up ahead she saw Effie rushing toward her, along with the two cameramen. She tried to pull away from Leo to get to her friend, then almost stumbled. Her hip was really bruised.
“Daisy!” Effie called out. Daisy waited for her to get closer, then the woman enveloped her in a big hug. “I
