“It’s an angle I have to explore.”
“She wouldn’t.” Xander straightened his shoulders and clenched his fists. “She’s not like that.”
“Think about it.” Elmahdy opened the car door. “That’ll be all for today. I’m heading to my daughter’s football game. Do you need a ride anywhere?”
Xander shook his head, hollowness expanding in his stomach. This was all simply another day at work for the detective. “I’ll catch a bus back to the hotel. To… do some reading.”
“Good idea. It’s probably for the best. I wouldn’t want you to get into any more fistfights.” Elmahdy lowered himself into the driver’s seat. “You’ll be joining Al-Rashid if you keep this up.” He slammed the door.
Xander stood rooted to his spot as the car pulled away, the detective’s words reverberating in his mind. Leila, a runaway? It wasn’t possible.
The car vanished out of the gate and Xander refilled his lungs purposefully. Elmahdy was wrong.
He made his way out of the compound, his backpack suddenly fifty pounds heavier. All he could do now was pray Faris was wrong too, and he wasn’t going to go searching for his love’s dead body.
CHAPTER 11
She was never going to get out of this hole. Leila lay in the sand, her body limp. The sun relentlessly pounded down on her. She had been in the same spot since that night, only able to move her fingers. Her split nails dug helplessly into the sand, the granules wedging themselves in the crevices. The coarse grains ran between her digits and fell back to the earth in tiny mounds.
It was so merciless, the desert. So dead and dry. This wasn’t even the part of the Sahara she always saw in magazines with the rolling, golden dunes, going on as far as the eye could see. Instead, it was rocky, the terrain uneven. It was brutal on her shoes. It tore them apart until nothing but the soles of her feet were left, bleeding and cracked.
Thoughts passed through her mind slowly. Refusing to let her brain—the last part of her that seemed to still be working—slip into darkness, she stared blankly at the tree, sprouting nothing but bare twigs, a few yards in front of her. It came in and out of focus, but she kept her eyes in that direction, forcing herself to see.
Somehow it gave her hope. A meager little seed had settled itself in this desolate spot and lived. Beyond the first glance of nothingness in the desert, life, as delicate as it was, still found a way.
Life was a funny thing. So fragile, yet so resilient. Plants found a way to adapt and grow in the most unlikely conditions. Humans also found a way to conform to the unwelcoming environment. Instead of shorts and tank tops, they wore long robes to protect their skin. Their sweat kept their bodies cool. They tamed the camel to carry them long distances without needing to stop for a drink. But what good did any of that do her now?
Unsure if she had closed her eyes or if her vision was failing, the tree vanished. It felt as if her body was spinning into blackness. Then the dizziness ebbed away. Her mind was back, but instead of being in the desert, she found herself reliving one of her favorite memories from six months ago.
The rocky walls surrounding her turned into concrete buildings and the desert floor smoothed out into a red brick pathway.
She strolled down the terrace between the buildings, listening to the muted chorus of car horns honking in the distance. Her heart warmed at the sound of gurgling fountains and gently swaying palm trees. The place had the ambiance of an inner-city oasis.
She paused for a moment to search the area for Xander. He should be here. People milled about the long terrace, ambling along the rectangular lake, lounging on the green metal benches.
Curiously, she tilted her head up at the building in front of her, a center with a theater, restaurants, cinema, library, and shopping. Xander didn’t say if he had something planned for them that afternoon, only a playfully mysterious text telling her to meet him there. He had even used an emoji, so she knew he was up to something.
With a sigh, she glanced around to find an empty spot on one of the green benches. Trying to decide if she should wait there or in one of the buildings instead, a voice came from behind her.
“Am I late?”
She turned as Xander descended the concrete steps. Wearing a T-shirt and jeans, his hands were shoved into his pockets, his shoulders relaxed as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Hi.” She grinned.
He stopped in front of her and greeted her with a quick kiss, hooked his arm through hers, and together, they walked into the shade of an overhang.
“So, now you get to guess what we’re doing,” Xander said, closing his mouth in a smug, tight-lipped smile.
She tapped her chin and lifted her eyes toward the ceiling. “Hmm. Well, neither of us are dressed for the theater.”
“Not really, no.”
“Can’t be a movie. We went last weekend.”
He nodded. “True. Horrible film, that one.”
“It’s too early to eat.”
Xander shrugged.
“The library?” She raised an eyebrow. Neither of them loved shopping, but a date at the library? Her curiosity was piqued.
“You’re too smart for me,” he said, slipping an arm over her shoulder. He turned her toward the glass doors and they slipped inside.
She basked in the familiar vanilla-almond scent of books. Thousands of them, lining shelves and stacked on tables. The main area was mostly empty except for the service desk near the entrance. Overlooking the area, an open floor plan revealed several more stories of bookshelves. They passed the towering concrete columns that rose from floor to the ceiling and headed for the stairs.
“This is different,” Leila said in a low voice as they climbed the stairs. “What kind of date do you have at the library?”
“A very quiet one.”
“Really?” Leila fake gasped.
“I guess that’s too much to ask of you?” One corner of Xander’s mouth tugged upward and she saw a glint of mischief in his eyes.
She tapped his side with a fist as they reached the landing. “Stop talking, we’re in a library.” She glanced around the large room, bookshelves welcoming her to browse. The books and carpeted floor muted the whispers and footsteps of the other patrons. Red sofas stood in scattered groups, inviting visitors to curl up and read. “This looks cozy.”
“Actually.” Xander stopped her and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I’ve got a little game for us.”
