“You never did tell me how it went,” Emma said slyly.
As it neared midnight, Leila lay awake in bed, one arm on top of the blanket. Emma noisily got ready for bed, drawing Leila from a deep sleep. She’d hoped to get a few more minutes of shut-eye, but once Emma realized she was awake, she seemed more interested in talking than sleeping.
Leila rolled her eyes and tucked her arm back under the blanket. “He only wanted to go over the police reports.”
“Uh-huh. Sure.” Emma finally switched off the light and climbed onto the top bunk. The whole metal frame of the bed shook and creaked as she made herself comfortable. Then came the blessed silence.
Leila’s heavy eyelids slid shut even though she’d have to get back up in thirty minutes.
“I can’t believe we’ve been here a week already,” Emma declared to the darkness. “The time is going by so quickly. It’ll be Christmas before we know it.”
Leila’s eyes shot open. “Christmas? How can you already be thinking about Christmas?” She had to admit, the girl wasn’t all that crazy. It was in four weeks.
“We’ll have to do a Christmas dinner,” Emma went on. “We’ll take the day off and go to the market and buy all the ingredients, and we could do a lamb roast.”
Food was the last thing on Leila’s mind right now, let alone Christmas dinner.
Blankets rustled loudly as Emma turned over on her side and yawned. “Or maybe fish.”
“Or both,” Leila said to the metal slats above her, wrinkling her nose.
“Mmm hmm,” Emma hummed.
Leila waited until it had been quiet for a few minutes and Emma’s breathing became steady. Deciding to make use of the extra few minutes, she quietly slipped from the bed and wiggled into a sweater. She gathered her boots and satchel and, barefoot, crept down the stairs.
When she emerged outside into the crisp night air, Xander and Soliman were already standing at the back gate, adjusting their disguises. They both sported shapeless, dark-colored robes. They had even wrapped scarves around their heads as if they were preparing for a week’s journey through the desert.
A light breeze brushed across her skin, her neck hairs rising in response. Involuntarily, she glanced back at the dorm. The windows were all black rectangles in the façade. Only the moonlight cast a white crescent shape onto the shiny surfaces. Remembering the knife she had slipped from the kitchen and into her pocket, she took in a deep breath and walked toward the two collaborators, hugging her bottle of water.
As soon as she was in range, Xander tossed her a bundle of cloth. “Put these on.”
Glad to have something to do rather than make small talk, she caught the wad of material and unfolded a garment similar to his and Soliman’s. Once she had slipped it over her head and smoothed the material, she wrapped the second smaller cloth over her hair and tucked one end beneath her chin.
The three of them quietly filed out of the gate with Xander bringing up the rear. Leila caught the way his gaze lingered on the dorm behind them and wondered if he had the same strange feeling of being watched. She shook her unease aside as Soliman led them down the street, taking a left instead of a right as they usually did.
“We’re not taking the Jeep?” she asked in a hushed voice.
Soliman shook his head. “I made other arrangements.” A wave of panic shot through her. Other arrangements? She debated turning back. Would they try to stop her if she ran? Her fingers curled around the handle of the dull kitchen knife tucked inside the deep pockets of her robe. She was ready—she could and would use it at the first sign of danger.
Her fears dissipated as Soliman turned into a dirt alleyway leading into a courtyard. Two camels lay on the ground, their feet tucked beneath their stomachs as they lazily chewed their cud. Blankets and saddles had already been settled onto their backs.
“My friend Mohammed was kind enough to allow us the use of his camels,” Soliman explained with a chuckle. He approached one camel and, in one smooth movement, mounted. The beast groaned, releasing a cloud of spittle in the air, and got to its feet.
“Well, I did pay him double what one normally does for camel rental,” Soliman said from above, guiding the animal to walk in circles around Leila and Xander. Its huge feet padded with a surprising lightness on the stony ground, though a penetrating smell of straw and manure followed every stride. “Much more inconspicuous than driving our regular vehicles, which someone could recognize. And they are faster than walking.”
Leila gaped at the other camel and her gut twisted. She would have to share with Xander.
“But it’s not all that far on foot,” she said, though she knew it was hopeless at this point.
“I’m quite certain it’s Soliman who doesn’t want to walk,” Xander whispered before going up to the camel to mount.
Not wanting to waste time and keep them waiting, as Soliman was already heading back down the alley, she kept her discontentment to herself and climbed behind him onto the camel.
Soliman is definitely doing this on purpose. I never should have complained.
Xander tugged at the reins, and the camel pushed itself to its feet, back legs first, nearly throwing Leila off balance. The jolt forced her to latch onto Xander’s broad shoulders.
“Not so fast!” she hissed.
“You better hold on tight,” he said, casting an impish smile over his shoulder.
“Don’t you even think about it,” she warned as they headed toward the edge of town. She dropped her hands and crossed her arms, keeping her balance by swaying in sync with the camel’s gait, holding on with her legs. If she had her own camel, she would have been more than happy to go at a faster pace, but not under these circumstances. The closeness to Xander was sickening enough. And if she were to find herself in danger, making a getaway would be much more complicated. She didn’t plan for this at all.
The air cooled down considerably once they left town, and Leila hugged herself to keep from shivering. Thankfully, the robes gave her an extra layer of warmth. Everyone seemed to be lost in thought as they crossed the sandy terrain. The only sound to be heard was the grunting of their camels as they rode across the dunes toward the excavation site.
Nearly full, the moon cast a bluish glow over the ocean of sand, giving them plenty of light to show them the way. The view of the striking landscape was only dampened by another aspect of nature, namely the potent scent of their mounts and the straw they lived in.
She gripped the sides of the saddle as she rocked along with the camel’s movements, trying to keep a safe distance between Xander and herself. If he tried anything, at least she could stab him. And shove him off the beast. It was high enough he could break his neck. That would stop him.
The camel slowed its gait. Leila wondered if Xander had fallen asleep when he surprised her by speaking up.
“So, you and Coleman seem to be getting along well.”
Leila frowned. He was slowing to allow Soliman to ride farther ahead, giving them room to talk. Sneaky. “Yeah,” she said cautiously, “why do you care?”
Xander shrugged. “I guess he needs someone to tell him all about the mastabas.”
The tone of his voice told her he knew exactly what the topic of their perpetual conversation was. And he wasn’t thinking of mastabas. But if he was trying to get information from her or find out what her opinion on the matter was, he was out of luck.
