The Sheikh's Lost Princess

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes but didn’t open her mouth.

“In addition to that,” he went on, “how do you plan on convincing the couple to give up the boy if you do finally arrive at Kuh Friez? If they’re kidnappers, they could be dangerous. And thinking beyond that potential problem, how did you intend to get the child out of the country?”

Her shoulders slumped and she looked like he’d punched her in the gut. “I hadn’t planned ahead that far. I didn’t know Zabbarán and the Taj Zabbar were so … so …”

“Backward and dangerous?”

She nodded and covered her face with her hands. “I thought there would be police. Someone of authority who would help me.”

He couldn’t stand seeing her defeated. He hadn’t realized how much he had begun to respect her unfamiliar and yet much stronger attitude. The new version of Nikki fascinated him.

“How about if we make a deal?”

She looked over at him with cautious hope in her eyes.

“You give me all the information about the child,” he began in his most convincing tone. “And then let me take you across the border tonight. I promise that my brothers and I will come back for the boy after we’ve had a chance to make a decent rescue plan.”

Hanging her head, she sat on the rock. “No.” Her whispered answer was almost too quiet to hear. “I can’t. I’m sorry, but I won’t leave Zabbarán without him.”