Chapter 15 #2
“It’s going to be a long trip if we all sit here without talking.
” Theo reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a cigarette case.
He removed a cigarette and slipped it into his mouth, then took out a lighter.
Curling his hand around the cigarette, he lit it, then took a drag.
“And I asked around. Everyone said he’s just a washed-up old archeologist who only made minor discoveries.
A hermit with no friends left in Cairo.”
Dammit. Theo had asked about him? What if he’d said something about Ruby smuggling him to Iraq?
“You flatter me,” Jack said with a tilt of his head. “Minor discoveries sounds pretty successful for the likes of me.” His glare deepened. “But asking about me goes precisely against my instructions to your sister. If you told the wrong person—”
“Relax,” Theo said, lazily stretching his leg out. “What are you, a spy or something?”
Jack chortled. “A spy wouldn’t be stuck on a second-class carriage with you two as dead weight, Theo. Count your blessings. If you said the wrong thing to the wrong person, my patience with you will evaporate immediately.”
Theo glared. “I didn’t say anything about your demands on my sister. I’m not stupid.”
Ruby leaned over and snatched the cigarette from his lips, then extinguished it in an ashtray by the door. “Oh no, you most definitely are.” She smacked him against the shoulder with her palm. “I told you not to say anything to anyone.”
“For all we know, he’s dragging you out to Baghdad to sell you to the highest bidder. I needed to know what type of reputation he has. Don’t worry, I was discreet.”
“You’re doing a remarkable job of making me want to sell you to the highest bidder,” Jack muttered, palming his face. Amateurs. This was what he got for working with people he didn’t know and couldn’t trust. Only a few miles out of Cairo and he was already beginning to question his life choices.
Jack cleared his throat, then said, “If I wanted to sell your sister, Theo, I wouldn’t have paid so much money to her in the first place. You may not believe it, but she’s not cheap.”
Ruby shot him a look sharp enough to cut glass. “Excuse me?”
“Kidding,” Jack said with a smirk. “Mostly.”
Theo reached for another cigarette but found the pack empty. He frowned at the one Ruby had extinguished, as though considering picking it back up again. “Don’t worry, the only reason we’re here is because—”
“Because I’m paying you to be.” Jack tossed him an irritated look.
“If you’re going to be coming along, we’re going to have to establish some rules.
First of all, if I say not to do something, I’ve got a damned good reason for it.
You don’t question it. Don’t go around me.
You do what I say, or you could get yourself or someone else killed—got it? ”
Theo gave him a cutting look. “If you say so.” He rubbed the whiskers above his upper lip, then snatched the discarded cigarette and lit it once again.
“So. What’s your plan when we cross the border? Or are you making this up as you go?”
Given the circumstances of their meeting, Jack had never liked Theo, but now he really missed the time when he’d thought of the fellow as quiet. He’d already explained the route to Ruby—that she hadn’t shared the details of the itinerary with him was interesting.
Or maybe it meant nothing. Maybe he was just trying to play dumb and be purposely obtuse.
Jack’s eyes flicked to the window, then back to Theo. “We’ll take the train to Kantara. Take the ferry across the Suez, then take the line straight up the coast of Palestine to Lydda station, then to Haifa. From there we’ll go to Damascus, then take Nairn Transport Company’s desert bus to Baghdad.”
Smoke curled from Theo’s lips. “Don’t you think that’s a bit risky?
You want to avoid officials—but you’re walking straight into them and going by all the official checkpoints.
” He leveled a hard gaze at Jack. “It’d be faster and safer for us to go from Jerusalem to Amman by car, then take a desert convoy. ”
Well, at least he knows his geography.
Truth was, Jack couldn’t afford to take Ruby or her brother for idiots. They’d survived as thieves in Cairo long enough without being caught. Jack sighed, wishing he could just return to reading the articles from Gretchen in the notebook—but Theo, apparently, didn’t want silence.
“This is the route,” Jack said in a tone that made it clear he didn’t want to be argued with.
Theo snorted. “You’re a real mastermind. You realize half that route’s crawling with British inspectors? You’ll get yourself pinched before you even see Damascus. Ruby knows a man in Jerusalem that could get us to Amman.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jack tried to remain calm. Problem was, Theo’s worries echoed Jack’s own thoughts when he’d been planning the route. Not that he was about to let Theo know that. “Then stay in Kantara for all I care. Go back to Cairo. No one is forcing you to come.”
Ruby looked between them, then said in a firm tone, “He’s coming. And you’ll thank him if you end up needing a backup plan. He’s not entirely wrong about Amman. I could—”
“This. Is. The. Route,” Jack repeated, punctuating every word through his teeth.
His tone must have startled her, because she seemed to shrink.
“Theo, if this is the route Jack wants to take, I don’t think we should question it. We’re not paid for our opinion,” Ruby said, exchanging a look with her brother. She grimaced at Jack. “Sorry—he’s just suspicious, you know?”
“Don’t apologize for me,” Theo snapped.
Jack caught the quick flicker of hurt in Ruby’s eyes. He hated how that did something reckless to his chest. She glanced at him then, and for half a heartbeat, he felt that itch—the one that reminded him how badly he wanted to trust her. Someone.
And how dangerous that is.
Then again, Jack hadn’t been too polite to her, either.
Ruby stiffened, color creeping up her neck. “I’m not apologizing for you. But we all have to get along if we’re going to spend the next several weeks together.” She bit her lip and appealed to Jack. “Maybe it would help if we knew a bit more about you, Jack. And why you’re going to Baghdad.”
Jack’s eyes snagged on the pale line of her neck where the scarf now rested, the faint glint of a chain resting just under her collarbone. He looked away, jaw flexing. Some lines aren’t worth crossing—especially not with a woman like her.
Plus, Theo was getting on his nerves—fast.
But Ruby didn’t deserve to get rudeness on two sides, no matter how little Jack trusted her. “I’m not sure I’m ready to share too much,” Jack said without taking his gaze off Theo. He stared him down hard. “But trust is something you and your brother are going to have to earn.”
Theo did his best to stare back defiantly. At last, he shifted, looking away with discomfort. “I’m going to see if I can buy some cigarettes,” he announced, then stood. “I’ll be back.”
Thank goodness for that.
As soon as Theo had left, Ruby shot Jack a sidelong glance, her eyes bright with irritation. “You know, you could at least pretend to back me up if I bother speaking up for you. Especially if he’s being impossible.”
Jack arched a brow. “You want my help handling your brother? Thought you were perfectly capable of handling men all by yourself.”
Her lips twitched—almost a smile. “Not all men are worth the trouble of handling, you know.”
Something in her words made his blood heat and he held her gaze for a beat too long, his heart flickering under his ribs. He shouldn’t take the bait, but for some reason he couldn’t help it. “You’ll have to let me know which category I’m in.”
She looked away, but her cheeks flushed pink. “Trust me—I’m still deciding.”
Strangely satisfied, Jack crossed his arms and glanced at Ruby. He liked her. Thief or not. She had a way about her that was charming. Maybe it was fake or maybe he just hadn’t been around women enough lately, and she seemed like a glass of water after a thirsty ride in the desert.
In a low voice, he told her, “I’m trying to find my sister, by the way. And a friend she was traveling with. I suspect I might be able to find clues about where they were in Baghdad. Is that good enough for now?”
Something in Ruby’s gaze shifted. Perhaps sympathy. She nodded, then said softly, “Something serious must be involved if you need to be smuggled into Iraq to find them, otherwise you would have gone to the consulate.”
Something serious.
She had no idea. Only the most dangerous man Jack had ever met.
Jack only nodded.
The door to the compartment slid open once again and Theo sauntered back in, a fresh cigarette in his mouth. He said nothing as he sat, the relief over his absence instantly disappearing.
After a moment, Jack looked back at Theo and said grudgingly, “We might go to Jerusalem. But if we do it’ll be a brief stop—and I doubt Amman is worth the trouble. That route to Baghdad is filled with desert bandits and risks a much higher chance of dying of thirst if our lorry breaks down.”
Theo frowned, several beats of tense silence passing between them. Then, at last, he nodded. “You’re the boss.”
Jack swallowed hard, the victory in Theo’s admission hollow. More importantly, he didn’t feel in control.
He needed allies. Someone he could trust.
But every mile closer to Baghdad, hope felt thinner than the desert air.
By now, Noah might be in Jerusalem—and Fahad too. Maybe it would be a risk to involve them, but he felt out of his depth and rusty. He was a war veteran returning to a lifestyle he was no longer sure he could survive in.
And that terrified him.