Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Allowing the noise of the city to drown out his thoughts, Noah focused on the children scurrying through the streets of Cairo.
They spoke in broken English to the European soldiers or residents who passed , offering services for baksheesh.
A beggar blinked numbly into the crowded street from his perch in front of a hotel.
His body was swathed in rags, a stump of an arm exposed to the sun.
Noah gave the beggar money, then climbed on the arriving tram. The act of charity did little to ease his guilt. His night had been filled with fitful dreams and Harold Young had been in them.
When he arrived at Lord Helton’s, the butler showed him into the sitting room.
Lord Helton descended a few minutes later. He’d shaved, at least, and was dressed. But he still looked as though he hadn’t slept well. “I found the Aleaqrab leader.” Noah rubbed his bruised knuckles, his fingers curving over the bumps. “But I have heard nothing about Victoria yet.”
Helton pulled a note from his breast pocket and held it out to Noah. “They’ve sent another message. They want arms and munitions. They’ve specified what and where. They say they want it delivered tonight to the address listed.”
Noah read the message. It had been written in English, though there were grammatical mistakes. “They make no mention of releasing her.”
“They must release her if I make this exchange.” Lord Helton’s eyes were wild behind his spectacles.
He can’t be serious. “You’re going to give them weapons?”
“Of course I am. They have my daughter, not my dog. They sent another note from her.” Lord Helton thrust it into his hands.
Noah recognized Victoria’s familiar script. “Please give them what they want.” A troubling feeling knotted his stomach. “Neither note makes a promise of her release. You can’t give a group of men intending revolution the weapons with which to do it.”
“I can worry about that later, once she’s safe at home.” Lord Helton paced, then sat. He rang for his butler, who appeared within moments. “Fetch Jahi for me.” As the butler left, Helton turned back to Noah. “I’ll need you to get the arms for me.”
Noah raised his brows. “How’s that?”
“I’ll send a letter. Tell them you need them to blow up a bridge. Something of that nature.”
“And when the arms disappear and no bridge is destroyed?” Noah sat stiffly.
The weapons themselves weren’t difficult to obtain—no one would question a message from Lord Helton.
But if the matter was investigated, they both could be held responsible.
“We should go to a higher authority. You and I both have friends in the CID who would be discreet. I can go to—”
“And risk my daughter’s life? I trusted you, Benson. How dare you even suggest such a thing?”
“Because stealing weapons is more reasonable? There’s little guarantee that I won’t be seen. And someone has been following me once again.” His eyes bored into Helton’s.
The corners of Lord Helton’s mouth twitched. “I told you Osborne—”
“Told me what?” Noah cocked his head to the side. “No matter how much I’ve tried to confront Osborne, he’s able to evade me. You know what he’s doing. You have the power to put an end to it. Now tell me exactly what the man is after. And why.”
Lord Helton swore under his breath. “Sir Reginald Wingate received troubling news about you, regarding your parentage. Given that you’ve publicly expressed your sympathies for the nationalists, he was duly concerned.
I told him and Osborne they had nothing to worry about, but they wanted to keep you under watch.
” Lord Helton shot him a narrow gaze of frustration. “Summary enough for you?”
“Not particularly.” Lord Helton’s account and lack of specificity was a half-hearted attempt at getting through the specifics to placate him, and Noah knew it. “Why did you see fit to engage Ginger in the services of the CID?”
“We need to find that concession. We know Lady Braddock is most likely hiding information. Virginia seemed like the easiest route to learning the truth.” Lord Helton’s mouth thinned.
“I’m certain she would prefer to keep her mother out of prison if it comes to it.
What’s the harm of having her involved? We offered her more than a generous compensation and that was only because of my intervention. ”
Noah gave Lord Helton a skeptical look. “Need to find it? To what end? If it is lost, what difference does it make? You know Ibn Saud is likely to strike a new deal if the timing is right. Why the sudden need to seize the property of a dead man? Unless you see some personal gain in it.”
“How dare you question my integrity? You think I’m not angry with Lady Virginia for blatantly disregarding her promise to me? I have been more than patient with her. And you.”
Noah stepped closer to him, using his height to his advantage. “Unless you’d like to find someone else to supply the Aleaqrab with their requested weapons.”
Lord Helton’s lips were pallid. “This is precisely the problem with that woman. Before her, you questioned nothing I asked of you. My daughter’s life isn’t a bargaining chip, Benson.”
“You’ll shut down this investigation on me.
Don’t tell me you don’t have the means.” Noah straightened, knowing he had the upper hand.
Helton would do anything for his daughter—including suggest that Noah steal a cache of weapons and hand them to British enemies.
“After all, what you want from me is treason. You may have other lackeys, but none who could obtain what you need for the purposes you need them. And keep your secrets. Which you know I will.”
Before Helton could respond, the door to the sitting room opened. Jahi, Lord Helton’s trusted Egyptian servant, strolled into the room, his red tarboosh on his head. He gave a bow to Lord Helton, then startled at Noah.
Jahi wore an ugly bruise on his face, dark circles surrounding his eyes. A cracked scab was exposed on the bridge of his nose.
Noah’s pulse mellowed, and his eyes hardened. Jahi had broken his nose recently.
The Egyptian attacker in Ezbekieh would show similar signs of injury.
Noah barely heard Lord Helton as he spoke. “Jahi will accompany you to the depot to get the weapons. Work with him on the coordination. My suggestion would be to take a lorry.”
Noah snapped his gaze back to Lord Helton. “And my terms?”
Lord Helton gave a weary wave of his hand. “Yes, yes. Whatever you wish. I have more important things to worry about than Osborne’s ridiculous investigation.”
“I want whatever information you have on Osborne. His files. Everything.”
Annoyance spread on Lord Helton’s face. “Don’t overplay your hand, Benson. I could always give you another assignment immediately. Restrict your ability to go and save Darby.”
Bastard. Noah set his jaw and cocked his head. “His files?”
“As you wish.” Lord Helton moved to leave the room.
“There’s one more thing,” Noah said. Jahi had brought a feeling of uncertainty to what was happening.
Lord Helton stopped. His heels clicked together as he turned to face Noah. “What’s that?”
“I can’t deliver the arms for you. There’s too much of a risk the Aleaqrab would recognize me.
I can get the weapons from the army.” He studied the list. “With this amount, I’ll need to borrow a lorry.
And register what I’m taking from the munition dump.
I’ll be responsible for them.” At the voice of caution in his mind, he asked, “What if the army investigates this? They’ll be suspicious that all these weapons disappeared. ”
“I can smooth it over. Tell them I sent you on a secret mission. You’ve taken weapons dozens of times before for such purposes.”
“But never just outright stolen them. And never so many. Anytime I’ve taken weapons in the past, their purpose has been accounted for in an official report.
” Noah’s eyes narrowed. “What you’re asking of me could be considered treason if something goes awry with the delivery.
You know the army would never approve of you taking the weapons and turning them over to our enemies. ”
“Good God, man, what would you have me do? They have a knife to my throat. I’d rather ask for forgiveness later than ask for permission, which you’re right, they would refuse. And then where would I be? They’ve likely already defiled her. Would you like to see her dead?”
Noah swallowed the tight lump in his throat.
No. The thought of Victoria being killed made him sick.
“I’ll obtain the weapons, then meet with Jahi.
Then Jahi can drive them to the rendezvous point.
I can follow at a distance on horseback, see the arms collected.
If Victoria is at the exchange, I will be there to help her, should anything arise. ”
“You make the plans, Benson. I trust you.” Then Helton left, shutting the door behind him.
Jahi stood beside the door, hands neatly folded in front of him.
Noah approached him. When he was close, Noah grabbed a fistful of his robes and pushed him against the door. He peeled back the sleeve of Jahi’s left arm, revealing a scorpion brand. Unlike Noah’s, it was long scarred over. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
Jahi responded by slipping a knife from his pocket. The sharp blade separated their torsos, the tip scraping against Noah’s collar. He gave a slow twist to his head, his eyes flat.
Releasing Jahi from his grasp, Noah stepped back, furious with himself. He’d showed his cards too soon. Jahi wouldn’t be easily intimidated.
“Who are you working for?” Noah asked. Jahi being involved with the Aleaqrab was believable and he had access to Victoria. He would have known where she was. How to kidnap her.
Jahi didn’t answer, his eyes dark. When he sprang forward, Noah grabbed the side of a chair, then lifted it and blocked Jahi’s body with it. The chair snapped over Jahi’s head, a splintering crack in the air.
Jahi tumbled onto the floorboards, the tarboosh rolling into the wall. The knife clattered across the wooden slats of the floor.
A few seconds later, Lord Helton threw the door open. “What the devil—?” He froze at the sight of a dazed and groaning Jahi on the floor.
Noah released what remained of the chair from his hands, and it fell with a crash.
“I think we have the key to finding Victoria.” Squatting, Noah showed Lord Helton the brand on Jahi’s arm.
“He’s with the Aleaqrab. He tried to attack Ginger in Ezbekieh after she arrived in Cairo.
I thought the attacker looked familiar, but he was disguised. ”
Lord Helton’s face darkened. “Where’s my daughter, Jahi?”
Jahi muttered in an undiscernible voice then spat at Noah. The spittle landed on Noah’s cheek and slid onto the floor. “Step aside, Benson.” Lord Helton encroached upon both men.
Noah wiped his face with a handkerchief and stood, stepping back.
A spark of fear ignited in Jahi’s eyes. Like Noah, he’d seen Helton question an enemy before.
Lord Helton’s affectations of a gentleman who didn’t dirty his own hands were effective.
But it was pretense—he wasn’t a man to be underestimated.
“Where is she?” The question was spoken so quietly that Noah barely heard it over his own breathing. His pulse was still quick from the confrontation with Jahi, and he inhaled deeply to still it. He was more nervous than he’d realized, probably from the hope that Victoria could be soon found.
“I don’t know.” Jahi reached for his tarboosh, and Lord Helton crushed his fingers under the toes of his boot.
Jahi cried out as Lord Helton leaned down. “I’m going to kill you, Jahi. But only you can choose how merciful and dignified a death you will have.”
“I-I don’t know w-where they’ve t-taken her.” Jahi gasped as Helton put more weight on his hand. “I sw-swear it.”
“Did you take her?” Lord Helton pushed the heel of his boot up against the fleshy part of Jahi’s palm. Then Helton slid his heel down so that he pinched Jahi’s skin between his heel and the floor.
Sweat had broken out across Jahi’s forehead. “He … he ordered it.”
Lord Helton eased the pressure, and Jahi snatched his hand back and cradled it. “Who ordered it?”
Jahi’s shoulders fell in a defeated slump. Noah’s fingers curled with anticipation. Jahi didn’t look up, his eyes closing. “Stephen Fisher.”