Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Noah waited outside the door to his hotel room as the doctor finished her examination of Victoria.
He checked his pocket watch. Alastair was late in coming but would hopefully be here soon.
Much as Victoria might want to stay with Noah, she couldn’t.
Especially not after his argument with Ginger.
Alastair could provide Victoria both safety and anonymity in one of his safe houses.
And the sooner she left, the sooner he could try to find help at the CID. This had gone on long enough without involving a higher authority.
The door to the room opened, and Dr. Radford exited. She wore a serious expression. “She’s resting. She’ll need a good deal of rest, I imagine. But, I think she’s fine staying out of the hospital.”
He doubted that Dr. Radford would reveal anything intimate, but he wondered what Victoria had been through at the hands of the Aleaqrab. “Is there anything else I can do for her?”
“No, but she was asking for you. I’m certain she needs the comfort of a friend after her ordeal.
” Dr. Radford turned to go, then stopped.
Fingering her black physician’s case, she searched his face, her brow knitting.
“Colonel Benson, I can’t help but wonder, but are you acquainted with Captain Harold Young? ”
“I am.” Looking her in the eye grew more difficult.
“In that case I’m not sure I’m comfortable leaving Lady Victoria with you.” Dr. Radford’s lips set to a line.
What was the woman proposing? To stay and be a personal escort? “Dr. Radford, I work with Captain Young at the CID.”
“I have the feeling you’re aware of the precise incident I’m referring to. I’ve turned the matter over to the authorities, you know.”
“I won’t hurt Lady Victoria. But if you’re concerned for her welfare, you’re certainly welcome to ask her if she’s comfortable staying with me.” Noah’s tone was a bit more biting than he’d intended.
Dr. Radford squared her shoulders. “I already have.” Begrudgingly, she added, “She says there’s no one in Egypt she trusts more than you.”
Noah’s lips curled with the irony of Victoria’s statement of loyalty. His own wife was less convinced of his goodness. He had no desire to deny the matter with Young and had worried what would happen if Young accused him.
Lord Helton being in the hands of the Aleaqrab complicated his situation, though. Without Lord Helton to speak for him when an accusation came through, he’d have to explain the situation without giving a complete picture.
“If it helps—” Noah cleared his throat—“I brought Captain Young to the hospital the other night. Did my best to stop him from being killed by his attackers. I’m uncertain what Young remembers, but if I hadn’t been there he would likely be dead.”
Dr. Radford flinched. “It’s not up to me to decide what happened.
Even if your role was as noble as you claim, there are still gaps to the story, such as why you felt the need to leave him there telling no one what happened to him.
” Still, his explanation appeared to have mollified her somewhat.
“You do understand I’ll have to report this conversation? ”
Noah leaned against the door frame. “When? I’m having Lady Victoria moved later this evening to a safer location.”
“Most likely tomorrow morning.” Dr. Radford sighed, a tired expression on her youthful-looking face. “Good evening, Colonel.”
At least she was giving him some time to prepare.
As Dr. Radford left, Noah slipped back into the bedroom. The curtains were still drawn, the light in the room dim. With sunset approaching in a few hours, there wasn’t much point in drawing them now.
Victoria sat on the bed, wearing the shirt he’d lent her. He poured a glass of water, then brought it to her side. She accepted it, offering him a grateful smile. A cut on the corner of her mouth and a shadowed bruise on her cheek told him she’d been struck in the face.
“Alastair should come soon,” Noah said, sitting on the foot of the bed.
She sipped the water, averting her gaze. She knew what that meant. “It’ll be good to see him.”
“I told him to bring a burqa. You can wear it to go down through the lobby without being recognized.”
“I’d rather stay with you.” Victoria’s dark eyes were red-rimmed, a rare moment of vulnerability for her. “Please don’t send me away.”
The air in the room felt stale and Noah wished he could open the window, allow some cooler air in. “Alastair is better at this sort of thing that I am. And you can trust him.”
She placed the water on the bedside table. “And my father? Are you going after him?”
Finding Lord Helton was crucial—almost more for his own sake than hers.
Noah scooted closer and took her hand. “I’ll do what I can.
I promise. I made some inroads with the organization that took you while I was searching for you.
I’ll go to the place they took me. See what I can learn.
” He squeezed her hand gently. “It may help me if there are any details you can give me, about where you were being held. What you remember.”
If Jahi hadn’t been killed, his help could have been invaluable. Noah wished he’d taken the time to interrogate the man more.
Victoria turned her face away. Her fingers curled against his. At last, she whispered, “I have little to tell you. They kept a sack over my head when they grabbed me and I didn’t see where they took me. I think they kept me in a cellar—but it felt like a tomb.”
“Who did you see while there?”
She shuddered. “There was one man …” Her lips pressed together, white. She appeared troubled.
He didn’t push her further. The ordeal was too fresh. “If you remember anything, have Alastair send me a message. I won’t be at Shepheard’s after tomorrow morning. It’s become a bit too dangerous for me.”
“Where are you going?” Alarm registered on her face.
“I don’t know.” Even if he did, he wouldn’t tell her. Much as he wanted to help Lord Helton, someone else from the CID would be better for this. And Jack was still out there. He’d wasted enough time before going after Jack already. Victoria was safe now.
Victoria lowered herself back onto the bed, her dark hair over her shoulders. She rolled on one side and wiped her cheek. “Please be careful. I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”
Noah stood and went to the chair where he’d spent the night. He removed the pillow and placed it back on the foot of the bed, lost in thought. This wasn’t the time to have the conversation with her again about Ginger. She was raw and hurt.
Victoria’s thoughts went there anyway, it seemed. “When she went missing in the desert, you chased down her captors, killed them all.”
Irritation tingled down his arms, which he flexed, but the truth was she wasn’t completely wrong. He’d done things to hunt for and recover Ginger that had been sheer madness. “I was trying to find you.”
Silence followed. Then she said in a hollow, bitter voice, “I know. Just like you’re trying to find Jack. But you’re much more averse to the risks now, I suppose.”
Noah blinked at her curled-up form. Her words were dizzying.
God Almighty. He couldn’t do right by anyone, could he?
And yet … Victoria wasn’t wrong. He’d taken the time for a damned polo match while she’d been missing.
Alastair had urged him to be cautious in going back for Jack, but when hadn’t Alastair urged caution?
Alastair was caution. He lived in a house without a front door and shrouded himself in secrets and spies and information.
Noah knew all this, and yet he hadn’t gone back for Jack—and that was before Victoria had been taken.
Because he had someone to live for. To be cautious for.
At least he’d thought he did.
He pulled a wooden case out from under the bed and set it on the desk in the room, then removed the materials he needed to clean his rifles.
He laid out a cloth over the desk, then grabbed two rifles from the corner of the room.
Who knew when he would have time for anything this methodical in the next few days?
The trouble with desert warfare was that keeping one’s guns clean was nearly impossible—sand seemed to get everywhere.
His gaze darted toward Victoria, who studied him. “You heard her come here, didn’t you?” he said at last.
“Yes.” Victoria propped her hands under her cheek. “I suppose that means she’s no longer keeping her promise to my father to stay away from you.”
Noah pulled the bolt back and cleaned the chamber with a rag. “Your father recruited her … didn’t you know? To find her father’s concession. So he can then take it.”
Victoria shook her head. “Had he asked my opinion, I would have told him—”
“That’s irrelevant.” Noah used a dry brush to sweep the barrel, then covered the end of the rifle with a condom—a trick Jack had taught him to keep out the dirt and sand. He kept his expression even. “At any rate, she wasn’t reporting directly to your father anyway.”
“Why on earth would anyone be so deluded as to believe she’s equipped to learn anything?
” Annoyance flashed in Victoria’s face, and she pushed one bare leg out from under the covers.
She tossed the covers aside and moved to the vacant chair beside the desk.
“And I suppose she’s been keeping you occupied doing her work for her. ”
Noah didn’t answer.
He had been occupied. Busy trying to find Victoria. Busy trying to keep Ginger happy. Busy trying to learn what the hell Fisher was up to.
He’d been kept occupied.
He sat bolt upright.
“You’re right.” Noah raked his fingers across his scalp, wanting to tug at his hair in frustration.
Someone had wanted to keep him occupied. Occupied and here in Cairo.
It had to be Fisher.
“Why would Fisher want me in Cairo?” he asked aloud, focusing on the bullets littering the cloth.
Victoria was tense, alert. He could tell she knew he’d thought of something and believed it better not to interrupt his train of thought.