Page 73 of Sweet Betrayal

“They’ve got outside support,” Hannah murmured, without thinking. “Sympathetic neighboring states.”

Jamal gave her a sharp look. “How do you know that?”

“I–I used to work at the royal compound.” She glanced fearfully at Tom. Had she just made a humungous mistake by revealing this information to the rebels? Jamal had been so friendly, that she’d lowered her guard. She’d begun to think of him as a friend on their side, but he wasn’t. Any enemy of Prince Hakeem was her enemy too.

“You worked with Hakeem?” Jamal’s voice was incredulous.

She gave a tiny nod.

Jamal turned on Tom. “Why did you not tell me?”

Tom shrugged. “It’s not important. She was a secretary at the palace, but she escaped before the trouble started. We’ve been hiding her at the U.S. Embassy for days.”

“It’s true. I got scared and wanted to go home, so I ran to the embassy, but I was too late. Everyone had gone. Tom agreed to help me get back to England.”

Jamal studied her as if seeing her properly for the first time. “Perhaps she has information that can help us.”

“I had the same thought,” said Tom. “Unfortunately, she doesn’t know anything important. She’s never even met Hakeem.”

“I worked in admin,” she said.

“That’s why she’s still here. She wasn’t important enough to extract. Now we’re being forced to do it the old-fashioned way.” He gave a wry grin.

Jamal seemed to accept that.

“What else do you know of their weapons supply?” he asked.

She pretended to think. “Not much. I remember organizing a meeting with some foreign dignitaries. Abdul Anwar was there. As I was setting up, I overheard them talking about a shipment. I wasn’t privy to the meeting and didn’t take minutes or anything. Sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“Do you know what the shipment was or who was supplying them with armaments?”

“No, like I said, I wasn’t involved in the meeting. I just set up the overhead projector and made tea.”

Jamal ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“After all you’ve done for us, if there was any way I could repay you, I would,” she said, hoping he’d believe her. Lying wasn’t amongst her skillset, but in this case, her performance had to be Oscar-winning.

As soon as they got out of here, they could hand the intel to the Western nations, who’d be best equipped to take out Hakeem. These guys didn’t have the resources or the firepower. It would be a disaster.

She jumped as a RPG launched in the air, its trajectory curving right into the center of town. Seconds later, they heard a muted explosion.

“That’ll do some damage,” muttered Tom, thankful for the distraction. “We’d better keep moving. The longer we stay here, the more chance we have of being discovered.”

“We’re going in there?” She stared at the frenetic activity behind the row of sandbags and military vehicles.

“Yeah, do you know how to shoot a gun?” Tom asked.

She shook her head.

“Well, you’re about to learn.” Tom unclipped the 9mm pistol from his thigh holster. “It’s loaded. Use two hands to keep it steady when you fire it. The safety is here.” He pointed to the little switch. “Make sure it’s off before you engage. Then all you have to do is aim and pull the trigger.”

It didn’t sound too hard. She took the gun, unprepared for the sheer weight of it. It was warm on the one side, from the heat of his thigh, and icy cold on the other. She gripped it tightly in her hand. Aim and fire, she repeated silently. She could do that.

“How are we going to get across the road?” she asked.

Jamal pursed his lips. Abu-al-Rashid will handle that.

“Time for round two,” said Tom.

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