Page 81 of Wait for Me

Marie looked at her own hands, smeared with Zaid’s blood.

Why can’t this vacation be uneventful?

Marie prayed to God for the safe return of Aliyah and Abdul as the ambulance sped away with Zaid and one other bodyguard.

When the police officer had finished recording Esperanza’s statement, he turned to Marie. “You’re with Mendenhall Security too?”

“No, sir. INTERPOL. I’m on vacation.”

“Some vacation, eh?” The officer remained stoic. “Tell me what happened.”

As much as she could recollect, eyewitness Marie did. As to who might have done it, Marie had no idea, though that would not be part of her statement. Observations were best reserved for the investigators, whoever they might be.

There was nothing more to say.

Clearly, the royal family had enemies. How they found out where Aliyah and Abdul were today was another matter altogether. Marie didn’t get any sense that the royal family was trying to keep their cruise a secret. Abdul had been everywhere in public—on the cruise ship, in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, and Victoria.

Granted, Aliyah and her assistant wore their hijab every day, but Abdul and the male security guards did not.

Whatever it was, Marie was sure that Zaid’s team had taken the utmost precaution.

Yeah, before Wednesday happened.

What if Marie’s presence onboard had triggered something?

“One inch to the right, and his neck would’ve been severed.” Esperanza opened the back door of her SUV.

Four or five years ago, that statement would have made Marie flinch.

“They missed because the vehicle was moving and Zaid ducked.” Esperanza pulled off her blood-soaked jacket and tossed it into a rectangular plastic bin. She pulled a couple of sheets of hand wipes from a container and handed them to Marie.

“Faster than a speeding bullet.” Marie wiped Zaid’s blood from her palms and then spot-cleaned her blouse and pants.

“God wants him to live.” Esperanza put on a clean jacket that looked exactly like the stained jacket she had discarded. “Go get your family. We have a plane to catch.”

Marie didn’t move. “I can’t help thinking…”

Around them, police vehicles started to leave. A few officers went up to the ship. Marie thought they were probably getting statements from eyewitnesses.

She figured Logan and Jonas were safe onboard. If Mrs. Ping was with them, she would keep them both safe. That was the main reason Marie had hired the seemingly unassuming fifty-something.

“It’s not your fault,” Esperanza kept her voice low. Police cars were still in the parking lot. “I looked them up. The boy’s father has many enemies—including relatives. Did you know that the boy is eighth in line to the sultanate?”

“Whoa. No wonder security was tight.” Marie’s heart sank. “And then I showed up.”

“Don’t give yourself too much credit.” Esperanza closed the vehicle door. “Stop looking so worried. We have bigger problems than this.”

“What if my own son had been abducted?”

“Well, he wasn’t. We don’t deal with hypothesis right now, okay? Let the police do their job. You and I, we need to talk about Mr. B.”

Marie had to switch gears for a quick minute.

“On the drive here from the airport, I found out that we know where he is.” Esperanza’s voice was low.

The parking lot was empty save for two police cars and a row of empty tour buses parked away from Esperanza’s SUV. All the passengers were still onboard the ship until the police cleared them to go on land.

Buchanan.“I want in on it. I want this over and done with.”

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