| The Sheiks Of Kumar - Part II The Warrior By CJ |
| Chapter 5 “How about football? Do you like football?” Shawna questioned. “Never watched an entire game,” Rafee answered. “Movies? You have to admit that Hollywood can turn out some great flicks.” “Too commercial,” Rafee replied. “There’s bound to be something around here you like,” she insisted. Rafee turned his head and glanced at her. “What is this, a game?” They were lying next to each other on their stomachs upon an old Indian weave blanket in the small park directly across the street from Gabe Bryant’s office. It had been a long wait and Shawna was getting nervous as she listened to Tara on the microphone device they’d attached to her before her meeting with Gabe. The plan was simple. Tara was to get Gabe out of the Victorian house, which doubled as his office and home, during lunchtime while the secretary was away. While Tara and Gabe dined, Shawna was going to sneak into his office and try to find something solid that would help convict Gabe. It was a plan they had hatched last night, and though neither Tara, nor Nik wanted Tara to have to suffer anymore of Gabe’s company, using Tara was the only way to get Gabe out of the office. Yet it wasn’t working out quite as they planned and Gabe was stalling. Shawna doubted his reluctance to leave was anything to worry about. It was obvious from the conversation they were picking up on their monitoring device that Gabe was just trying to finish up some details on a case that had him distracted, nothing more. “I’m just trying to help you find something about this culture that you like so you feel more at home,” Shawna told Rafee. “I never said I didn’t feel at home in America,” he disputed. “And it’s more complicated than that, Shawna.” Shawna remembered Nik had mentioned that Rafee’s history sometimes interfered with his judgement of this country and she wondered what exactly that was. “How so?” she asked. Just then they heard Tara’s voice come over in a whisper, “I’m at the back door and I’m leaving it unlocked.” Shawna now had an easy way in, if Gabe would just leave. “Gabe, aren’t you ready for lunch yet?” Tara then asked, her voice a normal volume. “I’m starving.” It had taken Tara some persuasion to convince Gabe to go to lunch. When she’d called him late last night after Shawna and Rafee had hatched this plan, he had seemed rather miffed that she had not called him in a day. “I am so sorry, Gabe,” Tara had said the night before. “But that fire we had at the stables just caught me so off guard. I was so shaken I just didn’t think.” “And what about Sheik Nikash?” Gabe had then inquired. “What is going on with you two?” “He and I are friends,” she had lied and Shawna had seen the toll it took on her friend to make up that fib. “I know he wants more, but right now we’re just friends.” “And my proposal?” he’d inquired. “What of that?” “I’m still considering it, Gabe.” Tara had frowned then and her face had contorted into the most disgusted look. Tara was brave for helping them out on this case, but then again, Tara had always been brave and Shawna knew how much Villa Serena and her family heritage meant to her. “Are they ever going to leave?” Shawna asked under her breath. “How long has the secretary been away?” Rafee inquired with some worry. “A half hour already. We’re running out of time.” Rafee’s eyes scanned the small corner park and then fixated again on the dark red Victorian house. “I feel completely exposed out here.” “So do I, but the transmitter wouldn’t work in the van parked under those high voltage wires and that’s the only parking available around here. Would you rather have parked right in front of Gabe’s office?” Rafee sighed. Their plan had not been working out as completely as they had wanted, yet that was how things often went in the game of covert activity. So he and Shawna had to be patient and wait until their chance. In the meantime, they listened to Tara and Gabe’s conversation and tried to occupy their minds with conversation of their own. “All right, I’m ready,” Gabe finally announced. “Its about time,” Shawna quipped. “I made reservations at High Point,” Gabe then said and Shawna was horrified to see them walking right out the back door which Tara had unlocked only moments ago. “That’s funny, I thought this was locked,” Gabe announced. “I do that all the time,” Tara sympathized as her head spun around toward the park. “Leave things unlocked and such.” Shawna could see that her friend looked worried. They were supposed to have left out the front door were Gabe’s car was parked and gone to the Eagle’s Nest for lunch. High Point was within walking distance and took them directly through the park. “I thought we were going to Eagle’s Nest,” Tara said. “Yes, but John Roberts is going to be at High Point today. He called just a little while ago and asked us to join him so I changed our reservations,” Gabe explained as he took her hand and led her down the steps of the house. “I have some business to discuss with him.” “What now?” Rafee inquired, and Shawna could have sworn there was no anxiety in his tone despite the fact that Gabe and Tara were walking right for them. “Do we leave?” “No, it’ll look too obvious and we’d have to move too quickly,” Shawna said, her brain synapsing so quickly she was certain she would find a solution. And she did. Rolling to her back and looking up at Rafee, she said, “Play along.” Quickly she pulled his head down and pressed her lips to his. It was the easiest way to hide his face, which Gabe would certainly notice, while making themselves as inconspicuous as possible. She knew that people tended to look away when couples were kissing. It was a cultural reaction in America for people felt they were intruding on other people’s privacy by gawking. She only hoped Gabe played into the cultural norm. As for Rafee, well, he didn’t seem to want to even play the game. His lips didn’t move and for a moment, Shawna could see his eyes wide with surprise. She placed her hand on his face, again to offer more of a shield as Tara and Gabe approached on their left, and it was then that Rafee finally figured out the plan. His lips parted slightly and hesitantly he kissed her back. At the small movement of his lips, Shawna suddenly felt a jolt of energy. It was strange, for no man had caused such a sensation before from a simple kiss and this kiss was barely even going anywhere. It was cautious, uncertain and quite innocent. Their bodies were separated by inches and it wasn’t until something gave between them that Rafee lowered himself closer to her, pressing his chest to hers and cupping the back of her neck with his hand. He pulled her to him and she felt an urgency grow upon his lips for only a moment. Then, as if remembering this was only pretend, he pulled back and took a deep breath. Shawna followed suit and when she breathed deeply she could smell the luxurious scent of soap and a faint woodsy cologne upon his skin. Instinctively she moved her hand from his smoothly shaven face to his thick, soft hair and it was then that he bent his head to hers and kissed her again. There was no hesitancy or innocence the second time their lips met. It was sheer attack. But it only lasted for a few seconds because the utter command with which Rafee captured her lips scared Shawna more than the possibility of Gabe Bryant recognizing them. He had a sexual presence to him that Shawna could not deny and she was positive that if she kissed him any longer, she would forget their mission. Breaking off the kiss, Shawna asked quietly, “Are they gone?” Rafee rolled to his back, taking Shawna with him and glanced discreetly over her shoulder. He had forgotten for a brief moment that they were working. Her kiss had been both unexpected and enticing. When she’d first grabbed him and kissed him he had been so stunned that he’d failed to even move. But it hadn’t taken much persuasion from her lips to get his to join in. He had never turned down a kiss from a beautiful woman before and though he and Shawna were only friends and working partners, he allowed himself to cooperate. “It would appear so,” he said, suddenly aware of the feel of her feminine body atop his. Her soft breasts were pressed to his chest and for a moment, his hold tightened upon her. He could easily kiss her again and feel her heated response. But they were working, she was American and this would go no further. “Good.” She began to pull away then added, “By the way, nice job.” She patted his face with a smile then pushed up to her knees. Digging out one of the two-way radios from the backpack that sat on the edge of the blanket, Shawna pretended that no sizzling kiss had happened between them. Her hands, however, shook slightly as she hooked the radio to her belt and turned it on. She handed Rafee the other radio and watched as he continued to lie casually on his side, staring up at her. “You weren’t so bad yourself,” he returned. “Really?” she asked with a light tone. “Because I really haven’t had much practice lately.” With his trademark arrogance, Rafee replied, “Take it from a man who’s had more than his share of practice. You kissed well enough to fool Mr. Bryant.” Shawna frowned for the revelation that he had had his share of practice stung slightly. She didn’t want to think of Rafee as a man of the world, but the reality was sinking in. Kissing her had probably affected him little, yet the affects had yet to leave her trembling hands. “I’m glad I could satisfy an old pro like you, Raf,” she drawled with sarcasm then quickly instructed, “Keep the radio on channel 2 and notify me if anyone returns.” She quickly dashed across the street to Gabe’s office building before Rafee could comment further on their kiss. She would rather break into a house than remain next to Rafee and discuss what had just transpired between them. Breaking into that house, however, was going to be more challenging than getting Rafee to kiss her back had been. Since Gabe and Tara had exited through the back door, it meant Gabe had locked it on his way out. So Shawna would have to take a few extra moments to pick the lock. It was a simple button lock on the doorknob and she had it open in moments despite her still shaking hands. She looked around the deserted office decorated in dark leathers and rich mahogany woods and said over the radio to Rafee, “I’m in. Everything looks okay for now.” “Got it,” Rafee returned and Shawna felt a little more secure knowing he was watching her back. Did that mean trust was growing between them instead of just animosity? She shrugged, though the action was ridiculous for she was only thinking to herself, and she quickly put all contemplation behind her. She moved into the small file room across the hall from Gabe’s office. Tara’s directions had made everything easy to locate so far. Locating the correct file drawer, Shawna searched for Walter Malone’s file and started digging. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for, but when her eyes landed on a power of attorney dated in May, she knew she had discovered something key. From her quick perusal of the rest of the file, everything looked to be legitimate and in order as she expected. There was his will, some correspondence and of course the bank statements dated in June and July, which showed Mr. Malone’s overseas holding accounts were empty. Those had been the statements that Gabe had shown to Tara after her father’s death and which had prompted her to sell Villa Serena in order to survive. And the bank statements were correct. There was no money left in those accounts because Gabe Bryant had transferred all the money out. But this power of attorney could prove to be key, for it was dated a month after Walter Malone had cancelled the original power of attorney with Gabe. This meant the document in the file was more than likely forged. Rushing to the copy machine, Shawna placed the paper on the glass and pushed copy. Of course, she had to wait for the machine to warm up and she felt a nervous energy begin to build in her gut. She hated waiting and the longer she waited for the machine, the more anxious she felt. Then Rafee called her on the radio, and she could hear by the first word it was not good news, “Shawna, the secretary is rounding the corner.” “Okay, just a moment,” Shawna returned. The copy machine finally warmed up and Shawna made her copy of the document. Then she rushed into the file room and replaced the file. “She’s coming in the back door. Get out through the front, I’ll pick you up in the van,” Rafee said and Shawna was again taken back by how calm he sounded. But the plan didn’t work. Shawna struggled with the file drawer for a moment too long and the back door was opening and closing before she could run down the hall and out the front. Gabe’s secretary strode down the hall and Shawna crouched in the corner of the file room, out of sight, as the woman walked by. She turned her radio off to ensure complete quiet and waited for her chance to move. It came only a few minutes later when the woman picked up the telephone and began gabbing away. She was talking so loudly and laughing, that Shawna felt secure enough to escape out the back unseen, for to venture out the front door would take her right by the woman’s desk. Quietly, she closed the door behind her and sneaked down the stairs of the house. Then she sprinted around the corner and saw Rafee in the driver’s seat of her van, his handsome face frowning. “Where have you been?” he immediately questioned once she hopped into the passenger’s seat. “I thought I told you to come out the front. I was about ready to go in there myself and get you.” His words were sharp, but his expression was concerned. “I was trapped,” Shawna said as she breathed rapidly. “Just drive. I’ll explain everything in a minute.” Rafee drove the van a few blocks, turned right and parked at the far end of a supermarket parking lot where they were to wait for Tara. Turning in his seat, he grabbed Shawna’s face in his hands and asked, “What happened? You weren’t seen, were you?” “No,” Shawna answered, taking his hands from her face and holding them in hers. She could still feel them shaking. Kissing Rafee and then breaking into an office building was not something she did on a regular basis. Both events had her feeling off kilter. She had never before broke into a residence illegally. She’d only used her skill when an owner locked themselves out of their home or building. But Gabe Bryant was a special case. Shawna felt no obligation to follow any sort of moral code when it came to catching him. “The secretary came in before I could get out, so I had to hide and sneak out the back door.” Shawna looked down at their intertwined hands and added, “God, I can’t stop shaking.” Rafee squeezed her hands as they shook in his and he realized he had been more frightened for her than he had ever been for someone he was working with. He’d enjoyed kissing her, now he was concerned for her. What was happening to him? Was he losing his resolve and his mind both at the same time? “Its all right, honey,” he said without thinking, trying to console her. Then he caught his mistake with the endearment and quickly asked, “What did you find?” Unclasping their hands, Shawna pulled the power of attorney from her pocket and handed it over to him. “Look at the date. It’s dated after Walter Malone canceled the first power of attorney, taking away all of Gabe’s access to Mr. Malone’s accounts,” Shawna said. “So this must be a fake,” Rafee surmised. “Yes, but it’s a good fake.” She dug into her briefcase and pulled out a document with Walter Malone’s real signature. “Look how close these are. I don’t even know if a handwriting expert could tell the difference between the signatures. But maybe. I know one in San Francisco that I use. I’ll send over copies and see what he says.” “Will that be enough to catch him? This document plus Mr. Malone’s records on the computer?” Rafee inquired. “Maybe. But I’d have to lie about where I got this forged copy and say it was in with Tara’s father’s files.” She paused and bit her lip. “But if it backfired on me, I’d lose my PI license.” “I thought all you American private investigators regularly broke into offices and made up false truths to solve your cases?” Rafee asked with a surprising glint of humor in his voice. “Ah, you must have watched some American television after all. That only happens in Hollywood, Rafee. I’ve never broken into someone’s office or house before and never lied on a case.” “I thought you were a professional the way you let yourself right into Bryant’s office.” Shawna shrugged and sat back in her seat. She noticed she was edging closer to Rafee than she should. At least they were no longer holding hands. “I’ve had lots of practice on neighbor’s doors who lock themselves out. But I mostly just chase down cheating spouses, do surveillance for college students who have stalking ex-boyfriends and assist lawyers in piecing together cases,” Shawna said. “I’m doing things on this case I’ve never done before. And that’s only because it’s for Tara and because Gabe Bryant is the lowest form of scum I’ve ever met.” “He’s low,” Rafee agreed, “but I’ve met lower.” “Really?” Shawna inquired, realizing that she hadn’t asked him much about his own security work for his family company. “Like who?” “We had a man once who was plotting to blow up one of our company’s oil rigs. A foreman on a rig in the Indian Ocean suspected his plan and I went out on the rig for a month, undercover. Do you know how difficult it is to work on one of those rigs?” Shawna laughed, picturing this man of style covered in grease and sweat and working with his hands. Then she sobered because she could indeed see it. “Did you catch him?” she asked. “Yes, finally. And he had all the necessities and means to do it. He was actually building a bomb. Had he succeeded, he would have killed every worker on that rig. Not to mention the environmental catastrophe to the ocean it would have caused.” “If you’ve done work like that before, I take it you’ve broken into a few of your own offices and buildings,” Shawna guessed. “Enough to know how it feels when you think you may get found out,” he agreed. “But I don’t do so much of that any longer.” “Why not?” “Because now that I am head of security, I do more managing and traveling than breaking and entering. It’s a different job I do now with more responsibilities. As my father tells me all the time, I must prepare myself to take the lead in the company, not continue lurking around the corners suspecting everyone of wrong-doing.” “Family pressure, I know all about that,” Shawna quipped, thinking about how her three brothers were always trying to steer her life, trying to protect her. “Its not so much pressure as duty. I come from a different place than you do. In America you chose your path. Because of the family I was born into, my path was determined for me.” “Being a sheik and all?” “Yes,” he said nodding his head. “But I am not the crown prince.” He smiled widely as if in jest. “That is Nikash’s responsibility and I am glad.” “Thank goodness for that,” Shawna quipped mockingly. “Otherwise, when you came to power, you might just declare war on our country.” Surprisingly, Rafee laughed. Shawna noticed his manner around her had softened considerably today. She appreciated that, for it meant she could joke and not worry over whether she was offending him with every word. “I may very well do just that,” he said with a deep chuckle. “But our family does not have that kind of power. Kumar is no longer a separate kingdom as it was under my grandfather and even under my father for several years. It is now part of a larger country and the Armanjanis only hold advisory duties, symbolic leadership and historic importance. Although the sheik of each of the eight emirates sits on a council and advises the president on certain matters, they do not rule. And in a lot of ways I am glad, for the changes that occurred under my father have allowed my country to grow with the global world. We are nearly as modern as you are here.” “So you don’t keep your women locked in the back of the house and hold slave auctions?” she joked. “Not since last year,” he returned lightly. “Although, for you, I am sure an exception can be made and we could find a secure chain at the back of the palace to keep you.” “I’ll bet you could,” she drawled. Rafee looked at her for a long moment and his light eyes seemed to be open and searching. Shawna liked him this way. She respected the fighter inside him, but the charming, talkative man she found attractive. Seriously, Rafee said, “I think when you come to Kumar you will find that you will enjoy it. My father respects the ways of Europe and Nikash respects the ways of America. Our entire country has tried to grow economically and educationally like the West and I think we have succeeded in many ways. In fact, Nikash and I were both sent to England to be educated as young boys. We spent more time there than we did in our homeland and at times I am very thankful for that. Other times I think of how I missed the desert, the vast stretches of beaches on the Persian Gulf and my own history. And because of that, I make my home in Kumar, not in America like Nikash. So, if it seems like I am sometimes disgruntled about my brother’s choices and his loving Tara, it is only because I do not quite understand how he can live so far away—especially when he will be the one to inherit my father’s title.” “You feel like he’s ignoring his duty and forgetting his history,” Shawna said. “I understand. Is that why you and I are always fighting about my country and why you haven’t watched an entire game of football?” “It is only part of the reason,” he admitted. Then he halted himself for he had been close to confessing to her about his college love. But that was an embarrassment he had divulged to few. In fact, he had said enough to Shawna for one day and he wondered what it was about her that had him being so honest and so relaxed. Had it been the kiss? He looked at her then looked away. Perhaps. Or it could have just been the shared experiences of working together on this case for Tara. He wanted to believe it was the latter, for it was easiest to convince his mind of. “What’s the entire reason, Rafee?” Shawna asked. “That is a story for another time,” he returned with a bit of an edge to his voice. He had to distance himself now, or he would be confessing all to this woman within moments. “Another time? Like when hell freezes over?” she inquired. “Yes, like then.” Their conversation halted for Tara jumped in the van not thirty seconds later. She was breathing hard as though she had run the three blocks from Gabe’s office. “Did you find something?” she immediately asked. “Please tell me you did, because I can’t stand another moment with that man.” “We found something,” Shawna informed her. “But we still have some work ahead of us.” Tara groaned and rolled her brown eyes. “Do I have to see him again?” Shawna looked at Rafee and he looked at her. They both shrugged. “Let’s see how things go. I have an expert to talk to first,” Shawna said. Tara nodded, then smiled. “I thought for sure, when he told me we were going to High Point for lunch and started right for you two, that we were through.” Shawna felt her face heat and Rafee glanced out the side window as though he hadn’t heard Tara’s words. “He didn’t recognize us, did he?” Shawna asked worriedly. Tara laughed. “Not with that act you had going! In fact, he even mumbled that you needed to get a room as we passed by.” Rafee’s cellular phone rang in that instant and Shawna couldn’t have been more relieved. After one minute on the phone, he informed them he had some business to conduct and Tara offered him her car. “Take the Jeep. We’ll see you at home later,” she said. He left, too quickly, Shawna thought, and she and Tara were alone. “Now, about that kiss you two had going,” Tara started, “was that planned?” “Sort of. It certainly was not romantic, it was only tactical,” Shawna insisted. Though the first kiss by her had been tactical, the second kiss by Rafee had been anything but. It had turned her insides to fire and the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to try it again. “So, there’s no…you know…going on with you two?” Tara asked with a raised eyebrow. Shaking her head vehemently, Shawna said, “No way! Just because you happen to be tripping all over yourself for his brother, does not mean that Rafee is in any way attractive to me.” “Not attractive?” Tara asked, aghast. “Have you looked at him? Granted, he’s a little rough with the conversation at times, but I figured you’d enjoy a little argument here and there. And as for that face and body…men don’t come in a better package. I should know, I do have the older brother, you know.” “Yes, you do. And I have to hurry up and solve this case for you so that you and that older brother can tie the knot and raise hundreds of little pure bread Arabian show horses. So that means I’m working, not flirting.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Warrior - Chapter 6 |