Freedom Does Matter (Mercenaries Book 2) (5 page)

The two sheikhs were about the same height; she had to look up to their eyes, but not as far as with Ian. The two men gave her a glance, and as Beckie smiled, passed on to the servers. Al Hosni was perhaps a half-inch shorter than al-Kassis, but they both carried themselves well. No fat on them, she thought, though she couldn’t tell any more about their bodies beyond their faces and hands.

Most of the entourage had paid Beckie no attention, focusing instead on Willie, standing beside her. Al Hosni had a smile as he tipped his head in Willie’s direction and spoke to the woman beside him.

In addition to a decorous business suit, the woman wore a
hijab
, a scarf over her hair which wrapped under her chin. Beckie found it hard to be sure, but she appeared younger than the men. Maybe thirty or so? Like most of the women Beckie had seen on the trip to the meeting, she didn’t cover her face. Looking at her, Beckie relaxed; her suit and the woman’s were both cut from the same pattern. Though Beckie had no veil, Sue had delivered a scarf to cover her head. Both women’s feminine contours were well disguised. I guess that’s the point.

Beckie cast about to build her confidence and recalled her mother chairing a contentious political meeting over the most recent Christmas holiday. Jean Sverdupe had guided the discussion without demeaning the participants. With that image to emulate, Beckie quashed her fears and walked from the wall to the table. “Good morning,” she began. “I apologize for the delay, and hope we can swiftly return to the issues requiring resolution. May we begin with introductions?” She paused a moment, then said, “I am Rebecca Sverdupe. Please call me Beckie, or Rebecca. I believe everyone else, you have met.”

It took a minute more before introductions were done: As expected, Sheikh Al Hosni and his… crew—Beckie giggled internally at the idea—sat to her right. Sheikh al-Kassis with his team were across the table. The woman, Ms Al Sahaf, sat next to Al Hosni, between him and Beckie.

“Good morning,” Al Hosni said when they finished. “When Monsieur Wu spoke with us, he gave us little information about Monsieur Jamse?”

Beckie took a deep breath, again calming herself before answering. “Mr. Jamse is in the hospital. He is recovering, but I do not have any better information. I can only say that his injury is quite serious.” The men started at her words, and Beckie wondered why. They must have known that. Well, too late now, she thought, and cut through the chatter. “As I said, I have no further information about Mr. Jamse. Can we begin?”

“You…” Sheikh al-Kassis’ gaze went from Beckie’s head to her legs.

His examination gave Beckie a hint of his discomfort. She glanced at Hassan, then stepped forward to stand against the end of the table. “Unlike Mr. Jamse, I am female. I hope this will not be an impediment, a barrier, to our discussions.” Her look made her question clear.

Al-Kassis picked up his cup and sipped. His eyes skittered over the faces of Al Hosni’s group, sitting across the table from him. Beckie smiled as his gaze skipped the woman and continued, before he put his cup on the table and rose to leave.

Beckie watched him through the door. “Hmm. I assume he is… unaccustomed to talking with women?”

“I do not know for certain,” the woman responded, “but it certainly appears so.” Little wrinkles at her eyes agreed with the tiny smile on her lips.

“Such involvement by a woman is… unexpected,” Al Hosni said.

“And what is your opinion, Sheikh?” Beckie said.

“I do not care for your gender. Rather, I wish to know how, at your youth, you can be competent to formulate suggestions that we…” He waved around the table. “… can debate and mold to our own use. Your…” He said a few words to the woman at his side.

When he finished, she faced Beckie. “The Sheikh believes that you show audacity unmatched, appearing as you have—”

Beckie dipped her head slightly to the man. “I apologize for my unintended affront. You and Sheikh al-Kassis have already paid for our services. In order to make these negotiations successful, Mr. Jamse’s team is determined to bring the best talent we have to bear, to shout with you when you refuse to listen, to make you both understand that in many cases, you use different words to say the same thing, thinking them poles apart. In particular, I am our choice because I cannot bear the thought of failure and the effect it would have on your two tribes in the future.

“It is time to end killing as a way of resolving disputes. Eventually, your government will also come to that conclusion and not only will the victims be gone to you, so too will the offenders, tribal law or not.

“You both know this.” Beckie sat, finally, and observed the looks of shock around the table. But they aren’t angry, she realized, just surprised. “This cannot come as a revelation, so your reaction must result from my speaking it.”

Hassan was sitting back on his chair, the perfect observer. Beckie smiled slightly to hide her annoyance and said, “Amun effendi, have you any suggestions to ameliorate our situation?”

He jumped a little, ending sitting up straight, tense, with his hands clenched in his lap. “We spoke of this… difficulty earlier. Neither I nor, I think, any others, know how to instantly change such an ingrained perception.” He tipped his head back to examine the delicate ceiling. “No matter the validity of the perception.” He brought his gaze down to meet Beckie’s eyes. “A problem shared with many in your own country, I believe.”

“It is, effendi, though that does not justify it any more than saying ‘That’s the way it is.’ And these negotiations should not, will not, attempt such a momentous change. We have more than enough on our plates in agreeing on boundaries and reparations.” Al Hosni’s vigorous nodding caught Beckie’s eye; she smiled at him. “We are agreed on at least one thing. Thank you, Sheikh.” She stood. “Perhaps we should reconvene tomorrow morning. In the meantime, Willie, you and Hassan will please seek out Sheikh al-Kassis and discuss his issues, including the financial and personal ramifications of failure here.”

Al Hosni stood and touched Willie’s arm. “If it is not too much of an imposition, I would… follow for that conversation.”

“Thank you, Sheikh,” said Beckie as Willie did the same.

In the hotel, Beckie went to her room and closed the door. Kevin and Dan had returned with her; Beckie assumed they were giving Sue the rundown, explaining why they had returned early. She wasn’t worried about that. Planning to stay in their suite, she hung the suit in the closet and slipped into shorts and a polo shirt. With a bottle of water, she sat by the window and stared into the hot dusty afternoon.

For a while, she wiped incipient tears, but it became too much of a bother, not worth the effort.

Not only did Ian’s condition, still unknown, affect her, now she had al-Kassis to deal with. If I can’t do this—this simple thing—for Ian and the team, what good am I? How can I—

A knock interrupted that thought, but she sat unmoving.

The third rap was too loud to ignore. Angry with herself, she stomped across the room and flung open the door.

Sue stood just far enough from the opening that Beckie couldn’t reach her. The woman was smiling, though Beckie couldn’t guess the reason for her amusement. Her pique faded and she stepped back. “Well, com’on in. That is why you knocked?”

Sue closed the door behind her on her way to the chair Beckie wasn’t using. She pulled it over to face Beckie, again seated by the window. “You want to talk about it?”

“No… Wait. Talk about what?”

“Kevin said one of the Egyptians walked out on you.”

“Oh. Yeah.” She sighed. “Just like Hassan. Except I could twist Hassan’s arm. I don’t know if I can do that with al-Kassis. I don’t know if he’ll give me the chance.” She got out of the chair and went to the minibar. “Want something?”

Sue shook her head. “Not yet. The sun’s barely over the yardarm. Kevin wanted to know if you had any plans.”

“Like what? I didn’t dress for going outside.” She sat on the edge of the bed.

“Yeah,” Sue said, eyeing the casual outfit. “Well—”

“I’m going to wait here till Willie and Hassan get back. See what they found out talking with Al Hosni and al-Kassis.”

“That sounds—”

“All reasonable and… I don’t know, grown-up? Damn it, Sue. No matter how I feel about it, this is too important to all those people to let my fool pride interfere. If… If I can’t persuade al-Kassis that he can work with a woman…” She buried her face in her hands. “… I’ll… I’ll work through Willie.” She looked up. “He’s surely enough of a man to satisfy them!”

“That he is, Beckie, that he is.”

Beckie went to the sink and splashed water on her face. As she toweled off, she said, “Why’d you come in, anyway?”

“Not to gloat, if that’s what you were thinking.” Beckie shook her head, almost too forcibly. “Kevin said you didn’t say anything on the way back, and he wasn’t sure if you really wanted to talk to him.”

“He shows remarkable sensitivity, sometimes.”

“Shalin’s influence, I’m sure. Actually, I think he was worried you were crying. He’s not good with crying.”

“Over it now.” She grabbed her phone from its case. “Still too early to call Millie, I guess?” They looked at the clock together.

“Yeah. Another couple hours, at least.”

Beckie had gotten no new information from Millie, and had gone back to studying Ian’s and her own notes on the negotiations, waiting for Willie.

The clock in the room showed six forty-three when Willie opened the door and entered. Beckie decided five seconds of silently staring at him would satisfy her vexation. Before he said anything, she spoke, “You could order some dinner or we can all go down to the restaurant?”

“Nicely done, Beckie!” She relaxed and laughed with him. “Toss me a bottle of water. We can eat after we finish.

“You have a day to make an impression. Well, to make the impression you want to make. Al-Kassis will attend tomorrow and he and Al Hosni both will watch you like hawks, waiting for you to make a mistake.”

“Do you have any idea what a mistake would be?”

“Nope. You aren’t likely to use any feminine wiles, so just be yourself. Maybe act like you and Ian are talking.”

“You know, that might be the smartest thing anyone’s said… Well, to me, anyway.” She got up and took his hand. “You know, if I can’t convince them… While I’d like to take their money and walk, it’s too important. We can’t do that.”

“Yeah. I don’t think Ian would like that.”

“Not one bit, especially after I bitched at him over and over to get him to sign the contract!” She pointed to him. “So, if I can’t make them forget their misogynistic beliefs, you’ll move into the head chair.”

With a laugh, he said, “That’s a good way to make sure I work to keep you there!”

“Seriously.”

He sobered and hugged her around the shoulders. “I know. We’ll do it, no matter what it takes.”

Chapter Six

Day Six - Cairo

IN THE MORNING, NERVES HAD Beckie up and out for a walk around the hotel gardens in preference to waking everyone up hours before breakfast. Back in the suite, she found Willie reviewing the notes that she’d studied the day before. While they waited for Kevin and the others, he told her that Hassan had been a greater help than he’d expected. “Be sure to thank him this morning, no matter how it goes.”

Back in the Trade Center, Beckie again admired the decor while waiting for the Egyptians to arrive. The tenth time she took out her phone to check the time, she heard Kevin’s voice.

“I’ll go and bring them up, if we’ve checked everything?”

“Ready as ever,” Dan replied.

Beckie smoothed her suit once more and waited.

In minutes, the teams were in place, staring at her or sipping coffee, or both.

“Good morning. I believe everyone was here yesterday, so, unless someone feels the need, we can dispense with introductions.

“It is my job to find a common ground and point us along it. It is your job to make sure your positions are as beneficial to your people as possible. It is
our
job to find points where one side can yield while benefiting elsewhere.”

She swept the group for any sign, but all were impassive. Okay, I’m not gonna put the job in jeopardy. She caught Willie’s eye and nodded, a soupçon of regret in hers. I hope he’ll forgive me! Fixing her gaze first on Al Hosni and then al-Kassis, she said, “No one will come away with everything they wish, but all will leave with something of importance.” She pushed her chair back. “Now, shall we begin?

“For my part…” She touched Willie’s shoulder. “I will move to Mr. Llorens’ seat, and he will take mine.” She ignored his dark visage as they switched places. Later, she thought. You can berate me later.

Beckie regretted her decision even before she announced it, but she was confident in it. Until Willie began.

Given his earlier reluctance and their shared experiences, she’d known this was not his area of expertise. Her hope was that he could transfer enough of his strategic skills to the negotiation table to satisfy the clients, to bring closure. Hoping didn’t mean he could, however. When Al Hosni called for a break at noontime, Hassan gave her a pained look. She nodded to him across the table and stood, expecting to fetch herself a juice.