The Lioness (16 page)

Rose and Samid were deep in a conversation when Omar
came out. Samid looked at him and saw that he was leaving. “You won’t be
staying? I was hoping we could talk, Rose told me.”

“I haven’t time.” He opened the door and never glanced
back as Abdul came quickly on his heels.

“Omar.” Abdul followed his older brother out the door.

Samid looked over at Rose and then they both looked at
Noori, who jumped up and followed after Abdul.

“I wonder what’s wrong with those two.”

Rose could only guess. “From what I gather, the son
gives his father a hard time and his uncle an even harder time. If you will
excuse me I will go see if I can help Fatima. I think everything is about
finished.”

“Well if smell is an indication, we will be feasting
tonight.”

Rose smiled down at her loyal friend. “I will be back
in a few minutes.”

**********

Noori found his cousin Abdul staring down the street.
“What’s the matter?”

Abdul jumped at his cousin’s voice. “Nothing, he is just
bent out of shape. He isn’t happy about company.”

“I am sure Fatima told him to leave if he wasn’t.” Noori
studied his cousin. “Well, remember what I said, you have till tomorrow and
nothing better happen to Ty.”

Ty had listened to the conversation. He could hear
Rose talking but he could tell her voice was sad. He could hardly believe his
ears when Samid’s voice boomed over everyone’s. Their old friend had come to
help.

He could just hear the voices in the cooking area,
which was across the courtyard. The air vents facing that way carried the
voices just a bit, but not enough for him to hear clearly. Whatever was said
there wasn’t pleasant. Something was going on and he knew it wasn’t good.

His suspicions were confirmed when Abdul came in
later, Fatima close behind. Fatima had a dish heaped with food. “Sit Ty, eat.”

Ty didn’t have an appetite. He wanted to know what was
going on.

Abdul sat next to Ty. Talking more to himself than to
anyone in particular he said, “I have to think, things are moving too fast with
Omar.” Looking at Ty. “I told Rose that the captors said she could see you for
a few minutes tomorrow in the morning. I will bring her at eight o’clock. You
two can talk for five minutes but I must get her out quickly and back to the hotel.
Then I have to move you.”

“Why Abdul? Why can’t we just release him tomorrow,
then we can go to Jordan…”

“No, there must be a way, I just haven’t thought of
it. Give me time.”

Fatima stood up, exasperated. “You know and I know we
don’t have time. If we wait much longer, Omar will get Ty, then he will be in
real trouble. You know his chances are slim with those two and their new
friends.” When Fatima saw her brother’s questioning look, she continued. “I
overheard Hamid and someone on the phone. He said he had a big package and that’s
just what they needed to.”

Abdul jumped up. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Would it have made a difference?

“Maybe, maybe not.” As he walked out his phone buzzed.
Looking at the number he saw it as his brother.

“Listen Abdul. I have decided to give you till day
after tomorrow but it will be first thing in the morning. If no concrete
decisions have been made by the third parties, if I don’t see anything more than
talk, talk is for women, then I come get him and we handle it my way. I have to
go down south for the day tomorrow.”

“What about Hamid?”

“Oh, he will be around. He has some things he said he
wanted to take care of in anticipation that things don’t go your way.”

“That’s comforting, Omar, but I will make calls.”

Abdul heard the line go dead. He stood there for what
seemed a very long time. He had to get things done and the more he thought of
it the more he leaned one way.

The next morning Ty woke early. He had a feeling one
way or another, today was the day that would determine his fate. Would he see
Rose or would he get taken by surprise and be brought somewhere else?

He had to admit on a whole his experience wasn’t bad
like some of the others who had been taken. The only uncertainty was Omar and
his son who was a powder keg about to go off.

Fatima had brought him breakfast but she had only
stayed a few minutes. She said that Abdul had to go out and would be back
later. The hardest part of all this was the sitting and waiting.

He was about to get up when the door opened and the
most beautiful site was before him. He ran to catch her as she still had her
blindfold on. A man with a mask was behind her saying he would give them no
more than 10 minutes. Then he left after closing the door.

**********

Rose could feel the hand of the nicer of the three
captors guide her. She knew they were in another neighborhood. This was more
residential from the sounds. Poor Noori had a fit when the captor came and said
only Rose would be going today. Noori demanded to go and the captor said he
still held all the cards and he would be calling the shots.

She felt herself guided into the house or building.
They stopped at a door. She heard the click of the lock and then she stood in
front of a door. She knew Ty must be there. She heard a rustle, then felt arms
engulfing her and felt herself being pulled into an embrace. Then the captor
said they had ten minutes, no more, then he was gone.

Rose felt Ty’s arms around her before her blindfold
was taken off. She felt his fingers pull it off gently and then she was free.

“Oh, Rose.” Ty was crying, unashamed tears falling, looking
at the most precious person in the whole world. “Oh baby, it’s so good to see
you, touch you.”

Rose looked up into his face and touched it. “Are you
okay? I mean as well as is to be expected?” God she wanted to talk and talk but
she didn’t want to waste time.

“What can we say in ten minutes? It can be a lot
depending on how you look at it or a little,” Ty said as he dipped his face in
towards Rose.

Ty couldn’t talk. He was speechless. Here was his
warrior. She was here because of him. “Honey you need to get out. They let me
watch TV and I saw Samid here on behalf of the Afghan government. He will make
sure I am released.”

Rose looked into the eyes of the man she loved more than
life itself. She would do anything. “No, don’t even say it honey, I am here
till I have you free. So let’s not waste our time like that.” She stood on
tiptoe and let her lips be captured by Ty’s. Grabbing hold of the front of his
shirt, she figured she wouldn’t let go till the ten minutes were up.

Samid sat at a large round table. The Ambassador, his
assistant, and numerous other people who didn’t matter were here.

“I am here as a representative  for my country and
acting as a third party to help negotiate the release of a Ty Madison, who is
also a friend. Rose O’Malley is also a friend but in reality she and her father
are part of my family. Both Rose and Ty are part of our extended family in our
village. Do you know what Rose has done for our valley?”

The Ambassador was a bit uncomfortable in the presence
of this former warrior of the Northern Alliance. He had spent enough time in
Afghanistan but never like Rose or her father. They had embedded with them.
With that came certain privileges. “I have heard bits and pieces of her work in
Afghanistan.”

Samid stood up straight, proud. Bracing both hands on
the table, remembering who he was. He was an Afghan and he was here for his
country, but also for his family. Looking the Ambassador straight in the eye, “Do
you know there is a saying from our part of the world that really sums it up?
In Afghanistan we drink tea to do business, this is part of our culture.”

The Ambassador nodded, “I know I—”

Samid didn’t want to be interrupted. “Please, let me
finish so you know the feelings of the President and the people of our region
and how they feel for Rose, her father and Ty, who is the one who needs our
help. As I was saying, The first cup of tea, you are a stranger, the second you
become our friend, and the third you join our family and for our family we are
prepared to do anything, even go so far as to die.”

Samid leaned in so he was only inches from the
Ambassador’s face. “You don’t seem to understand, Mr. Ambassador, what kind of
problem you have on your hands here. Someone has Ty Madison. Our Little Sister,
Rose, is here. Every minute she is in this city, she is at risk. She refuses to
let me finish the deal. She is an Afghan at heart, fearless. It is probably
because all the time our men spent with her family when she was a little girl,
recovering from injuries. I never met her until she arrived to talk with our
slain leader. She got there too late. She may have gotten killed had she been
there. I have at my fingertips a whole valley of men who are willing to come to
Baghdad and look for Ty. You say the US government will not negotiate but what
have you done? I have checked, we have our sources. Are you afraid? We are not
afraid and neither is Rose. She is just like our slain leader. He was called
the Lion of Panjshir, she is the Lioness. She has an Afghan heart and for that
and what she has done for our people we are prepared to go to war if you do not
get Ty released right away. She has met with the captors, she has put herself
in their hands. I personally,” he got even closer so he was almost nose to
nose. “I will personally kill anyone who is involved directly or indirectly
with the death of Ty or Rose. My wife said don’t come home till they are safe.
You have as you would say, the bargaining chips that we have brought for you
from our country. You can count on our country to continue to support the US
government and the war on terror. Now let’s finish this and get those two out
of here.”

“Sir, I want to issue a formal complaint, the
Palestine Hotel is the safe house for hundreds of foreign journalists. You
can’t….”

“Sergeant I have reports right here that the last
couple days there has been activity on the rooftop of that hotel, signals being
flashed. Also US intelligence has been intercepting satellite telephone conversations.
Something is going on in that hotel and we have to stop it. Who the hell do
these clowns think they are dealing with?”

“But to attack? Do you know the firestorm that will
bring from the press, the governments of the countries involved if any of the journalists
get killed?”

“Sergeant, I am well aware of that, and we will be
taking all the precautions to avoid an accident like that. Now Sergeant
Mitchell, go back to your post and let me handle this.”

Sergeant Mitchell saluted his superior and turned and
left. He needed to get Rose out of the hotel and have her go to a safe place,
or even out of the country. He had been watching the news reports. The Afghan government
had sent a delegation of men to help speed up the process for the release of Ty
Madison. He didn’t really know Rose, but from the time he had seen the news
reports and had then been the one chosen to meet her at the airport, he had
felt very protective of her. She had only called once, but that was enough.

He knew he had one hour of free time before returning
to his post. He would make the most of that time. Coming out of the hut he ran
into O’Dell. He and O’Dell had been together since the day they were deployed.
Lance O’Dell was a tall Texan. Stood six foot six to his five foot eleven. He
was serious and O’Dell was full of it. He always said Lance was full of shit.
Lance always answered all the cow shit his father’s ranch had, but they were
friends and covered each other’s backs. “Lance we are going to the Palestine
Hotel?”

“Lance looked at his friend. “ You want to go find a
girlfriend, Mike?”

Mike knew Lance was trying to lighten his mood. “No,
Lance, we are going to rescue a lady from danger.”

Lance narrowed his eyes, “Oh the O’Malley woman, Rose,
is it? Well she’s taken.”

Mike grabbed Lance’s arm. “Come on, we haven’t got any
time to spare if what I think is going to happen does. We need to move quickly.
Also make sure we have our kits with us. We may need them and people may get
hurt in the crossfire.”

Lance looked at his friend. “Don’t they always…”
Sometimes he wondered how his friend had made Sergeant. He was always stating
the obvious. Then he got a look at Mike’s face. “You know something, don’t
you?”

“Come on, we haven’t any time to talk now. I’ll
explain while we are headed over there.”

Getting into the Humvee they headed for The Palestine
Hotel. “Lance, what I am about to tell you is between friends, you didn’t hear
it if anyone asks.”

Lance took the corner sharp, trying to avoid a dog in
the road. “Sure Mike, anything you say. I didn’t hear a thing. Now what is it I
didn’t hear?”

“We’re attacking the Palestine Hotel, maybe within the
hour, that’s why we need to get there and get Rose and as many of the journalists
out of there as we can.”

“Lance had heard of some stretchers, but this one took
the cake. “Come on Mike, you know and I know that place is loaded with
reporters. Hell, there must be hundreds of them in there. What in the world
would we want to be attacking that hotel for?”

“Because Intelligence says they are intercepting communications
that someone is using it as a shield.”

Lance came to a stop as old women scurried across the
street. The Palestine Hotel loomed down the road. It was close but so far with
a few check points to still get through. As they drove by the women, Mike
noticed that the women gave them a hard glare. “Can you feel their hate?”

“Yeah, all the time.”

“So some cowards are using the hotel?”

“That’s what they say. I don’t care, what I do care is
that we get Rose and any others out before it’s too late. I don’t care if they
court martial me after. I have to get her out of there.”

As the Humvee pulled up along the barrier at the check
point, Lance looked over at a cement truck that was parking up ahead. A man got
out and went up to a white car. The driver of the truck talked then waved his
arms. Lance, looking at Mike, saw him studying the situation. “Must be nice for
that man to have a job like that.” seeing Mike’s look. “You know driving a
truck. A bit more protection and he must be getting paid well. Good for his
family.”

Mike didn’t like it. Where was the construction in
this area? The man walked back to his truck and as he watched it just sat
there. The car didn’t move either.

Shaking his head, Mike didn’t have time to worry about
that. He had to get Rose out of here.

As they passed through the checkpoint and barrier he
thought about that driver. What was bugging him? He wasn’t a freaking
detective, but something was wrong, he just couldn’t figure out what.

“Now listen, Lance, I don’t know why but I don’t want
you to sit here. You can park this thing and come in with me or go over there
where there is more protection.”

Lance looked around. He wasn’t the kind of guy who
spooked easy, but the way Mike was acting he had been right more than once and
it had saved them, so he didn’t ask questions. “I’ll go park this and be right
in.”

Opening the door, Mike looked over at his buddy. “Okay,
we haven’t much time and I don’t want to start a stampede. We may be in luck
and maybe there aren’t a lot of reporters here right now.” He knew that was
wishful thinking. If the journalists weren’t embedded with troops then they were
here, virtual prisoners. “Don’t take long.” He got out and watched as Lance
drove to the designated spot.