Steele of the Nile Part 8: "Suspicions of Loyalty"

Author: Nefret24

Quick author's note: Very very very sorry for the delay. Hope it's worth it.

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"AAAAUGH!" Omar screamed as his men continued to unearth their jeeps and the tank as well as brush themselves off. He cursed at his men for their stupidity in allowing the foreigner to escape. During his tirade, an explosion was heard in the distance.

"Rashid!" Omar called his right hand man to his side. Rashid informed him that smoke could be seen rising from the dunes, only a few miles away.

With an evil grin, Omar ordered his men to hurry and even began to help exhume his car himself. You will not escape me that easily, Jewel. And Laura Holt shall pay

Laura trudged through the sand and rock of the terrain. Joe was beside her, for the most part; in the last half hour, as she had finally responded to the heat of midday and the pebbles in her shoes (all Omar's doing, those damn slippers!), she had had to work hard to keep up with his pace. Joe himself was having a great time, humming under his breath and occasionally twirling his umbrella which he had opened to shade him from the powerful sun. Laura could feel the sweat build up on her crinkling forehead and squinted ahead, trying to get a sense of where she was going. But she was out of sorts.

"Damn him!" she thought disgustedly. Couldn't he just come along and help out somebody for once? No monetary strings attached? Sure, he helped out clients, but they paid for services. Services he needed to provide if he wanted more designer suits and fancy wines.and now her agency was in shambles and god knows what happened to Mildred

Laura got more and more frustrated as she plodded onward, and finally Joe was provoked to ask, "Just Laura, what is wrong?"

"N-Nothing. Why should anything be wrong?"

"You are not happy. It is your friend? You are not very friendly just now"

"That's just the way we are," she waved it off, laughing nervously.

Joe shot her a sideways glance that revealed his skepticism. They continued on but soon he continued, "Why did you not tell him about me?"

"About your title?" she squinted at him. With a sigh, she pushed some stray hairs out of her face. "I know him too well. He'd go around the world for a priceless jewel but he wouldn't go across town for a noble cause."

"Ah!" Joe said, understanding lighting up his face. Stooping, he picked up one of the omnipresent pebbles on the ground. "Like this rock," he said, holding it up for her to see and then placing it in the palm of her hand. "It does not change."

"Right," she said weakly smiling back.

Joe stopped her and closed her fingers around the tiny pebble. "Sometimes, people may surprise you. They are not always what they appear to be." Releasing his hold on her hand, Laura felt a strange tingling sensation. Opening her fingers, she was amazed to see that the pebble had disappeared and in its place sat a small desert moth, curiously colored like a butterfly. Within seconds, it fluttered off.

Laura looked at Joe with awe. What a strange little man. How can he do such incredible things? she wondered and continued to follow behind his footsteps.

Remington was tailing the two of them, at a discrete distance. He had stayed for a few minutes contemplating the remnants of the plane, had delighted in its bonfire, and then had set himself towards devising a plan of action. True, it appeared as if Laura was all but lost to him. He could follow and try to win her back, if he wanted to lose all his pride. Or he could head in the opposite direction and go home, go to LA, go to London, Monte Carlo, anywhere but the middle of the Sahara. Or he could search for this mysterious large jewel the Sufis raved about. The not forgotten lust of wealth resurged and he smiled to himself. He could sell it and live quite comfortably on the Riviera for years.

If it weren't for that twinge on his heartstrings. Damn that woman, as if breaking his heart wasn't enough, she had to go and give him a conscience!

So he plodded after them, with the vague hope of finding the jewel near Kadir. He had tied his jacket to his head, forming a makeshift turban, so to speak, to help shield him from the sun. He watched as Laura and Joe stopped for a moment, him stooping to pick up something by her feet.

How does she do it? he mused, shooting Joe an envious glare. Joe smiled at him enigmatically while Laura seemed intent upon her hand. Dammit, he knows I'm following them, Remington cursed underneath his breath. At least Laura was still unwitting. Still, a small consolation- to be seen by anyone, even a ragtag weirdo like Joe, as the plaything wrapped around Laura's little finger.

He stopped too, glancing upwards at the sun to see if it was yet declining in the sky and began to mop his sweaty brow with his handkerchief. Swiping the back of his neck, he surveyed his surroundings. More and more desolate. What he wouldn't give to be in a casino, or a ballroom or some interior with running water. There was a valley ahead; he could already see the cliffs begin to rise and the terrain had been getting more rocky. With a passing glance, he looked at the ground they had covered and just as he was about to head on, something caught his eye.

Vehicles propelling themselves forward, shooting up clouds of dust. One of them was quite large- a tank? Omar, to be sure.

Great. Just great.

And so, he began to run.

Laura was about to ask Joe how much farther it was to Kadir when a fast moving blur grabbed her arm and began tugging her forward.

"What the-" she began and belatedly recognized Remington.

"It's your friend Omar!" he screamed, his run having slowed to a jog as he tugged at her arm. His other hand gestured behind him.

Laura's hair whipped around her head as she glanced back to see his entourage closing in, less than a mile away.

"Right!" She shrugged off Remington and turned to Joe who was shuffling up to them. "Come on, we have to hurry!"

Joe caught up with them and began to run as well right into the valley. Waving his umbrella over his head, he smiled sideways at Laura. "Are we jogging?"

Grinding her back teeth, she replied, "Yes. We are jogging."

"Does your friend the guide know any hiding spots nearby?" Remington asked hysterically.

"There are crevices in the mountains," Laura said, pointing up at the cliffs to their right.

"Yes, we can climb. This way, this way," said Joe as he began to climb upwards.

As Laura began to follow him, Remington stopped her. "We have to put some distance between us and Omar first."

"This way!" beckoned Joe.

"Listen to him," Laura said, glancing meaningfully at Remington. "He knows what he's talking about." Pulling her arm free, she started to make her way up the rock face behind Joe.

With a passionate groan, Remington screamed," Always have to have it your way!"

Joe stopped and looked quizzically at Remington. "America. Democracy. We vote." He raised his hand and so did Laura.

Smiling despite himself, Remington sighed and followed them. "God save the Queen."

They climbed a considerable height until they finally reached a narrow ledge that afforded barely enough space to stand easily on and began to slowly inch sideways.

Omar and his men had pulled their vehicles to a stop at the base of the cliff. A warning rapport of rifle fire rained pieces of rock on their heads.

The trio had had to stop to cover themselves from the brunt of the debris. Joe inched farther to the right and Laura began to follow him, but not before hearing Remington's bitter comment directed at her, "Can't live without you, eh?"

"Laura Holt!" Omar cried out, his voice amplified by a megaphone and the structure of the valley itself.

Laura made a face, and gripped the cliff face behind her, feeling the rocks underneath her slippers give way. Remington's hand flew to the small of her back and gave her a slight shove in the right direction, allowing her to regain her balance. But not before she saw the debris fall and fall and fall to the valley floor

"Laura Holt, I mean you no harm. A slight misunderstanding," Omar smiled brilliantly up at them, his arms raised in a shrug. Meanwhile, his lackeys were beginning to move up the cliff face ever so slowly.

Joe had reached a small alcove and helped to pull Laura and Remington aside. He stifled a grin as Omar began to shout curses on uppity women in Arabic.

"He's getting pretty mad," Laura said with a surreptitious glance over the edge. "Maybe I should go down there"

She was interrupted as another rapport of rifle fire pummeled the rock above their heads.

"He's gonna kill us!" she exclaimed incredulously to her companions.

"That's the idea, yes," replied Remington blithely.

"I'm fairly certain it is not my destiny to die on this mountain," said Joe matter-of-factly, clutching his turban from the hailing stones.

"What about us?" asked Laura.

"That's a different ball game," he replied.

Remington, meanwhile, had been watching Omar pace and scream down below. Slightly turning to Laura, he asked quietly, "What did you do for him that you never did for me?"

She winced at the bitterness apparent in his voice. But just as she was about to reply, Omar lifted an Uzi onto his shoulders and aimed it at the cliff face, directly at them.

"Consider this your ultimatum, Miss Holt!" he screamed and then, he fired.

TBC