The Lioness Read online

  “Thank you, Ty. I would have been okay going back by myself but I’m so much happier knowing you’ll be with me.”

  “I couldn’t leave you, let you go on your own. Besides the holidays are coming up. You have to get better so we can spend time just relaxing.”

  Rose reached up and touched his face, then remembering they had company she pulled her hand away. Ty smiled and that warmed her by several degrees. God, she must be feeling better. His smile was doing it again to her. Her stomach was doing flip flops and it wasn’t due to her sickness.

  “Thank you.”

  **********

  Ty sat with his arm protectively around Rose. Noori was in front of them. Two of the men had decided to come with them. They were going to go with them to Kabul, pick up some supplies. Samid was staying. He leaned into the copter and shook Ty’s hand. “Watch over our Little Sister.” Then he turned to Rose. Taking her hand in his, he clasped it with a squeeze. Looking into her eyes Ty could see tears, tears in both their eyes. “If you ever need anything, ever, you only have to call. I have connections and relatives all over. People who can help. If I have to I’ll come and help. Anytime. You will remember that won’t you Rose?”

  Rose looked at Samid. “Yes, I’ll remember that.” He moved out of the copter and giving a last wave, then with a salute he closed the door. Then he and his wife and the men all moved back as the pilot started the copter up. As the dust started to swirl, the men covered their faces, stayed still but waving their guns. Samid’s wife was the lone woman in the group. She lifted her veil and waved, smiling. Then she dropped it ran for the building.

  Rose turned and buried her face in Ty’s shoulder and let the storm overtake her. She would feel better. She was going to miss this place, but mostly it was the people and how they had taken her in so completely. She had felt like part of their family. Most of them related by some degree or another. She let the torrent go, let the tears flow and felt Ty’s arm go around her tighter.

  **********

  Ty stood looking out at the sunset while Rose was in the shower. It had been a long day up on Bokor but a good one. No time to dwell on his leaving in a few days. He stood there watching as the sun dipped lower and lower. He realized Rose was taking a long time. Usually they watched the sunset together. He turned and walked to the bathroom door. He was about to knock when he heard her sob. It was low but it was there. Her sob was a choking sound. She was trying to cover it by the shower. She didn’t count on him hearing her. He heard her cry more and harder along with saying something. He knew she’d be upset he had heard her but he couldn’t leave her alone. She would be alone soon enough. Now he understood when other correspondents talked about how hard it was for family members to watch as they got ready to go. Rose was staying back and he was going back into the fray. If she was going too she wouldn’t be like this, but the fear of the unknown was taking over. When you’re getting ready to go on an assignment you don’t have time to dwell on the dangers. You just get ready and go. This was all different for Rose this time.

  Ty opened the door and heard her cry out in anguish. Pulling the curtain aside she stood, hands braced on the shower stall and crying her eyes out. He reached out and she turned to him. Relief was there in her eyes. She fell into his arms and let the storm take over.

  Chapter 12

  Rose awoke but for the life of her she couldn’t get untangled from the stupid sheets. She had been dreaming that she was tied up. Now she knew why. That had been the scenario for the last two weeks since Ty had gone back to Iraq. They had both flown out together to Bangkok and after two more wonderful days there in the city of angels he had left for Bagdad. She had flown home. They had decided on making their base in Boston, so she was getting her place ready for Ty. He would be heading home in two more weeks. They would keep both places for now but figure out which one they wanted to live in once things settled down. At least they wouldn’t have to pay for hotels when going to NYC. She smiled as she stretched and thought of setting up house with Ty.

  She got out of bed and was heading to the bathroom when her phone went off. Glancing at her watch she noted it was a little after eight. Later then she normally slept, but she was still a bit jet lagged. This time it seemed to take forever to get over the traveling. Reaching for the phone she noticed the number was an unknown. It could be overseas.

  Rose could hear the static as soon as she pushed the button. “Hello, hello, this is Rose.”

  Rose listened and then she could hear a faint voice, sounded like Noori’s. “Noori, is that you?” Why would he be calling unless something had happened to his aunt? “Noori, I can’t quite hear you. What did you say? Are you at the same number? Ok, I’ll call right back.”

  Rose hung up and sat for a second. She could hear the urgency in his voice and knew something was up. Picking up her phone again, she started the process of making the overseas call. She knew the number by heart. She waited and then heard the call going through. Good, the circuits weren’t busy. That was a norm when calling countries like Afghanistan or Cambodia. Ty always called her because it was hard for her calls to go through. He hadn’t called last night but that wasn’t unheard of. He would call tonight.

  “Noori? Yes, I hear you fine. What’s the matter? Good, your aunt is fine. Tell her I said hello for me. What, Noori, you received a call from your uncle in Bagdad?” Rose felt sick. Noori’s cousin Shafi worked with Ty. “Noori, stop babbling I can’t understand. You said Shafi was killed and…. No, God no don’t tell me this! Noori, no I know it’s not your fault. Tell me, please tell me again.”

  Rose felt cold, her legs felt weak and she felt like she was going to vomit. Everything didn’t make sense, she was just having a dream. That’s it, she was really having a dream and she would wake up and she would be getting the apartment ready for Ty to be coming back. God, why was there a knock at her door? Noori was crying in her ear and she could hear far off someone knocking… The connection went dead and she jolted to the real world. The sound at the door became more insistent. “Wait, I’m coming!”

  She went to the door, looked out the peep hole, saw it was her father. God, this dream was getting weirder by the minute. Having that part of the dream, Noori’s call, an ambush. Shafi killed, Ty taken. Why hadn’t Ty been with the unit? Well, this was a dream and dreams don’t make sense do they?

  Rose opened the door and there stood her father. He looked very pale and a bit uncomfortable. She just stood there and something told her she wasn’t in a dream. All this was very real and Noori’s call had been real. His cousin had been killed in an ambush and Ty had been taken. She could tell by the look on her father’s face.

  David O’Malley had some hard jobs in his life, but this was by far the hardest. He had stood in front of Rose’s door waiting for her to open it. When she had he knew she must have received a call from someone. She looked shaken to the core.

  “Rose?”

  “Daddy, you got a call? You heard about the ambush?”

  “Honey, let’s go in, close the door. We need to talk. I got a call not one hour ago from the New York Times. Apparently Ty had told them to call me if anything happened, not to call you right away.”

  Rose walked with heavy legs. This was a dream, she would wake up. If she kept telling herself enough times she would indeed wake up and the phone would ring and it would be Ty, not Noori. Her dad would only be coming over to go out to breakfast, not to tell her that the light of her life had been taken captive by extremists. She sank down onto the couch and steeled herself for the worst. Looking into her dear Da’s face she knew the truth. “It happened last night, didn’t it?”

  Chapter 13

  “I know Da, I’m fine. Noori has arrived and he and his cousin Daoud are with me. I’m actually in Daoud’s car. It was his brother who was killed. Yes, Da I am fine, but I am going to need all the help I can get. I am going to the Palestine Hotel. Yes, I am covered. Daoud gave me a couple of his wife’s burqas.” Rose laid her head back and lis
tened to her parents as they talked to her. She grunted and rubbed her head at the same time. The car came to a stop and Rose opened her eyes. She got out her identification and passed it through. She was loaded for bear. She had already made a trip to NY and then Washington even before taking off to get here. She had called her Congressman and Ty’s, had meetings with both and with a minor White House official. They had told her it would be fruitless for her to fly to Bagdad. Better leave it to people who knew what they were doing. She had gently assured them that she knew perfectly well what she was doing, could speak the language and was very determined to go regardless of what they said. They had then told her she was going at her own risk.

  “Yes, sir I will be at the Palestine.”

  “Beg your pardon Miss, we heard you were coming, saw it on the news. Ty was embedded with our unit. If there is anything we can do, you just have to call.”

  Rose looked into the eyes of the fresh faced young man. Not much younger than her, was her guess, but had already seen enough to last two or three life times.

  “I will remember that Sergeant Mitchell, I will call. I can use all the help I can get, even if it is just to talk to someone.”

  Sergeant Mitchell looked in the front and then back to Rose O’Malley’s face. “Do you know these men? I don’t mean to be bold but…”

  Rose leaned forward. “I would trust them with my life. Noori has been with me in some of the toughest places in Afghanistan. This is his cousin Daoud, his brother was Ty’s driver and was killed when Ty was taken.”

  Sergeant Mitchell looked back in the front. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I was just thinking of Miss O’Malley here.”

  Noori looked into the young Sergeant’s face. “I understand. I was her male relative when she was in Afghanistan. She lived at my Aunt’s house. It’s good to know people look out for Rose. She’s like my little sister, I would do anything for her.”

  “Well let’s hope you can get Ty back and you can all get home safely.”

  Rose reached and touched the young man’s hand. “What’s your first name?”

  “Mike, Mike Mitchell. Just call and someone will contact me.”

  “I will, you can count on it.” Rose smiled at Mike and then reached and touched the front seat. “We better go now. I’m really tired and I have a busy day tomorrow.”

  Rose laid her head back. She was here. She would lie down then go get something to eat. Tomorrow she would be busy. She wasn’t going to rest until she found Ty… one way or another.

  “We just got a call. She’s arrived and already asking questions. She’s not going about it in the normal channels.”

  Ty listened but kept his head down. He didn’t want them to know he was awake. It was easier this way. Pretend, just pretend that he was asleep. They tended to stay away if they thought he was sleeping.

  “I saw her hair when she took off her scarf in the hotel. Bright red, like fire. Her skin… like ivory, it looked so smooth. She spoke so soft but you could tell she is strong.”

  A feeling of something like a fire was fanning in Ty’s soul. They were talking about Rose, his Rose, she was here. Where angels didn’t even want to tread, she came in, marching up to the gates of hell and announcing she was here to take on anyone and everyone if that’s what it took to get his release. He had heard the news reports. He knew this man worked at the Palestine Hotel and was waiting and watching for her. They had heard when she had a press conference with the New York Times. She was already stirring up a hornets nest, from the White House on down.

  How in the world did she expect to get him released? He wasn’t thinking clearly. She was going to take the bull by the horns and do her best. That was typical Rose O’Malley style.

  He had already been moved three times since his capture. They hadn’t really talked to him, just kept him in the same room as everyone else. So far the treatment hadn’t been bad. He had heard about his capture on the news, both in English on the BBC and then in Arabic. His driver, a relative of Noori’s, had been killed in the ambush. If he had only stayed with his unit, but no, he had wanted to go talk with some people. Wanted that exclusive story, just one last one. Well it proved to be that last one. See where it got him. Captured, and his driver killed and he would have been out of here next Monday, back in New York, back with Rose, starting a life. Now he was sitting here, not knowing what was going to happen and Rose was here, exactly where he didn’t want her. It wasn’t like she was coming in meek and mild either. She had made her intentions known. He knew by now she had probably made every contact she knew in the news circles, in Washington and all her Muslim friends. No, she was coming in like a hurricane for sure. His little titan, his tempest.

  He sat thinking and listening to the talk among the men in the room. Occasionally another family member came in. Women bringing in food. Even the children. One of the little ones came in and had walked right up to him, staring with big brown eyes. A little boy. What would his life be in ten years, f he made it that long. Life expectancy wasn’t good with all that went on.

  He bowed his head, praying he would live to see another day, live to see Rose. Then he heard the commentator and, snapping his head up, he saw her face. She had her head covered with one of her colorful scarves from Cambodia, but she was here. She looked pale, tired as she got out of the car, heading into the hotel. She was staying at the Palestine and there next to her was Noori and his cousin Daoud. Then he heard the talk. The men not realizing his fluency in Arabic were talking.

  “It is good. Daoud is there.”

  “What do you mean?” said the second voice, the older of the two. “He isn’t with us.”

  “But he’s family, he won’t say anything.”

  “The problem is he and Noori are close. They always were and with his brother dead…”

  “That wasn’t our fault. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Shiites were responsible for a few bombings that day. We just took the journalist. If it had been them he would have been dead by now.”

  Ty felt grateful but sick. So two forces had been at work that day. Shafi had not died at the hands of his captors but the Shiites and their bombing. He had been snatched out of the devil’s hand in time.

  “Our cousin Daoud won’t say anything. He may be faithful to Noori but we’re family, blood is thick.”

  Ty couldn’t believe it. Rose’s driver was a cousin to his captors. For that matter, Noori was too. What had he gotten his Rose into? She wouldn’t rest till she got the job done.

  He couldn’t let them know how well he was understanding their conversation. It was to his advantage to keep them in the dark on that score.

  Rose woke and the room was dark. Getting up quickly, she realized she wasn’t back in the states. She was in Bagdad, in the middle of a war. She could hear the generator. “Power must have gone out,” she said to herself as she got up to go to the bathroom.

  She was going to peek out the window but remembered, never look out the windows, stay away from them. Since the Green Zone had been under attack since yesterday morning she had received the warning right off. “Stay away from the windows!”

  She knew from being in Afghanistan that she was to travel with her flack jacket and never to wait at the bus stop. She wouldn’t have to since she had Noori and Daoud. They would call her and come right into the hotel to get her. Since Noori was her faithful helper from Afghanistan, she trusted him with her life. Daoud was his cousin, brother to Shafi, who had been killed.

  Turning on the light in the bathroom, she noted the dimness. Reaching for the bottled water, she poured it into a glass and took a drink. Looking up into the mirror, she saw the dark circles under her eyes. She looked so pale. To think she had spent time in Cambodia just a few weeks ago and had some decent color. She never tanned but always had good color. Now looking at herself she looked tired and worn. She felt it too. She better get back to bed to get some sleep. Who knew what later today would bring. She had to go see leaders i
n the Iraqi Government offices and then go to the US Embassy. She wasn’t leaving any stone unturned. Noori and Daoud had some people that she was going to visit. Men they said who might be able to make connections for her. She knew this was dangerous but she had to do everything and she knew what the American Government would say. ‘We don’t negotiate.’ She didn’t give a fig what they told her, that wasn’t going to stop her. She was here for a purpose and she wasn’t leaving until she’d completed her job, one way or another.

  Getting back on the bed, she lay down and felt her head spin. It had been doing that since the flight she was on had started its descent to Bagdad International. The flights had to descend in a corkscrew maneuver to avoid coming within range of small arms and missiles. She closed her eyes and willed the spinning to stop. It didn’t help that she really didn’t eat either. Noori had complained and said he would make sure she got good food to eat tomorrow.

  Laying there she thought of how close she was to Ty, but so far. She hoped he was still somewhere within the city limits. It had been almost a week and captors were known for moving their prisoners around a lot.

  Tomorrow she would start working on getting the essential connections that she was going to need to get the job done.

  She felt so sleepy, like she was falling into a cloud. A soft cloud, so warm and secure. She wished Ty was here to hold her. God, she wanted him so bad she could taste it. She felt the tears come and she didn’t try to stop them. So much for the cloud. She was wide awake again. She was going to look like a sight when she got up in the morning. Noori was going to have a fit. It’s a wonder he didn’t bring his sister with him to watch over her. If he saw the way she looked he would be insisting she leave. He was that protective. He would say he would get the job done and try to pack her up and send her back to Jordan. She would get her cry out now and then wake up early enough to take a nice long shower.