The White House by Roland Smith

Author:Roland Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781585364787
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press

“Where are we going?” Malak finally asked.

She and Amun had been moving around downtown for more than an hour and a half. They had been in four taxis, two buses, and several stores. Amun was not usually this cautious about being followed.

They were being followed by Ziv, but with Malak’s tracking device he could keep his distance and there was no way Amun would spot him.

“We’re about ready for your surprise,” Amun said.

The surprise again. This had Malak worried. Amun was not a surprise kind of guy.

Amun looked at his watch for about the fiftieth time since they had left the car in the parking lot. This had her worried too. Amun rarely looked at his watch.

“Are we on a schedule?” she asked.

“Yes,” Amun said. “And it’s time.”

Malak followed him across the street to an old but well-kept apartment building. Amun pulled his baseball cap down, opened the door with a key, and walked through with his face turned away from the security camera inside. Malak followed suit but wondered why Amun was taking this kind of precaution in a private building. Homeland Security did not monitor apartment building cameras. In fact, there was a good chance the old camera in the lobby was just for appearances.

After years of running, stalking, and hiding, Malak’s intuition had been honed to razor-sharp claws. The Leopard sensed the stench of trouble in the air. Something bad was going to happen. She was rarely wrong.

Amun took the stairs instead of the elevator. As Malak fell in behind him she reached into her pocket and pressed a button on a special cell phone. If she were ever searched it would look like the battery had been pulled and the SIM card was missing. A dead phone. But it was far from dead. It was her lifeline to Ziv, programmed to dial only one number—his. They used the phone only for dire emergencies. Malak pulled her necklace out from under her blouse. Hanging on the chain was a golden angel and a golden leopard. Inside the leopard was a miniature Bluetooth microphone. Ziv would now be able to hear everything that was being said. She hoped he was nearby.

“So what’s this all about, Amun?” Malak asked teasingly. “It’s not my birthday.”

Amun looked back at her and smiled. “I don’t even know when your birthday is. Do you?”

“It was celebrated on February second,” she answered. “But of course I doubt that was my real birthday.”

“Mine is June thirteenth.”

“I suppose birthdays don’t matter when you don’t exist,” Malak said, wondering if June 13 was Amun’s real birthday. He had never talked about his childhood or his parents. She didn’t know if he had been adopted like her and Anmar, or if he had been raised by his biological parents.

“True.” Amun stopped outside a steel fire door.

Malak acted out of breath, which she wasn’t—she was in top physical condition.

“Whew,” she said. “If I’d known it was nine floors up, I would have suggested we take the elevator.” This was for Ziv’s benefit, so he would know what floor they were on.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.