'He's not our usual man,' the nanny at her side told her. 'I haven't seen him at the palace before.'
'Great.' Beth tightened her grip on Hana. Had she brought them all into danger? Now she knew why Khal had been so concerned. He hadn't wanted to frighten her, but she had gone about things in her usual stubborn way. If this was some clumsy kidnap attempt, then they were all in danger, even Khal. She had to warn him, and she must protect Hana and the nanny. But what could she do when she had no weapons to defend them, and wouldn't have known how to use them if she had? She was a stranger to the country and the driver could be taking them anywhere.
'He's taking the road to the border,' the nanny whispered, as if reading her mind.
'Then we must stop him,' Beth murmured back. All she knew was that they were in the wilderness somewhere between the palace and the airport. She rapped on the glass. When the man still ignored her, she resorted to panic measures. 'I have to change the baby's nappy now!' Beth yelled down the intercom. 'I can't do it on this bumpy road, so I suggest you stop unless you want a mess back here. Stop!' she said again, when he didn't answer. 'I think my baby's ill. You'll be held responsible if anything happens to her!'
There was a second when the limousine didn't waver, and then the brakes went on, and it slewed terrifyingly from side to side before finally screeching to a halt.
'That stone memorial,' Beth whispered to the nanny. 'Can you see it? When we stop I want you to hide Hana under your clothes, and then make for those bushes. Don't run, just walk calmly, as if you want some privacy, and don't be distracted by anything.' The woman was shaking, but Beth had to trust her now. 'Keep Hana safe until I come for you.' While she was talking, Beth was making a bundle of Hana's spare clothing, which she then wrapped in a shawl so it appeared she still had the baby. 'My maid needs to relieve herself,' she told the driver when he stopped the car.
'Good idea,' he agreed, and got out too.
It was the best opportunity she was going to get. Taking the driver's seat, Beth gunned the engine, making for the stone memorial where she could see the nanny crouching down, hiding Hana. Beth's heart was hammering as she attempted to manoeuvre the big car but she wasn't used to driving on sand. The door snapped back on its hinges as the vehicle jerked forward, and then it careered across rocks and gullies until finally she lost control of the wheel and the tyres started to spin.
Leaping out, Beth could see the tyres were buried to the wheel-wells. There wasn't a chance she could manoeuvre the limousine out of the sand now.
He changed his mind about a Jeep and took a helicopter. That way he could reach the airport before the limousine and bring Beth and Hana back to the palace without fuss.
He gazed down, as he always did when he reached that part of the desert where his guilty past lay in a patch of sand-a reminder of mistakes he'd made in his youth, mistakes that could never be repaired. It was then that he saw something moving on the ground, and hovered lower.
Wading calf-deep in sand, Beth was cutting across some scrub-land, with Hana in one arm and her other arm around the nanny, urging her to move faster, when she heard the helicopter flying overhead. She couldn't lose time staring up at it to discover if it was friend or foe. Fear was draining her strength like water through a grid, and her chest felt about ready to explode. Risking a quick glance behind them, she saw their driver who had returned to the limousine flip open a mobile phone. They wouldn't be alone in the desert for long. She had been heading back to the road hoping to flag someone down. There wasn't much of a chance, but it was all she had.
He planted the big machine on the road between the on-coming truck and the fleeing women. Beth didn't know it, but she was heading straight into trouble. There wasn't time to land and pick them up safely, so he had opted to stop the insurgents first and hold them until his troops arrived. He carried guns onboard his helicopters and wouldn't hesitate to use them.
She stopped running when she saw the dust thrown up by the helicopter as it landed. The driver was back inside the limousine now, and with impatient stamps on the accelerator was trying to blast it out of the sand.
That should keep him busy, Beth thought, wiping her face on her sleeve. 'Are you all right?' she asked the nanny, gazing intently at her charges. To her relief, Hana was sound asleep, but the young nanny was close to hysteria. She couldn't ask more of her, Beth realised, she'd asked too much already; she had to make their stand here. 'We're going back to that memorial,' she said firmly. 'And I'm going to leave you there, hidden in the bushes, where you'll be safe while I get help.'
'Don't leave me,' the girl begged, clinging to her.
'I have to go and get help. You can do this. I know you can.' There were no certainties, but Beth wasn't about to share her fears. The only thing she did know was inaction wasn't an option.
Crouching low, Beth ran towards the helicopter. Seeing Khal standing outside was so much more than she had hoped for, her legs almost gave way beneath her, but, seeing the gun in his hand, she struggled on. It was a stark reminder that this was not a fairy story or a package tour to Q'Adar, but that it was a country in the throws of rebirth, with all that that entailed. Khal was a king, Sheikh of Sheikhs, a defender of his people. She just hadn't seen the big picture before. She had judged him as she would judge some nine-to-five worker, when in reality Khal was holding a country on his shoulders, and dealing with all the new emotions Hana had brought into his life at the same time. No wonder he seemed hard. He had to be.
Swinging the gun up, he shouted, 'Beth! I could have shot you!' Grabbing hold of her, he hustled her towards the open door. 'Get in now-don't ask questions!' He could see army trucks descending on them in a pincer movement. Time to leave. He had to keep Beth and Hana alive, whatever it took. 'Where is she?'
'With her nurse in the bushes, by that memorial.'
'We'll pick them up.'
'And the driver?'
He angled his chin to the Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters, flying fast and low across the sand to intercept the convoy. 'They'll take care of him … '
It was a terrifying situation, but with Khal's hands steady on the controls Beth felt safe. She was seeing a new side to him. This was someone in another league to the entrepreneur who had built a business empire-this was a warrior king, a true hawk of the desert, a man playing out the hand fate had dealt him with a hero's instincts. Just like his ancestors before him, Khal would fight to keep his country safe. He would fight to keep his people safe, and those he loved too. The magnitude of his responsibilities had only just hit home. All the riches and outward show didn't mean a thing compared to the riches inside a man, and she felt a great swell of love for him, this man who was a protector, as well as the ruler of Q'Adar. Her part in his life seemed miniscule by comparison to the challenges he must face.
She mustn't be selfish, Beth thought, fighting the agony inside her; she must let him go when this was over. She clutched his arm, seeing they were hovering above Hana's hiding place. Fleetingly she wondered how she could have thought him unworthy to be a father, when he was the best father Hana could ever have.
'Here?' His voice sounded metallic through the headphones, but even so she heard the purpose in it.
'Yes.'
He brought the helicopter swooping down.
'Bring her back to me safely-' But Khal had already gone. He'd barely landed the helicopter before he leapt out, and, ducking low beneath the deadly blades, sprinted away. She could do nothing now but wait tensely in her seat.
It was the longest few seconds of Beth's life, before air blasted into the cockpit and Khal was back with Hana in his arms and the young nanny clinging to him. Tears of relief poured down Beth's face when Hana was safe with her again. Khal helped the young nanny into the back of the helicopter, seeing her safely strapped in with her headphones in place, before springing in next to Beth. There was no time to reassure her, he just hit some switches, grabbed the controls, and they lifted off.