“I know you won’t,” Daniel said gruffly. “We’ll be in the study.”
Clancy’s lips pursed in a low whistle as he strolled beside Daniel down the hall. “I never thought I’d see a ferocious panther like El Kabbar meekly playing nursemaid.”
“I’ve heard the big cats make magnificent guardians for their young,” Daniel said. “And Philip isn’t all panther. He’s been a good friend to me.”
“Like to like,” Clancy suggested dryly. “Neither one of you can be termed exactly tame.”
“And neither can you.” Daniel threw open the intricately carved double doors of the study. “Or you wouldn’t be in the business you’re in. You ought to understand Philip very well.”
Clancy shrugged as he watched Daniel cross the room to the small cellarette, his dusty boots sinking into the exquisite Persian carpet. “I understand that side of him well enough. I’m just a little wary of all that power he wields. He could be a very dangerous enemy for Alex to have to deal with if he chose to exert it.”
“He won’t choose,” Daniel said. “As long as Alex doesn’t interfere with Philip’s territorial rights, he has nothing to worry about.” He reached for the cut glass decanter in the cellarette. “Bourbon?”
Clancy nodded. “He wasn’t pleased to see me last night. He was even less pleased when I told him about your mission. You’re right. He’s very protective of those he cares about. I’ll have to remember that.”
“That’s right, file it away in the computer bank you call a memory.” Daniel had poured his own brandy and was coming back to stand before Clancy. He handed him the bourbon. “And while you’re at it, make a note that there’s no way I’ll let you use me to hurt him, Clancy.” His gaze met Clancy’s steadily. “I let you use me this time, but not again.” He took a long swallow of his brandy. “Have you heard anything of Hassan and his boys?”
“No sign of them yet.” Clancy frowned. “Did you have to blow up the plane?”
“It was the simplest way to get them to follow me into Sedikhan.”
“And did they?”
Daniel nodded grimly. “I made sure they’d be mad enough to follow us to hell and back. They’ll surface soon. You can bet on it. You just be on the spot to grab them when they do. I don’t want them to get near Zilah again. That’s why I chose Philip’s compound rather than my own-his security is far better than mine.”
“How did you manage to-”
“I’ll give you a full report later,” Daniel interrupted. “Right now, I want some answers myself.” He gestured to the high-backed leather chair in front of the Sheraton desk. “You might as well make yourself comfortable. You’re not leaving here until I find out what you know.”
“Why don’t you sit down yourself,” Clancy suggested as he dropped down into the chair and stretched his legs out in front of him. “You look like you need a bed, not a chair. Was it a rough caper?”
“We’ve both been through worse.” Daniel made a face as he looked down at his dust-grimed khakis and the sweat-darkened undershirt clinging to his chest. “And I don’t think Philip would appreciate my lolling in his antique chairs in my present condition.” He half sat, half leaned against the edge of the desk. “I can rest later. Talk to me.”
“Zilah?”
“Who else?” Daniel’s hand tightened on his glass. “You know why she looked at me as if I were her executioner.”
Clancy lowered his gaze to the amber liquid in his glass. “I told you I wasn’t at liberty to discuss Zilah with strangers. David would have my head in a handbasket if I did.”
“Dammit, I’m not a stranger,” Daniel burst out with savage violence. “Can’t you see that I need to know?”
“Yes, I think I can see that,” Clancy said thoughtfully. “Experiences like what the two of you have shared together have a way of melding two people together, but it’s something more than that, isn’t it?”
Daniel inhaled raggedly. “It’s something more,” he said tightly. “I’m not asking to know anything about her relationship with Bradford. I just need to know what made her look at me the way she did.” The pain of that moment was still like a raw wound within him. It had been doubled because he had felt the pain and despair in Zilah as if it were his own.
“But her relationship with David is part of what you saw in that bedroom this morning. You can’t separate the two.” Clancy shook his head. “You’re not going to like it. It’s not going to be comfortable to live with. Not if you care for her.”
“Tell me.”
“When she was thirteen years old Zilah was living with her grandmother in Marasef while her mother acted as housekeeper for Karim Ben Raschid. She was a bright, pretty little girl, always bubbling with enthusiasm and laughter. One day she disappeared. She just never came home from school. Her mother was frantic. She went to the police, searched the streets herself, and did everything she could think of doing. Then she asked David Bradford to help. Six months had passed by that time and the trail was cold, but he and Alex finally located her.” He paused. “She was in a bordello called the House of the Yellow Door. She had been taken by a vice ring that specialized in kidnapping young girls, drugging them with heroin until they were hopelessly addicted, and using them as prostitutes.” He ignored the exclamation Daniel made. “I don’t have to tell you what kind of shape she was in when David brought her back to Zalandan. It took her almost eight months to lick the heroin addiction.” His lips curved in a bitter smile. “After that there was only the psychological damage of the experience itself to contend with. A real piece of cake.”
“Thirteen,” Daniel said jerkily. “She was just a child.” He covered his eyes with his hand. “My God, I feel sick.”
“David sent her to live with his parents in Texas and she hasn’t been back to Sedikhan until now. She’s been under psychiatric care all these years and has made a remarkable recovery.” He frowned. “But judging from what I saw today, it obviously wasn’t a total recovery.”
“How the hell could it be?” Daniel’s voice was muffled. “I don’t know how she even survived it.”
“She survived it because she’s an exceptionally strong personality,” Clancy said. “It was her choice to come back to Sedikhan for this visit. She thought she could handle it.”
“She thinks she can handle everything in the whole damn world.”
“Does she?” A slight smile touched Clancy’s lips. “That’s good to know.” He took a sip of his bourbon. “So there’s the story. Is there anything else you want to know?”
“Just one thing.” Daniel’s hand dropped from his face, revealing eyes that were cold as death. “Did you get rid of them?”
Clancy nodded. “The vice ring was smashed and the head of it was taken care of in a very permanent manner.”
“I almost wish he hadn’t been,” Daniel said tautly. “I need to kill him. I need to do something to help her.” He closed his eyes. “I feel so damned helpless, I think I’m going to explode.”
There was a flicker of sympathy in Clancy’s hard face. “We all felt the same way when it happened. You were lucky not to have been around to see her right after we found her. It was enough to tear your heart out.”
“I don’t think I was lucky. Bradford was there to help her and I wasn’t,” Daniel said harshly. “If I had been there, she would never have looked at me as if I were some kind of monster. She would have known she could trust me.”
“She was burning up with fever. She didn’t know what was happening. She obviously thought she was back in that bordello.”
“Oh, yes, I realize all that.” Daniel’s mirthless laugh had a touch of desperation in it. “I also realize that after an experience like that she’s going to have a hell of a time trusting or responding to any man.” Dear Lord, that was putting it mildly. He had been so confident last night that he could ease friendship into a commitment. He had been almost brutal when he had taken Zilah. It was a wonder that she hadn’t run away from him screaming instead of yielding so sweetly. She couldn’t have enjoyed it. Gratitude or pity? It didn’t matter. He just hoped he hadn’t done any permanent damage by lovemaking that must have appeared closer to rape to Zilah. He had to make sure that she knew it wouldn’t always be like that. That he was capable of treating her with the gentleness and care her fragility demanded.