'Now, I wonder if you can guess what happens next?'
'Leave him. It's time to go!'
Zoe swung around, glowering at the man who had silently descended the stairs and stood watching her. He had discarded the visored helmet and she found herself meeting the stern gaze of an Arab. There was something about his bearing that was compulsively commanding. Zoe guessed that he must have noble blood, his manner suggested he had been born and bred to giving orders and commanding men.
'I want my revenge on him!' Zoe pointed to the man spread-eagled on the bench.
'You sound like the immature daughter of some petty tribesman. Perhaps you have already forgotten who you are?'
'I know perfectly well who I am! What about if you tell me who you are?' Zoe demanded indignantly.
'I haven't time to stand here her engaging in idle chatter with some ungrateful girl. Follow me.'
'I'm not ungrateful. But before we leave, can't you give me ten minutes with this bastard, now...'
'I won't tell you again Miss Farquerson, follow me, before I lose my patience.'
Swearing under her breath Zoe left the cellar, hauling herself with arching arms on wobbly legs up the stairs. The door to the tower stood open and the cool night air spilt into the hallway. The stonework was scarred by bullet holes and on the wall at the foot of the spiral stairs leading upwards there was a smear of blood that made Zoe shudder.
'I'm sorry; I don't know your name, but thank you for rescuing me. I presume the British Government sent you?'
'My name is Sheikh Auda bin Yasel. You are right in your assumption, I am being paid by the British Secret Service to recover you.'
'But, he would have come to rescue me anyway,' came a girl's voice from around the curve of the spiral stairs.
The blonde girl that she'd seen earlier came into view. She grinned with pleasure as she saw the man named Auda and gave Zoe only a cursory glance.
'You have no idea what I've been through since arriving in your beastly country!'
Zoe watched as the blonde girl jumped eagerly down the last steps into the arms of the Sheikh. She had on a pair of cut-off jeans, which Zoe guessed she must have appropriated from one of the Arab youths but otherwise she was naked.
'So how are you feeling after your little ordeal?' she turned to Zoe and smiled sweetly, eyeing her up and down critically, while pressing her own body up against the man's. 'So who is she Auda? Surely you didn't really come here to rescue her?'
'She's a British spy who got herself caught by the El-Saram secret police. Mind you, the Major of the secret police who abducted both of you is more interested in furthering his own aims than serving his masters.'
'And what were his aims?' the girl asked.
'He would have sold you to one of the desert chieftains as a slave for his harem. First he would have broken your will and through relentless discipline made you submit willingly to whatever was demanded of you.'
'What's happened to Stonefield?' Zoe asked.
'The Englishman? He's alive.'
'He should be taken to Britain to face charges,' Zoe announced.
The Sheikh gave a derisory laugh, shaking his head.
'He's none of my concern. I'm leaving him here. Without transport he faces a long walk to find help and in the meantime I'll let the rebel movement know about who they might find in this tower if they pay it a visit.'
'So what happens now Auda?' the girl asked expectantly.
'The British have paid me to rescue her. I suppose I should now deliver her, as expected.'
The young blonde girl looked thoughtfully at Zoe then slowly licked her lips before reaching forward and whispering in the man's ear. Zoe felt a knot of apprehension tighten in her stomach. The man gave the merest conspiratorial nod then announced that they needed to make swift preparations to leave the tower.
Zoe wondered how long it would be before she would be back in civilisation as she was ushered quickly out of the tower to a waiting jeep. She found the desert at night was bitterly cold and she was unbelievably grateful when the young girl appeared and tossed her a handful of clothes.
'I found these in the tower. I guess they belonged to some of his earlier victims.'
'Thanks,' Zoe smiled at the young girl, who was now wearing a T-shirt and some low boots as well as the cut-off jeans.
'I hope these fit,' said Zoe pulling on a short red skirt that she'd been given.
'These boots are a bit big for me,' the other girl admitted, 'but at least they're better than nothing. There was an old chest full of clothes. I wonder how many girls that bastard had abducted?'
'You were lucky your friend arrived so soon. I couldn't have taken much more of the treatment I'd been given,' Zoe confessed, wriggling to get into the skirt then pulling on the T-shirt she'd been given. The top was too small and dug under her armpits and squashed her breasts. She tugged on the red Lycra but it barely stretched half way down her stomach. Whoever the girl had been who had originally owned it must have been really skinny, she thought. She glanced at the girl sitting on the jeep bonnet, wondering about what had bought her out to El-Saram and what her relationship was with the man named Auda. Smoothing the tight skirt down over her hips she watched the two men leaving the tower. And seeing the younger man jam something into the hinge of the open door.
'Get down behind the jeep for cover!'
The men jogged quickly across to where the girls were waiting and they barely had time to duck behind the vehicle before the stick of dynamite jammed in the door exploded, blowing it off its hinges and sending a shower of splinters into the air.
The Sheikh stood up and smiled with satisfaction.
'Well done Basil. Right then, blow all the tyres on the Merc' and lose the keys. We'll take the Major's RangeRover and the jeep. You drive the jeep; I'll drive the RangeRover. The girls can come with me, at least they'll be warmer in the RangeRover.'
'How long will it take us to get back to the capital?' Zoe asked.
The man exchanged glances with the blonde girl and Zoe sensed that they were holding something back from her.
'Go on Auda, there's nothing to stop you,' the blonde girl blurted out excitedly, her blue eyes glinting with a mischievous eagerness.
'What the hell have you two been discussing?' Zoe demanded angrily.
The man gave an enigmatic smile and opened the RangeRover, silently suggesting that Zoe climbed into the car.
'No, hang on a minute; I want a reassurance from you that we're going straight to the British Embassy. You told me that you were paid to free me.'
'That is true and I have already been well paid. Vanessa here has pointed out that it might be more rewarding for me if I sold you on the open market.'
'What the hell are you talking about?' Zoe demanded, backing away from the man defensively.
'The truth is that what the British Government values you at is a lot less than I could get for you as a harem slave here in El-Saram. Or indeed if I sold you on the international market, you would fetch an even more attractive price.'
'You unscrupulous bastard!'
Zoe turned and fled, driven by the one immediate thought of escape. Should she try to get to the tower and find a weapon or should she try to run into the dark and hope to escape under cover of dark. At least she was free, for the moment!
She hadn't covered more than a few yards though when she was knocked sideways by a rugby tackle from the Sheikh's servant. Using her training from the SES she lashed out at the young man catching him by surprise with the ferocity of her attack. A sharp blow from the edge of her hand knocked him backwards and she scrambled back to her feet. She felt his hand grasp her ankle and she kicked out with her other foot. The youth rolled sideways to evade her attempted kick and clasping her ankle with both hands he pulled back fiercely throwing her off balance.