Page 53 of Warlord’s Empire

Leeza had given birth to her son roughly around Saskia’s age now. Leeza always seemed so mature, so in control of her environment, that Saskia never thought about how scary it must have been for her to become a mother, in control of the destiny of an entire tiny human being.

She felt a new respect for her older sister, along with a longing to see her that was so intense, it froze Saskia in the doorway of her room. Leeza would know what to do and say in all the situations where Saskia felt like an alien stumbling around an unfamiliar planet.

What was Leeza doing now?

Saskia changed into her sleeping shorts and camisole, then crawled into her rumpled bed and stared broodingly out her window at the starry sky.

Leeza would’ve been frantic when Saskia went missing from Pretoria. She would have insisted on helping with Jozef’s investigation, but when they were unable to find Saskia’s whereabouts, she would’ve been sent home to her children. Like a proper mafia wife.

Saskia sat up, frowning.

Leeza wasn’t a proper mafia wife though. She was her own woman. She argued with both Havel and Jozef and usually got her way when she caused enough of a fuss. She wouldn’t stop searching for Saskia.

With the scent of Radik surrounding her and thoughts of seeing her sister again, Saskia fell quickly asleep.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Leeza eyed their guide, Jacob, who was sitting on the other side of their campsite, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes closed. She hoped he was sleeping but she’d seen him go from indolent to man-of-action in seconds.

“He’s going to try to kill us,” she said in a low voice.

Shaun gasped, her eyes widening.

“Probably,” said Ayaan, chewing on a piece of chicken jerky.

“How do you know?” Shaun asked in a high-pitched voice, her horrified gaze going to the man in question.

Leeza watched Ayaan sigh, rubbing her forehead as though to ease a headache. She’d been hypervigilant since they arrived in Bangui, in the Central African Republic, as though it was her personal mission to keep them all safe while they searched for their missing siblings.

After landing in Bangui, they’d taken a prop plane to a village in the Northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From there, they hired Jacob to take them to wherever they were now. Not lost exactly, but definitely not anywhere Leeza could easily extract herself from. She was taking a leap of faith with Ayaan.

“It’s inevitable,” Ayaan answered Shaun’s question in a low voice. “We’re easy targets for any predator looking for some cash. Three women travelling alone through dangerous terrain. We could easily disappear and no one would ever know.”

“What do we do?” Shaun asked in a trembling voice. “Should we leave when he goes to bed?”

Leeza burst out laughing, quickly stifling the sound when Jacob snorted and shifted in his sleep. “If we leave, we’ll be dead even faster than in our guide’s fantasies.”

“We don’t know the region,” Ayaan agreed in a low voice. “We need him to get us close enough to my brother’s territory for me to lead us the rest of the way.”

“What if he tries to kill us before then?” Shaun asked.

Leeza shook her head. “He won’t. We’re going to lull him into thinking he has more time with us than he does. We’re going to look helpless, flirt a little, keep him confident and off kilter. He’ll sort us in his head, decide which one he’s going to keep.”

“No!” gasped Shaun, horrified. “Why? That sounds like a terrible idea.”

Ayaan grimaced. “If you don’t like that part of the plan, then you won’t like the rest.”

“What’s the rest?” Shaun squeaked.

Leeza answered, “We need you to flirt with him, keep his focus off the two of us.”

Shaun’s eyes widened and she shook her head.

Leeza cut her off before she could voice her denial. “You’re a civilian doctor; you talk like a doctor, you act like a doctor. You can convince him you’re harmless out here in the jungle far better than either of us. Ayaan moves like she was born to whatever terrain she finds herself in. And I can’t open my mouth without pissing off the men around me. I have no idea how to flirt.”

“And I do?”

Leeza and Ayaan laughed.