Page 34 of Hot & Heavy

"Oh." She thought a moment and said, "I thought we might be going to your troll kingdom. If we are going to Baghdad in this thing, we may as well go all the way to my homeland."

Troll kingdom? "And where might your homeland be… this time?"

She hesitated… which showed him that she would lie, once again. "Birka."

"Where the hell is Birka?"

"The Danish lands. Don't you know anything? Birka is a well-known market town. Even dumb Scotsmen know that."

Okay. Russia, Norsemandy, England… and now Denmark. You are a real pistol, lady.

After that, he turned to his other side, where Omar was tugging at his sleeve. "Uh, Mac, I think we might have a problem."

He raised his brows in question.

"Have you noticed that Yasmine hasn't looked at Jamal… not even once?"

"She's probably doing that deliberately."

"Maybe. But look at Jamal."

The terrorist had opened his eyes and was glaring at them all. Except Yasmine.

"He hasn't given Yasmine a second look."

"What's your point?"

"I'm thinking she's not who we thought she was."

Uh-oh! "Who else could she be, here in the middle of Jamal country?"

"I don't know."

He should leave her interrogation to the experts in Baghdad, but still he couldn't resist asking her, "Is Jamal your lover?"

"Who is Jamal?"

He and Omar murmured at the same time, "Uh-oh!"

"Is your name really Yasmine?"

"Of course not!"

I think I will pull out my hair. No, maybe I will pull out her hair. No, I wouldn't want to touch that flea nest. "What is it, then?"

She hesitated.

Another lie incoming.

"Ailine."

"Yikes!" Omar said.

Ian said something way more explicit, but it amounted to the same thing. "We are in big trouble."

"Whoa! What's this we business? You are in big trouble."

Welcome to the Magic Kingdom…