Read Online Personal Assistance (Entangled Ignite) by Louise Rose-Innes - Free Book Online

circumstances. The result being she’d slept like a baby.
    He strode down the street next to her, acting the part of a rebel sympathizer on his way to Al Teham. He neither walked too fast, nor too slow. Nothing to draw unwanted attention. He wore beige combat pants, with a black T-shirt, under a loose button-down shirt, with a bandana tied around his neck. On his back was a rucksack filled with supplies for their journey. He purposely hadn’t shaved, so his stubble was even longer today, covering the lower half of his face. With his hair slightly longer than the traditional military cut, tanned skin, and bright blue eyes, he looked every inch the dashing freedom fighter.
    He still wore his rifle across his body, but when she looked around, Hannah realized many of the men carried weapons. This was a country in the throes of a civil war. Soldiers shared the streets with civilians on their way to work and men dressed like Tom, rebels on their way to gatherings and to fight the army.
    No one looked twice at them as they made their way from Tom’s apartment through the residential area, but he wasn’t taking any chances. “Keep your head down. Hakeem’s men will have spies out looking for you; you can count on it.”
    “If it wasn’t for my photographic memory, he would have let me go,” she murmured. “They must have found the document in the souk by now.”
    Tom looked grim. “I’m afraid Hakeem’s going to come after you with everything he’s got. You’re a threat to national security. Not only can you tell the Allies what attacks the regime is planning, but you also know where they’re hiding—and operating—from.”
    “I’m aware of all this,” she said, staring at the ground as they walked. “Believe me, if I could have done something to avert yesterday’s chemical attack, I would have. I didn’t realize they’d act so soon.”
    “There’s no point in feeling guilty about that. You couldn’t have known.” He glanced sideways at her. “But you could give me the location of the safe houses. That would allow us to send in our special forces and end Hakeem’s reign of terror, before he does any more damage.”
    She squared her shoulders. “I will give you the information. As soon as we’re on that plane. It’s not going to do you much good now; you can’t relay it back with the communications network down.”
    “Yes, but if something happens to you, at least I can still get it out.” It was a valid point, but not one she wanted to hear.
    She stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Exactly, Sergeant. That’s why I’d rather give it to you on the plane. That way I can be sure nothing is going to happen to me.”
    He didn’t break his stride, obviously expecting her to say that. “Let’s keep moving then. The Allies are planning air strikes in forty-eight hours. We don’t have much time.”
    A couple of blocks later they left the suburb where Tom lived and entered the fringes of the city. The buildings got taller and thinner. Wires crisscrossed the sky above them, suspended by long, wooden telegraph poles. Residential houses were replaced by stores, with boxes stacked outside their front doors, displaying their wares.
    He stopped outside a newsstand. He picked up a local paper and scanned a headline halfway down the page. He pointed to it. “What does this say?”
    The front page was covered with ghastly photographs of civilian casualties from the chemical mortar attack in Hamabad. Hannah tried not to look at them and focused on his finger. “It’s a sandstorm warning. For today. Oh no.”
    Tom frowned. “What’s the estimated time of arrival?”
    She scanned the article. “This afternoon. Three o’clock.”
    “So we’ve got until 1500 hours to get to the base. That doesn’t leave us much time. Come on. Let’s move.” He strode off, a bit faster than before, but still not rushing. Still not doing anything to draw attention to them. He didn’t even take the most direct route