Read Online Veiled Freedom by Jeanette Windle - Free Book Online

jostling bodies and scowling faces close enough to reek of rancid beard grease. Steve didn’t slide the safety from the M4 but instead snatched the Glock from the small of his back. A single shot in the air restored the bubble of personal space.
    Steve heard quickened, raspy breathing under the mound of blue material. The figure sat up, trying to push away the netlike face grille.
    Steve’s mouth tightened to a furious line as he pulled back the burqa’s veil. “You!”

Ideas spun in Amy’s brain. “You said you’d signed a lease on part of this place. Which part? And you mentioned Rasheed was caretaker. If he’s not the owner, who is? Do they share the premises? Also, what are my living arrangements?”
    â€œThe owner doesn’t live here,” Bruce said. “He’s some big-shot government official. Minister of interior, whatever that entails. After the Taliban, he built himself a new place, then rented this one out. Some German NGO ran a school here for quite a while. After the kids trashed the place, it was subdivided for piecemeal rent.”
    That explained the villa’s dilapidated abandon.
    â€œWhen Rasheed told me this place was available at a discount in its current condition, I grabbed it. New Hope’s lease is for this back courtyard with the two wings on either side. I’m told that used to be women’s quarters. I’d assumed our new project manager would live on-site. There’s plenty of room.”
    Amy shook her head. “Not acceptable. A respectable woman doesn’t live alone in a Muslim community. I’ll book a guesthouse room until I can look over the situation.”
    Bruce frowned. “It’s up to you. Just be aware that will come out of your living allowance.”
    â€œThat’s fine,” Amy agreed. “Now that lease. There’s no access to this courtyard from the street. If we’re to have any meaningful aid project, women and children can’t be walking through someone else’s rental. I’d like to have access to the front courtyard, preferably the entire house.”
    â€œThat you’ll have to negotiate with the owner. Rasheed can direct you to his offices. Just remember you’ve got a budget.”
    â€œYes, Rasheed!” Amy’s next point of concern. “Hiring staff will be my first priority. The best starting place for that will be the local expat and NGO community. Meantime, I need someone with whom I can communicate and who can communicate to the locals on my behalf. Which means more than speaking a bit of English. At minimum, if I’m to exercise any authority as project manager, I need someone who doesn’t look at me as though I were an insect underfoot.”
    Bruce reached under the table for his cooler. “That isn’t so easy. With all the expat organizations here, English speakers and drivers are at a premium. Rasheed may not be to your taste, but he’s the best we could get at such short notice.”
    Amy’s enthusiasm dimmed. She couldn’t find herself alone with that turbaned, bearded misogynist, even if he did have a wife in that drifting black shadow. “Just a minute. There was a man out in the courtyard who said he’d been sent here to look for work. He had good English, too.”
    â€œThen let’s take care of both your problems so I can get on the road. Rasheed!”
    The driver-escort appeared so suddenly he must have been lurking outside the door. To Amy’s surprise, the young man she’d seen earlier stepped into view behind Rasheed.
    Bruce jerked a thumb. “That the guy?”
    At Amy’s nod, Bruce announced, “Rasheed, I’ve just signed Ms. Mallory on as our new country manager. I’ve explained to her she can count on you for anything she needs.”
    The caretaker nodded, a hooded glance sliding to Amy, then away.
    Bruce went on. “Now, Ms. Mallory here tells me this man