Sarah shrugged.“I’m American, for God’s sake.We like being prepared for any scenario.”
Noah smirked and pocketed some grenades.
They raced from the house.The car was parked just outside, shrouded by the early morning light that had barely broken through the horizon.A dog nearby barked, adding a sense of urgency to their flight.
Ginger and Sarah climbed in as Noah worked the starting handle.
The roar of a car engine approached.Ginger’s heart accelerated as another car pulled up in front of the gated entrance, then blocked it.Several men were inside, all of them with rifles.
British soldiers.
“Noah!”Ginger cried out.
“Keep your head low!”Noah shouted to them.A few shots rang out as he slammed his foot on the gas pedal, speeding the car toward gate.
He was aiming straight toward the other car.
The squeal of tires sounded as the soldiers realized, too late, that Noah would be undeterred.Ginger peeked out from her seat to see the other motorcar pull forward slightly but not enough to avoid being hit.
Sarah hung on, huddling down in the seat as Noah swung toward the wider gap and rammed their motorcar past the gate and the other vehicle.A hideous metallic scrape sounded, the bumper of the assailants’ car ripping from the back.Ginger shielded her face.
They continued forward, careening toward the dirt road, bumping across grass and rock to get there.The car jostled and gave a hard bump—one that made her insides feel like they’d dropped—then the smoother road followed.
Ginger tugged at the fabric in front of her face as the wind whipped it.Her black robe billowed, and she held it down with her arms.Would these disguises even help now that they’d been seen?
Thankfully, the British soldiers didn’t seem to have Noah’s skill at driving and remained far behind them.Noah turned onto the main road.With the dawn breaking, carts and cars clogged the roadway.He sped around one, sending a fruit cart flying.He spun the wheel, then pushed the gas pedal harder.
The British soldiers were quickly gaining on them.
Ginger covered her face with her hands, praying.Please, God, let us get out of this.If they captured Noah, who knew what would happen?Would they shoot him?The army might not care to capture him alive.He had to escape.
Sarah appeared to be loading a rifle.
As they turned onto the open stretch of road before the bridge, the soldiers drew closer.Their rifles glinted in the first rays of the sun.
Oh my God, they’re going to kill us all.
Noah withdrew the bundle of dynamite from his robe.As he flicked a flame with a lighter, he simultaneously slammed on the brakes of the car.The soldiers careened toward them, tires squealing as they tried to stop themselves from slamming into the back of their car.As both cars drew to a halt, Noah lit the fuse on the dynamite, then hurled it into the soldiers’ car.
The men in the car gave one horrified look, then went scrambling, diving out headlong as Noah lurched their own car forward.
Aboombehind them shook the ground.Her heart in her throat, Ginger looked back to see the car a ball of flame and smoke, the soldiers still fleeing from it.
The rush of adrenaline pumping through her filled her with energy, glee, and horror all at once.She tossed her arms around her husband’s neck.“That was brilliant.”
Noah shrugged.“You were right, Mrs.Hanover.The dynamite was quite handy.”
Sarah stared at them both, then burst into the nervous laughter that came with having barely survived certain death.“Under the circumstances, maybe you should start calling me Sarah?”The car barreled forward in the wind and sand of the Egyptian landscape, the red light of sunrise lighting the sky.
ChapterThirty-Seven
Noah awoke to a light shake of his shoulder.He breathed in sharply, then his hand dug for the pistol under his pillow—but there wasn’t a pillow.Or a pistol.
He startled, his eyes opening fully.
“It’s me.”Ginger sat back from him, a flash in her eyes.“It’s been two hours.”
Disoriented, Noah tried to shake the fog of sleep from his head.Two hours hadn’t been nearly enough, but he’d insisted she wake him.His exhaustion had been so great that the dirt floor beneath him hadn’t even been an obstacle to sleep in the ramshackle hut.
