Page 96 of The Presidents Shadow

IT’S HER.

It’s Maddy.

It’s so far beyond a miracle that Margo cries, and we both tremble with joy.

We hug and kiss and touch Maddy, who quickly introduces us to her friend Belinda. We welcome the girl into our arms, then turn back to Maddy and hold her again, in the way people do when they doubt the very reality of the flesh and blood right in front of them.

We finally separate and study one another, as if we were observing a sculpture in a great museum. Margo and I take in all the details of Maddy and Belinda.

They have identical haircuts, chopped off sloppily near their ears.

Their lips look dry, but their eyes sparkle.

They could easily pass for Emiratis. They wear long blue cotton robes and white scarves.

I suppose that the modest face and hair coverings lying on a nearby table go on when they are out on the street.

“I’m so glad my messages got through to you,” Maddy says.

“Because of this guy,” Belinda says as she gestures toward the handsome young man. “Abdul Aziz is our angel of mercy.”

Margo cannot contain her own questions. “Are you both healthy? Have you been hurt? Where have you been? Who took you from us?”

Maddy jumps in, and with happiness in her voice she says, “Margo, please stop. We’ll tell you everything. We’re fine now. It’s been pretty much a living hell, but we’re okay.”

“Again,” says Belinda. “Thanks to this amazing man.” Abdul Aziz looks shyly toward the ground.

As the young man pours coffee into glasses filled with ice, we learn how Belinda and Maddy made it from their terrifying nightmare in the luxury hotel on the ocean to the secret showroom of a rug merchant’s store.

There are parts of the tale that bring me personal satisfaction and great joy.

As the bits and pieces of the story unfold, I learn how Dache’s shape-shifting lessons for Maddy paid off royally after they escaped Burj Al Arab.

She tells us how, after regaining her strength, she transformed into an extremely strong swan, able to ferry Belinda to shore.

She managed to recharge an abandoned, rusted cell phone with her own energy.

She managed to nab loaves of bread when she and Belinda were hungry and to start a small fire on a cold night, rare but not unheard of during summer in Dubai.

Maddy’s abilities and Belinda’s street smarts kept them alive, but they were still extremely lucky to accidentally run into Abdul Aziz, who had intuited that the girls had fallen on hard times.

For further luck, their handsome young protector had a wealthy father who had a well-protected building where they could stay.

Margo and I shake our heads in amazement at the story the girls tell.

Yes, we still have to find a safe place to shelter.

Yes, we have the horrors of an environmental nightmare and a worldwide plague, and now, of course, I have to be aware of the fact that President Townsend can be counted as not only an irritant but also an enemy.

And, damnit, why do I refuse to completely trust Abdul Aziz, the handsome young man who saved both the girls?

Messages —that’s why. Maddy said she was relieved that I received her messages sent via Abdul… but I only got one.

Yes, I’ll need to keep an eye on him.