“Thank you,” Alisa said in Arabic as she smiled at the young boy and tipped him generously. “You’ve been very helpful.” She put the case of water and supplies into the back of the jeep before she jumped into the driver’s seat. She had everything she needed, including information, and if she could get on the road quickly enough, she might be at that oasis by sunset.

She started the car.

But the boy was standing directly in front of the jeep, smiling at her. Maybe he thought the tip hadn’t been big enough. Then she realized he wasn’t smiling at her; his gaze was on the man opening her passenger door.

Korgan dropped down in the seat next to her and reached out and turned off the engine. “You just can’t get reliable help these days. They’ve always got their hands out for a bigger score. But in this case, I called ahead and outbid you before you got here so you can’t really blame the kid. Maybe you should have offered him a yo-yo?”

Don’t let him see the shock. If she handled it right, this would be over soon. “I don’t blame anyone but you. I should have known that you wouldn’t consider this finished until you tied up the final details. Did Margaret tell you that I was heading for this market?”

“No, I was already checking it out. You’re right, final details are important to me. I promised to rescue all those girls from St. Eldon’s, and I didn’t do it. I remembered that Sasha had told you there were several girls who were no longer in Masenak’s camp because they’d been sold to desert tribes in the Sahara.”

“You did what I asked,” she said curtly. “I couldn’t expect anything more of you. That’s why I’m here, doing it myself. I called Lakewood and gave him the names of the tribes Sasha had been able to find in Masenak’s records. He thought he’d have no trouble ransoming those girls back. But I’ll have to track down the other tribes myself. I got a tip from this kid’s father about one of the girls being seen with a tribe from Sudan heading toward an oasis near here.” She asked, “Lakewood told you I’d be here?”

He nodded. “If I’d remembered, I knew you would. You’d want to find them quickly so that Sasha wouldn’t try to go after them herself. I’m a little surprised she’s not with you.”

“Margaret told her that she should trust me to handle it. It took a little persuading, but she gave in eventually.” Her lips twisted. “Though Sasha was probably torn because you’d tossed all the magnificent possibilities of Chaos, Nightshade, and the Niseans at her and she was scrambling to prepare them for transport.”