Free Saving Brigit by Francis Drake Page A

dressed, thinking about his own trip to the airport in a few hours.
    Michael Jackson’s friend was arriving at nine fifty. For the life of him, he didn’t understand why she was coming all this way. What could she do in a strange city to find a missing girl except nag the bureaucrats at the embassy? With the information Michael had faxed him, he’d already found where the man had taken the woman here in Islamabad. By tomorrow sometime, he hoped to find out where the man himself was. He suspected the little shit would be back in the States, one more reason Michael’s friend, Mrs. Williams, would have been better off staying home.
    If it wasn’t for his long association with Michael, he never would have taken on a task like babysitting an American woman, even for a couple of days.
    Rashid heard water running in the shower. “Elena, I’m calling a cab now.”
    “Yes, goodbye.”
    That was it. Obviously, he’d said something to change her mood. She’d asked about marriage. Perhaps he was wrong and Elena hadn’t given up on the old dreams of love and family, though surely she was reaching the age where having children was out of the question. It hit him then. Elena was running out of time to have a family. And he’d just dashed her hopes that the two of them would make a couple.
    He picked up the phone to call for a taxi, hoping like hell he had better instincts of how to deal with the American woman then he had had with Elena. But he had a very bad feeling about his upcoming meeting with Mrs. Thia Williams.
* * * *
    Thia stepped off the plane in Islamabad filled with seriousness of purpose and a thrill of adventure. She’d already begun to feel the numbness that came with realizing she’d met all the challenges of her chosen career. Though there were always problems associated with any business, Thia felt tired with accounting. Bored, she was ready to try something out of her realm of experience. A trip to Pakistan was certainly that. She hadn’t been there fifteen minutes and already strange sights and sounds assailed her.
    So, while she half wished she could have talked with Derek about Brigit, she was also half-happy she couldn’t. Derek would have taken over the case and solved it before she had a chance to become involved. Now she’d prove herself and show Derek she could be trusted to be more than an ornament on his arm at parties.
    At the baggage carousel, Thia looked for Michael’s friend. She checked the paper Michael had given her. He’d said a Rashid Salid would meet her, but she didn’t see anyone holding up a sign with her name on it. The bags hadn’t started down the mover yet, so she pulled out the file folder with the case data on it and read for the hundredth time what she knew about Brigit’s disappearance. Most of her information she needed to confirm with the embassy, but the phone number Brigit’s parents had was something she could try right now. She pulled out her cell phone and followed Michael’s instructions on dialing the number.
    The strange ring sounded in her ear once, twice, and then a woman answered. Thia said the few words Michael had told her to use: Pakistani for “Hello” and “Do you speak English?”
    A spate of verbiage followed and then a clunk as the woman put down the telephone receiver. Just before Thia thought she’d been forgotten, someone picked up the receiver.
    “Hello?” said a hesitant voice. “Who is this?”
    “My name is Thia Williams. I’m looking for Brigit Thatcher. Do you know her?”
“No.”
    No? That was it? No questions, no comments? “How about another friend, Omar?”
    Thia was met with silence, and then, “Omar not here.”
    “When will he be back?”
“Soon.”
    Ha! No one thought she’d find anything out on her own, yet she’d discovered Omar was still in Pakistan. She’d already made progress, and she hadn’t been in Pakistan half an hour.
    “I’m staying at the Marriott here in Islamabad. Will you ask Omar to call Thia