Free The Librarians and the Lost Lamp by Greg Cox

friend … is right. We really need to get going. Perhaps some other time?”
    â€œCareful. I’m going to hold you to that,” he began, only to be distracted by the spice merchant’s wares. “Hey, is this turmeric?” He scooped up a big handful of bright orange powder. “Wow. You never see anything this fresh at the supermarket back home.” He held up his palm to show the woman behind Shirin. “I mean, look at that color—”
    Without warning, he blew the powder into the woman’s face. She sputtered and coughed as the spice hit her like a face full of tear gas. Seizing the opportunity, Shirin elbowed the woman in the gut, causing her to stagger backward, gasping for breath. Shirin felt the knife tip pull away from her and sprang forward in the opposite direction, practically colliding with Flynn.
    â€œLooked like you could use a hand,” he said, over the spice dealer’s strident protests. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the stand. “Quick! Come with me. I’ve done this kind of thing before.”
    She stared at him incredulously. “You have?”
    â€œTrust me.”
    Shirin didn’t think she had much choice. She started to go with him, then remembered something important.
    â€œMy briefcase!”
    â€œLeave it,” he said, tugging on her.
    â€œNot a chance!” She pulled her hand free and darted back toward the case, which was still resting on the pavement in front of the spice stand. She grabbed it by the handle, relieved that it hadn’t gotten displaced in the confusion. No way was she leaving the case—and its contents—behind.
    â€œStupid girl! You should have run while you had the chance!”
    For the first time, Shirin got a look at her attempted abductor, although the other woman’s irate face was obscured by tears, snot, and spice. Shirin got a quick impression of a twentyish young woman wearing a traditional black cloak and headdress. Kohl-lined eyes and a golden nose stud adorned her natural beauty. She lunged at Shirin with her knife held high.
    So much for taking me alive.…
    Years of living in a combat zone had honed Shirin’s reflexes and taught her how to defend herself if she had to. Thinking fast, she swung the briefcase up to deflect the knife attack, then kicked the other woman in the knee, causing her to stumble backward, cursing.
    You had that coming, Shirin thought. Witch.
    â€œWow,” Flynn said, reappearing at her side. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
    Shirin would have liked to get a few more licks in, but she knew they couldn’t linger. Glancing north, she saw the woman’s accomplices getting nearer. The murderous looks on their faces left no doubt whose side they were on.
    â€œWe have to go,” Shirin warned Flynn. “There are more of them.”
    â€œYou mean those bruisers heading toward us?” he said without looking. “Already on my radar.”
    He took hold of her hand again and they made tracks toward the southern end of the market, away from the oncoming kidnappers. The bustling crowd impeded them, so that Shirin felt as though she was swimming up the Euphrates against a heavy current. She held on tightly to her attaché case with her free hand, terrified of losing it in the crush. She could only pray that the tightly packed throng was slowing their pursuers as well.
    â€œExcuse me!” Flynn shouted, in alternating English and Arabic. “Coming through!”
    They had almost reached the end of the street when Shirin spotted four more men, looking equally hostile, pushing their way through the crowd toward them. One of them pointed at Shirin and shouted to his accomplices. “There she is! Don’t let her get away!”
    She and Flynn came to an abrupt halt, briefly causing a pedestrian traffic jam. Looking behind her, she saw their original pursuers gaining on them. They were less than half