The restaurant also looked full, and I craned my neck to look for Amyrah. Sometimes I wished I was taller, as the flats I’d worn didn’t lend me much height. Squeezing through the crowd, I leaned in toward the curved bar to get what I hoped was a better view and saw a woman in a white headscarf. I wasn’t sure it was Amyrah until she waved to me, then disappeared into the crowd of people.
There weren’t as many people away from the bar itself, which made moving through the crowd easier. When I saw the woman again, I relaxed as I saw the big smile on her face. The bustle of a nearby kitchen grew louder, and as I neared Amyrah she jerked sideways suddenly, disappearing from my view.
I stopped, surprised. Craning my neck around a man who’d moved in front of me, I found I couldn’t see Amyrah anymore. My skin prickled and, shoving the man aside, I ignored his angry yell as I moved quickly to the last spot where I’d seen the Muslim girl. When I’d gotten to the spot near the kitchen door where I’d last seen her, I looked all around but saw no other white headscarves, only the flowing hair of the Western female guests.
There was a crash in the kitchen, and my head jerked sideways. I gave a moment’s pause, biting my lip as I realized I could get into real trouble if I was wrong, then barged into the kitchen. The sound of cutlery and fire rose up around me, but I could have sworn I heard a woman’s cry from my left. The kitchen staff were agitated, several of the men waving their arms in the air and shouting in Arabic, but I ignored them and took off after the cry. Several were incensed that I’d entered but I danced away from them, following what I hoped was the right lead.
I heard another angry woman’s cry and, rounding the corner, saw a man carrying a robed figure in his arms. The figure was putting up a fight, and I recognized the now-dislodged white scarf still half-covering dark hair. I passed a tray holding an empty champagne bottle and grabbed it up as a weapon. Amyrah struggled in the man’s arms, and I knew the moment she saw me because her dark eyes widened. The last of my indecision melted away and I took the last few steps necessary and brought the bottle hard against the man’s head.
He staggered, dropping Amyrah to the floor. When he turned back toward me I was already swinging the bottle a second time. This time it clipped him on the temple and he went down, sprawling across the ground as if dead. Dropping the bottle through limp fingers, I stared at the figure at my feet in horror. He was wearing hotel employee colors, and blood trickled down a gash to the right of his forehead.
Ahead of me, Amyrah struggled to stand, and I stepped over the prone man to help the girl to her feet. She was staring down at her assailant, babbling in Arabic and clearly scared out of her wits. I said her name, then repeated it before she finally raised her eyes to me. “We need to go.”
My words took a moment to register but she nodded. I grabbed her hand and pulled her after me, already lost in the maze of corridors. This looked more like the servants’ entrances than anything a hotel guest was meant to see. The walls were a pale utilitarian cream, nowhere near as decadent as the rest of the building. I pulled us through several twists and turns, then stopped and faced Amyrah. “We should get to a public area. Do you know your way out of here?”
Having something to do snapped the girl out of her shock. “The shopping area is this way,” she said, turning down yet another of the hallways. I followed close behind, wishing now that I’d kept ahold of that glass bottle. The halls in this section were mostly empty, but I knew when we grew closer to the shopping district because I could hear the hum of voices grow louder.
The door Amyrah pushed through led us out into another hallway that was different than the ones behind us. This one had mosaics on the wall and tiled floors, and I realized we were somewhere that guests would normally see. Sure enough, we spilled out directly into the main shopping area. I breathed a sigh of relief the moment I knew we were in public. Most of the people walking past ignored us, but at least I knew they were there to see if we needed help.
I nudged Amyrah. “Which way to the lobby?” All I could think about was finding Jeremiah or Lucas. They’d know what to do with this situation.
“Yes, this way.”
We walked quickly, trying not to appear like we were running from something or someone. I looked around, trying to spot anyone else out of the ordinary. For the most part we were ignored; the mall was filled with a myriad of different cultures and nationalities, none of whom seemed interested in us. We were almost to the lobby and, I hoped, safe when I saw a man on the far wall zero in on our location. Uh oh. “Amyrah,” I murmured as the dark figure started toward us, “we may need to run.”
The shorter girl needed no encouragement; she took off immediately, and I followed right behind her. Sure enough, the man I’d been watching started after us, bringing his hand to his mouth. Oh God, I thought, there’s more of them?
Ahead of us, at the mouth of the lobby, two more dark figures appeared. We skidded to a halt, looking for somewhere else to duck and hide. The ramp however was only wood paneled walls and mosaic tile floors; no doors or exits of any kind marred its surface. Amyrah huddled close to me as the three men rapidly advanced on us.
Up toward the lobby, a familiar silhouette stood outlined by the glass entrance. “Help,” I all but screamed, and nearly collapsed in relief when the figure turned toward me. My cry made the three men pause and look toward where I’d called.
That was all the time it took for Jeremiah to reach our position.
The single man who had followed us up the ramp took off back toward the mall, but the other two waiting in the lobby weren’t as lucky. Jeremiah grabbed both, throwing one to the wall while he dealt with the other. I covered my mouth when I saw a knife appear in the other man’s hand, but the commando quickly disarmed him, then lashed out at our assailant’s knee. The man went down with a howl, and Jeremiah turned to face the other man who seemed intent on following the third man back into the crowded mall. Jeremiah swung the man around into one of the tables as I realized a crowd was forming around us.
From the lobby, large men in suits barreled toward our location. The man on the ground struggled to his feet and Jeremiah turned, swiping the man’s legs out from under him. The injured attacker went down but the distraction was all the second needed; he pushed away from the door, slipping past Jeremiah and taking off toward the mall. By then, security had arrived at our location, and Jeremiah raised his hands to show he wasn’t a threat. The man at our feet tried to crawl away and Jeremiah put a foot down heavily between the man’s shoulder blades, holding him on the floor.