Several of the interpreters looked over at her and put their heads together to whisper. Great, no working together this time around. “Sounds good. I don’t have much time to wait for a table anyway.”
Poppy hurried to set down a plate of pancakes, and Mila followed her to a table inside. A man around Mila’s age was sitting there reading the newest issue of The Keeneston Journal. When Poppy stopped, the brown-haired man looked up and Mila saw that he had dark-brown eyes, a square jaw, and a sexy dimple to accompany his smile.
“Carter, this is Mila Thiessen. She’s the German interpreter and needs a place to eat. Can she share your table?” Poppy asked as she placed a menu at the empty chair across from Carter.
“Of course. Ryan told me all about you. I heard from Ryan this morning that Sienna still hasn’t gotten out of bed. She just groaned a lot. But you don’t seem to be similarly affected.”
Mila took her seat and quickly placed her order with Poppy before turning her attention to Carter. “I spent some of my high school years in Poland. There was a great amount of very strong homemade vodka consumed. I guess I grew tolerant of alcohol. Sorry Sienna is suffering. She’s really nice.”
Carter’s face showed his love for his sister. “She is. So, are you ready for the summit?”
“As ready as I will ever be.” Mila lowered her voice and leaned forward. “Zain was in an accident last night.”
“I know,” Carter said, his smile falling from his face.
Mila tried to act casually. “Do you know how he is?”
“I know he’s still at the hospital. There was some delay in getting all his scans. He should be back in time for his opening speech, though,” Carter told her.
“That’s good. Do you know if it was serious?”
“I know they want to keep it quiet,” Carter said gravely.
“I understand. I was just worried. I know he’s friends with Ryan and your sister, so I just hoped you knew something.”
Carter looked at her and she had a feeling he was making an assessment. Finally he said, “The whole town knows about it, but we won’t say anything to any of the tourists. However, none of them have asked about it. You have. Why?”
“Zain has been nice to me. I hate to see him injured when he’s worked so hard to put this together. And I feel guilty. Maybe if he hadn’t taken the time to walk me home, then he would haven’t have been tired or whatever it was that caused him to have his accident.”
“Mila,” Carter said as his voice dropped, “it wasn’t an accident.”
Zain pulled the blood pressure cuff from his arm and removed the various cords and wires that were hooked up to him. He had a bruise above his eye and across his chest, but apart from that, he felt fine. The CT machine had been down for much of the night, but the test was now complete. He was tired of waiting and needed to get to the summit. He’d already had Kareem talk to Surman and Tahjad about rescheduling. Surman, it appeared, was uninterested and took the missed meeting as an insult.
Well, he wasn’t going to sit in the hospital any longer. If he hurried home, then he would be able to change and grab a quick bite to eat before his opening remarks.
“What do you think you are doing?” the slow and deadly voice asked.
“I’m putting on my pants. You’re slowing down in your old age, Ahmed,” Zain tried to tease.
Ahmed didn’t smile. “Get back into that bed or I’ll put you there myself.”
“No. I have a summit to run, and I don’t want whoever is behind this to think they have won. I’m not going to hide.”
“Zain,” Dr. Emma said as she walked in looking down at his chart.
“Yes?”Dr. Emma’s head shot up when she realized he was no longer in bed but was pulling on his shirt instead. “Your scans are clear. You’ve been discharged. I won’t bother to tell you to rest.”
Zain shot a smile to Ahmed who again didn’t smile. “I’ll call for the car to be brought around. We’ll go out the side stairwell.”
Zain thanked Emma and slid his feet into his shoes. It wasn’t just the summit he was in a hurry to see. He’d been thinking of Mila all night. He had wanted to call her, but when he’d reached into his pocket to get his phone, he’d found it was broken. At least he knew Veronica had told her he was okay, and he knew Veronica would have a new phone for him as soon as he got back to town.
Ahmed looked down at his phone. “The car is in place. We have a lot to talk about on the drive home—starting with the rule that you’re not allowed to go anywhere without security.”
Zain and Ahmed took the stairs down and went out the side door. An SUV with bulletproof glass was waiting for them. Ahmed opened the door and ushered Zain inside.
“Have you found anything?” Zain asked as he buckled in.
Ahmed gave a tight nod of his head. “There was an explosion this morning in Rahmi at the shipyard. One of the main docks used for bringing in supplies was blown up.”
Zain’s jaw tightened as he processed the information. “Interesting that happened the same day there’s an attempt made on my life. Though, if it were a true attempt, why didn’t someone put a bullet in my head while I was still unconscious in the car?”
“We don’t know. The king has called the explosion in the shipyard an unfortunate accident. He paid an employee to come forward and say he was tired from working all night and took a smoke break too close to some oil barrels. So far it’s working. It’s only running on the news in Rahmi, Surman, and Tahjad.”
“What about my meetings with Surman and Tahjad?” Zain asked as thoughts sped through his head.
“Kareem sent me his report. Surman is insulted and doesn’t want to meet anymore. Tahjad said they’d give you one more chance, but it would be on their time. It seems they like the idea of making you wait on them. Kareem told them all you fell from a horse on your morning ride and just needed to be checked out,” Ahmed explained as the city of Lexington turned into the fields of Keeneston.
“Fine. I’ll swallow some pride if it means I get my nanotechnology lab with Tahjad’s support and a signed peace treaty,” Zain said unhappily. He looked at the clock in the SUV. He had barely enough time to change before giving his welcome speech. No time to talk to Mila, and that hurt almost as much as his injuries.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Mila shook Chancellor Hartmann’s hand and spoke in her rehearsed professional voice. She and the chancellor had five minutes before they were escorted into the main meeting room. Mila had explained some of the customs, where everything was located, and who the major players were. She slipped in that she’d met Prince Zain and that he seemed reasonable to deal with.
“I heard he fell from sein pferd this morning,” the chancellor, a short stout man with half a head of hair said with an amused smirk.
Mila blinked. So that was the story they were going with. “Yes, he fell from a untrained horse I believe.” She’d try to save Zain some face since it was obvious they didn’t want anyone to know about someone trying to kill him. “Now, I believe the major points Prince Zain wants to cover are these,” Mila handed a summary sheet to the chancellor who read them over.
“Interesting,” he murmured as he read.
“Sir, it’s time for the general meeting,” the chancellor’s assistant whispered. His job was to be invisible, too.
They left the sitting room that had been assigned to the German delegation and headed to the main conference room Zain had showed her just the other day. A Rahmi guard and an FBI agent she recognized as Jackson Davies opened the doors for their party. Mila caught Jackson’s eye and he winked.