His Purrfect Mate by Georgette St. Clair Page B

day. I told them nothing, of course,” he said, with a virtuous look.
    If they’d tipped him better, he’d have told them everything, Bobbi thought sourly.
    They had already hired Mamoud’s cousin to drive them around the city. It would be best if he didn’t feel compelled to share their destination with whoever was following them.
    Bobbi slid another bill out of her purse.
    “Do you know who they work for?”
    “They claim they work for a company looking to drill for oil here, but I believe that they lie,” he said.
    “If they ask again, we are freelance journalists covering the war,” she told him.  “Thank you for a  delicious breakfast.”
    He bowed deeply , and the money vanished into the pocket of his robe. “May the sun eternally shine on you and all your descendants,” he said, as they got up to leave.
    “You’ve got to admire him,” Pixie said. “He’s quite the shakedown artist.”
    Bobbi snorted her contempt. “No, you’ve got to admire him,” she said. “I’ve got to be annoyed that I have to hand out bribes right and left in this corrupt country just to keep from being killed.”
    “Yeah, that was a Rili expensive breakfast, wasn’t it?”
    “Stop. Just stop.”
    Pixie cackled happily. “Sorry, I know. It’s Rili annoying when I do that.”
    Outside the cafe , Mamoud’s cousin, a teenaged girl named Mayameen, had just pulled up in a bullet-pocked taxi.  They’d hired her to ferry them around town for the duration of their stay.  Turak was one of the rare Middle Eastern countries which allowed women to drive.
    They were headed for the El-Debar residence, which would bring them dangerously close to a section of town where the two warring factions were going at it with a vengeance, but fortunately, Mayameen knew the streets as intimately as the lines on her hand.  They were paying her well for it.
    They’d only been driving for about ten minutes when Mayameen glanced at something in her rear-view window. “It appears that you are very popular. We have company,” she said.
    “Yes, somebody does appear to be following us.” Bobbi glancing irritably behind them.
    The dark car behind them had tinted windows, and slunk a few hundred feet behind them, copying their every turn.
    “Hang on,” Mayameen yelled happily. “Fasten your seatbelts! This is my favorite part of the job!”
    She turned the car towards the distant sound of gunfire.
    Soon, the sound of gunfire was much closer, and they were weaving through streets where guerillas crouched behind flaming vehicles and fired at each other from doorways and across the streets. 
    “Are you crazy?” Bobbi shouted. “You’re taking us right through the war zone!”
    “ This is the best way to lose somebody!  They’d have to be crazy to follow us through here!” Mayameen banked sharply, throwing them both to the side as two wheels lifted off the ground.
    Yes, they would, Bobbi thought, clinging to the seat for dear life.
    “Don’t worry, the windows are bulletproof!” Mayameen called out.
    “What about the rest of the car?” Pixie yelled.
    “Oh, I do not know. Look, we’ve lost them! You see, this is why I am the best at my job! Tell all of your friends!”
    A few more minutes of dodging and weaving, and they shot out of the tangle of streets onto an empty highway.
    “I might puke,” Bobbi observed, as her stomach settled back into place.
    “That was awesome! That should be an amusement park ride!” Pixie whooped as they accelerated away.
    “Would this amusement park ride come with real bullets?” Bobbi wondered.
    “Of course!  Where would be the fun, otherwise?”
    “I’m thinking the liability insurance at that amusement park would be pretty high.  Oh, crap.” She looked behind her.
    “What?”
    “An angry mob overturned the car that was following us. Now they’re pulling them out of the car…kicking them and beating them…god damn it. Hold on. Mayameen, go back.”
    “What?” Pixie squealed