Sheikh's Command Read Free Page A

tightening on her violin case's handle until it hurt.
    “Oh, God,” she whispered.
    Her family originally came from the United States, but they hadn't been back since she was a little girl. When she was a child, it had all felt like an adventure, roving the world and never staying in one place for any length of time. There had always been new people to meet, and though the periods of poverty were grinding, there were times when her father was flush too, and the gifts came rushing in.
    Olivia was almost thirteen before she realized that her father was a criminal. Large grifts and small were what he used to keep his family afloat, and more than once, they lit out ahead of the cops growing wise.
    They had come to Zahar almost eight months ago, and Olivia knew that this was going to be the end of the line for her. She was leaving all of them. She wouldn't be a part of this life anymore. While her brother got involved with the local toughs, she sent out her audition tapes over and over again, and over and over again, she got rejections.
    She was getting close, though. She had received a notice that she was under consideration in Berlin and Johannesburg. She knew that she had to be patient, but she wasn't sure that anything had ever been harder. Soon, she knew that she would escape all of this, but at her mother's words, it all came crashing down.
    David …
    David had always been there for her. He was the one who had gotten her her violin, he was the one who had taught her to drive, he was the one who had protected her from her father's rages, and her mother's cruelty. It was David who always cheered her on, grinning at her with that crooked smile, always so sure that she would go further than he ever could.
    Her mother shot her a scornful glance. “Look at you acting so shocked and concerned. Don't bother putting on that face, missy, we all know that you're going to fly the coop as soon as you can and to hell with the rest of us. Everyone knows that you're not going to be any help at all.”
    Her mother's words hit her like a hammer, and they awakened something in Olivia that felt as if it had been sleeping all her life. She knew that she was clever, and she knew that she was tough, but she had never felt such pure rage and determination before.
    Instead of falling back in front of her mother's words, she stood up, and for a moment, a shocked Mayellan took a step away.
    “No. That's not me,” she said fiercely. “I'm going to save him.”
    She strode out of the apartment, her violin still in her hand. On the table by the door was the mail. On top of the pile was a cream-colored envelope marked with a return address to Johannesburg. She didn't give it a second look.
    Instead, she left the apartment and climbed the rickety stairs to the roof. The stars were beginning to come out, and even in the midst of her wild despair, she looked up on them in wonder. Zahar was still a city, and she knew that they were faint, but local ordinances to reduce light pollution were in effect, meaning that they were brighter than any she had ever seen.
    Zahar was a beautiful place, she thought . If only I was a different person.
    She shook the thought off, because right now, she needed her wits about her. She took out her phone, and hands trembling, she dialed the number on the thick cardstock.

CHAPTER THREE
    Makeen was in the middle of a busy club when his phone rang. For a moment, he was confused, because as far as enforcement squad went, he had been told that it was all wrapped up.
    The afternoon and evening since receiving the call had been a long one for him, even if it was intensely rewarding. The sting operation that the department had been working on for close to a year had finally came to fruition, and he knew that life was going to get much, much better for his country. In the five years since his father had died and he had come to power, he had learned and learned well that there were very few things that could be considered complete