still had in her refrigerator and a few blankets. That should get her through the night at least, and she could find a place to sleep when she became too exhausted to drive any longer.
It was probably better to leave in the middle of the night for her next destination. First of all, she suspected that the men following her wouldn’t expect her to be courageous enough to travel at night, preferring the security of daylight so she could make a better get away. And secondly, she didn’t have any direction, so she could more effectively get out of town, then retrace her direction to make sure she wasn’t being followed. It was easier to see if someone was following you at night because of the lack of traffic.
Of course, if she got out into the desert and someone was following her, she would be in a worse position because there wouldn’t be anyone around to help her. But it was worth the risk, she decided.
Carefully, she lifted his hand off her waist and slid to the edge of the bed. She had trouble finding her clothes in the darkness but eventually, she was able to gather most of them up and scurry to the bathroom. She wanted to just slip out, but she was desperate for a shower so she jumped into the stunning black marble shower and soaped up as quickly as she could. Drying off, she buried her face in the soft, scented towels, wishing she could just let out her sorrow about leaving him and have a good, long cry. Or maybe call Jenna or Sasha. They would know exactly what to say to her and how to get her to laugh despite her misery over the last twelve hours. Unfortunately, now was not the time, she reprimanded herself. Get out of this mess, then figure out her next step. And avoid Hassan at all times since he seemed intent on keeping her here in the palace.
She forced her fingers to work the buttons on her clothes and, even though she looked like a mess with no makeup on and her hair all over the place, she turned off the light and slipped out of the bathroom. She quietly made her way out of his private suite and back to her office, praying no one else in the palace saw her.
Dana thought she saw a couple of men in one of the hallways, but assumed they were just the palace guards doing their normal rounds. But after her experience in the marketplace, she didn’t want to risk it and the whole way down the hallway to her office she was jumping at every movement and each shadow, even if it didn’t move.
In her office, she grabbed her keys and purse and quickly made her way out the employee entrance, smiling stiffly to the guards on duty. She didn’t recognize these men, never having been here in this hallway at this time of the night. But they all looked extremely competent and she was glad for their presence as she made her way to her car. There were very few left in the employee lot and she felt extremely conspicuous leaving like this.
The streets were dark and vacant, only a few cars behind her as she drove back to her apartment. As she drove, she tried to be aware of what was happening around her, glancing in her rear view mirror to make sure she wasn’t being followed. She felt a bit silly when she tried to spy cars behind her with their headlights off, just like in the television shows she’d watched, but she didn’t care. Better safe than sorry, she told herself.
She was working through all the details of how she was going to get away while still scanning the area, looking for odd places people might hide. So when the taxi cab came from the left and she was looking to the right down a dark street, she wasn’t as prepared as she should have been. She was still able to avoid a major collision because she’d been hyper aware, but her car was still hit, if only on the front bumper.
The cab driver immediately got out of his car and started apologizing and Dana breathed a sigh of relief that it was truly an accident and not those guys out to get her as she left her work site. She almost chuckled to herself that she’d thought someone would have waited outside the