that was easy to answer. Everyone knew she was American so it was extremely logical that Dana would still have friends back there.
He narrowed his eyes as he watched her carefully. “Was it a violent crime?”
Dana nodded. “Very violent.”
“Why wasn’t your friend put into the witness protection system? I heard that agency was very good at hiding people from the criminal element when they had witnessed something violent.”
Now she was treading in dangerous waters. She had to be very careful how she answered this one for fear that she might reveal too much. Pursing her lips, she tapped her pencil against her mouth gently. “Maybe I should just tell her that she needs to hire someone. If she were to do that, who would she hire? How does one contact an investigative agency that might handle this kind of work?”
Sumeet didn’t blink an eye as he absorbed her response. “There are several reputable investigative agencies. Why don’t you tell me your friend’s name and I can refer her to one of my friends?”
Dana became excited that she might have an outlet. “Oh, no! If you could just tell me how to contact them, I’ll pass along the information.”
“It would be better if the two of them contacted each other directly.”
The man was starting to get on her nerves. Why was he being so covert about offering information on a private detective agency? “Couldn’t you just give me the agency name that you trust the most and I can pass that along to her? She’s sort of in hiding and this will allow her to contact the investigator directly without revealing her location.”
“Is her location an issue?”
Dana shook her head. “Oh, no. She’s safe. At least for the time being.”
“You’re sure?”
She thought back to the men in the marketplace and the sporadic phone calls on her cell phone. “Pretty sure.”
Sumeet nodded and stood up. “I’ll get you several names. Just give me a day.”
“That would be wonderful! And you’ll let me know which is the best? I don’t know if she can afford the best, but she should definitely start there, right?”
Sumeet almost smiled at her enthusiasm but he nodded seriously and stepped back out into the hallway to resume his guard post. The other man saw the look and nodded slightly, lifting his watch to type in a message. A few minutes later and known to Dana, a third guard arrived and took up position while Sumeet walked down the hallway to make a report.
Dana turned back to her computer and dug back into her work, feeling much more relieved now that she had a plan of action. She had one more part of that idea to work on and that was to find another place to hide out. As her fingers worked the keyboard, her mind considered all the various possibilities. The Peace Corps sounded pretty good. Didn’t they send people to places where almost no one could find them? Or a mission in Africa? She also liked the idea of helping other people if that was possible. Her fingers tapped out different locations and organizations that might work out for her.
One problem she kept running into was an escape route. If she were found, she didn’t like the idea of being out in the middle of the desert or jungle with no way of hiding and no easy way to get back to civilization. Wherever she went, it would need to be a place where she could blend in with a population large enough for a person to live, but still give her anonymity. And a job. She had to support herself somehow even though the idea of living in the jungle in a tree house and living off of nuts and berries sounded pretty good right about now. Unfortunately, the jungles of Africa or South America might be a perfect hiding spot, but it didn’t have a great number of possible occupations. Especially the tree house idea.
The afternoon was just as crazy as the morning but with the added pressure of Hassan barking orders at her. He constantly demanded that she come into his office and take notes during his meetings, something he hadn’t done before. He’d always preferred that the meetings be recorded and she would transcribe them after the fact. Since she didn’t know shorthand, actually being in the meeting was a great deal of pressure to try and write down all that was being said. It was still being recorded, but she felt the