NocC 003 - Mina Khan - The Djinn's Dilemma - Harlequin 2011-11 by Nocturne Page A

there and waited for whatever was coming.
    “Why? Why did you tell me?” Sarah asked.
    “Because you made me feel things I’ve never felt,” he said, hanging his head in shame.
    “I need to know,” she said. “There are so many jobs out there. Why kill?”
    “I sort of grew up in it, and was good at it,” he said.
    “The deaths never bothered you?”
    “Well, I wouldn’t be very good at my job if it did.”
    She folded her arms under her breasts. “I ask you an important question, and you quote me Casino Royale ?”
    He was messing this up. Bad. “I’m sorry, but believe me I just want to keep you safe.”
    “I felt ambushed and it hurt,” she said, her eyes shimmering with tears. After a long while, she shook her head. “But I believe you.”
    He gathered her in his arms then and kissed the top of her head.

    They decided to work together. Time was running out, since his client expected Sarah to be dead by Thursday. Tomorrow.
    “But who’d hate me enough to want me dead?” Sarah said. “I really can’t think of anyone.”
    “It may not be about hate at all, but desperation.” Rukh got up and stretched. “I seriously think all this has something to do with your work. So what do you have going on at the paper?”
    Her gaze slipped. “Um, not much I can talk about…yet,” she said.
    Rukh sat down opposite her and fixed her with a stern look. “This is not the time for ethical debates.”
    Sarah gnawed her lower lip, almost driving him insane. “It’s not that, it’s just that the story hasn’t been published yet and journalists don’t talk about unpublished work.” She shoved her fingers through her hair, making the curls stretch and bounce back.
    “Jasmine!” Rukh growled out curses underneath his breath. “Someone is trying to kill you.”
    Sarah wrapped her arms around herself. “I know.” She closed her eyes and faced all her fears and worries. Then she looked at him. “I’m writing about the governor.”
    Apparently, the governor of Texas—happily married to a pretty, blonde wife—was having an affair…with a man. Not only that, the lover had been appointed to head the Texas Department of Transportation. Interestingly, many of the contracts were being awarded to friends of this lover, and his friends and family were buying up land wherever major roadways were being developed.
    While many dummy corporations and layers of bureaucratic paperwork covered up any direct connections, Sarah had spent months researching and talking to sources. She now had phone records, business records, cell phone photographs, marriage records, property records and bank balances proving the story and proving that a lot of the money generated by this corruption was finding its way into the governor’s war chest for the upcoming presidential race.
    Rukh let out a whistle. “That’s a hell of a story.”
    “Yeah, I worked hard to bring it all together,” Sarah said. “I just have to tie up a few odds and ends. It’s going to be published this Sunday.”
    It was just Wednesday.
    “No one knows about the story, so we are going to make a big splash with it,” she continued. “We’ll be the ones breaking it.” A proud smile appeared and disappeared from her face when she caught his expression.
    Oh, someone knew about it all right, Rukh thought. Someone who figured with Sarah dead, the story was dead too. Of course, if the story was almost complete, the editor could still run it. He would, if he were the editor. “Have you turned it in to your editor yet?”
    She shook her head. “I’m paranoid. I like to tweak the story until the very last second of deadline. Make sure it’s perfect.”
    Seemed like his client also knew the woman. Hence the Thursday deadline. “So where is this story?”
    “On a zip drive, in my purse…” Her face lost all color, as she turned to stare at her bag tossed on the floor near the door. “That’s what those guys were after…” She turned terror-wide eyes on