CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

"What?" yelled Farah. "The woman. That woman! She is no queen. What is she doing!"

Her temper flared, her body overheating. Anxiety filled her, and the objects started to fly. First, it was a lamp, then a picture frame. Then, it was anything she could get her hands on. The men in the outer rooms knew not to enter. She seemed to gain the strength of ten men when she went into her moods.

Many had decided to leave, unable to deal with her fits of rage and irrational emotion. They'd been paid in advance. They had no desire to control Egypt or its people. They had a desire to make money, and they'd done so.

For those who remained, it was the hope of more riches and wealth. They knew who the woman was, and they knew that she could pay them more.

It was nearly an hour before she finally calmed down, mostly because there was nothing left to break. When she appeared, she had changed her clothing, fixed her hair, and appeared calm and normal.

"We will continue with our plan," she said calmly. "I will be going with you, but the woman is mine."

"What woman?" asked one of the men.

"The queen."

"Ellie, you may have just signed your death warrant," said Brix. "That was stupid, honey."

"No, it was what we needed to do. We need to ensure that she is here, and the only way to ensure that is to draw her out. She could have been sitting somewhere watching all of this play out, but if she believes someone else has stolen her throne, she won't hesitate to come."

"She'll come directly for you," said Abdul.

"I know. That's what we want. When they come, we'll make sure that I'm visible to her. Make sure that your men don't kill her. Not right away, anyway. I'd like to be able to deliver a live body to her family."

"I spoke to Luke this morning," said Garr. "Her family still isn't responding to anyone, including the president."

"We can't worry about them any longer. There will be enough witnesses to her madness that hopefully we can stop her or justify her death," said Leif.

"Ellie, how long will you be staying in costume?" asked Major.

"Until she shows up," she said, looking down at the outfit. She felt ridiculous, but she knew that when Farah saw her, she would come straight for her. She had the stealth netting beneath the robes but hoped she wouldn't need them.

"I don't like this," said Abdul. "You've baited her, and she's going to be very angry."

"That's the idea. My father taught me that angry people make mistakes. This is a woman that's angry at something all the time. She'll make a lot of mistakes. We just need to be sure we catch her when she does."

"I've made certain that we have an entire regiment guarding the valleys. No one will be allowed to enter or leave," said Abdul. "I recommend that we get a good night's rest. I'll ensure that the guards are alert and don't let anyone onto the grounds tonight."

"Let's go. I'm hungry," said Alistair. The others laughed, shaking their heads.

By the time they were back at their hotel, everyone was exhausted. Ellie had removed her ‘queen's' clothing and gently laid it to the side.

"Do you think Major and Elena will reconnect?" she asked Leif.

"That's what you're worried about?" he laughed. "Ellie, you just exposed yourself to a madwoman to lure her out and attempt to kill you. I hardly think Major and Elena's relationship should be a concern for you."

"I want our friends to be happy," she shrugged. "I want my sisters to be happy, and I can't explain it, but Elena felt like a sister to me. I really like her, and I enjoyed being around her."

"I like her as well, and I think she and Major are a good fit. But you know as well as I do that we can't force it. Have you talked to Mags? How is she?"

"I haven't today. I did speak to Mom. She said she's struggling but that everything she's feeling is normal and within reason. She's speaking with the counseling team twice a day."

"What about her physical injuries?" whispered Leif. He was almost afraid to ask. Almost afraid of the answer.

"I don't know. Mom didn't want to talk about it over the phone. Do you think it would matter to Walker?"

"No. Absolutely not. He loves your sister, El. Nothing would prevent that love from happening. They're just going to need more time."

"I hate that. I hate what happened to her, but I hate that they have to wait for whatever it is they're waiting for. I mean, they've been in love for twenty years, Leif. Twenty! They were seeing one another the entire time we were living in D.C."

"I should have known about it," said Leif. "Walker would take off on the weekends saying he just wanted time alone, but we always knew he went to D.C. I actually thought for a while that he was going up there to see you."

"You knew I was there?" she asked, whipping her head around. Leif stared at her.

"I knew, El. I think I was hoping that you would reach out to me, knowing we were in North Carolina."

"We've wasted so much time," she said, flopping back in the chair. "We were hours apart, yet it felt as if we were on different planets. I wish I would have reached out to you sooner, Leif. I'm sorry. I was a kid, and I was scared."

Leif kneeled in front of her, taking her hands.

"I know, baby. I was too. I think we both had our ideas of what would happen, and neither of them were right. We'd seen so many examples of our family and friends continuing their relationships no matter what, and we thought we could do the same. We just weren't mature enough to say the right things.

"Here's what I know, El. I love you more than anything in this world. You are the woman I am meant to spend my life with. We're going to have babies together, we're going to raise them together with our family at Belle Fleur, and we're going to help them continue the good work that they're doing. Both of us."

"Leif," she smiled, hugging him. "Thank you for saying that. I want to work with everyone, but I especially want to be your wife."

"That will happen, baby," he said, sliding his hands up her thighs. She smiled at him, opening her legs for him as he lowered his head. Ellie lifted her legs on either side of the chair, and Leif's tongue explored her crevice. She was ready to explode when he lifted her and dropped her on the bed, driving into her.

Gripping his hair, she tried to control her moans as he brought her to the brink of another orgasm. All these years of wondering what it would be like to make love to Leif. None of her dreams, her ideas, were even close. He was very good at this.

Showered with a change of clothing, they met the rest of the team for dinner and discussed the possibilities for tomorrow.

"We need to be out there early," said Brix. "I think Ellie needs to stay hidden until the parade begins to come through the airport. At that point, we can pretend that you're a part of the parade and put you out front. That should piss her off."

"Gee, thanks. I think I've pissed her off enough," she smirked.

"Well, let's see if we can put a cherry on this cake and get the fuck out of Egypt by tomorrow night," said Alistair. "I'm ready to head home for a while."

"Don't you guys have to report back to North Carolina?" asked Ellie.

"Eventually. We're all up for re-enlistment, and we're all considering coming home. Our bodies have had enough. Hell, our minds have had enough," said Garr.

"I can only imagine," she nodded. "You know, I would hear about cases with the agency where members of the family were involved. Sometimes, they would give names. Other times, it was withheld, but I always thought of you guys and what you were doing. I know my sisters did as well."

"We thought about all of you, too, Ellie," said Sebastian. "It wasn't just me thinking about Em or Forrest thinking about Maddie. We were thinking about all of you and the others that came after us. Some of the younger kids that are on the teams now. Rangers, MARSOC, SEALs, they're all out there doing their thing."

"We've been so lucky," she said, leaning her head on Leif's shoulder. "I almost don't want to talk about it."

"Then don't," said Major. "Let's do what we do and find this woman. Stop her mad, insane plan and go home where we belong."

"Will you contact Elena?" asked Ellie in a soft voice. Major looked at her, then at the others.

"I honestly don't know. She lives and works here, but I know that she's unhappy. I did connect with her; I won't lie about that. But I don't know. We've been texting back and forth. She's having a nice time with her friend in spite of the rain in England," he smirked.

"For what it's worth, brother, she was pretty incredible," smiled Brix. "Smart, beautiful, and she actually liked your big dumb ass."

"Fuck you," smirked Major.

"Alright, children, let's get some sleep," said Leif. "Tomorrow's going to be a bitch of a day, hunting for the bitch of the day." Sebastian stood up and stretched, swinging his arm in a circle.

"Giddy-up."