CHAPTER 14 FARINAH IN TROUBLE, AMI PLAYS HEROICS
As it happened, as soon as the Al Fahezi entourage landed in Abu Dhabi, there was no time to rest nor get in touch with the Gonzales group aboard the Siren of the North. It was utter chaos, the Al Fahezi household was disorganized with Farinah missing. The nannies who remained were fearful they would be blamed for the disappearance of the girl. There were police cars outside the villa and the normally peaceful Al Reef area was suddenly caught in the mayhem. The Sheikha was beside herself and Ami tried to console her as best she could.
“Madam, the police are looking into the matter and I believe Sir Abdullah’s influence will hopefully help.” comforted Ami.
“I don’t know Habibti, if only I insisted on bringing Farinah with us, this could not have happened, the Sheikha uttered shakily. She was trying her best to calm down but Farinah is her youngest and only girl in a brood of four. “Abdullah and I thought we will only have three boys but Allah gifted us with a girl but now she is missing! Missing, I tell you!”. Losing the battle for control, the Sheikha broke down and sobbed. Having no experience whatsoever in comforting a distraught mother, Ami could only embrace the Sheikha and rub her back as she cried. They were in the Sheikha’s parlor and as Ami slowly guided the former to a couch, the Sheikh came in and signalled for Ami to go. Her employer won’t let go until the Sheikh gently untangled her arms from around Ami’s shoulders.
“I will take care of my wife, Ami. You go ahead and rest. It has been a long journey and knowing my wife, she won’t calm down until later. It is still early but I hope you don’t mind if I ask you to go to bed so you can assist the Sheikha tomorrow morning.”
“No worries, Sir. Please do not hesitate to call me should you need me. I will try to rest and be the sheikha’s strength later on. If you will excuse me Sir.”
“Go ahead Ami and do not forget to have lunch first. Your cousin and my sons are in the dining hall eating and talking with Devlin as we speak. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
With a nod, Ami left the Sheikha’s parlor and was on her way to the dining hall when she caught sight of Ali pacing the hallway. Normally Ali would have noticed her but obviously something is really bothering him. As Ami approached him though, he must have heard her footsteps so he looked at her and attempted to smile.
“Ahhh Ami, just the sight I needed to see to cheer me up.”
Ami blushed but she cleared her throat and said,” You flatter me.”
“I am serious Ami, at this moment it really is hard to think straight after what Devlin informed us.”
“Whatever happened, Ali? Farinah will never disappear like this. Does your family have enemies?”
“No enemies Ami or none that I know of. But I believe this is a case of mistaken identity like what Devlin said. I really do not know the full story but apparently Devlin has a brother or half-brother of sorts and he might be the mastermind behind this.”
‘Oh my! Exclaimed Ami. She didn’t expect this, “I thought this type of things only happen in movies or storybooks. Shall we join the others in the dining hall again? I really am hungry and my brain can’t function without food.”
“Ami, my Ami” chuckled Ali.” Even during times like this, you always think of food. But far be it from me to deny your wishes, let us go see if the others are still there. I might as well join you as I haven’t eaten yet.”
They walked towards the dining area in silence, each to his or her own thoughts. But when they arrived in the dining hall, only a couple of staff were eating, Mansour, Mabel and Devlin must have moved elsewhere. Surprisingly though, Ami did not feel any of the awkwardness she always felt whenever she was alone with Ali. Ali was also uncharacteristically quiet. Not wanting to disrupt the companionable silence, Ami just focused on her food. Ali for his part was busy assimilating all the information Devlin gave them. When they were both finished, Ali escorted Ami to her floor. Fearing he might lose his concentration, he did not touch her as he said, “I will see you in the morning?” “I believe so.” answered Ami. Although Ali was feeling apprehensive and unsettled, he reluctantly had to let Ami go.
Unknown to Ali, Ami was already planning something. She felt very much responsible for the disappearance of Farinah. A few months ago, she felt she might have met the so-called brother of Devlin in one of the business trips the sheikha went to. Back then she was still in a confused state and was not paying attention to anything unrelated to her work. She recalled bumping into a man in a hotel elevator in Dubai. They were both headed to the hotel’s cafeteria so the man was attempting to befriend her. Recalling that experience, she now remembered how the man seemed to know a lot about the Al Fahezis. Back then she didn’t feel uneasy because she thought people knew a lot about her employers. Belatedly, she learned that was not the case. Missing persons in the UAE are not published in newspapers or social media to protect the missing person’s family and not to scare the residents as well. Not wanting to waste any time at all as it is only past 1 in the afternoon, Ami went to her room and quickly packed some essentials light enough for her to carry, disposable underwear and a few shirts. Since she is wearing her old jeans, she did not worry much. She also brought a lightweight razor, a nail clipper and pens. She might need them just in case. She also brought a few lightweight shawls, she know not why but her instinct told her so. Always trusting her instincts, she packed what she could in her backpack. Some snacks might be needed as well, she does not want to go hungry. Phone check, charger, check, IDs check. All set she peeked into the hallway and run across to her cousin’s room. Testing the knob, she turned it and was rewarded to see her cousin’s room empty. She rummaged in her cousin’s dresser drawer for some paper and pen and quickly scribbled
Dear cuz,
Don’t worry, am okay. I need to do some investigations of my own, you might say foolhardy but you know me, always the risk-taker. I cannot rest here knowing Farinah might be in grave danger. Just to be safe, should you not hear from me within 24 hours, I give you permission to let them know I went to a certain hotel in Dubai. That is what my instinct tells me so that is where I will go. Will text you as soon as am safe and sound.
Love you lots and do not worry.
Love,
Ami
As soon as she finished writing she peeked out into the hallway again which seemed surprising as there were police outside the villa crawling like ants all over the place. Not wasting any time, she dashed back to her room. She opened her terrace door and looked out towards the back wall fence surrounding the villa. Grabbing a metal pole she saw in the back garden, she hoisted it over her terrace railing and onto the back wall fence. The pole barely made it to the outside edge of the wall but Ami thought it would. Tying the other end to her railing, she tested its weight, confident that it would hold her she grabbed her backpack and swang easily into the pole crawling slowly until she reached the other end. Once there, she removed the pole as carefully as she could and then let it drop into the sand on the outside. Luckily there were no shrubs on that side of the wall fence so she was able to land soundlessly. The gardener heard something and looked up but saw nothing so he just shrugged his shoulders and continued working. It is still too hot as it is the last week of August but not wanting to draw attention to herself should someone decide to look out of the villa, she hunched herself while trying to run away as fast as she could. Thankfully there was a car park and only a handful of people were there. They ignored her and she was thankful for that except for a certain person who was standing next to a parked SUV. A small figure hunched and moving so fast caught the corner of Devlin’s eye who was talking on the phone with someone. He tried to figure out who it was but the figure disappeared around one of the SUVs parked and he just lost sight of the person. Trying not to be distracted from his own investigation, Devlin concentrated on the person at the other end of the line.
Ami was so breathless and sat under a blue SUV’s shadow. Just a few meters more and she will be in the cover of two villas towards a shortcut to the bus stop. Having noticed a tall figure by another SUV prompted her to sit down and wait out for a few seconds. When she peeked at the man again, she gasped. “Trust Devlin to be outside the villa!. What the heck is he doing standing there under the blazing sun?” Knowing no one will answer her and making sure Devlin’s back was turned, she run the two meters to the space between the two villas and then sighed in relief. She was sweaty but she didn’t care. She just wanted to be out of there and on her way to Dubai. Luckily, as soon as she emerged from the shadows of the villas, she saw the bus just in time. She quickly took out her bus card she always kept for emergency purposes and boarded the bus. “Bus station?” she asked the driver, the driver nodded. Trying to keep herself hidden as much as possible, she took the seat behind the bus driver. After 5 minutes, more passengers boarded and soon the bus was moving. Some of the passengers were chatting about the number of police cars within a big villa’s vicinity. When someone tried to talk to her, she pretended she did not understand and spoke in her father’s vernacular. The girl shook her head and apologized. Soon after, the chatters subsided and Ami heaved a sigh of relief. She checked her watch, 2:05 pm, by 3 pm she will reach the bus station and catch the next bus to Dubai. Setting an alarm in her phone, she closed her eyes and dozed off. She only awoke when a bus inspector boarded the bus at the Shakhbout City stop. She stayed awake until the bus arrived at the bus station. As soon as the bus stopped, she hurriedly got out and went inside the station to load her Nol card. The bus will depart at 3:10 and she made it on time. Perfect, she thought. By 6 pm she will be at the hotel. The hotel staff knew her as the sheikha’s assistant so she had no problem securing a room for the night or nights as the case may be. As luck would have it, by the time she arrived at the hotel, there were still a few available rooms and she requested for the vacant room nearest the ground floor. After securing her things in her room, she went down to the reception area and started chatting with the male receptionist. As he is familiar with her, he was very chatty and answered some of her questions regarding a tall American who stayed there a few months ago. “In fact, he said, “I might have seen him earlier.” Afraid of losing his job though, that was all he told her. Ami did not mind and just went around to the hotel cafe, ordered some coffee and snacks and sat near a potted plant for cover as she observed the goings on at the reception. She texted her cousin saying she is safe and sound at the hotel.
At that moment, Mabel was not aware that Ami was not at the villa until she received her text message. Confused, Mabel excused herself from the group she was chatting with including Mansour who gave her a questioning look.
“I will tell you later, Mansour, but I just remembered I have to check on Ami.”
“Oh yes, of course, go ahead.”
Still puzzled with the text message she received, she went straight to Ami’s room which was locked. Ami rarely locks her room, feeling uneasy, Mabel rushed to her own and found her cousin’s note.
“Oh you impulsive, foolish girl!” she exclaimed.
“Why, what happened?” asked Mansour behind her. Mabel whirled around and spluttered “ Son of a gun!”
“Sorry, I did not want to worry you so I followed.”
Mabel didn’t say anything, just showed him the letter and the text message.
“What was your cousin thinking of, going off to Dubai by herself? Of all the dim-witted, foolish things to do.”
“Mind your language, Sir!” Mabel reprimanded. “I know she is impulsive and a risk-taker at times but she is just concerned for your sister.”
“I know Mabel, but with Farinah still missing and your cousin leaving without saying anything to us, this is going to be a problem. How will you explain her absence when my mother asks for her? Some PA your cousin is!” Just then another voice, “What do you think you are doing, brother, getting inside a woman’s bedroom?”
“Ali, thank goodness you are here, maybe you can make sense of this,” said Mansour, grabbing the note from Mabel’s fingers and showing it to Ali.
“And this,” added Mabel showing him the text message.
Ali’s face turned red, too furious to talk. Once he could, he snapped “As soon as I get hold of that cousin of yours, am going to strangle her senseless! Which hotel did she say she was going to?”
After Mabel told him of any of the hotels she knew Ami would be staying in, Ali quickly ran down the steps towards the parked cars. He ignored the policemen who attempted to talk to him. For speed, he took Mansour’s Ferrari and sped out the gate.
At that same time, from Ami’s vantage point, she saw a tall Westerner approaching the reception desk tagging another man with him. She couldn’t see their features clearly as their backs were turned. A sense of trepidation descended on Ami and she hurriedly paid and left the cafe tracking the men. So as to appear unaffected, she took out her cap and pretended to go to the elevator at the same time the two guys did. She pressed at 18 and was surprised when the men just nodded their thanks. The Westerner didn’t seem to recognize her as she was wearing her old tattered jeans and a cap. But she remembered this guy, nearly as tall and broad-shouldered as Devlin but leaner. When they reached level 18, she stepped out first and was surprised when the men didn’t get out. As soon as the elevator closed, she watched where it might stop. It turned red at 20, signalling someone leaving the elevator. She ran towards the fire exit and raced up the steps to level 20. When she reached the door, she peeked out and was rewarded with the backs of the two men she saw earlier. From where she stood, she waited for them to enter a room. At the far side of the hallway, she saw them entering what looked like a suite. On tiptoe, she followed them and stood outside the door trying to listen to voices. Too late, she noticed a third guy approaching the same door. With a squeak, she attempted to run but the guy was a giant. He grasped her by the neck and lifted her up by the scruff like a kitten. Remembering the self-defense lessons Mabel taught her, Ami willed herself to relax and focus all her strength. Putting all the strength she can muster, she delivered a hard kick to the man’s groin area partnering it with boxing the man’s ears. The man was taken by surprise and dropped her but enough for her to get away and run towards the stairs. Running down the stairs will buy her time to think and plan her next move. She can hear the man’s shouts followed by swearing and more shouting. She can hear footsteps so she ran faster, using her athletic abilities until she reached her floor. Surprisingly, with the man’s huge physique, he can run and fast too but Ami was faster. Using what little parkour skills she has, she jumped down towards her floor down the flight of steps and as quiet as possible entered her room. For safety she locked her room and pushed heavy furniture towards her door. It was a challenge, what with the carpeting and all but she managed it. She leaned into her door listening for sounds but nothing so she moved towards her window and looked out in time to see the huge guy scouring the area outside. She moved away from the window when the guy suddenly looked up. Seeing nothing, she heard him swear loudly until silence. Realizing the danger she was in, but not having any information about Farinah yet, she phoned the female receptionist of the hotel. She befriended the Filipina receptionist a few months ago and knows she is willing to help her should she be in need. It’s a debt of gratitude the Filipinos live by. “Hi Czarina, this is Ami and I am in your hotel right now but am afraid it is not a business trip. Your shift starts at 10? Oh right, I am in room 108. I will expect you at 9:30? Salamat, I will wait for you then. For good measure, can you order room service please? With all the excitement this afternoon, I am starving.”