KILTED DESIRE - Sands of Betrayal (12 page)

Britney was in a very good mood after her weekend. She
thoroughly enjoyed the nice food, alcohol, sunbathing, as well as reading and
swimming at the hotel’s pool. She’d also taken advantage of the hotel’s spa and
indulged in a massage, facial and a manicure. She was sorry Scott hadn’t joined
her for the weekend. After seeing how tired he was traveling to the States for only
a couple of days, maybe next time she wanted a break he would accompany her.
She was pretty sure he wouldn’t fly all the way to the U.S. again, so she’d
make sure and plan another break soon. Surely, he would rather come and spend time
with her, in a luxury hotel, than stay in Baghdad on his own. She decided it
was time for her to step-up the flirting to see what would happen.

Scott awoke, feeling refreshed after a nice long sleep.
Britney was still asleep, so he called Tom to find out what he wanted to talk
with him about.

“Hi Tom. It’s Scott. How are yer?”

“Hi Scott. How was your break?”

“It was guid, I got yer message tae call yer.”

“Yes, it’s quite important. Over the last week or so, we’ve
noticed an increase in insurgent attacks. There have been car bombs, suicide
bomb attacks and even a Katyusha rocket actually fired at a hotel in the Green
Zone on Saturday. It didn’t hit the hotel, but landed quite close and caused
serious damage. We also have reports that a Korean businessman has been
kidnapped from another hotel in the Green Zone, with no word of any ransom
demand yet. I’ve placed all guards on high alert. I need you to be extra
careful and extra vigilant.”

“Okay. I thought it was too quiet here. Have yer any idea
why there’s been an increase in the violence?”

“Not really, it seems to happen in phases. You know, there
are lots of different groups in the area intent on trouble and causing
instability. Some of it is just religious differences. You know how it is, since
they’ve held elections. It’s a Shiite political party that won, so the Sunni
groups are trying to cause trouble to prove that the Shiites are not fit to
lead the country. Plus, there are some Al Qaeda groups that still want to
attack U.S. troops as well as any westerner.”

“Aye. I’ll be extra careful.”

“Good! If you hear or see anything, please share it with me
and the other guards, and we’ll try and keep a step ahead of the situation. Be
safe Scott. Bye.”

“Will do. Thanks Tom. Bye.”

Scott was a realist. He knew these things could happen over
here, so he would be even more careful. He would increase his perimeter checks
of the hotel and her office, and just keep a general look out for any type of suspicious
behavior. It looked like the fairly easy ride was over, at least for the time
being, but he realized it was never going to last the full six months. He was
going to have to concentrate much more to keep them both safe. He had to. He
promised Katie that he would return home safely and he fully intended to keep
his promise to her.

Over the next few weeks, each day Scott noticed an increase
in violent attacks. When they traveled, they saw some kind of blast or
witnessed the results of a recent explosion. They were now accustomed to
hearing blasts throughout the night, and the sound of gun battles, seemed to
get closer to the hotel every day. Scott continued to vary the times they left
the hotel and their return, taking different routes every day. They had managed
to keep out of direct trouble, even though some things were traumatic for
Britney to see. One day, a car traveling just a few hundred yards in front of
them was the prime target of an IED and exploded in their full view. Scott took
evasive action to get her away from the incident as soon as possible, but what
she saw, still affected her. So far, they seemed to be lucky. Not all of the
guards who worked for PCPS had the same good fortune; they had been targeted
and attacked. There were guards who felt it was not worth it and left their
positions, because it was getting far too dangerous. That was why most
companies, like this, did not pay their guards much in advance. The guards only
got the big payout after they completed their contracts. Scott always thought
this was fair. He would love to get paid weekly or monthly to send money back
to Katie, but he fully understood why they were paid this way. Even though more
attacks increased his workload, he still managed to talk to Katie almost every
day. He did not give her too many details about the additional attacks. He
hated to think of her being worried all the time. He told her he was working
hard and taking extra precautions to keep them safe.

It was a Friday evening, in the middle of July when Scott
and Britney arrived back at the hotel. She was in a mischievous mood after a
relatively quiet day and decided tonight was the night she was going to seduce
him. He seemed to have absolutely no idea she was flirting with him, but after
tonight she was determined he would know. As she was taking a shower, Scott’s
phone rang. It was Tom.

“Scott, I have received a number of reports of hotel attacks
this evening, not far from you. One of the hotels was fired upon by masked
gunmen, and there were several people killed. At the other hotel, they actually
burst in and kidnapped two Canadians. We have no idea if it’s the same group,
but more than likely they’re linked in some way.”

“Thanks fer the heads up, Tom. It’s all quiet here at the moment,
but I’m ready if anything happens.”

“Good! I know the police are doing what they can, but you
know they can’t or won’t do much. None of them have any real training in this
kind of thing. If you come under attack, call me and I’ll get back-up to you.”

“Will do, Tom. Thanks fer the warning.”

So this is it, Scott thought, kidnapping and masked gunmen
attacking a hotel not too far away. Tonight, he may be forced to fire his gun
for the first time since arriving. He moved to the window and looked out with his
binoculars, looking for the first hint of trouble. He hoped that nothing would
come of the news, but if it did, he was ready.

Britney was finishing her shower and about to put her plan
into action with no knowledge of the phone call Scott had just received. She entered
the main room wearing just a towel around her middle; it was barely covering
everything it needed to. She was hoping he would be sitting on the couch so she
could walk in front of him, but he was looking out of the window. He did not
turn around as she walked out. She could have easily made it to her room, but
she wanted him to see her without making it too obvious. She walked back to the
bathroom door and closed it again, pushing it harder to make noise. He still did
not turn around, so she changed her plan a little, sighing loudly and coughing
but still nothing.

“What are you looking at?” she questioned, somewhat
irritated.

“I’m just checking things oot, there’s nae problem,” he stated,
without turning around. Now she was getting frustrated.

“You must be looking at something,” she said, as she moved
closer to him wanting him to turn around.

It was dark outside. Their hotel had no security and Scott
was going to keep a look out. If a group of armed men turned up, there would be
problems. He could hear Britney talking, but he was not really paying any
attention to what she was saying.

“Would you mind putting some lotion on my back?” she asked,
as she put one hand on his shoulder.

Scott did not reply. He heard what she said, but he was really
not taking any notice. A car had just pulled up at the front of the hotel and
he was watching it, just in case.

After a minute or so, she walked to her room. She would try again
when he wasn’t so preoccupied. She knew he was looking at something in
particular, and if it was something to do with security, she would be wise to
let him stick with it. She lay on her bed still wearing just a towel and
thought about her next move. A few minutes later, Scott knocked on her door.

“Come in,” she said, thinking this may be her chance.

“I’ve got tae keep a look oot fer a while. I received a call
from Tom aboot trouble in the area. So stay in yer room tonight and I’ll take
care of things.”

She quickly got up off the bed and walked towards him. He
was looking at her now, and she intended to make the most of it.

“So what’s happened? Is there anything I can do to help?” she
asked, as she moved closer to him. The white towel was exposing a lot of
cleavage and showed off her long, shapely legs. There was no way he could not
see her now, she thought.

He did look at her body, but he was not sure why she was
just wearing a towel. She had not done that before.

“Everything will be fine. There was just a wee bit of
trouble at a hotel nae far away, so I’m keeping a look oot just in case. And
nae, there’s nae anything yer can do apart from stay in yer room and keep oot
of the way. That way I know yer safe.”

“Okay,” she said, walking away from him towards the small
chest of drawers in her room. She walked, swinging her hips very provocatively and
when she got to the chest she bent over to open the top drawer, knowing he
would get a great view. She turned around hoping to see his face staring at her,
but he was gone. She walked to the door to see where he had gone and he was
already by the window looking at the streets with his binoculars again. Her
little show went completely unnoticed. Now she was really pissed. Every time he
didn’t notice her, it made her want him more. Maybe it was time to stop being subtle,
maybe it was time to just grab him and kiss him. She went back to her bed and
lay down, plotting her next move.

It was after 1:00 a.m. when Scott went to sleep. He slept on
the floor by the window in the main room with his binoculars and guns right by his
side in case he was stirred by any noise. But, all was quiet. He awoke after a few
hours just as it was starting to get light out and took a shower. Later that
morning, he called Tom to see if there had been any more trouble the previous
night and the news wasn’t good. Three more hotels were attacked, all inside the
Green Zone. There were numerous casualties and more kidnappings. It wasn’t the
news Scott wanted to hear. This was obviously a coordinated attack and there
were no signs of it stopping in the near future. He knew things were going to
get tough and with little or no help from the local police force, it was going
to be difficult.

Due to the last couple of days’ events, he decided it was
probably best not to venture to Britney’s office. Besides, it was Saturday and
they usually only stayed for a few hours on the weekends. She did some work on
her laptop, but apart from that, they both had a pretty quiet, restful day.
Scott was in regular contact with Tom and other guards, trying to obtain information.
As the day wore on, there were more reports of attacks in the city. The police found
the body of the Korean businessman, kidnapped a few weeks back. The whole city
was fearful due to the recent spate of attacks. Scott briefly explained the
reasons they weren’t going into work and that he was being extra vigilant due
to the potential kidnap threat. This scared Britney enough to put her seduction
plan on hold and let him fully concentrate on what he was doing.

Later that night, after she turned in, Scott was still scanning
the local streets with his binoculars keeping a look out for trouble. At around
midnight, he saw a car pull onto the parking lot. He was pretty sure it was the
same car that pulled up last night and had left without anyone getting out.
After a few minutes, it drove away again, just like the night before. Scott couldn’t
see into the car, as he was too high up and the angle didn’t allow him to see
who was inside or what they were doing. Like the previous night, he sat with
his pillow on one side of him to lean against. He had all his guns on the other
side. He intended to sleep by the window, to keep watch. About fifteen minutes later,
the same car pulled back into the parking lot. Scott watched it closely as it
pulled to the front of the hotel. Four masked men, all carrying machine guns,
leapt out of the car and ran into the hotel lobby firing wildly as they
entered. Scott jumped up, grabbed his guns and ran towards Britney’s room. She
was wide awake after hearing the horrible sound of machine gunfire inside the
hotel. She met him at the door shaking and asking what was happening. Scott
pushed her back into the room and pulled the mattress off the side of her bed
nearest to the door so it leaned against the bed frame.

“Get under yer bed now and stay behind the mattress. Dinnae
open yer door and stay here until I get back.”

“Okay, be careful,” she said nervously.

Scott took the safety off his M16 and holstered his pistol.
He moved out of the suite to where the elevator and stairs came up to their
floor. He crouched down, just around the corner. There was the door for another
set of stairs at the other end of the hallway, and he could see that too. If
anyone was to come up to their floor, he would have a surprise for them. The
sound of gunfire got louder and louder. It sounded like the invaders were
rampaging through the hotel one floor at a time. He wasn’t sure if they were
looking for anybody in particular or just intent on causing panic and
destruction in general. As he heard the screams of people below, he wanted to
go down to the other floors to help, but if he did, he could miss someone
coming up. And if they came up the other set of stairs, that would mean Britney
would be in danger, so he had stayed where he was. He quickly called Tom as he
waited.

“Tom we’re under attack at the hotel. If yer have any back-up,
or if yer can get hold of the police, then do it. I saw four masked men come in
tae the hotel, all with automatic weapons and they’re shooting up the place.”

“Okay, I’m on it. Are you under direct fire?”

“Nae, it sounds like they’re on the lower floors and working
their way up. I really want tae go doon and start shooting these bastards, but
I know I cannae leave her alone.”