Page 28 of Finding Lexie
“Lexie? It’s Shermake.”
“Shermake?” she asked, loud enough for the person to hear.
Midas pressed his lips together in frustration. He remembered that Shermake was the name of Astur’s oldest son, but he had no way of knowing if it was really him above them. If he was on their side or the side of the kidnappers.
But he had no choice now, the person in the store obviously knew they were there, so he needed to act.
In one swift movement, he sprang upward. He knew he’d jostled Lexie way too hard, but it couldn’t be helped. He’d rather her be bruised than dead.
The boards above them flew out of the way as he exited the small space under the floor. Midas’s muscles protested after being in one position for so long, but he ignored the insignificant pain. He pointed his rifle at the young man in the small back room as he stood.
Shermake immediately raised his hands, showing he was unarmed.
Looking around, Midas saw that he’d come into the store alone, but that didn’t mean there weren’t others outside waiting to ambush them.
“Friend!” the boy said quickly.
Midas felt more than saw Lexie coming up to her knees at his feet, and he said, “Stay down, Lex.”
“Shermake?” she asked again, ignoring his warning.
Then she stood all the way up and sat on the edge of the hole.
“It is me,” the boy said with a small smile for Lexie.
She tugged on Midas’s pants. “It’s okay, Midas. I know him. He’s Astur’s son. We’re good.”
Midas couldn’t be completely sure of that, but he did lower his rifle so it wasn’t pointed straight at the kid.
“Don’t—” Midas said, but it was too late. Lexie had already climbed out of the hole they’d been in for hours, taking the few steps to reach Shermake. Then they were embracing as if they were long lost friends, separated for years.
“You’ve gotten so tall!” Lexie said with a small laugh.
“And you short,” Shermake retorted.
Midas did the math and realized the kid in front of him was less a boy than he was a man. He was probably closer to seventeen now, and around here, that meant he had way more responsibilities than a kid the same age in the United States. He was a few inches taller than Lexie, would probably be over six feet tall when he finished growing. He had on a black T-shirt, brown shorts that went to his knees, and a tattered pair of sneakers on his feet. His hair was cut short…and he was looking at Lexie as if he worshiped the ground she walked on.
It was that look that made Midas relax. He saw nothing but worry for her in the boy’s expression.
“What are you doing here?” Lexie asked.
Shermake looked down at her as if she was crazy. “Helping you,” he said. “Mother said you were here. Had to wait for dark. So happy you okay. Sorry my people steal you.”
“It wasn’t your fault. Your English has gotten really good,” Lexie praised.
“I be practicing,” Shermake said. “Come, we go. I know where American and Denmark soldiers are.”
“And Dagmar?” Lexie asked. “The man who was kidnapped with me?”
Shermake shook his head. “I know not.”
“Wait,” Midas said, not quite ready to fully trust this young man yet. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know you. How do we know we can trust you?”
“Midas,” Lexie protested, but he didn’t take his gaze from Shermake’s.
“You trust me,” he said. “I know men who watch for Lexie. They not good. Lazy. No want to work for money. Abshir Farah. He was in desert. Not killed. Came back here to tell story about desert fight and get friends to try to take Lexie again. Want money. I can get you back to friends. Trust me.”
Midas pressed his lips together. It was always a possibility that they hadn’t killed all the kidnappers, but it was surprising how fast this Abshir person had gotten back to Galkayo and gathered the troops. He and his team had made an error in coming back. They should’ve gone straight to the ship. But the Jaeger Corps had talked them into agreeing to Magnus’s plan. Money talked, and it was obvious the Brander family had some serious power to be able to influence the special forces the way Magnus had.
