She felt her blood run cold. “You mean, he stepped out, and you won’t be able to get a hold of him for fifteen or twenty minutes?”
“No. I mean that I haven’t seen him since I got here. Sebastian isn’t in Syria.”
“What?” Closing her eyes, Maria started to pace. “What do you mean that he isn’t in Syria? He’s not in his office. He’s not at home. He’s not in Syria. Where the hell is he?”
“Breathe,” Tessa instructed. “Stop pacing. I know you’re pacing. Just stand still for a second and breathe. Are you breathing?”
“I’m trying.”
“Everything is going to be fine. You have the crates. I’m here taking care of everything at this end. Even if Sebastian is late, it’s still going to be okay,” Tessa said calmly.
Maria plopped in the chair and squeezed the bridge of her nose. She could feel tension knot in her shoulders. “What if something happened to him,” she whispered.
“He’s fine, Maria. He was able to get the message to you. I’m sure he’s buried in last minute paperwork, and he’ll call you when he can. Or, maybe he’s already on a flight. There are a hundred explanations that don’t involve Sebastian being in any danger.”
Leave it to Tessa to be the voice of reason. Sebastian had a bad habit of ignoring her when he knew that she would be mad at him, and at this point, she was furious. He was no doubt avoiding her phone calls on purpose. “Thank you, Tessa.” The door to the office opened, and she immediately stood up. “I’ve got to go. I’ll let you know when I can get back in the air again, okay?”
Hanging up the phone, she gave the custom’s officer a smile. “Hi. I’m Maria Walken. I’m picking up some cargo for Christmas Crates.”
The stern man didn’t crack a smile. He rifled through some paperwork on his clipboard before pulling out some forms. “Sign these,” he said curtly.
Eagerly, she took the forms and placed them flat against the wall. Tilting her pen up, she skimmed through it and signed it at the bottom. “Great. When can I get it loaded? I’m still fueled and ready to go.”
“Tomorrow.”
He turned to leave, but Maria reached out and grabbed his arm. “Tomorrow?” He glared at her, and she immediately released him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to grab you. Did you say tomorrow? Tomorrow is not okay. I wanted to be in Syria tonight.”
The officer shook his head. “It’s been inspected, but it still needs to be on Riyadh soil for another twelve hours before we can load it. There’s a forty-eight hour minimum layover for cargo passing through our airport. Nothing you can do about it.”
Maria opened her mouth to argue, but he’d already shut the door in her face. Closing her eyes, she dropped her head and moaned. Was nothing going to go right on this trip?
Feeling almost defeated, she dragged her feet getting back to the plane to tell Jarik the news. She knew for sure that he’d get another flight out, and she’d have to make the rest of the trip alone. It would be fine. She was used to being alone, but for some reason, she wasn’t ready to let go of Jarik so soon.
“From the look on your face, I would say that things didn’t go well,” he said wryly.
“No, they did not. Riyadh has a forty-eight hour mandatory hold on all cargo going through their customs, which means that I can’t get my hands on it until tomorrow. I don’t understand why Sebastian would ship anything through this airport. Normally, we ship things straight to Syria. Anyway, there are several flights heading out in the next few hours that can take you where you need to go.”
“We’ve already gone over this. I’ll grab your things, and we can get a taxi.”
“Okay. I’ve never stayed here before, but I’m sure I can find us a place to stay the night.”
“Forget it. I’m not staying anywhere that you pick out. This can be a rough city, and we’re not separating. I can get us a room.”
Great. They were going to have to go through this again. “Jarik, I’m not staying at one of your fancy hotels.”
“And I’m not arguing with you over this,” he growled. “You want my money or not?”
Folding her arms, she widened her stance and prepared herself for a loud fight, but he was already in the plane grabbing their things.
Clearly, he thought that the argument was finished.
“Why is it so hard for you to understand that I can take care of myself?” she grumbled when he emerged. “I don’t need your money.”
“I’m not saying that you do. But I do know that the hotels that you want to stay in will all be in bad parts of town. Have you so quickly forgotten last night?”
How could she forget? It was one of the most terrifying experiences of her life. Grabbing her bag from him, she sighed. “Find. Just deduct it…”
“I know,” he cut her off with a grin. “Deduct it from the final amount that I owe you.”