New! Stolen Child – Book 2 in the Stolen Series by Kimberly Rae

She had been screaming for hours.

Ahmad crouched just outside the hut, his back to the rickety bamboo. Sweat beaded across the patch of skin above his upper lip. Why didn’t she stop?

Finally, a climatic, ragged cry of pain ripped through the air. It was followed by a smaller, but no less violent, cry of a newborn.

“A son!” The words of a woman inside were jubilant. “A son.” Relieved.

Ahmad let out a breath, then sucked in another. A boy. A small, thin smile curved up one corner of his mouth.

He cast a quick look in all directions to make certain no one saw him, then slipped off into the night.

“Are you certain?” The young man Rashid was hesitant.

“Do you question me?” Ahmad’s voice was hard. Gritty. “I saw the child myself.”

“And it’s a boy?”

“A son.” The man’s smile was not warm. “A sweet little boy some barren couple will pay dearly for.”

Rashid broke out in a cold sweat. “I’m not sure I can do this.”

There was a harsh laugh, and the man’s words were cold. “You want to be a man, don’t you, little brother?”

Rashid gritted his teeth. He did not see how stealing and selling a baby made him a man. He offered one last, feeble argument. “But he said we could take the baby if it was a girl.”

Ahmad snorted in disdain. “As if we care what that weak, pathetic cigarette-seller says. We’ll tell him Sumi and Alia were mistaken. That it was really a girl.” An evil grin spread across his face, one that ran shudders down Rashid’s back. The knowledge that Ahmad was actually enjoying this double betrayal filled him with terror. What else was he capable of?

“Besides,” Ahmad continued, taking delight in his younger sibling’s fear, “what can he do about it? Once the baby is sold, if he talks, the greatest shame is on him.”

Ahmad clapped his hands together. The sound echoed in the darkness, scaring several night birds into flight above them. “He is trapped.” Ahmad smiled with glee. “It’s perfect.”

Rashid felt his limbs quiver. He was just feeling certain he would be sick when Ahmad returned his attention to him. “Now, you go and get the baby.” Ahmad’s voice was firm. “Make sure no one sees you.” Rashid watched him smile coldly. “We wouldn’t want you to get arrested for child trafficking, now would we, little brother?”

At that moment, it became clear. Ahmad would steal the baby regardless, but if Rashid crossed him, Ahmad would find some way to make him regret it for life.

Rashid shoulders dropped. There was no way out, for him or the baby.

He nodded, and with slow steps left to do his brother’s bidding.

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