Desert Heat

Chapter Seven: Arrest

After speaking to her mother on the phone, Lily took her bag and her camera for a bit of sightseeing. She knew she could not stay any longer; therefore, she would use her last day to visit some of the kingdom's most beautiful sights.

The kingdom looked more beautiful as Lily took time to explore it and appreciate its people and unique cultures. The food had never once disappointed her taste buds, and the people had never passed without smiling at her. Lily walked through the busy markets; the smell of scented perfumes and spices greeted her, and she felt invited.

Traders filled the market as they bargained off their precious goods, and people scrambled for them. Both modern and traditional pieces were up for sale. Lily stood at a particular stall where a woman sold the most beautiful sculptures that she had ever set her eyes on.

"How much is this?" Lily asked the young woman, who smiled at her and named her price. Lily took a few notes from her bag, and the young woman handed her the miniature statue of the elephant.

"Thank you." Lily thanked the young woman. She walked away from the store while carefully studying the miniature figurine, the figure painted in gold paint, and other parts of it painted in different colors.

Lily had been walking for nearly an hour when she stopped in front of the palace. Her toes began tingling, a sign that she needed to find out what was in there and who was in there. She was aware that the king had passed on and that the palace was mourning his death, but that did not stop her from wanting to find out what the interior looked like.

"You are not going in there," Lily told herself, hoping that this would discourage her from walking close to the palace. Lily began walking away, but she stopped and turned. The gates of the palace were now opening, and before long they were wide open.

Within no time, five heavily armored Jeeps drove into the palace, leaving just enough time for Lily to run in without notice. She slipped into the palace grounds while all the guards occupied themselves with someone that Lily could not make out. She snuck through the back of the bushes and made sure that she kept away from eye view.

Her heart still pumping in her chest as she thought of all the things that could happen to her if she were to be caught by any of the guards, she tried turning back, but she stopped. Now that things were clearer, Lily could see the beauty of the palace. Up close, the palace was not as white as it appeared to be but rather cream, and the garden was the most beautiful that she had ever seen.

The garden had beautiful statues of different figures, some of which Lily could make out and some of which she could not, but even so, it was beautiful. She touched each of them, and surely, the stones were carved out of white marble, and the texture was smooth without a bump.

She took out her camera from her bag and took pictures of the beautiful scenery, making sure that she stayed out of sight. Now the fear was gone, and she continued discovering more of the palace, even stopping to take a break and eating her snacks while sitting on the grass with the tree covering her from view.

It had now been more than two hours since she had sneaked into the palace. She gathered her things as she was ready to leave; these pictures that she had taken would serve as a lovely souvenir.

"Guards, Guards! Intruder alert! There is a threat to the prince's life!" Someone yelled out from the palace balcony, and when Lily looked up, a woman was yelling, her eyes focused on her. Lily knew that she had been spotted, and immediately she took off running.

**

Her arrival in her hotel room was a fresh breath of relief. She was lucky that none of the guards had caught up to her, and she was happy that she slid into the small opening before the gates shut.

Lily paced her room, but this made her more anxious than she was before until she stopped. She walked to her closet, grabbed her clothes, and threw them into her suitcase. As beautiful as the kingdom was, she would not risk going to jail all for the sake of a few pictures.

Finally, she was done with her packing, and all that she had to do was try and sleep this off. No one could have seen her face, and that gave Lily enough hope to know that she would be okay.

"Lily, relax because you will be okay." She gave herself a pep talk, hoping that it would calm her down.

**

The next morning

Lily was most thankful for leaving the hotel room without any trouble, and she tried to hide her anxiety. The car ride to the airport was by far the most stressful that Lily had ever been in because she spent it scanning the roads for any signs of security or anyone that could arrest her.

"Madam, is everything alright?" The driver asked her, and this made Lily step out of her mental state. She flashed a smile at the driver, hoping that it would be enough to avoid any suspicions.

"Yes, I am fine. I am just sad that I will be leaving the country so soon," Lily lied; in fact, she was more than pleased to escape with her life.

"That is such a shame; in four days there would be a coronation and you would miss it." The driver informed her, and that had caught her attention.

"Oh, that's nice; is that why there were rows of cars entering the palace?" Lily asked the driver.

"Yes, how did you know that?" The driver asked her, and this made her panic.

"Oh! I was passing by when the cars drove into the palace." She told half the truth, hoping that it would be enough to prevent the driver from asking further questions.

"That is good. Madam, we have arrived," the driver announced as the car came to a stop right in front of the airport.

"Thank you," Lily thanked the driver without waiting for him to help her. She jumped out, grabbed her bags, and ran into the airport building. Her flight was due in thirty minutes, and she would make sure that she was on the flight before anyone got to her.

As she got into the building, someone tapped her on her shoulders. She froze, afraid to turn around and see who it was.

"Madam, you forgot your handbag inside my car." She heard the driver's voice, and she turned around; luckily for her, he handed Lily her handbag.

"Thank you so much." Lily thanked the driver who handed her the bag and left. Lily sat on a chair at the airport, taking her time to clear her mind. She knew that she was in a messy state, and she had to get her mind together as soon as possible.

Without knowing it, she felt a tear run down her cheeks, and she quickly wiped it away. What had begun as a business trip had turned into a nightmare, and she wished that she could wake up from it. She took a deep breath and exhaled, assuring herself that everything else would be okay.

Lily got up from her chair and straightened herself. She then made her way to her flight when two police officers approached her and stopped her.

"Good day, madam," one of the officers greeted her, and this time Lily kept her cool, mentally telling herself that she did nothing wrong.

"Yes, officers, how may I help you?" Lily asked them, making sure that she smiled the entire time.

"We need to see you at our office," the other officer informed her.

"Well, I am sorry, officers, but my plane is about to leave," Lily answered them, hoping that this would force the officers to leave her alone.

"I am sorry, madam, but we have been sent to fetch you and bring you to our office."

"What would happen if I missed my flight?" Lily tried one last time.

"Do not worry about that, madam; you will be placed on a different flight with no extra charges. Please come with us," the first officer told her. Lily swallowed the lump in her throat, and she nodded her head in agreement.

She followed both officers into a room; they gave her a chair to sit down on, and she placed her handbag on a table. Both officers left the room. A cold feeling traveled through Lily's body; something was wrong, and she knew what it was.

The door swung open, two female officers walked in, and neither of them was smiling.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Robinson." One of the female officers greeted her without a smile on her face.

"Good afternoon. May I know why I am being brought here? I have a flight to get to, and I might miss it," Lily informed them, but neither woman seemed interested. The second female officer reached for her bag and began searching the contents within it.

"Hey, you cannot touch my bag without my permission!" Lily yelled, but she soon stopped, and her eyes widened. She was old enough to know what it was that the police officer had pulled out of her bag. In the female officer's hands was a small, see-through plastic bag with white powder in it.

The female police officer looked up and smiled at Lily, who was still shocked at what she was seeing.

"That's...not mine," Lily stuttered, but she was smart enough to know how these things went.

"I am sure it is not; would you mind telling me how these drugs got into your bag?" The officer asked her. Lily did not know where to begin; she knew that she was not one to deal with drugs, but she could not explain how they had gotten into her bag.

"Ms. Robinson, I believe I am asking you a question," the officer asked her. Lily kept thinking of how it was that the drugs had made their way into her bag, but then it hit her, the driver.

"The driver!" She yelled out.

"Driver?" The female officer asked her, and Lily nodded her head. It could be none other than the driver.

"Yes, the driver. He brought me to the airport, but I had forgotten my bag, and he brought it to me," Lily confessed, but it seemed as though none of the officers believed a word that she had said.

"So, what you are saying is that these drugs are not yours?" The officer asked her, and Lily nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay, so do you have the license plate of the driver?" The officer asked her, and this question left Lily dumbstruck. Her eyes paced the interior of the room, trying to think of how she could come up with the number plate of the car.

"Yes, my phone! I used a metered taxi, and his details were sent to my phone before he came to collect me, and those details are on my phone, the same phone that is in my handbag," Lily informed them, sensing a sign of hope for herself.

The female officer looked through the bag, trying to find the phone; she paused and then looked at Lily. She took the bag and flung it towards Lily, and it landed on the table.

"There is no phone inside your bag," the officer said plainly, and this left Lily feeling lost. She took her bag from the table and searched through it, but her phone was nowhere to be found.

"I am not lying to you; my phone was inside my handbag, and I placed it in there myself," Lily told them.

The female police officer rolled her eyes at Lily and pulled out her handcuffs.

"Ms. Robinson, you are being arrested on drug charges, which is a crime in the kingdom of Hamidin. You are being arrested; you will be charged fairly and given a lawyer to defend yourself, if need be," the female officer informed her. Lily was cuffed and taken out of the room.