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IMARA WAITED UNTIL ABE WAS SHUT inside a bubble car before she tapped her ring. She had asked him to gather everyone and meet her at headquarters in ten minutes, but she had something important to do first.
After tapping her ring, she scrolled through her contacts until she found Siluk. She wasn’t sure what to expect when she called him, but he answered quickly enough. That seemed like a good thing, especially since she needed his help.
“Hey, Imara,” he said. “How are you feeling?”
“What?” She quirked her head to the side and made a mental note of her head and stomach. “I feel fine.” She shook her head. “What do you mean how am I feeling? What kind of a question is that?”
“Because you broke up with Abe. Are you doing okay?”
“Oh. I, uh... I’m—” She shook her head. “He told you already? It happened three minutes ago.”
Siluk’s eyebrows rose, but he quickly squashed them down. “Wow, that’s recent. Um, no; he didn’t tell me. Naki did. But you really broke up with him?”
She clenched her jaw as a rush of heat flowed to her fingertips. Siluk always thought he was privy to her personal life. That had always annoyed her. She’d barely talked to him in months, and now he suddenly seemed to think they were good enough friends to discuss her breakup? A breakup that was currently ripping her heart to shreds no less. She pursed her lips and took a deep breath. “We are not going to talk about that.”
Siluk raised one eyebrow but didn’t protest. He just waited.
She took another deep breath and tried to start over. She jerked her head, trying to shake the fog of anguish growing in her mind. This day wouldn’t be easy knowing she’d have to leave Abe at the end of it, but despairing over it wouldn’t help anything. She sucked in a breath and pushed the words out, forcing herself to forget her personal issues. “Do you know where Marco Santini is? Could you drive to his house and talk to him in person?”
“Who?” Siluk asked.
More fog invaded her mind, and most of it consisted of memories of the catacombs. Things like Abe walking next to her. And holding her. And kissing her.
She shook those thoughts away and tried to focus on the part of the catacombs that she actually needed to remember. “He’s the guy who built the faulty dams in the catacombs. You said he lives by you. He’s Professor Santini’s brother.”
Siluk gave her a blank stare in return.
She snapped her fingers as she tried to remember any details. “I can’t remember his name, but you said everyone uses it as an insult.”
“Oh,” Siluk said as he slapped his forehead. “Masud Ganim. I forgot he changed his name. And I totally forgot he was Professor Santini’s brother. Yeah, I can get to his house. It doesn’t take long with our new hover mobiles.”
“Good. I didn’t want it to come to this, but...” She let out a sigh. “Takara and Sef just took over the Egyptian Council.”
“They did what?” Siluk said as his mouth dropped. “When?”
She rubbed her forehead and looked down. “A couple minutes ago. The taggers and gangsters are working together now. But if we can get Takara to leave Egypt, the taggers won’t have leadership. Hopefully, we can stop the gangsters while the taggers are distracted. Plus, we have a way to get proof so Sef can be arrested.”
“Okay,” Siluk said while drawing out the syllables. “How exactly are you going to get Takara to leave Egypt? And what does Masud have to do with anything?”
She tapped her fingers against her thigh as she explained. “Takara was at the catacombs when it flooded twenty years ago. She and her fiancé both drowned. She was saved, but her fiancé didn’t make it. She’s been trying to find Marco, or Masud whatever, for years. She wants to kill him. Well, torture him and then kill him. She has these insane torture techniques.”
Siluk raised one eyebrow, still looking unconvinced. “So, you’re going to tell her where he is so she can come here to torture and then kill him?”
“No,” Imara said. “Of course not. That’s the next thing I needed to ask you. Do you have ideas for how to protect him? I don’t want to get your family involved because it will put them in danger.”
She snapped her head to the side. “Wait a minute. We can protect him. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this earlier. Abe can fly his jet to Alaska, and then the two of you can go get Marco. I won’t give Takara his location until Marco is safe with Abe on the way back here to Egypt. Plus, that way she’ll be gone for at least two hours while she flies to Alaska and back. Hopefully, by the time she gets back here, the real Egyptian Council will be reinstated and she’ll get arrested.”
When the ideas finished spilling out of her, she looked back at the hologram screen tentatively. “Well?” she asked. “You don’t have to help. I realize it’s dangerous.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m in, Imara. Don’t worry about that. Do you want me to call Abe and explain the plan to him? Then you don’t have to talk to him.”
She reached for the back of her neck until she could firmly tug the hair. Even with a fresh haircut she could still grip it enough to hurt. It didn’t distract her from the pain inside, however. She bit her lip as she let the hairs bristle under her fingernail. Finally, she looked up and said, “Yes please.” She squeezed her eyes shut for half a moment before looking back at him. “And thank you.”
He did a strange sort of half grin and nodded. She tapped her ring quickly because tears started forming in her eyes and didn’t want Siluk to see them. But she was grateful he was willing to help.
Maybe she should have also been grateful that he gave her a chance to talk about it, but more than anything, it felt like an imposition. Who did he think he was, asking such a personal question? She needed time to let the feelings settle. She didn’t want to talk to anyone about it— not yet.
Scratch that. She could think of one person who felt like the safest person in the whole world to talk about this particular subject. Unfortunately, she had just finished breaking up with him.
* * *
BY THE TIME IMARA MADE it to headquarters, she barely had enough time to nod goodbye to Abe as he set off for his jet. He seemed completely engrossed in the task, with no feelings at all about losing his latest girlfriend. Her stomach twisted in knots at the thought. That’s all she was now. Just another ex.
Edrice turned pink when Imara entered the office. Probably because she’d thrown an unwanted kiss on Imara’s boyfriend last time they saw each other. But Abe had been at headquarters for awhile before Imara arrived. Was it possible that something more had happened? Had he and Edrice already gotten back together? Edrice insisted it was inevitable.
Imara shoved that thought down to the deepest, darkest part of her brain. The part that held the memory of Professor Santini rushing to her own death. The part she never wanted to remember.
She stood at the head of the room and wrung her hands as she stared at Husani and Edrice. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the door whooshed open.
When someone burst through the door, she didn’t recognize who it was until she saw the violin tucked under her elbow. But with a super short bob that had been dyed amber brown, it didn’t fully register that it was Keiko until she collapsed onto the floor with a huff.
“Keiko!” Imara said. “I thought you were in Alexandria already.”
Keiko glared at the floor and turned until her back faced Husani. “Yeah,” she said. “Turns out that mural painting job for my dad was a trick set up by my dear mother. Shocker, right? Luckily, I figured it out before we got there.”
Husani poked her in the head and asked, “What did you do to your hair?”
Keiko slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me,” she said through her teeth. She stood up just to move several centimeters away from Husani before she sat back down again. “I was sick of looking like my mom. So, I hacked off my hair and improved the color. Before you say anything, I don’t care if you like it or not. Keep your opinions to yourself.”
Husani opened his mouth, but Imara jumped in to keep him from saying anything. “I’m glad you’re here, Keiko. We really need your help.”
Keiko took the opportunity to move even further away from Husani and then looked up expectantly.
“Do you think you can figure out how to stop the drones?” Imara asked.
Keiko screwed her mouth up as she thought. “I have some ideas, but I don’t know for sure.”
Imara nodded. “Good enough for me.” She looked out at the rest of them. Keiko’s return was perfect. To do the next part of her plan, it would be best to split up. Since Keiko had no desire to be around Husani, Imara would work with him. Which was doubly perfect since she had no desire to be alone with Edrice at the moment.
“Keiko and Edrice, you two stay here and try to figure out the drones. Husani and I are going to go looking for gangsters to help us get inside the Egyptian Council chambers. Once we explain that we can get Sef’s list, hopefully some of them will be willing to help us. Any questions?”
There weren’t any, and soon she and Husani were on their way.
