For the past hour, Ally sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor by the patio. Spotless. As were the walls and the sheets. The old curtains on the back door were ripped away and replaced with fresh ones. Even she was clean. And yet, the warmth of his blood burned her skin. The smell of his death lingered in every breath she took.
If she stared at the spot by the patio hard enough, she could still see him, flat on his back, blood and matter flowing from the gashes in what was once his head. She blinked away the image and crawled to the corner of the room beside the closet. Curling into a ball, she huddled on the floor, her back pressed into the corner, working on taking slow deep breaths. Ally forced her lids to stay closed but the images continued to consume her.
She hugged her knees, waiting for sleep to arrive and provide much-needed respite. But it refused to answer her calls, possibly because she couldn’t stop glancing over at the spot, waiting for the dead man to return. At some point, exhaustion finally won, lulling her to sleep. When she did, she found she was right; he did return—in her dreams, and this time he was not alone. The man carried the metal rod covered in his blood, and behind him, Sayeed watched, nodding his approval.
Before the weapon slammed into her head, Ally popped her lids open and jumped to her knees. She slapped the air, fighting away the imaginary danger. She blinked a few more times before finally allowing herself to breathe.
The only sound in the room was her gasping for air. Ally sat on her haunches and rested her damp face in her hands. “It’s just a dream,” she whispered.
She worked on calming herself, only to suck in a breath when a shadow moved in the room. Ally froze. Her head still in her palms, she peered at the white marble around her, until her gaze landed on the jean-clad legs of the man kneeling in front of her. Her nails dug into her skin as she considered her options. The rod wasn’t in the room anymore. They’d taken it when they cleaned up. She thought about the padlock she’d fastened to her door. A guard had handed it to her after they cleaned the room. Considering it fastened from the inside, there was no way anyone could have unlocked it. Which meant…
“It’s me,” Eddie whispered.
She released the breath she held at the sound of his voice. Ally took her hands off her face and slid back to her corner on the floor, hugging her arms around her knees. “How did you get here?”
“Through the closet.” He sat back on his haunches and stared her down. “Are you okay?”
Uncontrollable tremors rocked her body. She grit her teeth and nodded. “Yes.”
He eyed her, clearly not believing her answer.
She put up her hand. “I’m fine. Just give me a moment. This is the first time I’ve felt safe since everything happened. I think it’s all hitting me at once.” Her voice shook as much as her body.
He pressed his fingers against the bruises below her hands. “I noticed these when you showed up at the door yesterday. What happened?”
Ally stared down at the red welts around her wrists. “Shariff handcuffed me in the car.”
Eddie’s eyes darkened.
“Tell me how you ended up here while I work on my breathing.” She sucked in a breath and began counting.
He nodded his understanding. “I have a contact in Kabul who works for Sayeed’s father. After Farah disappeared, I reached out to him. He told me something was going down. Said the old man was preparing to come to Karachi. Breathe out now.”
She nodded, blew, and continued her slow repetitions, allowing his voice to calm her.
“He hadn’t left the country in over a decade, so clearly whatever it was, was a big deal. One he needed an English-speaking translator for. Apparently, he was also getting the house prepped for a new resident, a child.” He rose and grabbed the blanket from the bed, draping it around Ally’s shoulders as he talked. “After I took care of the guy he hired, I stepped in.”
Her body finally calm, she wrapped the fabric tight around her and thought of Aadam. His grandfather planned to steal him away, and his uncle planned to kill him. Somehow, she needed to help the child.
Eddie slid down beside her and rested his arms on his bent knees. “Better?”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’re still in danger.”
“What are we going to do?”
He leaned his back against the wall. “I’m going to get you out of here tonight while it’s still dark.”
“No.”
Eddie continued on as if he didn’t hear her. “There’s a spot in the back of the yard where you can safely climb over the fence.”
Ally reached out and squeezed his hand. “I’m not leaving.”
Silence filled the room. His fingers flexed into a fist under her grasp.
She let go and tried to explain. “I am the reason he kidnapped Farah and Amirah. And I am the reason he killed Amir and David. He needed to lure me here. Your sister and the baby are his guarantee that I will stay and comply. If you want me to leave, you need to find them and get them to safety.”
Eddie turned his focus on her. He clenched his teeth so hard the muscle along his jaw flexed. “What the fuck do you think I’ve been trying to do this entire time?” he hissed.
“I know you have.” Ally grabbed his hand a second time and squeezed. “It’s the only reason you’re here, and it must be killing you that you haven’t found them.”
He didn’t respond, but the muscles in his hand relaxed. His thumb rubbed against her injured wrist.
“If you sneak me out of here and they die…”
He rested his head against the wall and let out a sigh. “It’s a risk I have to take. Everyone in this building wants you dead. Tonight was the first attempt.”
She knew neither of them would back down from their decision, so she changed the subject. “I saw them.”
His fingers fisted again, and his eyes slammed shut. “Has he hurt them?”
She shook her head. “So far she and the baby have been treated well.”
Eddie let out a breath and pulled his hand out of hers. He ran his fingers through his short hair. “All this time, I had no clue if she was dead or alive.”
The pain in his voice stabbed at her. She hugged the blanket to her body and continued, hoping her information would help. “The man who kidnapped me five years ago. His name is Bashar. I'm pretty sure he helped kill Amir and took Farah and the baby.”
“I know.”
Her brows rose. “You knew?”
“I mean I didn’t know until yesterday. When you showed up at the door, I realized things hadn’t gone according to plan. I snuck out and tracked down Leanna.”
The mention of the escort’s name sent relief flooding through Ally. “She’s okay? I didn’t know what else to do. I had no choice but to leave her and go with him.”
Eddie nodded. “We know, and she’s fine. She ended up with a concussion and a highly bruised ego.” He grinned. “Which is a good thing because she tracked down the janitors who helped Bashar and got them to talk. Turns out he’s been holed up in Germany for the past four years and had hired them to do some jobs here and there.”
A shudder went through Ally at the mention of the men in the airport. “How did they know I was going to be on the plane?”
“Someone bugged your house. Leanna found about three months worth of tapes in Bashar’s home.”
Ally’s chest tightened. Her thoughts turned to her family and the danger she’d put them all in. “My parents still live there.”
He nodded. “Leanna’s already had them sweep your place clean. Your family is under their watch. I’m not worried. It was you Shariff and Bashar were after, not them.”
She stared at the wall ahead. “Did they kill Amir? And where are the boys?”
Eddie rubbed his palms on his knees. “Farah and Amir lived in Dresden. The janitors helped kidnap my sister and niece. Amir got in the way and ended up with a bullet in the head. They claim Bashar pulled the trigger.”
“Bashar wants me dead. He killed Amir because of me.” So many lives damaged because of her. “I think he had something to do with David’s death too,” she said in a low voice.
“Leanna tracked him and the half dozen or so aliases she found in his house.” Eddie’s voice remained without inflection as he scanned the space. He was in work mode. His brain trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. “Turns out he was in Philadelphia a little over four months ago. Even found footage of him with another man.”
None of what he said surprised her. “Was he the one they have on video, running away from David’s accident?”
Eddie shot her a look. A look that made her pause. He cleared his throat. “Not Bashar, but the guy he was with, yes.”
“Do you know who it was?”
Eddie stared at the wall across the room. “Yeah, but first tell me everything you know.”
Considering he wanted to find his sister, the request made sense. For the next fifteen minutes, Ally described in detail the incident at the airport, to waking up in the hotel, the burqa Shariff made her wear, her time with Farah and the baby, the multiple car changes, and how Shariff altered his appearance. Through it all, Eddie stayed next to her, listening to her every word, interrupting her every now and then for clarification.
Ripples of tension flowed from him. “Tell me what you know about the house she is being kept in.”
Ally closed her eyes, trying to remember. “It’s a new home. I could smell fresh paint and wood stain. Two bedrooms. One bath. Hers is the one by the kitchen, and they keep the key to Farah’s room in the kitchen drawer to the left of the sink. There’s a small grassy front yard with a black metal gate. The iron on the gate was shaped like ivy. There were other houses on either side of it. And in the distance, there were three white high-rises. Maybe about twenty stories tall? They had these orange pyramid-looking structures on their roofs.”
“That helps. I’ll call in a favor to see if we can find aerial footage of the vehicle you came in today, and we can do a scan for those buildings. With as many spies in the sky that we have, they should be able to backtrack the car to the house.”
She shook her head. “You won’t be able to. We changed cars twice on the way here, and he even changed clothes in the process. He said he doesn’t trust anyone.”
He leaned his head back and let out a soft growl. “Motherfucker.”
It was an excellent description of Shariff. She thought back to the conversation she had with him in the garden. “He hasn’t said so, but I think he’s going to kill Aadam as some perverse way of hurting his father. I have to…”
“Do nothing,” Eddie snapped. His lips flattened into a thin line. “I’m not sure you’re grasping the seriousness of this situation.” He put up a finger. “David and Amir are dead.” A second digit joined the first. “Farah and her baby are locked up in some room I can’t seem to find.” A third was added. “They were waiting for you at Frankfurt, and Leanna, a trained agent, was attacked and left unconscious.” A fourth digit flipped open. “A man died in this very room a few hours ago.” He added a fifth. “And finally, if I hadn’t been here”—he aimed all five fingers at the spot where the guard’s body had laid—“that asshole and his horny buddies downstairs would have drilled their dicks into every hole in your body until the sun came up, and then killed you. I know this because that’s what they said they’d do and all before they took a sip of their morning coffee.”
His words stabbed into her, making her stomach twist. She blinked and stared at his hand and the five fingers he now waved in her face. “And most of this in under twenty-four hours,” he continued. “You can’t do a damn thing about any of it. So what we’re going to do is climb down that closet hole and sneak you out of here tonight.”
Time had run out. She’d avoided the argument as long as she could. She climbed to her feet and stared down at him. “Until I know Farah and the baby are safe, my leaving is not an option,” she whispered. “I am not the person you need to worry about. Just find them and get them out of Karachi. I can take care of myself.”
He rolled his eyes. “Do you really think my sister would let me leave you behind? And for that matter, your husband…”
“Is dead,” she finished. Ally’s face heated but she kept her voice low and calm. “And he can’t do a damn thing to help either of us.”
Eddie ran his fingers down his scalp. “Clearly your heart is in the right place, and thanks for that.” He stood and planted his hands on his hips. “But you’re not trained for this. Which is why I need to get you out of here tonight.”
Ally stepped closer until her face was inches from his. “I’m not a dog. And you’re not allowed to pat me on the head and send me on my merry way.” She jabbed a finger into his chest. “If I leave, Shariff promised to sell your sister and her baby. Do you want them hurt?”
The vein on his neck pulsed. “No.”
“Then let me help you.”
He grabbed her finger and scowled. “Help me do what? Swoop in on your invisible jet and use your golden lasso to free my sister from her evil captives?”
Eddie’s words stung but she didn’t retreat. She watched the way the skin above his collar turned deep red. The color crawled up his long, thick neck. He released her hand. “The only problem with your plan is the fact you don’t have super powers.”
“I think you should leave.”
His light brown orbs stayed fixed on her, and he didn’t move. In fact, she couldn’t tell if he was breathing. Finally, the corner of his mouth curved up. “I’m all you’ve got, and you’re asking me to leave?”
“I don’t need your help.” Ally kept her voice void of the uncertainty within. “I need you to go find your sister. And if you don’t leave now, I’m going to open the door and scream for help.”
“Is this some crazy suicide mission you’re on?”
“In a way, yes.” Her face stung from the implications of his words. “My husband is dead. Amir is dead. And if your sister and baby are hurt… It. Will. Kill. Me.”
He slammed his eyes shut, and his chest rose as he sucked in a breath. “You don’t belong here, Alisha.”
“Neither do they, Eddie. But here we are. Look at me.” He complied. “Use me.”
His shoulders slumped. “If your husband were alive, he’d surgically remove my balls and staple them to my head if he knew I was even considering this.”
She smiled. “Yes, he would.”