A deserted road
Rural Maryland, outside Annapolis
Lying in a fetal position inside a car trunk with a hood over her head and her ankles and wrists bound by duct tape, Jennifer Conner fought the urge to cry.
Jennifer wasn’t certain what had happened after Cassy left her in the cabin. Moments after she’d gone, Aludra had appeared and said the FBI was coming to rescue her. But the FBI hadn’t come. Akbar had come and taken her out of the cabin to the backseat of a car where he’d covered her with a blanket. She had heard Akbar and Aludra arguing in the front seat during the drive, but they were speaking in a foreign language so she hadn’t understood them.
Jennifer had needed to use the toilet after riding for what seemed to be several hours. Aludra had taken her into some woods and when they were together, Jennifer could tell that Aludra had been crying. It looked as if Akbar had struck her face.
“Where’s Cassy?” Jennifer had asked her.
“Just hurry up and don’t ask questions!”
“What about the FBI?”
“Don’t say another word about the FBI or he will kill us both.”
Jennifer had again been put into the car’s rear seat under a blanket and ordered not to move or speak. After another long drive, the car had stopped and Jennifer had heard both car doors open and shut. She thought she might be alone in the backseat but she had been afraid to peek out from under the blanket. Not long after that, she heard only one car door open and close. Akbar had driven a short distance and then stopped and removed her blanket. He’d ordered her out of the car. It was dark by now and Jennifer did not see Aludra. They had stopped near another parked car. Its trunk was open and he’d made her climb into it. After covering her head with a hood, he’d applied duct tape to her wrists and ankles and closed the trunk.
She had not seen Aludra. She had no idea what had happened to Cassy. Did Cassy escape? Or had Akbar caught her hiding in the cabin and murdered her? Where is Aludra? What happened to her?
Jennifer couldn’t stretch out in the trunk, and her wrists and ankles were swollen because of how tightly he’d bound them. The car had been traveling on a smooth road when suddenly Akbar slowed and began riding onto a bumpy one. Jennifer’s head slapped against the trunk floor several times. Now Akbar was slowing down, and Jennifer didn’t like that. Akbar was cruel. She didn’t want him to park, open the trunk, and hurt her. Where is Aludra?
The car stopped and Jennifer heard Akbar switch off its engine. She heard his car door open and shut. She braced herself.
But Akbar didn’t open the trunk. Instead, Jennifer smelled cigarette smoke. Her father had smoked and the whiff reminded her of him.
What was that next sound? It sounded like a car engine. Was Akbar switching cars again? Would he put her in a new trunk or in the backseat under a blanket? Was this where he planned to kill her?
She heard another car door open and close. That was followed by Akbar’s voice.
“What am I supposed to do now?” he asked.
“The Falcon wants the girl alive.”
Wait! That is a stranger’s voice. Who is he? She listened and tried to remember the sound of the man’s voice. He didn’t have a foreign accent like Akbar’s. He sounded American, not too much different from Brooke Grant or even her own voice.
“The American president will not free our brothers in Gitmo in return for this donkey,” she overheard Akbar say.
“Shall I tell the Falcon you are questioning him?”
“No. I’m merely saying this donkey is of no real worth to us any longer.”
“Don’t be a fool. This was never about exchanging the girl and the congressman’s daughter for prisoners at Gitmo. The Falcon never expected President Allworth to agree.”
“Then why did he demand their release?”
“To send our brothers in Gitmo a message. To remind them they are heroes in this war. To give them hope. To prove that we can reach anywhere—even into Washington, D.C.—and strike. The Falcon had other reasons for having you abduct the two girls, reasons that had nothing to do with Gitmo.”
“I understand. We proved we could abduct the daughter of a member of Congress,” Akbar said. “We proved we could abduct the daughter of a CIA agent. No one is safe and now everyone in Washington is worried about closing their eyes at night. I will beat this girl. I will disgrace her by taking her virginity.”
“No. The Falcon does not want you to violate her. You must listen to his orders. Do not risk making him angry. He already is disappointed the congressman’s daughter escaped from you.”
Inside the car trunk, Jennifer couldn’t help but grin. Cassy escaped! She is free!
“Aludra betrayed us,” Akbar said. “She betrayed me. She is to blame for the girl’s escape, not me.”
“I told the Falcon that Aludra telephoned Washington from a store in the Virginia mountains. This is why he told you to kill her. But the congressman’s daughter escaped from that cabin while you and Aludra were still in that store buying groceries. Cassy Adeogo slipped her feet from her riding boots, and that was your mistake. You wrapped tape around her boots instead of her ankles. That is how she escaped from the cabin and ran into the woods, and you are to blame.”
Although she was locked inside the car trunk, the two men were standing so close outside it that Jennifer felt as if they were part of their conversation. He killed Aludra! How does this stranger know that Aludra telephoned Brooke? How had he known about Cassy’s oversize riding boots? He is telling Akbar about mistakes that Akbar had made. Is he his boss?
Jennifer continued listening. “If I had not called and warned you,” the stranger continued, “the FBI would have surprised you at that cabin, killed you, and rescued both girls.”
Akbar didn’t respond.
“I am the Falcon’s eyes and ears here,” the stranger said. “If you can’t do what you have been told, others will. Aludra betrayed us and now she is dead.”
Jennifer felt sorry for her.
“Aludra was a woman and women have no stomach for what is necessary,” Akbar said. “Even when I beat her, she did not understand. She was too kind to the donkey in the trunk but I am not kind and now the donkey must deal only with me.”
“Is that where you have the Conner girl?”
“Do you wish to see her? Her head is hooded. She will not see you.”
“No! I have no interest in seeing her. And you may not rape her.”
“Does her age trouble you? She is an infidel. Her age means nothing to me. She is an enemy of Allah and I will gladly remove her head.”
“Akbar, you failed to kill General Grant as ordered.”
“It was an impossible shot.”
“Do not make excuses. The congressman’s daughter escaped while you were watching her. You must not fail again.”
“I will not. I swear it on my life as Allah is my protector and Master.”
“Study these papers and wait for my call. I will tell the Falcon what you have said, that you have sworn an oath on your life.”
“And the donkey?”
“Beat her if necessary, but again, you may not take her virginity. Not yet.”
“How much longer before I am rid of her?”
“Not long. Study these instructions and wait for my call. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu wa maghfiratuhu.”
“And may Allah’s peace, mercy, and blessing be upon you too, my brother,” Akbar replied.
Jennifer heard a door open, a car engine start, and the sound of a car leaving. When it was quiet outside, she said: “I need to use the toilet.”
The trunk lid opened. Akbar removed the hood covering her face.
“I heard you clearly just now. Did you hear us talking? You did, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
He slapped her. “Do not lie to me, little donkey.”
“I’m not lying. I need to use the toilet.”
“I am not your servant. Piss in your pants.”
She could see a manila envelope tucked under his left arm. As she watched, Akbar dialed a number on a cell phone and held it down to her ear.
“Hello, who is this?” Brooke Grant asked.
“Mommy!” Jennifer screamed.
Akbar backhanded Jennifer without losing his grip on the phone, making certain the blow was loud enough for Brooke to hear.
“Jennifer! Jennifer where are you?” Brooke asked.
Putting the phone to his ear, Akbar said, “She is my prisoner and I am going to beat her.”
He ended their call.
Jennifer readied herself for another slap and worse, but Akbar slammed down the trunk lid and got behind the wheel. They began riding on the bumpy road through the woods again.
As Akbar was driving, he removed the SIM card and tossed the phone out the window into the trees.