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THE NEXT MORNING, IMARA WOKE UP with the corner of a desk digging into her shoulder. A blanket drifted off her arm as she shifted away from the desk. She pulled the blanket up to her nose and sniffed it. It hadn’t been there when she fell asleep.
Her muscles creaked as she pulled herself to a sitting position. She decided to never sleep on a floor again. The crick in her shoulder reminded her too much of Takara’s mansion.
She glanced over the room, the office at Abe’s headquarters. Keiko was curled into a ball on the floor next to her. Abe laid on his stomach with his arms and legs splayed out around him. Husani slept next to him, but Edrice was missing. She must have woken up already.
After failing to retrieve any dangerous items from Sef’s shipment, they all stayed up late pouring over the picture Imara took. They spent hours gazing at the contents of the box, trying to figure out what could possibly be made with the items. And how they could be dangerous. None of them wanted to give in to the possibility that Sef and Takara might actually take over Cairo.
Each of them helped in their own ways. Edrice found blueprints for all sorts of electronic devices. Imara, Abe, and Husani studied the blueprints trying to find a device with the same items that had been in the box. Keiko spent the time perfecting her virus, hoping to get it finished before she left for Alexandria.
The hours had ticked by, but none of them wanted to leave.
When they got too tired to think, Abe brought pillows and blankets. They had all nodded off one by one while spouting off theories, each more ridiculous than the last.
A few minutes later, Edrice came in with plates of taameya, a breakfast falafel, from a nearby restaurant. Soon, they were all awake and back to deciphering the contents of the boxes.
And still they had nothing but a few wild guesses.
They spent an hour, then two, then ten. Still, they had nothing.
Around dinnertime, they all took a break. Keiko, Husani, and Edrice all went home to shower and eat, but Imara and Abe went back to headquarters. It was the first time they’d been alone since she left the hospital. It probably wouldn’t have taken so long to find a spare moment alone, but Abe seemed to be avoiding the conversation.
With their backs pressed up against a wall of the office and with plates of food in their laps, she was finally ready to make him talk. He smiled nonchalantly, making small talk and pretending everything was fine. She allowed him a few minutes of this before she put her plate of food on the ground.
“Abe,” she said slowly. “We need to talk about Edrice.”
The smile he’d been wearing for the past twenty-four hours ripped away from his face and got replaced by a grimace. “I assumed you didn’t want to talk about it,” he said, pushing his food around with a fork. “Because you haven’t brought it up yet.”
She tilted her head to the side. “When was I supposed to bring it up? With everyone standing around?”
“No.”
“Before that then?” she asked. “When I was still at home? Because I tried that. You spent three days sending messages to Naki instead of me.”
“You were recovering,” he said, leaning away.
“You were avoiding me.”
He flinched and stared at his plate. After a moment he crossed his arms over his chest. “You have to see things from my perspective. You got eraserfalled, and you didn’t have job. You were devastated, and I couldn’t handle it. I knew Edrice would freak out if she found out we were dating, but I also knew you’d be great at this job. And you are. You and Edrice were even friends. Everything was better without anyone knowing; so can you really blame me for keeping it secret?”
She let out a scoff and didn’t try to hide the patronizing look in her eye as she tilted her head. “You should have told me,” she said. “You should have told Edrice too. You should have told all of us. Don’t pretend you did the right thing.”
“I—” he said as he raised his hands in defense. “I,” he said again. But then his hands fell and he let out a sigh. “Yes, I should have told you. I’m not convinced Edrice had to know, but I should have told you.” He flinched, and a wisp of a wine-colored fear spike grew out from his skin.
Another fear spike grew, followed by a cobalt blue drop of sadness. He looked down. “I was afraid you’d break up with me if you found out I was working with my ex. I know it was wrong to lie, but... I was afraid of losing you.”
The sincerity in his eyes went a long way toward helping her forgive him for this whole thing. “I get why you did it,” she said. “I’m not excusing it, but I get it.”
His fingers twitched as if to grab her hand, but she snatched her plate off the ground to keep her hands out of reach. “After the hospital, you were supposed to come with me to Kenya. You still haven’t come. But then we met Edrice here, and the truth finally came out. She was mad, and I was mad. We both deserved an explanation. We both deserved your attention.”
She lowered her eyes until she was staring at a lone sesame seed on the edge of her plate. She took in a sharp breath. “And you chose her.”
Abe swallowed and pulled at his shirt collar. He swallowed again and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.” He started to speak again, when a notification chimed from his ring. He shook his head at the distraction and said, “I never should have—”
But then his ring chimed again, and this time Imara’s did too. She wrinkled her nose at it, and he opened his mouth one more time. As if on cue, they both got a series of three notifications in a row.
Imara let out a huff and tapped her ring. “It’s Keiko,” she said. She skimmed through the messages as quickly as she could. By the time she read the last message, she was already on her feet, heading for the door.
Within seconds, she and Abe were rushing down the road.
Imara tapped her ring and moved her hologram screen to the side so she could see Keiko as she ran. Once on the phone with her, Keiko said, “I’m sending you the virus now.”
Imara kept her eyes on the road as her feet slapped the pavement. Abe tapped on his hologram when suddenly, his face fell. “Husani isn’t answering. He’s probably still in the shower.”
Keiko waved her hand at that. “It doesn’t matter. Imara has to do it; she’s the only one he won’t recognize.”
“Sef did see me once,” Imara said. “It was my very first night here.”
“That was months ago. He won’t remember,” Abe assured her.
Imara nodded, scanning the buildings for the restaurant Keiko had mentioned. The same restaurant where her dad worked.
“The file I sent you has the virus and a program. You have to open the program to plant the virus. Just minimize your hologram screen so it’s too small for Sef to see. Then, bump into him or do whatever you have to do so that your ring makes physical contact with his ring.”
She felt the curls bounce over her forehead as she nodded. She already knew the next part. After the rings made contact, she had to pretend to be a waitress and offer to let Sef use the private conference room. One that conveniently had a wall hologram in it.
They’d been waiting for an opportunity like this, but never expected it to come so fast.
“Everything should be set,” Keiko said. “Sorry to rush you into this, but my dad and I are leaving for Alexandria tomorrow, and I wanted to be sure I finished this for you before we left.”
Imara nodded and ended the call. But before she turned off her ring, another phone call came through.
“Who is it?” Abe asked, leaning toward her screen.
She moved the screen so he could see, then tapped Naki’s picture.
“Where are you?” Naki asked.
“I’m in...” Imara started. “Oh. Oh no, the concert. What time is it right now?”
Naki’s lips pursed as she tried to hide a sniff. “If you’re still in Egypt, it’s too late. I’ll just have to go without you.”
Imara’s heart sunk, but she couldn’t go home right now. This may be their only chance to get Sef’s list. Yet again, she’d have to disappoint her sister. Imara frowned. “I’m sorry, Naki. Something came up.”
“Just like always,” Naki said as she turned her head away.
Heat spread through Imara’s cheeks. “This is time sensitive. Sef is at a restaurant and Keiko’s dad is working there, and Keiko finally finished the virus. It’s the perfect opportunity to get his list.”
Naki waved her hand through the air. “It’s fine. I’ll just go with Basara instead. He’s been calling me a lot lately. See you later.”
Her gut twisted as the phone call ended, but she shoved the feeling away. This plan wouldn’t succeed unless she had complete focus. They arrived at the restaurant only a minute later.
Abe squeezed her hand and said, “I’ll be right outside if anything goes wrong. Just be careful.”
Imara barely nodded as she walked through the doors.
