With a minute to go, Yasmin forced herself to slow down as she reached the gate to platform three.
A neatly uniformed guard was checking a woman’s ticket against his passenger list. ‘Take care, madam,’ he said, waving her through before his eyes skipped to Yasmin. ‘Boarding pass, please, miss.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Yasmin said breathlessly, ‘but I haven’t had time to pick it up. With all the traffic out there, I barely made it here.’
The guard wrinkled his mouth. ‘Well, you’ll have to get it and catch a later train,’ he said. ‘You must understand that security is a big priority today. I have to do my job.’
Yasmin burst into tears. She didn’t have to fake it. Not only had today’s events taken their toll but getting on this train was her only chance of getting away from here alive!
The guard shifted awkwardly. ‘Miss, please, don’t cry,’ he said quietly. ‘Have you got ID?’
Snuffling, Yasmin handed over her passport. The man studied it and checked his passenger list.
‘Yasmin Adib, first class, seat 5C,’ he said. ‘Please go through. Hurry!’
‘Really?’ she asked, wiping her eyes.
He nodded. ‘Go before I change my mind. Next!’
Yasmin rushed along the busy platform to the first-class carriage directly behind the engines that would pull the long train north to Alexandria. She climbed aboard and took her seat, anxiously looking through the window, expecting to see Jackal’s leering face appear at any moment. Yasmin counted down seconds that seemed to take hours.
There was a long whistle and the cry of ‘All aboard!’
A horn blared, the carriage lurched forward and then Cairo’s railway station was sliding away. The train settled into a reassuring rumbling rhythm as it picked up speed. Yasmin relaxed a little into her seat.
Behind her women talked in low voices about the day’s events.
Yasmin wondered what they would say if she told them what she knew. That the attacks were part of a larger plot. That there might be more to come. That she was somehow caught up in it. She thought the women would probably say she was crazy. Yasmin hoped Andy’s dad didn’t have that reaction. She hoped the detective believed his son and that his contacts could ensure nothing else terrible happened.
Thinking of Andy’s dad made Yasmin realise she still hadn’t let her own father know she was all right. She pulled out her phone and tapped out a quick text.
Yasmin nearly screamed when she saw a shadow loom over her reflection in the window.
Terrified, she turned—and then sighed with relief.
‘Miss?’
The blinking man standing in the aisle looked meek and mild. He held out his boarding pass.
‘I think you’re in my seat,’ he said.
Yasmin laughed.
‘See—5D,’ he said. ‘Window.’
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry.’
They shuffled around and the man took his seat and promptly went to sleep.
As he snored, Yasmin realised something awful. Her name was on the passenger list! If Jackal had gotten access to it, then he’d know not only the train she had boarded but which carriage she was in and even which seat she occupied.
With the train slowing as it came to a suburban station, Yasmin suddenly felt very vulnerable.
She had to find a place to hide.