Burned (7 page)

Amir reached over to pick up the black phone receiver hanging on the wall and waited for the man to do the same before speaking. “Ibrahim, peace be upon you,” he said in Urdu. “It’s been a long time.”

“And upon you, peace,” Ibrahim replied, his eyes wary. “A very long time, yes. What brings you here? I haven’t had a visitor from the mosque since right after they locked me up in this hole.”

Amir hid a wince at that and struggled to hold the bitter gaze boring into him. His skin crawled at the thought of being caged in here, locked away from the rest of the world to spend the rest of his days slowly rotting in a cell. “A friend asked me to come see you. He needs your help with something.” He had to be extremely careful with his wording because not only were they being watched; their every word was being recorded. Though anyone overhearing him likely wouldn’t speak Urdu, all it would take was the effort to find a translator and then they’d be after him too.

Ibrahim studied him intently before replying. “And what is that?”

“I’m looking for…” He mouthed the name
Zahra
.

The older man’s eyes flared and he sucked in a harsh breath. His whole demeanor changed, the tired, defeated posture vanishing as he straightened and leaned forward. “Why?” The word was hoarse, throbbing with emotion.

“Do you know where she is?”

“No.” His eyes were burning, the coiled energy seething in him palpable through the glass. At least Amir had learned what he’d come here to determine. Ibrahim might not know how to locate Zahra, but he was willing and eager to assist. Though there wasn’t much he could do from behind bars, perhaps he could provide useful background information later on if they needed it.

“Do you know how I could find her? She’s in danger.”

A mute shake of his head, then his expression turned speculative. “You know something.”

Amir nodded. “My friend called me a few hours ago. He found out she’s been invited to a function tomorrow night. I’m going to see if she shows up, so I can warn her.” Hopefully his lie would go unnoticed if anyone translated the conversation later.

Ibrahim searched his eyes, seemed to hold his breath for a moment. “What are you going to do?”

 “Me? Nothing.” Then he smiled.
I’m going to carry out Allah’s will and finish what you started, brother.

Chapter Six

The drive back to headquarters was tense. A brittle silence lay between him and Zahra and he didn’t know how to ease her. She was still visibly shaken by the news about the men on surveillance, her lips pressed into a thin line and her arms wrapped around her waist in an attempt at self comfort. He’d give anything to have her open up and let him soothe her but she’d completely shut him out. His temper did a slow burn all the way back to the office and up the elevator. By the time they hit the sixth floor, it had spilled over into a simmer and the silence was grating on his nerves like the scrape of sharp fingernails over a blackboard.

When they finally arrived on their floor and stepped out into the hallway, Sean knew she was going to walk away and couldn’t take it anymore. He snagged Zahra’s arm with one hand. She stopped and looked up at him in surprise and he quickly tugged her into an empty office and shut the door.

The instant the mechanism clicked she yanked her arm from his grasp and turned to face him with a belligerent expression. “What?”

Seriously?
Sean fought back his annoyance, tried to keep his tone calm when he felt like shouting at her. “Tell me what happened back there. You know something, and whatever it is it scared the hell out of you, so just tell me. Let me help.” It drove him crazy that she was afraid and wouldn’t let him do anything about it.

The anger in her face faded, replaced by a weary sadness that made him desperate to wipe it away. He’d seen that look often enough over the years to understand what it meant. He’d seen it in soldiers who’d watched their teammates die in a firefight and in helpless civilians caught in the crossfire and witnessed their entire family being wiped out in a single misplaced airstrike. He hated seeing that same haunted look in Zahra’s eyes because it told him she’d suffered some unspeakable trauma in the past.

“I told you, the men we’re tracking are affiliated with the mosque I used to attend,” she said.

“Yeah, and about that. I had no idea you were a practicing Muslim, let alone religious at all.” She didn’t wear a headscarf and he’d never seen or heard anything about her praying the required five times a day, so to say the mosque thing had surprised him would be an understatement.

Zahra wrapped her arms around herself and held his stare. “I’m not anymore. Not since I left for college when I was eighteen.”

Christ, it was like trying to pry a locked vault open with nothing but his bare hands. “Do you know those men?”

“No.”

“Is it possible they know you?”

“It’s possible they know
of
me,” she answered cautiously.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? He dragged a hand through his hair, wanting to shake her. Why wouldn’t she trust him with this? “That’s it? That’s all you’re gonna give me?”

She huffed out an exasperated breath, appearing equally frustrated that he wouldn’t let the matter drop. “Look, I was raised in a really strict traditional Muslim home, all right? Traditional to the point that I attended mosque every Friday and prayed five times every day and wore my headscarf as all good and modest Muslim girls should. I was raised with the expectation that once I graduated from high school I should allow my father to find me a suitable husband and stay home to raise all the babies we had together. Over time the restrictions became much worse. I watched my beautiful religion become twisted right before my eyes and start to destroy my life.”

“Your father did that?” Zahra was cautious and somewhat conservative, but she was a proud and modern westernized woman in every way. Given what she’d just told him, that must not have gone over well at home. Had her father beaten her whenever she’d done something to defy his authority and establish her independence? All Sean’s protective instincts flared to sudden, violent life. He remembered the remark she’d made to him at the safe house last week when she and Claire had served them lunch.
Don’t get used to it.
Just because I’m a brown girl doesn’t mean I like running around serving you guys food
.

That comment suddenly held a wealth of new meaning. 

Zahra nodded, her expression resigned, tired. “He hated that I refused to follow the traditional role he insisted God wanted for me,” she explained with a shrug. “It was my mother who secretly encouraged me to follow my dreams and study hard while I was growing up. When I won an entrance scholarship to MIT in my senior year of high school, you bet your ass I took it and got the hell out of there as soon as I could. I left everything behind to start fresh, including my mother, who sacrificed
everything
to give me my freedom. And I left her there in that suffocating prison of a home, Sean. I. Left. Her.” Her voice hitched and he felt like someone had punched him in the gut when he saw the sheen of tears glistening in her beautiful eyes. “When I tried to make it right the year I graduated, I…” She trailed off, shaking her head as she stared at the floor.

Her mother, Sean realized with a sudden jolt. She’d told him last night that her mother had died. Had she killed herself? Waited until her daughter was safely out of the house before she found the only way out she could?

He reached for her, opened his mouth to comfort her but she held up a hand to ward him off and gave a sharp shake of her head. “I hate everything about radical Islam, and that’s why Alex recruited me. He knows how motivated I am. Working here gives me the chance to make up for what I did wrong in the past. I’m going to help snuff out Islamic terrorism every chance I get.”

For a moment Sean was too stunned by her speech to reply. Alex had recruited her? Holy shit, even knowing that little bit of her past he had even more respect for her and what she’d made of herself.

Holding her defiant gaze, he found his voice. “I believe you, and I’m proud as hell that you’ve fought for what you wanted, what you believe in.” He chose his next words with care. How could he say what he was feeling without making her feel weak, which was the last thing he saw her as? She was a fighter and he loved that about her. “I just want to be here for you, make sure you’re safe.”

He caught the flare of shock that flickered in her eyes and wasn’t sure if she was surprised by what he’d said or if it was the idea that anyone would want to do that for her. Either way, it twisted his heart until a fierce ache filled his chest.

“Thank you,” she acknowledged with a nod, her voice just above a whisper. “That means more to me than I can say.”

Then let me in. Trust me to take care of you.
He wanted that so much it shook him. And while he wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her close, physically express how much he cared about her, he forced himself to remain still and swallow the hundred additional questions crowding his throat. If he pushed her now he knew she’d shut down, maybe for good. He wasn’t willing to risk breaking the tenuous bond of trust they’d established. “You can count on me. You know that, right?”

A tremulous smile quivered on her lips, as though his words had touched her deeply. God, did she feel that alone? It was killing him not to touch her. “Yes, I do trust you, and that’s why I wanted you to go with me tomorrow night. In light of all this I’m not sure if I’m still going, but I’ll let you know, okay? I just really need to talk to Alex right now.”

The man who’d recruited her after whatever tragedy she’d experienced. Sean found that point very interesting.

Recognizing that the conversation was over and that he wouldn’t find out anything more from Zahra, Sean relented with a nod and opened the door for her. Zahra walked quickly down the carpeted hallway and waved to Ruth, who was at her desk. “How did your interview go?” she asked her.

Ruth lowered her gaze, looking tired and drawn. “Fine. Just glad it’s over.”

Zahra reached out to rub her shoulder in silent support then lowered her hand. “Is he free now? I really need to see him.”

Ruth met her gaze questioningly then nodded. “Go ahead and wait for him in his office. He should be nearly finished by now. I’ll have him come straight up when he’s done.”

“Thanks.” Zahra strode for Alex’s office at the end of the hall, pausing there to look back at Sean over her shoulder. “I’ll see you later.”

Since there was nothing to say at that point he nodded and turned left to head to the conference room. Hunter and Ellis came in shortly thereafter and together they reviewed all the new intel with Evers, the FBI agent attached to their task force. About an hour later the door opened and Sean looked up as Gage walked in with Claire.

Hunter smiled and stood to shake his second-in-command’s hand, whose bright blue eyes were still bruised underneath from the explosion. “Hey, man, good to see you.”

“It’s good to be back,” the red-headed former SF master sergeant replied. “Hearing’s not a hundred percent yet, so y’all make sure to talk loud if you want me to hear you.”

“Sure thing, old man,” Hunter teased.

“Heard that, you fucker.” In his early forties, Gage was still in prime physical condition despite his recent brush with death and his skills in the field were sharp as ever.

Hunter reached for Claire and pulled her into a hug. “Hey, gorgeous, how are you?”

“Much better.” Cute and curvy with shoulder length light brown hair and gray eyes, she was a computer genius and one of the only people he’d seen Zahra hang out with socially. She eased back and acknowledged the rest of them with a smile. “So, how’s the investigation coming along?”

“Got some interesting leads to follow up on, so it’ll be great to have more hands on deck,” Sean said.

“Yeah, but mostly I’m just happy to see Gage because I’ve missed his cooking in the worst way while you guys were gone. Dunphy almost killed us the other night. Spiked our food with a bottle of weapons grade ghost pepper hot sauce,” Ellis put in.

“Guilty,” Sean admitted.

Gage’s blue gaze landed on him, a twinkle of admiration there. “That so?” he asked in his North Carolina drawl. “Well, I’m glad you boys missed me because I’m itching to get back to work.”

Claire shook her head as she rounded the table to sit next to Sean, muttering something under her breath about stubborn-ass alpha males. “All right, bring me up to speed,” she said to him.

Sean showed her what they’d uncovered in her absence and Hunter coordinated the team’s activities for the next twenty four hours. He and Gage divvied up and doled out more recon assignments for them, Sean and Ellis. This Amir guy, whoever he was, was in a world of hurt once they locked onto him.

On his way to the parking lot, Sean stopped at Alex’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

He found Alex alone, at his desk, and shut the door behind him.

Alex looked over at him, away from the document he’d been reading. “What’s up?”

Rather than sit in one of the chairs opposite the desk, Sean leaned a shoulder against the door and folded his arms across his chest. “Where’s Zahra?” She hadn’t come back into the conference room after her meeting.

Alex didn’t bat an eyelash. “Working. What else can I do for you?”

“You can tell me what’s going on with her, what happened to her after she left for college and how she got that limp.”

“Can’t do that.”

Sean reined in his temper with effort. Unloading on the boss was never a good idea and losing his cool would have no effect on a seasoned SF operator like Alex anyway. Still, he couldn’t let it go. “I saw the look on her face when Hunter confirmed those two assholes attended the same mosque she used to. She went pale and now she’s talking about not going to the awards ceremony tomorrow night. Is she under direct threat?” Aside from the FBI and CIA, if there was any chatter or new intelligence about an imminent attack within the NSA, Alex would know about it.

The older man shook his head. “There’s nothing that would suggest she’s being targeted specifically, no. And the only mention of her being involved in the dinner is one instance in yesterday’s paper so it’s doubtful anyone looking for her would even notice. Just her name and affiliation with MIT was in the article, nothing connecting her to the NSA, and nothing confirming that she was actually attending. I talked with her about it and she’s decided she still wants to go as long as she has protection there. You’re still going with her, right?”