Page 28 of Deadly Betrayal

The man followed Shahram out of the apartmentand relocked the door. The neighbors and the young woman with theloose headscarf had evidently retreated back to their homes. Khalidtook the opportunity to dig for more information. “Where does AghaShahram park his car?”

Shahram’s neighbor indicated a stairwell.“Befarmaeed.” After you.

The stairwell led down to a basement parkinggarage only large enough to hold a handful of cars. The man pointedto a blue Corolla. Khalid nodded. “Tashakor, agha.”

“I hope you find him well.”

“I will find him. Do not worry.” Khalid meantit with every fiber of his body. Azita had come to see her brotheronly a few nights ago. If anyone knew where she was, it washim.

On the drive to work, he dialed Shahram’snumber several more times, and each time there was no answer. Hadhe changed his number? As soon as Khalid reached his office, hestopped by the desk of the minister’s assistant and jotted thenumber on a notepad. He struggled impatiently through the lengthygreeting protocol, and as soon as it could be deemed polite, heasked, “Agha Ali, would you be so kind as to help me identify whothis number belongs to?”

“Of course, Agha Khalid.”

The assistant leaned into his doorway fiveminutes later. “Agha Khalid. The owner is Shahram Seraj.”

So the little shit was ignoring his calls,was he? “Agha Ali, your kindness will not be forgotten.” He steppedaround the desk and handed the man an envelope in which he’d placedenough afghanis to smooth the way for his next question.

Ali peered inside the envelope and smiledbefore quickly slipping it inside his vest.

“Do you think your contact at the telephonecompany could pinpoint the location of the telephone?” Khalidasked, certain the man would do whatever it took to receive anotherenvelope stuffed with money. Government jobs were nice to have, butlike everything else, they didn’t pay very well in the lower ranks.“It is very important. Tell them it is ministry business.”

With a nod, the assistant left. Khalidgathered up his notes for the meeting with the minister, buoyed bythe knowledge that Allah helped the righteous. He’d been workingtoo hard and too long to let his plans be derailed by a pretty facewith a soft heart.

Maybe he should have told Azita about hisplans for Afghanistan last night. She was smart, and like him, sheloved their homeland. They both worked day after day to better theplight of its people. She’d understand why he’d had to let Tariqhave Laila. She’d understand that it was more important to savetheir country than it was to make one small girl happy.

She’d understand that he was ensuring abetter future for their children.

Allah help them both if she didn’t.

Mountains loomed large on one side of thezigzagging road that had to have been built atop a goat trail whilesteep cliffs lined the other. At least the A76, the Asian Highway,was paved. As Shahram veered around a hairpin turn way too fast,Kaden clutched the oh-shit handle, thankful he and Azita were inthe back seat. “Are you trying to get us killed?”

Azita snickered.

“I am a very good driver.” Shahram pointed toan identical Corolla cutting between the two opposing lanes. “Nowthat one, he will cause an accident.”

Jesus Christ. Everyone thought they wereMario Andretti in this place. Where was a tank when you neededone?

For several minutes, no one spoke as the roadcurved left and right, almost circling back on itself. Shahram’sphone rang for what had to be the twentieth time since they’d leftJabal-os-Saraj. Either the man was a heroin dealer, or someonewanted to talk to him badly. And Kaden needed only one guess toknow who that was.

“Answer the phone or turn it off, because ifit rings one more time, I’m leaving it and you on the side of theroad.” His nerves were on edge enough without the constant reminderof Azita’s guardian.

“But the checkpoints—”

“Fuck the checkpoints!” He held Shahram’sgaze in the rearview mirror to let the man know he meantbusiness.

Shahram bit his lip and looked away. “It’sKhalid.”

“Obviously.”

Azita sighed. “By ignoring him, you’re justmaking him more suspicious.”

“But what should I tell him?” Shahram curledhis fingers around the steering wheel.

Kaden struggled not to smack the man upsidethe head. It would be as satisfying as fuck, but it might send theminto a head-on collision. “Tell him what we agreed, that you andAzita are visiting your sick aunt.”

“What if I can’t convince him?”

“Then we’ll have a problem.” Kaden made sureto add a growl to his words.