Page 187 of Secrets Beneath the Waves

Kidal is an isolated city in the desert region of northern Mali that for decades has held both strategic and symbolic significance in the region. A town that sits near the borders of Algeria and Niger—the perfect location for arms trafficking, militant movement, and smuggling routes.

I glance at Graham, a part of me wondering if he isn’t holding out on me. “You’ve worked in North Africa. What were you doing there?”

Graham frowns and starts the engine. “I pulled a French dual-national out of Mali, an asset extraction that had gone sideways.”

“What about Kidal?”

“Never made it that far north.”

I still don’t know how to make sense of it. If the message—or rather threat—wasn’t meant for us, then who was it for?

“We need to head to the office and talk to Hawke,” Graham says, pulling out of the parking space. “Maybe he’ll know something.”

If we can trust him.

I try to take back the thought, but it’s already taken hold. I trust Hawke, but something is wrong. Whoever that man was, he was sending us a warning.

“I might know who he’s working for,” I say, fighting the conflict in my gut. I’m not a hundred percent sure I believe Graham’s connection to North Africa, but I have to trust someone.

Graham speeds down the narrow street, then turns onto a busier boulevard. “Who?”

“I told you Oumar works for the Koumana Syndicate. His knowledge of the area and smuggling routes has given their network a stark advantage, and General Keïta would never let someone else have him. Oumar knows far too many secrets.”

“So your theory is that someone snatched Oumar for those secrets and now one of the guys from the Koumana Syndicate has been sent to find him.”

“It does make sense,” I say.

“But we still don’t know who has him or why they are holding him for ransom if what they want is information.” Graham says, letting out a breath. “Say you’re right and Oumar has been taken because of the information he has. Who are our options?”

My mind immediately switches to the intel I’d been going over before I fell asleep last night.

“Their biggest competition is a Russian arms dealer named Ivan Kozlov. His network is made up mainly of corrupt military officials and local warlords who control a large percentage of the smuggling routes in the Sahel and beyond.”

“If he’s disrupting their supply routes, they would have motivation,” Graham says.

“Exactly. We need to call Hawke and let him know what’s going on?—”

My phone rings and, oddly enough, it’s Hawke.

“We were just about to call you,” I say after answering.

“We have a problem,” Hawke says. “There’s been a breach at the safe house.”

CHAPTER

TEN

[Ransom Countdown: 26 Hours, 48 Minutes remaining]

“What happened?”I ask Hawke, shifting gears mentally as I put my phone on speaker.

“I don’t know much,” he says. “Lizzie found the guards unresponsive when she arrived at the apartment, then apparently someone ambushed and drugged her. They were all taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital about thirty minutes ago.”

“And Mariam?” I ask.

He pauses then says, “Mariam’s gone.”

“Do we have video footage of the attacks?” Graham asks.