Page 242 of Whisper

Take away everything

that takes me from you.

La ilaha illah Allah wa-Muhammad rasul Allah

Allahu Akbar.

Kris shuddered, reading the words.There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his messenger. God is Great.“Where are we?” he choked out.

“Just getting away for a while. I’ve got to keep you safe. They’re still trying to find Haddad. But it’s September eleventh. I have to get you out of here, in case he’s trying to hurt you.”

He stared at the back of Dan’s head, lines from Dawood’s poem repeating in his memories, from a different time. “Iknowwhat I saw last night, Dan.”

Dan sighed. “No, you don’t, Kris. You were confused. You walked in on the middle of something, and I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

“Iknowwhat I saw. What the fuck did you do to me?”

“Damn it, no youdon’t!” Dan slammed his palm on his steering wheel. The car leaped forward, accelerating. “I’m trying to save you!”

“Dawood was right. About everything.” He shifted. “About the mole.”

Dan cursed. “Is that what you believe?”

“I believe thetruth.”

“The truth is staring you in the face!” Dan shouted. “Haddad confessed! He said everything that happens is because of him! And that he’s doing this for the God he loves, his Islam! His brothers! Christ, you areobsessedwith him, so obsessed!”

Kris laughed. “This confession? This is a love letter. Our marriage vows are in this, you dumb piece of shit! Dawood is telling me he’s doing whatever he’s doing forme. That he’d do anything for me. Even something he was forced to do, something abhorrent. Something the mole was making him do against his will.”

In the rearview mirror, Kris watched Dan’s gaze darken, his face tighten. Watched him mutter curses as he gripped the steering wheel.

“I should have believed Dawood from the first moment. I should have gone with him, helped him with everything. I should never have listened to you!”

“I’m not the one who fucked a terrorist! I’m the Goddamn patriot here! I am helping the country! I am waking everyone up again!”

“You’re a monster, you sick fuck!” Kris kicked the back of Dan’s seat, both feet slamming hard, once, twice, three times.

Dan reached behind the seat, punching at his legs. “You told me once you wanted to blow open the entire detainee program. Call the newspapers, be a whistleblower. You remember I asked you if you thought you were willing to be the one person to make that call? Make choices for the world, the whole government, decide what is and isn’t worth it? For everyone?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’ve been thinking about that moment foryears,” Dan hissed. “AndIam the one who can make that call. Who can make the sacrifice. Who can make the hard decisions, for the right reasons. I always have been. That’s why I succeeded where you failed, Kris. That’s why I have the job you should have had. I could do things no one else could! And that’s why I’m doing this. I’m saving everyone!”

“You want to murder thousands and thousands of people. You disgust me!”

“I’m a hero! You should fucking worship me! One day, everyone will thank me!”

“You’re fucking delusional! Everyone is hunting for you, you fucking terrorist! I called George! Before I came for Dawood. I fucking called George!”

“What?” Dan’s gaze flicked to his in the mirror.

“I called George. I had to know if you’d briefed him. At first, I thought Ryan had got to you. That he was exactly the asshole I thought he was. You covered your tracks well. But, you can’t hide from the truth. It’syou. You are the mole, Dan. You’ve been betraying the CIA for two years. And now everyone knows!”

Dan’s gaze burned through the mirror, sudden, pure hatred flowing from him.

“You’ve known Dawood wasalivefor two years. You looked me in theeyesand youknew!”

“What the fuck did you expect I would do? Tell you the love of your life was alive? Fuck no! We were finally together! Haddad wasn’t going to fuck that up!”