Captive- Veiled Desires (27 page)

“Did anything happen at the outreach? Anything strange?”

“I don’t know, Jake.” She began to grow anxious. “It was my first time. How was I to know if there was anything odd?”

The knocking grew more urgent and Jake walked up cautiously towards it. “Who is it?”

“It’s Ian.”

They let out a breath of relief and Jake snapped the door open.

“For godsakes, doctor, you almost killed us,” he growled.

“I’m sorry,” the man replied nervously. “I just needed to talk to you, that’s all.”

“Are you drunk again, Ian?” Amy rolled her eyes. “Whatever it is, it surely could have waited until the morning.”

“Yeah, well, that is the issue,” he muttered. He pulled out a bottle and set it down hard on the table. “Get me a glass, will you?”

“Ian, we have work tomorrow. You don’t want to be drinking at this time of the night,” Jake said with a frown.

“Oh, come on. I know you’re been starving for one. And trust me; it will be worth your while.”

Amy threw up her hands. “Might as well, because what do we do anyway in this city? Jake, you want a glass too?”

“If he’s going to throw a bottle like that in your face, is there any way anyone can say no?” he grumbled.

Ian chuckled and pointed at his sealed bottle of bourbon. “My apologies. But I needed Miss Temptation here in case you decided to throw me out.”

“And we still just might,” Amy said as she set down the glasses on the table.

He broke the seal of his bottle and poured the amber liquid into their tumblers and to the brim. “So what’s the story with your friend?”

“Nora?” Amy looked despondently down at her glass of whiskey. “Ahh, I do need this.” She gulped down her drink, feeling the hot liquid searing her throat and yet giving her the numbing pleasure she had been thirsting for a long time.

Jake gave her a wistful glance and followed suit.

She then, sat back in her chair and started from the very beginning.

Ian sat caressing his glass for a very long time. He looked over at the two people across him, exhausted from the emotions they had related a short while ago. He had done a quick background check on them and he knew they were telling the truth. They were ordinary people caught in an extraordinary affair. And so was Nora.

He straightened up with a sigh. Well, if Adam wanted his wife safely out of this country, here was his chance.

“Why are we going back to Kandahar?” Nora asked as the ends of the green mountains whisked past her, revealing the deserts she would be traveling back into.

Adam didn’t answer her. His eyes were stern and focused on the road ahead of him.

“Is something wrong, Adam?” she asked slowly.

“No,” he said, breaking out of his thoughts. “I am needed back at Kandahar. And there is no way I was gonna leave you again. Besides, Husna must be eager to see her husband as well.” He finished off with a smile.

Nora turned to the side to peer at the now sleeping woman. Her head bobbed against the window of the vehicle, her face revealing the weariness she had been put through the past weeks she had spent at the farm. Yeah, she loved it all, but she loved her husband too. And no amount of decent provisions like a water supply and a beautiful orchard could compensate that.

Nora smiled. She should know. She felt the same way about hers.

She leaned tiredly against her own window and closed her eyes. It wouldn’t be so bad. She missed Paiman and the other women. And this time she could probably enjoy the sights of the sands. She could even visit that little oasis Adam often talked about. There was so much to learn about the place she once thought had held her captive.

Adam drove quietly through the night. The women had fallen deep into sleep.

He glanced over at Nora. It was a fact she was his very soul. But Carter was drawing late on his word to get her out of here. He didn’t have a choice but to trust his friend.

He threaded his fingers through his hair with a sigh. He had recognized their names at the mere mention of them. And when Ian had revealed their pictures, he was sure they were who they said they were.

He gripped the wheel tightly. Ian was right. This was his chance. But her escape had to be planned. He had to be careful. It couldn’t look as if he was the one behind it. If he was discovered, he would be doomed by the likes of Mateen and… burned by the C.I.A.

Mateen threw a wet towel over his face as he lifted his head up to the sky with a sigh.

“You look wearied,” Hazrat Zawahiri said, alarming him into a defensive stance.

“What are you doing here?” Mateen growled.

“You should count yourself fortunate that someone is asking after you. Especially since…” The man ran his eyes down Mateen’s bare chest with a snicker. “I heard your reputation was tattered to smithereens by the one and only Adam Afridi.”

“Yeah?” Mateen snorted. “I heard the same about you.”

Hazrat smiled. “I call that fate.”

A nerve pulled at Mateen’s jaw. “Get out of here. We don’t mix with the likes of you.”

Hazrat burst out with a laugh. “Who is this ‘we’? You don’t have a we anymore, Mateen. Or have you forgotten that you were thrown out of Darul-Ilhaam?” He moved closer to him, the whites of his eyes growing red with his pent-up frustrations. “Without Darul-Ilhaam you are nothing. Join us Mateen. And I will make sure your name is reveled as it should be. You are a strong man who had been disgustedly undervalued in a place like Darul-Ilhaam. We, the Zawahiris can give you the respect you rightfully deserve.”

Mateen glared at him. But he was right. He was a nobody now. And he hated it. He loved the attention. He craved the power. And he fucking missed it.

“What does your old man think?” Mateen asked.

“He is old. His opinion doesn’t count anymore.” Hazrat coughed. “Let’s just say he has retired from the business.”

“You killed him,” Mateen realized. “You killed your own father?”

“He was standing in my way!” Hazrat shouted, stamping his foot. “He cared nothing for what Adam did to me that night. He was my father. He was supposed to avenge me! Instead, he cowered like a fool, justifying his caitiff decisions with political reasoning.  I don’t give a fuck about politics! Afridi tainted my honor and I will make sure I give him back more than he can bear. I will see him beg at my feet while I strip him off everything he cares and loves. I will see him writhe on the ground as he pleads for mercy to kill him.”

Mateen narrowed his eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

Ian hammered on their door until they opened.

“Not again, Ian,” Amy groaned. “I really can’t have you here getting us drunk. I almost got into trouble the last time and it scared the hell out of me.”

“Well, get ready for another,” he growled. “Pack up whatever you can carry. We are leaving.”

“Wait, hold on,” Jake said, raising his hand. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean pack the fuck up or you will die!”

They hurled themselves into Ian’s vehicle as he revved up the engine. Amy glanced about fearfully. Jake slid into the front passenger seat and slammed the door. Ian didn’t wait a second more as he shifted into gear and raced into the night.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this,
he thought, his palm cupping his bearded jaw.
This was meant to be easy. A clean escape. Fuck. Fuck, fuck!

HAPTER 2
3

“Where are we going?” Jake asked Ian, the vehicle jiggling through the rough roads in the middle of the desert.

“A place where you will be safe until we can get you out of here.”

“What’s going on, Ian?” Amy asked, her voice trembling from her nerves.

Ian let out a sigh and then banged his wheel with anger.

“For godsakes, Ian, tell us what is going on?!” she shouted.

Shit, I shouldn’t have done that
, Ian thought.
Now, I’ve got a hysterical woman in my back seat.

“What’s happening, Ian?” Jake growled. “I swear it that if you don’t tell us now, I’ll run us over this road! Tell us!”

“You fucked up!” he swore. “You fucked up! You fucked up!” He jerked the vehicle to an abrupt stop and jumped out of it, swearing viciously. He stamped his foot in the sand and screamed loudly.

“Ian?” Amy asked quietly once he had settled. She stared at him, wide-eyed and nervously. “Are you okay?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Ian,” Jake yelled angrily. “Are you drunk? Did you just rush us out of our room because you were caught in some drunken delusion or something?”

Ian looked up at him threateningly. “Didn’t you hear what I said? You fucked up.” He diced the words slowly. “You! You!”

“Okay, cut it out the both of you!” Amy jumped in between them before they could get into a scuffle. “And Jake, please. You’re not helping.”

“So I keep saying.” Ian threw up his hands. “He fucked up.”

“Okay, this is fucking bullshit. Tell me straight, Ian, what is it that I did?” Jake pointed at him irately.

Ian pulled in deep breaths. “Someone caught wind of you asking about Nora. That someone reported it to Hazrat Zawahiri who has recently put a bullet through his father’s brains, and teamed up with that despicable, reprehensible swine of a bastard, Mateen. And now, they’re coming after you. And that’s the nutshell of it.”

Jake and Amy stared at each, their blank faces telling him that they hadn’t a clue about what he had said.

Gah! Who cares?! I didn’t sign up for this shit.

“And what’s the full story?” Amy asked slowly.

“You listen to me,” Ian reminded them sharply. “You do as I say. This man, Adam is going to get us out. You hear? He is our only chance of life. When we reach the property, you say
pashtunwali
. You got that. That means you’re claiming sanctuary.”

“And they will give us that?” Amy asked, the sand flying by as Ian sped through the desert roads. “Isn’t this Adam Afridi a warlord? Wouldn’t he see us as the enemy?”

“They have to help us.
Pashtunwali
is an integral part of the Pashtun people.”

“And remind me how it works again?”

“Have you seen the movie “Lone Survivor”?”

“Who is in it?”

“Mark Wahlberg, of course. 
The
Mark Wahlberg.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Then no.”

Ian threw up his hands. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Mark? The Shooter? The Fighter Mark?”

Jake shook his head disappointedly. “I keep telling her, man. She needs to start appreciating fine talent.”

“Will the both of you cut it?” She rolled her eyes. “Tell me about this
pashtunwali
thing.”

“You see,
pashtunwali
is an unwritten code of life adhered by the Pashtuns,” Ian started. “That even if they see us as the enemy, but if we seek forgiveness and refuge from them, they then become liable to give us that. And right now, an enemy of the enemy is going to be a friend of ours.”

“That is so fucking honorable,” Amy whistled out in awe.

“Yeah, it is,” Ian muttered. “It’s a pity we don’t all live by such a code these days.”

Amy sat back into her seat. Although, Ian had elaborated slightly on why people were trying to kill them, she also knew there were a lot of details Ian had deliberately left out. Like who was this Adam Afridi? And how did he know a warlord so personally?

Ian skidded the vehicle to a stop and stepped carefully out of it. Men garbed in traditional Pashtun clothes drove up to him, their guns aiming at him.

He spoke quickly and in Pashtun. Amy stared at them nervously through her window.

“Are you okay?” Jake whispered.

“Can I be? There are rebels with guns outside this fucking vehicle,” she hissed back at him sharply.

“I think the doctor knows what he is doing,” Jake mumbled, his eyes focused steadily on the heated conversation between Ian and the leader of the little band of rebels.

“I hope so. Because I swear I’ll kill him first if they kill us,” Amy whispered back.

“Okay,” Ian said, hopping back into the vehicle.

“Okay what?” Amy asked impatiently. “Okay we’re going to die okay?”

“They’re giving us
pashtunwali
,” he grinned and then slapped Jake’s raised palm.

“Yes.” Jake pounded into the air.

“You did it?” Amy asked with disbelief. “You did it! You did it!” She jumped between the two front seats and hugged Ian. She then turned around and kissed Jake excitedly.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Ian warned. “They won’t have you kissing and hugging two men now.”

Adam rushed into the courtyard to find them huddled in a corner, their hands braced on their heads.

“What’s going on?” he asked Basel carefully.

“The men found them a mile away. They’re seeking
pashtunwali
because of Hazrat Zawahiri and Mateen.”

Adam’s face darkened. The bastards never learned their lessons.

“We’ll give it to them,” he said.

“They could be spies,” Hayat interrupted. “We don’t know who they are.”

“Did they carry guns?” he asked.

“No,” Hayat replied.

“Any devices of espionage?”

“No,” Hayat said, licking his lips.

“Did you check them thoroughly?”

“Yes.”

“Then they have a right,” Adam said drily. He turned back to Basel. “Send them up to my office. I want to hear their story first.”

Adam sent the guards outside his office door away. “Leave us. I should be fine.”

He turned the knob and stepped into it. The couple stared at him nervously.

“Hello,” Jake said, standing up. “Umm… we claim
pashtunwali
?”

Adam shifted his glance, bearing down on the woman beside him. She was pretty; just as he had seen her in a picture. She had some balls too to come out all the way here and look for her best friend. Stupid but ballsy.
I suppose her boyfriend thought he could play Rambo and simply fly Nora and her out of here.

“We come in peace,” Amy started and then repeated the words slowly, dramatizing with her hands. “We… come… in peace.”

Adam looked at her amusedly and then turned to Ian. “Can we talk?”

Ian stood up and they stepped a little away.

“He speaks English,” he overheard Amy say with embarrassment.

“He speaks it with an American accent,” Jake noted with a frown.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Adam whispered.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice. But we can still do it. The chopper is still good to land on the day.”

Adam nodded. “What do they know about me?”

Ian ran a nervous hand through his hair. “That you’re a warlord and Zawahiri’s arch-nemesis.”

Adam creased his brow. “Nemesis? I thought I was the hero of this story.”