In the Company of Liars

by David Ellis

  Ram feels the heat in his chest. Father places a hand on his arm.

  “He knows that,” Father says.

  Ram sees his mother now with a renewed admiration. He is not, himself, political, and never has been. Such concerns are lost on this thirteen-year-old boy. His classmates who have lived in Peshawar their whole lives have experienced more of it, and have developed an anti-Western understanding of the world, but Ram is a child of Baluchistan, where this holy war means little more than a few hundred Afghan refugees spilling into their region. But Mother always preached about freedom, about America, about the bravery of Zulfikar Bhutto, who fought for freedom and spent the last years of his life tortured and neglected in prison, before he was summarily executed by one of the many dictators who have strangled Pakistan.

  Your Pakistan will be a free Pakistan, she often told him.

  “I want to join also, Mr. Shiels,” Ram says in English.

  “So your dad says.” Shiels leans back in his chair, an easy smile on his face, but his eyes narrow.

  Mr. Shiels will need convincing. Father, too, will need convincing. Father did not want this for Ram, but he probably realized that, in part, his son would want to be a part of this for the same reason that Father did, as a way of continuing a connection with Mother.

  Father had reluctantly explained to Ram, after much prodding, that Ram would be treated differently in the CIA than Father. He was educated and had his mother’s intelligence. He would probably continue in his education and become an asset, in the eyes of whatever Islamic militant organization he pretended to be a part of, someone who could plausibly travel overseas as a student and be engaged in a much more far-reaching operation than running guns.

  And Father had repeated, so many times in the last two days, that Ram had a choice, at any time, to leave. Preparing for an operation, he told Ram, is preparing to die.

  That meant Mother had been prepared to die, too, though she hadn’t expected to die as a civilian casualty in a random bombing by the Soviets. And she hadn’t anticipated that her four-year-old daughter would be sitting at the front of the class, playing dolls, when it happened.

  The Soviets had killed Mother. Mother, who used to sing Ram to sleep at night, used to fill him with praise and hope for a better future. Mother, who used to tell him, before he did anything, to ask one question: What would your parents do?

  “I want to join,” Ram repeats.

  The man comes from around his desk and sits on it, close to Ram. “We’ll see about that,” the man says. “We’ll take it slow.”

  “I will do what you say,” Ram says.

  “Very good,” the man says. “You’ll be working with me for now. We’ll see how things progress.”

  Ram nods and offers his hand. “My name is Ram Haroon.”

  “Call me Irv,” Shiels says, shaking his hand.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Writing a novel in reverse chronological order wasn’t easy. It required the help of patient, generous friends, to whom I owe many thanks.

  To Carole Baron, for supporting this ambitious project. To David Highfill, my editor, for taking a chance on a unique plotting concept and guiding me through it. To Marilyn Ducksworth, Michael Barson, and Megan Millenky, the best publicists in the business, who got stuck with the job of trying to make me look good (never an easy task). To Christine Zika, for all her hard work and enthusiasm. You guys are the best!

  To Jeff Gerecke, my literary agent, for preserving my sanity through the drafting of the novel.

  To Randy Kaplan, soon to be a household name in the book world, for his careful and thoughtful review of several drafts of the book. To Connie Stennes, my wife’s drama teacher, in Montevideo, Minnesota, for offering her insights. To Todd (T.A.) Stone, a talented novelist himself, for his advice on how best to ambush a terrorist convoy. (Remind me never to get on your bad side, Todd.)

  To Dr. Ronald Wright, a forensic pathologist in Florida, for once again volunteering his time to answer my technical questions. To Adam Tullier, for his critique of an earlier, rather different version of the novel. To Paul Johnson, for his translation of the Arabic language and for his sense of humor. To Drew Powers, for assisting on plot and characterization. If I can get it past Drew, I can get it past anyone.

  A now redundant thank you to Jim Jann, a great friend with an incredible eye for nuance, characterization, and atmosphere in a novel. To Dan Collins, for lending an ear on plot and for answering my many questions regarding federal law enforcement.

  Thanks to everyone at my law firm for their support and enthusiasm: David Williams, Doug Bax, Kerry Saltzman, Young Kim, Chris Covatta, Michelle Powers, Adam Tullier, and Grant Tullier.

  To my wife, Susan, for spending countless hours listening to an obsessive writer ramble on about plot, character, and minor details, when that writer should be spending more time telling her how much he truly, madly loves her.