**********
Abdul felt strange seated across from Ty, talking to him in this way. He wished it were different circumstances.
“So you see, I felt the need to tell my sister. She always keeps things straight and will know what to do in case my brother gets out of hand. We have to hope things move along so he will be happy.”
“What about your nephew?”
“I don’t know. He is a problem, always has been, only now it’s worse and your life is involved, maybe Rose’s. I know I promised but I can’t be with him around the clock. I will go warn her.”
Ty felt bad for Abdul but it was something that he’d created. He just prayed that it didn’t cost his or Rose’s life.
“Will you warn her as yourself, as Noori’s cousin or as the captor?”
“I will contact Noori and let him know I found out through connections. I will do all I can to keep her safe. I know she means everything to you. I give my word.”
Ty knew this was costing him a great deal. “Listen, I don’t know what the outcome of this will be but if we ever get out of this alive I could make it easy for you to get out of here.”
“It would be hard, they suspected my brother-in-law was involved with certain activities.”
“Well it would be easy to get you into another country. I have wanted Noori and his sister to get out too. Maybe Jordan for now. Rose is friends with the Queen. Her husband, the King, is to be one of the parties involved with the negotiations.”
Abdul sat back, thinking. It would be so good to get out of this hell. Work for a better Iraq, but get his sister out. Maybe he needed to help with refugees. Rose could help with that.
Ty could see the struggle that Abdul was going through. He wanted to fight here in his homeland but he cared for and loved his sister. She was a brave woman.
“Listen Ty, we will talk more but I have to think, let this play out for a bit. If things could get moving in the right direction for my country, then Omar would be satisfied. I would still like to get my sister out of here, though I doubt she would go without me.”
“Contact and warn Rose. Maybe she could get someone to act as her guard.”
Abdul got up. “I will go now. We will talk later. I will bring my sister, but we will have to be careful that my brother Omar doesn’t catch on or there will be a price to pay.”
Ty got up to stretch. Looking at Abdul, he felt sorrier for him with every minute, but his anxiety for Rose was mounting. “Please warn her quickly.”
“I will go now. I would say don’t worry but a lot is at stake here. It’s like a bomb ready to go off.” He opened up the door and left.
Ty heard the lock go into place. What would the outcome of all this be?
Chapter 22
Rose woke and knew she needed to get up, but she wanted to just lay there for just a minute. Yesterday had been trying. She had spent the rest of Friday talking with her Da, then with officials from both Jordan and then Afghanistan. Yesterday she had spent time talking with Andrew Smith then her Senator. The latter had assured her they were doing all they could through the other parties to get things moving.
In reality they were, but not fast enough. She was so scared that the brooding partner of the man she has spoken to would snap and then what? Somehow Noori’s cousin had gotten wind of what was going on and had come to warn her later on Friday. Noori didn’t say much but didn’t appear to be too happy. He had walked off with his cousin and then been quiet the remainder of the day.
Today they were supposed to go to Abdul’s house for a meal. She was going to meet Daoud’s family too.
She had a note delivered to her yesterday in Ty’s crisp, clear handwriting. She had fallen asleep with it tucked next to her as she slept. Just having something that he had touched meant a great deal to her. She had tried not to cry over it, afraid it would ruin the letter. He said if he could, he would write more but couldn’t be sure.
Getting up out of bed, she needed to get going. Have some breakfast and answer emails that had come in last night. She had answered the ones from her parents and Ty’s Mom but the others she held off. Besides she had been so tired by the time she got done with those couple she couldn’t see straight.
Jumping to the sound of her phone she ran to get it. “Yes?”
“Rose, look at the TV right now.”
Rose ran while she held the phone. “Is it bad?”
Noori tried to control his voice. “Please just look.”
Rose flipped on the TV and found the station Noori had mentioned. What she saw shocked her. There sat Ty, but from what she could tell it wasn’t in the same room that she had seen the last broadcast. It was in a smaller, cruder room. The man who held a gun to his head sounded like the man who had given her a hard time. He was barking orders at Ty. From the looks of it, Ty was having a hard time, stumbling over the words. She was watching the clip and then she heard commotion in the background and the tape stopped.
“Noori we need to do something… God, I can’t think. What does this mean? Has the man who we have been dealing with lost control? Is the other man in charge now?” Rose tried to fight the hysteria that was gaining control. “I need to call my Da. Can you and Daoud be here in thirty minutes?”
“We are here Rose, down in the lobby.”
“Can you find out how old that tape is?” Rose asked as she ran around the room gathering her clothes.
“I had Daoud call the station, it’s a half an hour old. They said some young college age student brought it in, demanded that they put it on the air right away.”
Rose ran for her knapsack. “Let me call my parents and I will be down in twenty minutes.”
Noori saw his cousin come into the lobby. “Rose, Daoud is trying to tell me something. I will see you when you get downstairs.”
Fatima heard the commotion and ran for the back storage area. When she got there she heard Abdul yelling at their brother.
“Omar, you had no right to do that. Progress is being made, faster than any of us could have hoped for.”
Ty moved back away from the two brothers. The older brother Omar was near the breaking point, and he could tell Abdul was having a hard time controlling himself.
“Progress, you speak of progress, we get nothing but empty promises. The only thing that gets results is people seeing blood. He,” tilting his head towards Ty “needs to die, then we will see results.”
Abdul pushed his way so he placed himself in between Ty and his brother. “You will have to go through me. Not everyone is like you and Hamid. The others, they won’t agree to this. They don’t want blood on their hands, there has been enough. Killing him isn’t going to get our demands met. We made a promise and we have to follow through with that promise. We are trying to be humane here.”
Abdul saw his brother thinking, in that, it was good. It bought him and Ty a bit of time.
Omar picked up his Kalashnikov. Looking at his brother, he knew it wouldn’t be long.
“You have till Thursday, no longer. Then we kill him.”
**********
Abdul, Fatima and Ty sat in the courtyard. “If we let him go right now, Omar will kill us both.”
“I never thought I’d say this but….” Fatima looked at her brother Abdul. He was like the son she had never had. She would do anything for him. She would even kill her other brother. “Not if we kill him first.”
Ty couldn’t believe the conversation. He knew Fatima was devoted but she talked now as cold blooded as her other brother had spoken just ten minutes before.
“You can’t kill your brother, his son would know, it would ignite him. Even Abdul said he was a problem. He is probably the one getting his father worked up.”
Abdul’s cell phone went off. Opening it up and listening, he grunted a few words then hung up. “Let’s go watch the TV for a minute. Omar said something is on. He didn’t sound happy.”
They filed into the house and went to Abdul’s office where he had a small set. Turning it on, t
hey saw the Secretary for the President of Afghanistan.
Listening, Ty was filled with hope. “Talks have started with Iraqi officials about the release of the ten men who were on the list. The American government welcomed any talks that further speeded up the release of Ty Madison, who had been kidnapped….” The rest was lost to Ty as he watched the commentator. Abdul changed the channel and the BBC was on broadcasting the same story.
Ty turned to Abdul and Fatima. “That’s good news, then?”
Fatima faced Ty. “Yes and no. It’s good on our part but my brother and his son seem to want more, a sacrifice perhaps. We won’t allow it. Let him sacrifice himself. I know my dear husband would kill the two of them himself. He couldn’t stand senseless killing like they seem to be embracing. Let them go join a group, volunteer for a mission.”
“That would be too simple a solution to our problem. No, we will take care of it and somehow not have blood on our hands, Fatima,” Abdul said as he looked at Ty. He wished it could be different circumstances, maybe they could have been friends, like Ty was to his cousin.
“I am sorry this has happened this way, but we will find a peaceful solution and you will be free. All I ever wanted was peace. That was what my brother-in-law wanted,” Abdul said as he sunk his face into his hands as shook his head.
Fatima looked at her brother. “It will be okay, we will survive and so will Ty.”
Ty’s mind was going in a million different directions.
“May I send a note to Rose? I want her to see if she can make arrangements at some point for you two to leave for a time, even if it’s to Jordan.”
Fatima looked from Ty to her brother. “I won’t leave without you, Abdul.” She could tell they had been talking about it before because of the uncomfortable look that passed over her brother. “I won’t, I will stay right here.”
“You will do as I say, Fatima. Omar may be older than me but I am the head of this house and you will obey me.”
Fatima stared at her brother hard. “You don’t want to push me Abdul.” She turned on her heel, walking away, her robe swishing.
Abdul rubbed his eyes. “I know I handled it wrong, but I fear for her. I want her to have a better life. She has suffered so much. Our father and our oldest brother dying in Afghanistan.”
Here was a family who had seen suffering. It was the same all over the region, but Ty was part of this personally. He felt Noori was part of his extended family and Fatima and Abdul were part of that. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Abdul reached and turned off the small TV set. “No, not now, but sometime though. It’s part of our history. I will be back later.” Abdul turned and closed the door.
Ty waited for the lock to be put into place. It wasn’t. He walked to the door and found it opened up.
Chapter 23
Rose sat with Daoud, Noori and Abdul.
“You have to understand, they have approached me as a go-between. I cannot refuse or my sister and I will be at risk. They seem to be having an inner struggle, so even though the reports today were positive, the elder of the group is getting inpatient for things to move fast.”
Rose didn’t like it. Things were going in the wrong direction, despite her best efforts. She was doing all she could, but they had Ty on the TV this morning, tied and looking very vulnerable as they pushed him and pushed a gun on one side and a knife to his throat.
“Will they meet with me again?”
Abdul wanted to look in Rose’s face, but it was hard. He also felt Noori studying him.
“They didn’t say anything about meeting. They weren’t happy.”
Noori studied his cousin. In reality he didn’t even know him. They had moved back in 1981 when they were both young. Something was amiss and he didn’t like it.
Rose’s first reaction was to panic, but panicking would get her nowhere fast and it was a time waster. “I would like to send another note, if I may.”
Abdul hit his head. “I forgot, here is a note from him. I was asked to give it to you. There are some in the group who don’t think like the leader.”
Rose took the note like it was a lost treasure. It was a treasure to her. Her link to the man she loved. She felt like things were moving too quickly and in the wrong direction. She had to get things back on track to keep Ty safe. Looking down at the note, she listened to the men as they talked. She would read it when she was alone. As she looked at the paper, a thought came to her.
“Remember Little Sister, I will come to you, help you if you ever need me. I have people who will help at my fingertips as you would say. If you need me all you need to do is call. You know how to get in touch with me.”
Samid, why hadn’t she thought to call him? “Noori, Samid!”
Noori looked up at Rose’s voice. “Yes, Rose. I forgot to tell you, he called this morning. He is on his way, along with others. They will be here this afternoon.”
Abdul looked at his cousin. “Samid? Who’s that?”
“A former Northern Alliance. He was a cousin to General Masooud. He is coming to help Rose.”
They all talked at once. Rose felt like she was surrounded by her noisy family. Samid was now here representing the President of Afghanistan. “This is too much, you are working with the President, Samid?”
“Yes, he knew what we stood for and that we would do anything for him. We had heard the news and when I saw you, Little Sister, I knew I had to come here to help. When he asked me and the men to come I told him we were already packed!”
Rose looked down at the gift that they had brought for her and her father. “This was sweet of you, Samid, to bring these gifts.”
“You are our family. All the things you have done for us?” He looked at the other men. “Rose, you have been responsible for setting up schools, getting clinics up in the mountains, you have moved mountains, Rose. We couldn’t bring all the gifts or the men who wanted to come. Men who wanted to seek out the insurgents to kill them because they have hurt their Little Sister.”
Abdul hoped he didn’t look as green as he felt. Here were hardened warriors who were willing to do anything. His brother and nephew thought they were tough, they were nothing. They were hot heads, that was all. “Rose I will leave now but Fatima would like you for dinner. Would your guest be our guest tonight?”
Rose looked over at Samid, who was smiling his big friendly smile. She looked at the five men with him, all cousins of some degree. “I could come help Fatima cook if she likes.”
Abdul needed to get out, away from these men, but he wanted his brother and nephew to see them and what they stood for… they were honorable.
“She would love your company.”
“Ok, Abdul, tell her I will be there this afternoon.”
**********
Noori followed his cousin out. He needed to talk with him. He wasn’t looking very good and Noori wasn’t comfortable with the way he had been acting.
“Abdul, wait, I need to ask you something.”
“Give me a minute Noori, let me call Fatima and let her know about the additional guest.” Abdul flipped open his phone and placed the call. After talking with his sister for a brief minute he turned his attention to his cousin, who he knew was going to ask some intrusive questions.
Looking square in the eyes of his cousin Noori, he hoped it might dispel any questions Noori had. Act calm, you don’t want him to catch on.
Noori could think of a hundred questions but one very important one would suffice. “How involved with this group are you, Abdul? Is it your brother who is in charge?”
Abdul was so taken aback by his cousin’s direct attack that he simply lowered his head.
“It was supposed to be easy, I never meant it to turn the way it has. You just don’t know Omar, he’s a changed man and his son… he is another story.”
“Why Abdul, why Ty?”
“Because we knew he could get the help we needed, that bringing Rose here would add weight to our cause. We knew she was a fighter a
nd wouldn’t stop till she got what she wanted.”
To Noori this was no surprise, but it sickened him. “I ought to kill you with my own hands right now, and then go kill Omar and his son.”
“You wouldn’t, would you?” Abdul wasn’t so scared for himself but he thought of Fatima. “Fatima doesn’t know a thing, leave her out of this.”
Noori was close to carrying out what he felt. “Go, we will talk later, you are going to fix things. By tomorrow Ty is going to be free. Do you understand me?”
“He will kill me, he or his son.”
Noori couldn’t care less. His own family. Well they weren’t family any more. As far as he was concerned they were just like the dogs on the street. “I don’t care.”
A thought came to Noori. “Is Ty at your shop?”
“No, at my home.”
Noori should have listened to Rose when she said she thought she heard a
certain song. It was Ty humming to Rose. “Was he there the night we came to dinner?”
“Yes, listen I know what we did was wrong. It was the wrong way of going about it.”
Noori got in Abdul’s face. “You will fix it though, by no later than tomorrow.”
“Yes.” Abdul felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I have to go.”
“Don’t disappear. My friends will not be happy if I tell them.”
**********
Rose felt out of the loop. Everyone was upset about something, but she didn’t know what it was and no one would talk, except Samid, who, whenever he saw Rose, smiled and would think of something else to tell her that his wife had said to ‘tell Rose’.
Fatima was quiet, Abdul was even quieter and every time he came into the cooking area he looked over his shoulder at the littlest noise. He left twice. Now as she and Fatima worked on the final dish he came in with his brother and nephew. Both gave her such evil looks, Rose excused herself to go sit with the men.
“Well you did it now, Omar and Hamid! Who do you think you are?”
The Lioness Page 15