“You came to my grandmother’s house.” All pretense of humor vanished. “My GRANDMOTHER. An eighty-three-year-old blind woman. You threatened her in her own home.”
“I was sending a message.”
“And I sent one back.” His voice was ice. “Difference is, mine came with proof of delivery.”
I closed my eyes. Breathed through the cough that was trying to rise.
“What do you want?”
“Yusef. Unharmed. Delivered to me personally.”
“And in exchange?”
“You get your daughter back. Minus an ear, but alive. I might throw it in though.”
“Where?”
“My warehouse. I’ll text you the address.”
A location I did not know. Somewhere he felt safe. Somewhere he had the advantage.
“I will come to you,” I said slowly. “But you must come alone as well. No soldiers. No brothers. Just you and me.”
“Nah.” Prentice’s voice was firm. “You come to me. You bring the boy. You come alone. Those are my terms.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then I’ll send you Farah piece by piece until there’s nothing left to bury. Your choice.”
Silence stretched between us.
This was it. The moment I had to decide. Pride or family. Legacy or love. The war or my daughter.
It wasn’t even a choice.
“When?”
“Tomorrow. Noon. Come alone. Bring Yusef. Any sign of your people within a mile of that building, and Farah dies. Understand?”
“I understand.”
“Good.” A pause. “You know, Rashid… I never wanted this. You were the closest thing I ever had to a father. But you made your choice when you took that boy. When you came for my grandmother. When you decided your pride was worth more than the family we could have been.”
“Prentice—”
“See you tomorrow, old man.”
The line went dead.
I stood there in the hallway, phone still pressed to my ear, staring at nothing.
Tomorrow I would surrender. Would hand over Yusef and retrieve my daughter. Would end this war not with victory, but with capitulation.
Prentice thought he had won. Thought this was over.
He was wrong.
I was dying, yes. But Kasim was not. My son was disciplined. Patient. Strategic. He would wait in that Panamanian prison, counting the days until his release. And when he finally walked free—when the bribes cleared and the paperwork processed and the gates opened—he would come for everything Prentice loved.
