“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Your parents... I’m told they’re a lovely couple. We have a lot of friends in common, you know.”
Her cheeks froze.
“You’re not much of a talker, are you, Ms. Desta? But that’s okay. I am. I’ll talk. You’ll listen. How ’bout that?”
Her breath shortened. That familiar pinch in her chest.No.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he continued. “Now, I know and you know and they know that they haven’t been involved with your subterfuge—I’ve had them watched very closely. But once you’re revealed as the terrorist you are, it’ll be very easy to implicate them.”
“A terrorist?”
“Oh, we can label you anything we want—especially someone who looks like you and comes from your part of the world. And your name sounds foreign enough for people to believe it. A cyber terrorist who got in too deep and took her own life. Oh no, wait—that’s how Ms. Liu is going to die. We’ll think of something more imaginative for you. We can sort out that after the fact. But there is something we need to talk through now, and that’s your parents.”
Her nape crawled.Ms. Liu is going to die.That meant Charlotte was still alive—for now. But her parents...?
“It’s bad enough they’re about to lose their beloved only child—something I will make a point of publicly sympathizing with, seeing as I, too, have just one precious child—but we don’t want to see them also lose their freedom, do we? Well, to be honest, I don’t really care, but I’m sure you do.”
Her throat felt like it had closed to the thickness of a toothpick.
He sighed into the phone. “It’s not easy to carry on a phone conversation when the other person doesn’t say anything. But I’m going to assume you’re listening. Sheltering a terrorist—that’s a serious charge.”
“It’s a lie,” Samira squeaked.
“Truth and lies are whatever I say they are. I can have your parents picked up whenever I choose. Their government will not want to be seen to be protecting them with such damning evidence on the table. But here’s where your dying act of mercy comes in.”
Her breath wheezed, like an asthmatic.
“Again, I shall keep on talking. Perhaps you could do me the courtesy of anuh-huhevery now and then so I know the connection hasn’t dropped out.” More silence. She couldn’t speak if she wanted to. He sighed again. “Maybe a video call would have been better. Then I’d be able toseeyou not talking. So here’s the deal I’m prepared to offer. I know about your late fiancé. I know about Ms. Newell and her boyfriend. I know about Ms. Liu. I want the name of the other person you’ve been communicating with over these leaks.”
Samira blinked, repeatedly. “Other person?” she gasped. Jamie? Did that mean he wasn’t dead?
“Your other source in Denniston.”
“Wh—what?” Her lungs deflated. Not Jamie.
“Don’t play a fool. I know how smart you are. I’m a man of my word. Give me the name and I’ll leave your parents to their grief.”
“Honestly, I don’t know who y—” She straightened. The other person in the game?
“A. Name.”
“I swear I don’t know who you’re talking about. You must understand—I was dragged into this. It wasn’t of my choosing. I’m not central to any of it.”
“You were preparing to testify against me. Yesterday, you hacked into my email. That doesn’t sound like someone who is not central.”
You hacked into my email.So hedidn’tknow about the files? Not that it mattered now.
A rustling came over the phone, as if he were changing ears. “Listen, I have a busy day tomorrow, I’m jet-lagged and I want to get back to sleep. You know what I do when I need an answer quickly?” Silence. “Well, let me tell you. It’s an old father trick. I simply count down from ten. If I get to zero and you haven’t given me a name, I’m hanging up. At that point, my good friend Fitz there will execute you, and your parents will find themselves in orange jumpsuits with hoods over their heads and shackles on their feet. Your choice. Ten, nine—”
“I’m not lying. I really have no—”
“Eight, seven, six...”
“I don’t know who you’re talking—”
“Five, four, three...”
