He shrugged. "I was still trying to figure it out. My contact said the Azrani brothers have been estranged for years. Malik was raised by his father in the Middle East. Caleb was raised by his mother in the US. It's possible Caleb is not tied to Qadir."
"It's possible he is," she argued.
"I was going to talk to you about it yesterday, but then everything went to hell."
"You got a strange look on your face when we were talking to Dominic about the tower fire and the revenge plot, and he said he couldn't believe the bombs were about that. You were thinking the explosions are about Qadir."
"Qadir has power in Tajikistan. He's a threat to Dominic's project and to Dominic's safety. Malik Azrani works closely with him, and if Caleb is tied to the explosions here, then it all seems to connect," he admitted. "But it also doesn't."
Kara thought for a moment. "You're right. It's confusing because it doesn't add up, not the victims, not the methods…nothing except that we have two Azrani brothers and a tie to Qadir and an established terrorist network."
"Caleb may have his own game going here in the US, and someone reached out to him to buy bombs and revenge that had nothing to do with Tajikistan. And the link to Qadir could be a stretch." He paused and then painfully shifted into a sitting position, his head spinning a little with the movement. "We should get out of here. There's too much to do. We can't hide out. We have to get in the fight."
"I'm not sure you're ready for that fight."
"I will be. I feel better now. And you said I have antibiotics and pain pills, so I'm good to go." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and then slowly stood up. "What happened to my shirt? My jacket?"
"Your shirt was cut to shreds and covered in blood. Your jacket is also pretty bloody and has a hole in it."
"It will do." He picked up his jacket from the bed where she'd put it. "The blood is dry," he added as he eased the jacket over his painful shoulder. "Where's my phone?"
She got out of bed, walked to the dresser, and got his phone. He turned it on to check his messages and was shocked to see a photo from Reza sent sometime last night. As he studied the image, he felt his world spin once more, but this time it wasn't from a loss of blood.
"What's wrong?" Kara asked, moving toward him.
"Qadir is in New York." He turned the phone around so she could see the photo.
"Oh my God! This is time-stamped yesterday."
"This is about him," he said, meeting her gaze. "We need to get back to the city, and then you need to get as far away from me as you can. This isn't just about Dominic or any of the others anymore. It's also about me"
"How does that make sense?" she asked in confusion.
"Qadir is a complex thinker. It's one of his gifts. Others go linear. He never sees opportunities in a straight line. Maybe this didn't start out to be about me or about New York. But whatever is happening has drawn his interest, and if there's one thing I can guarantee, however big and bad we think it's going to be, it will be worse."
Chapter Nineteen
The drive back to Manhattan felt endless. Max sat in the passenger seat, his left shoulder a constant throb of pain. He hadn't taken the medication Hayden had left for him because he needed his head to be clear. But he had to admit that the pain was dulling his senses a little, too. But he'd get through it because he had to. Qadir was in New York.
The realization went around and around in his head. He couldn't quite believe it. Getting into this country would have been an incredible challenge, but somehow, he'd done it. Qadir was here. And he had a plan.
What that plan could be gave him a headache to match the pain in his shoulder. And as he shifted position, another thought entered his mind.
"Dominic," he muttered.
"What?" Kara asked.
He turned his head to meet her questioning gaze. "I'd like to know who he was meeting with yesterday."
Her eyebrow raised. "Are you suggesting it was Qadir?"
"Not him specifically. But maybe someone in the circle, someone Qadir has bought, someone with influence here and also in the region where Dominic wants to build."
"That could be many different people," she said.
As the car ran over a pothole, his seat bounced, sending a jolt of pain through his body.
"Sorry," Kara said quickly. "How are you doing? Are you sure you don't want to take something?"
