“Okay, kiddo. One match, and then I have to go. But I’ll see you in Boston in a day or two.”
With a pout that will certainly break many hearts one day, Mateen passes her the game. The two giggle and laugh as Joey tries to get her player to do what she wants, and I sit back, a soft smile curving my lips.
The moment would be perfect if Mateen were not still so sick. If we were in a flat above a bakery on Rue du Panier. If I knew Faruk would never find us.
Noele yawns. “I am going to the café for a coffee. Lisette, would you like one?”
“No. I do not drink—” What am I saying? In France, I loved coffee. Idodrink it. Freedom tastes likecafe au lait, and I will have as much of it as I wish. “Yes, please. With milk.”
The small step toward reclaiming a piece of the woman I used to be makes me smile, but I am so tired. By the time I returned from Nomar’s room, it was after 3:00 a.m., and while I tried to sleep on the cot, the hospital is not a quiet place.
I close my eyes, listening to my son babbling happily. Dr. Joey should hate us. Faruk had her friends killed. Zaman locked her in a small box and smuggled her across the border to Afghanistan. When I first met her—only five days ago—she was bruised from head to toe. Yet, she cares for Mateen. And I think…for me too.
It has been so long since I had a friend. Maybe—
The door hits the wall behind me. I jump up as Mateen’s doctor stumbles into the room.
Behind him, cold, black eyes lock onto me.
“Zaman…” I can barely force the word from my lips. Fear tightens a vise grip around my chest. He slams the butt of his gun into Dr. Simms’s head, and the doctor collapses to the polished floor.
The scent of blood mixes with antiseptic, burning my nose. Joey makes a tiny, choked sound.
“I know there are American security personnel in the hall,” Zaman says, pinning me with his glare. “If you alert them, I will kill the doctor. And we will wait right here for your sister to return so I can have my way with her.”
I cannot move. He is the worst of Faruk’s men. The biggest. The meanest. He will follow through on his threats.
“You arenotgoing to hurt them again,” Joey says, stepping in front of me. Mateen whimpers and pulls the blankets over his head.
The sickening sound of the gun hitting Joey’s cheek brings tears to my eyes. She slides to the floor next to the doctor and curls in on herself with a small sob.
“We will not go back with you.” I straighten my shoulders, hoping if Ilookbrave, I will feel something other than terror. “My son will not grow up like his father.”
He lunges for me. My scream dies when his fingers dig into my throat. “Amir Faruk was very clear. The boy and the doctor are my priority. You…are expendable.”
Two men rush into the room, guns drawn. “Let her go!” one of them barks.
A wave of relief washes over me. Zaman cannot fight them both. But I hear a strange sound. Almost aplink.Then a second. A hint of hot air. The men collapse. All hope vanishes when I stare down at the blackened hole where the taller one’s left eye used to be.
Mateen is crying now. I cannot even speak to comfort him.
“Wait!” Joey staggers to her feet, sways, and braces herself against the bed. “I’ll go with you. Me and Mateen. I won’t fight or scream as long as you don’t hurt Lisette.”
I struggle against Zaman’s hold. My breath wheezes in my chest. How can she betray us like this?
Joey holds up her hands. She stares between me and the doctor on the floor. Once. Twice. Long, meaningful looks. I follow her gaze to see the man peering up at her before he closes his eyes again.
Is this a ruse? Some plan I cannot figure out?
“No one else has to die,” she says. “Let me unhook Mateen’s monitors and IV the right way. Otherwise, he won’t survive the journey back to Afghanistan.”
Zaman’s fingers flex against my windpipe. I have to fight not to cry.
“Lisette, I’m so sorry,” Joey whispers. “But think of Noele. She’s just down the hall, remember? Visiting that man in two-four-seven? If she hears us and comes back in…”
Two-four-seven. Nomar’s room. Is Ford here too? And Trevor? I flick my gaze back to the doctor. He gives Joey a barely imperceptible nod. That is what she was trying to tell me. He will find Nomar if Zaman leaves the room. Ifweleave the room with him.
I sag in Zaman’s grip. Mateen needs me. If we can delay long enough, someone will find us.
