They were assigned seats nowhere near each other, and Kiley saw Evan take out copies of Firuzeh’s journals. The minute she could use her phone, she plugged in earbuds to tune out the excited kid in the seat next to her and calm her frayed nerves. She’d been tailed before, but never when the stakes in an investigation were this high. She half wondered if she’d done the right thing by leaving town. Maybe she should’ve gone after the driver and made him talk.
An image popped into her head of grilling him under somehot light in a dark warehouse and made her snort, drawing the attention of the man across the aisle. She shrugged and opened Firuzeh’s first journal. Willing her mind to focus, Kiley read the first few pages. The entries were personal. Very personal. Firuzeh had written about struggling to be a woman in her very traditional family. To honor her parents’ beliefs yet live her own life. She often commented about wanting to move out from under their roof, but she couldn’t do so until completing her degree.
Kiley’s emotions were mixed. Invading Firuzeh’s privacy brought discomfort, yet Kiley’s heart broke for Firuzeh too. She’d been living for something that would never happen now. Her life cut short when she was on the brink of realizing her potential. Kiley could tell from Firuzeh’s writings that she would have left the world better off for having been in it. She’d already made a difference by warning Kiley about the threat.
Could Kiley take a lesson from this? Think about what she was living for and if she was on the right path?
Am I, Father?
Lost in thought, she startled when Evan stopped next to her and bent close. He jabbed a finger at the journal copy. “Did you see she wrote about her meeting with Waleed?”
She nodded. “She really hated him.”
The woman next to her looked at them, curiosity with a hint of unease in her expression.
Evan smiled and straightened. “Catch you later.”
Kiley didn’t like that the woman’s interest had chased Evan off. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was getting used to being with him and sharing whatever came to mind. Despite their recent tension, it would’ve been nice to review the journals together and discuss Firuzeh’s writings. But other than dancing, it was appearing as if Firuzeh lived as simple of a life as her family claimed.
Kiley kept busy for the rest of the flight reading the remaining journals and assessing Firuzeh’s phone logs. She turnedup nothing. They were soon in Evan’s Tahoe heading out of SeaTac and toward Tacoma under gray skies and dark clouds threatening heavy rain.
Her phone chimed. “Text from Cam. Vehicle tailing us was a rental. He’s working on getting the CCTV footage for the area and a warrant for the records.”
“With little probable cause, the warrant’s a long shot at best.”
“We could still get facial recognition on the driver.” Her phone signaled a new email message. “The analyst looking into the significance of the lion sent her report. Malouf was telling the truth. The Golden Lion represents the Lion of Babylon in the Iraq Coat of Arms until 1959 when Nuri as-Said was overthrown. She also says Malouf’s father has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Evan shot her a look. “They’re not a terrorist group, though, right?”
“Not most factions,” she said and looked at the details again before she misquoted the facts. “But he belonged to the Iraqi branch—the Iraqi Islamic Party—formed in 1960. It was banned a year later, and they were forced to go underground. Then after Saddam Hussein’s government fell, the Islamic Party reemerged as a big advocate of the Sunni community. They’ve been sharply critical of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, and the imams encourage anti-infidel jihad.”
“And Malouf’s father was part of that?” Evan worked the muscles in his jaw.
“Intelligence reports show him as a financial supporter, funneling money to charities with ties to the group. Malouf has continued the support.”
“Then we need to get a warrant for his financial information.”
“I’ll email this information to Eisenhower. He can run it up the chain of command, so we don’t step on any ongoing counterterrorism efforts.”
Evan shook his head. “This investigation is getting bigger and bigger.”
She had to work hard not to punch her fist into the dashboard. “And yet we’re not getting any closer to finding our terrorists or their target.”
“We do have the bombing suspects’ names now, and hopefully your team will have located intel on them. If not... ” His voice fell off.
She thought to ask him to finish his comment, but then what was the point?
They had less than three days to stop the attack, and Kiley knew the consequences of failing to do so. She knew it all too well. Especially after seeing the devastation left by the Pittsburgh bomb.
It was what nightmares were made of.
Kiley almost sighed in relief when she walked into the Tacoma FBI conference room and saw her teammates looking up at her. She had a huge puzzle to solve in very little time, and the three talented men sitting at the table were the key to stopping the horrific threat. And she couldn’t forget Evan. He’d become a valuable member of the team as well, and she’d started to count on him in more ways than she liked to think about.
“Welcome back,” Sean called out. “You look awful.”
“Hey thanks.” She wrinkled her nose. “Just what a girl needs to hear.”
“You’re not a girl,” Mack joked. “You’re one of the guys, and you know it.”
