Page 67 of Logan

“Nafisa shouldn’t have to worry about Farrah on top of what she is doing?—”

“Why do you think I sent Rashad with them? Your feelings for Nafisa are too close to the surface. You would fail where Rashad will succeed. Nothing will deter him from his great jihad.”

Listening carefully at the top of the stairs, he remembered Vivian telling him that Malik had feelings for Nafisa but that Nafisa had feelings for Rashad, who appeared not to reciprocate those emotions. Silently thanking Vivian for that tidbit of information, he hesitated before slipping downstairs, wanting to hear where the women had gone.

Akram’s voice came from the right of the stairs, which, from what he could ascertain, was where the dining room would be. He heard the keyboard clicking, probably Akram on his computer, as well as Malik's pacing.

Wanting them to be in the same room, he waited patiently until he heard Malik’s footsteps move close to where Akram and the computer were.

Slipping down the stairs with his weapon drawn, he rounded the corner, catching the two men unaware. Their eyes widened,first at him and then at his weapon. Malik stood perfectly still, his hands raised by his side, his mouth open in surprise.

But Akram’s lips slowly curved upward as he stood, one hand slightly behind his back. “Well, well. Mr. Preacher.” He chuckled. “I should have known that name was false. I congratulate you on your charade.”

“Hands where I can see them.”

Akram’s smile dipped slightly as he slowly raised his hands, a gun held loosely in one of them.

“Drop the weapon,” he ordered as Malik began to babble.

“What are you going to do? Arrest us? You can’t do this. You can’t stop us. It’s already started?—”

“Our neighbor has no intention of arresting us, do you?” Akram’s dark eyes remained locked onto Logan. “He has to get through us to get to the women.”

Malik looked between the two men, understanding dawning on him. “Nafisa!” he cried as he whirled, darting for the front door.

Logan fired, and Malik dropped onto the floor, a pool of blood spreading out from underneath him.

Akram fired a wide shot, hitting the wall next to Logan as he ducked, then fired another shot toward Akram. The bullet hit the man in the arm, sending his gun skittering down the hall. Standing, Logan stalked forward and leaned over the bleeding man, surprised the smile was still on Akram’s face.

“You cannot stop us. You take down one, and a hundred more will rise to take our place.”

“Your particular jihad stops here,” he growled.

Grinning, Akram reached his hand to press against his bleeding arm when he suddenly slammed it against his chest instead.

A beeping began, and Logan yelled, “Fuck!” knowing the sound of a timer on a bomb. Whirling around, he snatched thelaptop off the table and sprinted toward the door to the screams of Akram.

“Noooo!” Akram wailed.

Racing through the front yard, he was unable to discern the voices of the Keepers in his earpiece as the ground shook when the explosion behind him rocked the land. Throwing himself face down onto the grass, Logan covered his head as pieces of wood flew past him. Turning back to observe the blazing inferno, he pushed himself up and ran into the woods by the side of the driveway. Having parked down the street, he raced to his truck, throwing open the door. Once started, he gunned it, churning up the gravel. He put distance between him and the destroyed house, assuming the Tanana fire station would respond, just like they had in Ester.

Two miles down the road, he pulled into a parking lot at the edge of town, desperate to find where Farrah, Nafisa, and Rashad were.

“Tell me what you’ve got!”

“The last message Akram sent before the explosion was in code. We’ve just got it,” Sadie radioed in return.

Arriving at the Tanana Inn again, Vivian retraced her earlier steps and returned to the reception desk. The same man looked at her, his head tilted in question.

Offering a smile that was as fake as she felt, she shrugged. “I thought I saw some friends, but…uh…”

“Oh.” He nodded. “Didn’t find who you were looking for?”

“No…no, I didn’t. He…uh, they weren’t who I thought they were… at all.” Looking around the lobby, she said, “I knowyou’ve got the show tour…um… thing going on. Do you have a room for the night?”

“Looks like you’re in luck, but it’s not my best room. We’re at capacity in the main building, but we’ve got one of the original cabin rooms toward the back that’s rarely used.”

She scrunched her nose in distaste, saying, “What kind of shape is it in?”

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