Page 35 of Zero Hour

“Not everything,” Pat murmured. “Did he threaten to hurt your son if you didn’t cooperate?”

She nodded.

“What does he want from you?”

“At first, nothing. I thought they were going to kill me. Then one afternoon, Amir had a massive panic attack. One minute, he was watching TV. The next, he couldn’t breathe, shaking like a leaf.”

She shook her head. “It was bad. He was ranting, drenched in sweat. I recognized the symptoms immediately.”

Pat tilted his head, watching her closely.

“I calmed him down, and we talked. Turns out these attacks have been happening for a while. The nightmares, too. When he wakes up, he can’t tell what’s real.”

Pat stayed silent, letting her talk.

“I diagnosed him with PTSD.”

His eyes widened. “You told him that?”

“Yes. He asked me to help him. I said I would—if he let me and my son go when this was over.”

“He agreed?” Pat raised a brow, surprised. She must be naïve, or desperate, to believe that.

“In theory, yes. Obviously, I don’t trust him, but for now, he needs me. We’ve had a few sessions, and he seems calmer. He wants to work through it.”

Pat snorted. “A terrorist with PTSD. You can’t make this shit up.”

“It’s a terrible disorder,” she snapped. “It affects good and bad people alike.”

“Those with a conscience, sure. But Al-Jabiri? He’s a psychopath.”

She shook her head. “No, he’s not. I’ve heard his story. It’s tragic.”

“Lots of people have shitty childhoods. They don’t all become mass murderers.”

She exhaled. “Some do.”

Pat sighed. “Okay, this is all very interesting, but it doesn’t tell us what he’s planning.” He fixed her with a hard stare. “If you know anything, you need to tell me.”

“I don’t know anything else.”

“But you can find out.” He let the words hang as he sipped his Americano.

She bit her lip, drawing his gaze. “What about my son? If Amir finds out I’m working with you, we’re both dead.”

He glanced away, back at her eyes, filled with worry. “We’ll protect Ryan.”

“How? I can’t take him out of school, Amir will know something’s up.”

“We’ll post someone at the school. Any sign of trouble, they’ll get him out.” He couldn’t really spare the manpower, but they’d figure something out. This was important. A boy’s life was at stake.

She hesitated, then sighed. “I guess I don’t have a choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” Pat said. “But we’ll know if you warn him.”

“No, you won’t,” she retorted. “Not unless you can see into his house.” Then her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my God. Youcansee into his house, can’t you?”

Pat stiffened. “Of course not. He’s got a top-range alarm system, we couldn’t get near the place.” That was one thing he could not afford Al-Jabiri finding out.

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