Page 41 of Zero Hour

What went through your mind when you realized they were gone?

Nothing at first. I was in shock.

And afterwards?

I was scared. Alone. I knew they weren’t coming back. I had no one.

Did you cry?

I don’t remember.

Where did you go?

A neighbor took me in.

You went to live with them?

Yes, but they didn’t want me. I never left my room.

Amir, you were a child who’d lost everything. You were confused. Grieving. It’s understandable you withdrew.

Pat scowled. Did she have to be so damn understanding?

The next part wasn’t clear, signified by a dotted line in the transcript.

Jasmine had said:

It wasn’t your fault. It was a terrible tragedy, but you were not to blame.

Pat gritted his teeth. Why was she being so goddamned nice to him? The man was a terrorist. He might have had a traumatic experience, but that didn’t change what he’d become.

I couldn’t stay there, so I ran away.

Pat arched an eyebrow.

Where did you go?

To the mosque. That’s when I found Allah.

Tell me about that.

There was this Imam. He taught me the Quran. He gave me a purpose.

Pat shook his head.

He radicalized you.

He took a scared, lost kid and brainwashed him into one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. Great fucking job.

The transcript ended there.

For a long time, Pat sat in the darkened van, staring at the house, knowing Jasmine was in there against her will. She’ddone a great job with Al-Jabiri, calming him down, getting him to open up.

She was good, very good. No wonder the Falcon felt an affinity towards her. She was his confidante, one of the few people who knew his darkest secrets.

He only hoped she hadn’t crossed over and wasn’t developing feelings for her captor. Because that really would fuck everything up.

CHAPTER 16

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