Page 10 of Chasing the Past

She swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Muffled voices came from the living room. Omar and someone else.

She slipped to the door and listened. They were talking in Dari. Wait—how did she know this?

The two men continued speaking. Asal quietly unlocked the door and cracked it. The voices were louder now.

Omar was talking in a consoling tone. The person he addressed was angry. Something was familiar about his voice. She listened intently trying to figure out what it was.

“Everything is ready,” Omar insisted.

The man clearly was not convinced. He practically spat the words out insisting Omar had better be prepared. Was this about Omar’s business relocation? Why would Omar be answering to someone else? He’d told her he owned the business himself.

She started to close the door when her foot struck it. The conversation abruptly stopped. A few more words from the stranger and then a door opened and closed.

Asal hurried to the window that faced the street. She caught sight of the man in the streetlight. He was dressed entirely in black, his jacket collar turned up against the chill. Dark hair. He turned back toward the house and the window where she stood. She froze, unable to get out of sight fast enough. The anger in his eyes was clear as they met hers. Did he know her? How?

He eventually turned and got into the back seat of a car that was waiting for him before driving away.

The evil on his face had her shivering. Who was that man?

A knock on her door was followed by Omar opening it. “You are awake?” His piercing gaze held hers.

She managed a nod.

“Then you must come and eat.”

Sharing a meal with him suddenly felt repulsive. “I’m not hungry. Please excuse me but I think I’ll retire for the evening.”

His mouth thinned into a frown. “As you wish. Good night.” He started to close the door but hesitated. “You know that you must never discuss my business practices with others, correct?”

Her blood ran cold. Why would he feel the need to tell her this? “Of course.”

“Good. And in the future, I would prefer you wait for me to take a walk. This is an unfamiliar town, and you could get into trouble very easily.”

With those disturbing words he closed the door.

The underlying threat was clear. She was now more of a prisoner than she’d ever realized before. If she left without him, she’d better not return.

???

“Why is she still alive?”

The call wasn’t a surprise. Omar had been expecting it sincehe’dleft.

“She knows things that could hurt us.”

“All the more reason to get rid of her like you were told to do years ago. Before it’s time. We can’t afford to take the chance like before. Do it, or I’ll find someone else who will and then why would I need you?”

The call ended. Omar stared at the phone as the command he’d expected rang in his ears. Had she heard? Not that it mattered.

He knew he would have to follow through even though he would have regrets. He’d spent a lot of time with her over the past years and she was pleasant. But after seeing that man today, she’d been acting differently. Had her memories begun to return? Omar couldn’t afford to take the chance. The missing information he believed she had locked away in her head troubled him. If it fell into the wrong hands . . .The best way to eliminate the threat was to end her existence before she remembered.

He went over to the drawer where he’d placed the dagger he kept with him always.

Omar looked out the windows facing the front of the house. There were things coming that would change the world and he looked forward to them.

But he had to deal with the past first. His past. His mistakes.

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