Page 26 of Chasing the Past

Eli did know. During his time in Afghanistan, there had been dozens of terror threats. And just as many attacks.

The sound of a car pulling up front grabbed Eli’s attention. “That’s going to be Will. I’ll be right back.” Eli headed for the front of the house and checked the window. Will had used his wife’s car to keep from drawing attention to his movements.

Eli stepped outside and greeted his friend.

“How’s Asal holding up?” Will asked as he headed up the steps to the door.

“She’s pretty shaken up. She’s resting right now but I told her I’d call her when you arrived.”

Will came inside with Eli who closed the door and locked it.

Will blew out a long whistle. “I forgot how nice this house is. I guess if you have to be in protective custody, this is the place to be.”

Eli chuckled. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice. Come through and meet my friend.”

Gavin rose as they entered the room. “Gavin, this is Chief Will Kelly. Will, Gavin Biggs.”

The two men shook hands.

“CIA, huh? Well, I think we can probably use your expertise on this one for sure.” Will placed the evidence he had on the table. “As you can see, we have three separate passports for Asal. One with her legit name, one with Sashi’s and the third with the name Rabia Bilal.”

Eli frowned. “This is odd.” He picked up the passport for Asal. “There’s no scar.” He pointed to the side of Asal’s face in the photo.

“You’re right,” Will said. “That’s strange.”

“The date of the passport was a little less than a year ago.” Eli picked up the other two. “These are the same.”

“Maybe he had the photos touched up?” Gavin reasoned.

“Or they were taken before the explosion in Kabul . . .” Eli scanned all three passports. “I get the first two, but I don’t know the connection of the last.”

“I do.”

Eli swung toward the sound of Asal’s voice. None of them had realized she was in the room until she spoke.

“You do?” he asked as she came into the room.

“I do. Rabia Bilal was a woman who was with us in Kabul, but she died. She never made it out of the country.”

“Then why is there a passport in her name with your photo on it?” Will asked.

Asal shook her head. “I have no idea. I only saw the one in my name.”

“Maybe there was no Rabia Bilal at all. Maybe she was just a fake identity created by Omar for you.” Eli pulled out a chair for her. “Why don’t you sit? I’ve made coffee.”

She smiled. “That sounds nice. Let me help.”

Eli swallowed at the awkward moment when he found himself staring at her, amazed at how much like Sashi she appeared.

“Will—Gavin—coffee?” Both men confirmed and he and Sashi went to the kitchen. He noticed she’d changed into jeans and a blue sweater. Her hair gathered into a silky ponytail. She was beautiful.

He cleared his throat and turned to the coffee pot. “There’s cream in the fridge,” he said in a shaky voice. “I’ll grab the cups and sugar.”

He searched through several cabinets before he found them and some sugar along with a tray.

After filling the cups with coffee, Eli placed them on the tray along with the sugar.

“Here’s the cream,” she placed the container on the tray, her full attention on him.

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