Page 18 of Chasing the Past

Red and blue police lights lit up the street as they headed his way. Eli stepped out onto the road and looked in the opposite direction from the police cruisers. There was no sign of the shooter.

Three police vehicles screeched to a stop near where Eli stood. Chief Will Kelly got out of the driver’s seat and headed Eli’s way. Four other officers converged on Eli’s location.

“Are you safe?” Will asked.

Eli assured him they were. “He got away.” Eli explained what happened with Asal.

“You’re certain this is the same man?”

“I’m afraid I didn’t get a good look at him but it stands to reason that it’s Omar Haddad or someone connected to him.”

Will told two of his officers to fan out and search for the perp. “Crime scene is on their way. Why don’t we step inside?”

Eli pulled himself together. “Yes. I left Asal alone. I thought I could catch the shooter before he got away.”

Eli stepped into the living room with Will.

The chief, who had assisted the Hope Island Securities team on many cases, glanced around at the bullet holes in the walls. The shattered window. “Looks like quite a mess.”

Eli couldn’t think about how much work would be required to get his place livable again. “Let me get Asal.”

He returned to the kitchen and opened the pantry door.

“Did you catch him?” Her huge, fearful eyes latched onto his face.

“I’m sorry, we didn’t. The police are here.” He stepped out with her, and they went to the living room where Will waited.

“Asal, this is Chief Will Kelly. You can trust him,” he added because he’d seen the way she reacted when he mentioned the police.

“It’s nice to meet you, Asal.” Will extended his hand which she reluctantly accepted. “Why don’t we sit and talk?” Will indicated the sofa. Asal claimed her seat while Eli sat beside her.

“Can you tell me what happened that led you to coming to Hope Island with your fiancé?”

While Asal retold her story for Will, she wrung her hands. Eli wondered if she was even aware of the nervous gesture.

The door opened. Eli glanced up and saw Declan and JT. He rose and went over to his friends.

“Janine’s on her way,” JT told him. “Any idea who did this?”

Eli filled him in on his number one suspect. “He’s behind this. I don’t know if he actually pulled the trigger or ordered the attack, but he’s involved.”

“I did some research on Omar Haddad,” Declan told them.

Eli looked over to where Will talked with Asal. “Let’s talk in the kitchen.” He stopped at the kitchen table and faced Declan. “What’d you find out?”

“Nothing. There is no record of an Omar Haddad existing before 2021 when the name showed up in Cairo. A forty-year-old antiques dealer, Haddad owns a building where he has his business and lives on the second floor. There is only one other business in the building, a flower shop.”

“Asal’s. She told me she runs a flower shop in the same building as Omar’s antique business.”

There was something more. Eli could tell. “What else do you know?”

Declan hesitated too long. It was going to be bad.

“I ran Asal’s name. Eli, she has—had a twin sister named Sashi who was a doctor and married a professor from Kandahar by the name of—”

“Tahir Ghulam.”

Declan looked from JT to Eli. “Do you know this man?”

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