Page 29 of Chasing the Past

Asal frowned. “Isn’t there a Bible scripture to that effect?”

“There is.” JT grabbed his phone and pulled up the scripture. “It’s Luke 1:37.For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

“Does anything about the scripture or the watch ring a bell?” Eli asked her.

Asal shook her head. “No, nothing.”

“Do you mind if I remove the back?” Eli said, surprising her but she shook her head. He carefully removed the back and stared at the contents of the watch. “That doesn’t belong there.” He gently removed a tiny object.

“What is that?” Asal asked.

“It looks like a thumb drive.” He handed it to Gavin who turned it over.

“That’s exactly what it is but it won’t work on anything we have. There’s a special reader that this type of drive is used with. I just happen to have one in my bag.” Gavin noticed Eli’s surprise and added, “In the spy business, you never know what will come in handy.” He retrieved a reader and plugged in the drive, then he connected the reader to his laptop. He sat back when a series of groups of numbers came up. “I have no idea what this means. If I have your permission, I’ll get the information to my people and we’ll see if we can figure it out. We have some of the best cryptologists around.” He waited for Asal to respond.

“Of course.” She prayed the answers they were searching for would be found there.

“Thank you.” Gavin went to work uploading the information securely.

“So, the watch belonged to Sashi’s husband who was working with you?” Asal asked Eli.

“That’s correct. Tahir was my asset in Kandahar. He told me he was getting close to identifying the Panther. He was killed right after that.”

“He must have known they were onto him and hidden the drive in his watch,” JT said. “Thankfully, no one looked too closely at it.”

Will’s phone rang. “That’s crime scene. Excuse me.”

Eli told his team about speaking with Sashi’s friend. “I’d like to meet up with her soon. Asal has asked to go as well.”

“Then one of us should go with you,” Janine said. “After what’s happened already, we can’t afford to take any chances.

“Thanks, but Gavin has agreed to go with us.”

The wind kicked up blowing snow and sleet against the windows. Declan studied the growing storm. “I’m going to see what the weather forecast is saying. As secluded as the peninsula is, if the weather gets bad we might be cut off from the main roads. I noticed the rest of the houses were shut up for the winter. We’re the only ones here.”

They were isolated and on their own.

Declan typed in a few strokes. “Looks like this should pass in a few hours. But we have bigger problems coming.” He turned his iPad so that they all could see. “The weather service is predicting the first nor’easter of the year is in the works. We have less than twenty-four hours to batten down the hatches.”

???

Asal was finishing the Kushari when someone came into the kitchen. She turned to find Eli standing in the doorway.

“Need some help?” he asked to break the tension between them. When she couldn’t answer, Eli stepped into the room and came to look over her shoulder.

“Is that Kushari?” he said in a strangled tone.

She turned to look at him. “It is. Why?”

He struggled to gain control over himself. “That was one of Sashi’s favorite meals to prepare. She started with a mixture that consisted of rice, spaghetti fried onions, black lentils and hummus topped with a thick tomato sauce, a clove of garlic, vinegar sauce and chili sauce.”

“I had no idea. I’m sorry, I know it’s hard for you.” She turned away, staring at the dish she’d made from some hidden memory.

“It’s okay,” he managed. “This is hard for us both.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and slowly turned her to face him. “We’ll get through it, Asal. We’ll find out the truth.”

She wanted to believe him.

“Meanwhile, let’s take this out while it’s still warm.” He smiled down at her and something deep inside her that she couldn’t explain responded.

---