Page 24 of The Only Reason (The Trident Trilogy 2)

“I’m still not seeing what this has to do with me,” I say cautiously. “You know I don’t want anything to do with that side of my family.”

George looks warily at Mason, still clearly not comfortable with him being a part of this conversation. “After you eliminated Sayid Custovic and Yusef Hadzic, there was a lull in the action from their network. We thought it was dead. But now, we’re starting to see an uptick of activity from them again. We think Azayiz’s son, Fareed, is running the show now. He grew up with Sayid and Yusef.”

“Well first, I didn’t eliminate anyone. Sayid had one of his people kill Yusef and then killed himself. And second, you’re the one who taught me these networks never really die, they just get new leadership. So find Fareed. This has nothing to do with me.”

“Unfortunately for both of us, it does have something to do with you.” George’s finger tapping is so loud now that it sounds like he’s just been given a drum solo in his high school band. “Long story short, Azayiz has been working as an agency informant since 1995. In 2011, Yusef found out and put a bounty on her head. We’ve had her in hiding since then.”

“Still not seeing where I come in.” I walk to the back patio and take a seat directly in the sun. I close my eyes and try to wish George away.

“Mills,” Mason says. I open my eyes to find him standing in the doorway behind George. “I need to jump in the shower. You okay with him?”

“Yeah, babe. He’s just annoying, not dangerous.”

“I’m standing right here, Millie,” George says. “And do we have to sit outside? You know I don’t like light.”

I inhale deeply and close my eyes again. I hear him noisily pull one of the chairs to the shady side of the patio.

“As I was saying,” he continues, “we’ve had her in hiding, but she disappeared last week.”

I open my eyes. He has me mildly interested. “What do you mean disappeared? Did she leave on her own? Or was she kidnapped?”

“We definitely thought she was taken because we couldn’t imagine why she would leave. She knows all too well how dangerous it is for her on the streets. But now we think she might have left on her own. We don’t know why, but we need to find her. If she gets in the wrong hands, the best thing that can happen is that they kill her. She knows so much about our Middle East operations. If they interrogate her—and break her—it would be devastating to our work over there.”

“So you want me to find her? I’m sure you have agents on the ground there who are in a much better position to do that.”

“No. We don’t want you to find her. We want her to find you.” He looks at me like he’s just given me the final clue to solve a puzzle.

“George. I don’t know what that means. Does she even know who I am?”

“Oh she knows. Azayiz was very close to your mother, particularly after your grandparents died. She became almost like a big sister to her. When your mother was killed, she was devastated. It was Azayiz who alerted your dad of your existence and arranged for him to take you out of Bosnia.”

“Amar Petrovic called my dad. I confirmed that with him when I interrogated him in Sarajevo.”

“Yes. Amar made the call, but Azayiz initiated it. She was the only one who knew who your dad was. She told Amar and asked him to call. She wanted to get you out of Bosnia—far from your uncle Sayid.”

“Well I owe her for that, but I’m still not seeing what I can do to help you find her.”

“Millie. She hasn’t see you since you were a newborn. You’re the only thing that remains of her precious niece. We think she would do anything to see you again.”

“What am I supposed to do? Walk up and down a bunch of streets in Pakistan until she sees me?”

“Who’s going to Pakistan?” I look over to see a freshly showered Mason standing in the doorway.

“Apparently I am,” I say, rolling my eyes. “To act as bait to lure my great-aunt—who I’ve never met—out of hiding.”

Mason walks over and hands me a fresh cup of coffee. “Yeah. That’s not happening.”

“Maybe we let Millie decide for herself,” George says, scooting his chair back to get his legs out of the sun.

“Millie has decided for herself,” I say as I grab Mason’s arm to stop him from moving any closer to George. “And it’s what Mason said—definitely not going to happen.”

I look over to see George vigorously massaging his left temple with his ring finger. That’s our old signal for ‘Can’t talk about it here. Meet me in the elevator.’

George stands up abruptly. “Well if you really don’t want to work on this, I guess I can’t force you. I can show myself out.”

I definitely know he was giving me the signal now because he’s never given up that easily on anything. George walks out the front door without saying another word. Mason closes the door behind him.

“That’s who you reported to at the agency?” Mason says, laughing. “He doesn’t seem like he’s all there. I’m glad you got away from him.”

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