Page 72 of The Only Reason (The Trident Trilogy 2)

“Because Sayid wanted to see you—again—before he died. He hadn’t seen you since your dad took you when you were only a few months old.”

“How did you escape the house when the SEAL team arrived?”

“Just like your dad did—through a tunnel.”

Aza stands behind him now, shaking her head—her eyes fixed on me. I’m guessing by her panicked look, I shouldn’t mention we are here to look for Dad. I look back at Fareed.

“How did you know to get in the tunnel? How did you know they were coming?”

“Why do you think I didn’t search you? I knew you had a phone. Sayid wanted them to rescue you. He was going to kill Yusef and himself that day no matter what. He wanted you to get out.”

“Why didn’t Yusef search me?”

“Because he was as dumb as a chicken.”

“All the other men in the house died.”

“We had to make it look real.” He shrugs. “With Sayid gone, I had no interest in carrying on with the network. He asked me, and I said no. We made the plan that everyone had to die except for me and hopefully you.”

He sees the confused look on my face.

“You were his niece. You are my cousin,” he says. “We both loved Nejra. You were a baby. You had no fault for what happened. Your dad, on the other hand . . .”

My mind finally goes back to my dad. That’s why I’m here. I don’t expect to find him, but I need to know.

“How long have you lived here?” I ask Fareed.

“Only a few days, actually. I lived in the mountains with the network most of the time. I went to visit Mom in Islamabad before she went into hiding. I was—how do you say it?—a vagabond. When Mom called me and told me she was hoping to move here, I came down from the mountains.”

“Yes, and I’m glad Millie could be our first guest,” Aza says. “I’m going to take her up the road to show her some of the other houses. We’ll be back soon.”

She looks at me and nods toward the door. I stand up.

Fareed says in Pashto, “Why are you going up there? You just got here after a long trip. What’s going on, Momma?”

“Nothing is going on,” Aza replies in Pashto. “She’s enchanted by the valley and wants to see more of it. And there used to be a boarding-house up that way. Do you think she’s going to stay here and sleep on the mattress with us?”

“I’ll go with you,” he says as he stands up.

“That’s not necessary,” she says quickly.

“Momma, there are people looking for you. They have to know you will try to hide here. I need to protect you.” He walks over to a small closet and pulls out a rifle.

I look in the closet quickly before he closes the door. That seems to be the only rifle available. I’ll have to stick to my pistols. We walk out to Aza’s car.

“I’ll drive,” I say, trying to gain some control over where we go next.

“You’re bossy like Nejra was,” Fareed says to me. “I’ll drive. Get in the back seat.”

At least I’ll have easier access to the Glock from the back seat. I get in and push my foot under the seat. I glide the Glock toward me until I can see the barrel. I look up as we start driving. Aza is giving him directions in Pashto. She tells him to drive to a house—that she says is the boarding-house—about a mile up on the left. As we get onto the road, I hear gunfire behind us. I turn around to look out the back window just as it shatters. I’m able to see at least ten men running toward us—still about a hundred feet out. I look back to Fareed as he slams the accelerator into the floor—throwing me against Aza’s seat. I grab the Glock as I’m falling and somehow duck down as another round comes in through the back window. I see blood splatter all over the car as I hear Fareed yell “Momma!” in Bosnian. He grabs for her as the car spins out of control, finally coming to a rest as he slams on the brakes. I crawl out of the car and peek around it. The men—armed with rifles—are still coming at us. Fareed pulls Aza out of the car and tries to stop the bleeding from her head. She’s obviously dead, but he keeps trying. I grab his rifle and start firing at the men. I have two down quickly. They take cover, but I know it’s only going to be a matter of minutes before they realize how lightly armed we are.

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