Page 50 of Wild Card (The Trident Trilogy 3)

Amar looked at her one more time, but her eyes were closed. He decided to let her sleep and appeal to her senses later. He was halfway home when he turned around. He had betrayed her trust, and he knew he owed her an apology. No matter what, Nejra was his best friend. He would never let that change.

As he approached the house, he glanced in the front room window. He saw a man standing over Nejra’s sleeping body. At first, he thought it was Sayid. He couldn’t get a clear view through the dirty panes. The man grabbed a pillow off the floor and put it over her face. Nejra didn’t struggle. When the man finally removed the pillow, he turned and saw Amar frozen at the window. Amar took a quick step back and tripped over a flower pot. As he tried to recover, the man walked out of the house.

“It is done,” Haroun Hadzic said, looking down at Amar. “You will be next if you ever speak of it.”

As Amar watched Haroun walk briskly next door to his own house, he untangled himself from the flower pot and hesitantly walked into the house.

As he stepped into the room, he saw Nejra lying on the couch. Her beautiful, green eyes were open, but he already knew she was dead. He felt for a pulse. There was none. With tears streaming down his face, he leaned down to kiss her and gently closed her eyes.

He took a quick breath when the baby stirred. He assumed that she was dead, too. He picked her up quickly. Yasmine looked up at him—smiling—blissfully unaware of how her life had changed in the last few minutes.

“You are my daughter,” he whispered to Yasmine. “I will raise you like one of my own. For the rest of my life, I will do everything I can to protect you.”

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