by Tony Lavely
Boynton reappeared with a boxy desktop computer. “It will be less fast, but more anonymous.”
Shen smiled at the precaution. “I think they already know where we are.” He waved at the message.
Boynton smiled back. “As you remind us continually, that’s no reason for laxity.”
Amy had grabbed the paper from the table and was typing. “Let’s see what… what they want to sell. And what it’ll cost.”
After another minute, Amy said, “I fucking hate—” She took a deep breath and spun the display to face Willie. To the others, she said, “We’ll need to verify it six ways from Sunday, but it’s a video. Purporting to show Ian and Kevin in an otherwise empty room. Alive.”
Willie was still watching.
“How long is it?” Shen said.
“Didn’t watch it all—”
“A minute and a half,” Willie said. “I think we call Shalin. But, Boynton, make sure she doesn’t bring the kids.”
“First, is it real?” Amy said.
“Yeah,” Willie said. “Yeah, I think it is. Boynton, look at it and see what you think, please.”
“I agree,” Boynton said once he’d finished. “But let us allow Shalin her opinions.” He hurried off the lanai.
It was almost ten minutes before Shalin stepped through the slider.
“What have we here?” she said. “Aside from a somber group?”
Amy waved at the seat beside her, in front of the monitor. “Sit down, Shalin. There’s a video we want your opinion on.” She pushed a hand through her hair, then leaned forward. “Rather than blindside you, it has ostensibly been sent to convince us…” She waved around the room, including Shalin, who now looked confused. “… that Ian and Kevin are alive.”
Shalin’s face paled while her eyes opened wide. In a second, she fought for a short breath, then gasped, “How… how can that be?” She gaped at Amy first, then each of the others. “That… I can’t believe it…”
When she didn’t move, Amy reached across and tapped the keys. Shalin’s eyes snapped to the screen; Amy could see her following the sparse motion the men—more likely Kevin—made over the few seconds. When it stopped, she raised a hand, but then looked to Amy, who started the replay.
“But how…”
“I have no idea. We can ask Mom, but right now, three things, I think. Do we tell Beckie about this? Is it them? Do we try to track the people?” She met each of the others’ eyes; one at a time, they signaled agreement.
Shalin was even more definite. “Of course we tell Beckie! Why isn’t she here?”
“Maurice talked to Mom and she said, in effect, if we’re not all dying, wait until Sunday.” She shook her head. “And I don’t know what she’d do between now and then…”
“No. Of course she should worry over the baby first.”
Shalin glanced over once more, and Amy tapped the keyboard for her. Once the video had run through another time, Shalin raised her head. “I’m pretty sure it’s him. Ian, too.”
With a nod, Amy stood and walked to the lanai railing. After a few seconds staring, she turned back and said, “Show of hands, please, from anyone who thinks this isn’t a trap.”
No one moved.
Amy walked back to the table. With a look at Willie, she said, “I think Maurice should call Else Meyer and ask her to copy that site before they take it down. After she’s got it, any analysis would be wonderful. Keep it—”
“What’s this?” Shalin said, holding the envelope.
“The web site address came in it,” Amy said. She handed Shalin the note.
“My Arabic needs work… I guess that’s why Xia’s here? What’s it say?”
“I think someone tried to resurrect a verse from the Qur’an,” Xia said, “to explain the note.”
Shalin read the characters again. “I think they failed.” She turned to Willie, then Amy. “Can I ask the Imam to look at this?” She held up the envelope with its calligraphy showing.
“The Imam? Oh, Imam Rashid? Alisha’s brother?” Shalin nodded. “I guess he would add knowledge of the Qur’an, wouldn’t he? Yeah, sure. Should you take it to him, or ask him to come over here? Or would a scan or photo do?”
“I’ll call and ask.” She hurried off the lanai.
“Here are some thoughts,” Amy said, “though not in any particular order. First, I didn’t see anything to indicate the date the video was made. Second, should someone head to Durban, that area, to look into the smugglers, and the hospitals?”
“Well, Beth was there at Christmas, and we’ve had no news since then,” Willie said.
“Oh right. I wasn’t thinking…”
“And if Shalin’s suspicions are correct,” Willie said, “we’ll have to look at people outside the Middle East.”
“What do you mean?”
“If her idea that they aren’t devoted Muslims is accurate… that’s all.”
Amy turned back to the computer, allowing the conversation to continue without her. After watching it once more, she closed the video and then gaped at the characters glowing in the center of the screen.
She tapped the mouse, then smiled, an angry, forced smile as she glared at the monitor.
“What?” Shen said.
Amy looked up. “Good thing Maurice asked Xia,” she said, turning the screen toward the translator.
“It’s—”
Shalin’s hurrying through the slider stopped Xia short. “Oops! Sorry,” Shalin said.
Amy glanced at Xia before saying, “No problem. Did the Imam have any thoughts?”
“He believes that whoever wrote this…” She waved the envelope. “… isn’t very well versed in Islam. Or the Qur’an, at least. They were trying to force a meaning into a text that doesn’t apply.”
“Oh,” Amy said. “Kind of like Christians who use the Bible to justify… well, to justify almost anything.”
“Exactly! In addition, he doesn’t think there’s anything in the Qur’an that speaks to what we think they wanted to say.”
“Which is?”
“That Allah will reward them for returning a husband to his family after… after forcing the separation.”
Xia coughed, and every eye turned to her. “Umm. Okay. What Shalin just said… This text says much the same thing… That they expect to be forgiven if they return Ian and Kevin to their families. But—”
“Always a ‘but,’ isn’t there?” Willie said with poorly disguised outrage.
Xia glanced at him and nodded; her half-smile appeared sympathetic rather than mocking. “But since they have been unsuccessful in their larger aims, they require two… ‘two small favors.’ Their words. I’ll check but I’m pretty confident in the translation.”
“We trust you,” Amy said. “What are the ‘two small favors’ they ask?”
Xia’s mouth twisted into an approximation of a wry smile. “An unstated amount of ransom, and a conversation with Mrs. Jamse—”
“A what! Ransom means cash money, or something like that, right? How much? And they want to talk with Beckie?” Amy sputtered into silence. What can they possibly want to talk about with Beckie? With any of us?
“Enter the trap,” Willie said. “No other way we’d allow Beckie to meet them.”
“How about one of us?”
“No, Amy. Not any other one of us, either,” Willie said. “Not with the little we know now.”
“Okay, so what do we do? Sit on our butts and wait?”
Willie smiled. Amy saw a little of the tease in his eyes, and returned a tense grin. “Talk to me, Willie. What are you thinking?”
“Two things. Beckie should be proud of you. We’ll check with Beth and Leonid, see if Beth can take a few days to go back to South Africa and do another follow-up with her contact. Maybe track back the other doctors who conveniently pronounced them dead when maybe they were only mostly dead.”
“Excellent! You are so good, Willie. Now, tell me what Beckie’s reaction to all t
his will be.”
He gave her a little grimace, then poured a cup of coffee. He took a sip, and then a second. Amy was about to burst with impatience, but finally he said, “Beckie’s reaction? You know her better than anyone here, I think, so maybe you’re looking for confirmation?” She gave him a curt nod. “Do you watch Trillian when she’s prowling? Crouched; tip of her tail moving, whipping; ears back but not closed? You know?”
Amy smirked at him. “You know Trillian doesn’t bother with me. But, vigilant? Cautious, maybe, though there’s more to it for a cat.”
“You have the beginning of what I mean. The important part, that I think Beckie will follow. Cautious. Especially after the baby, and… and Elena’s leaving,” he finished strongly, as if embarrassed by an earlier weakness. “We shouldn’t jump at anything. Having Beth move is the right thing; we should talk to Beckie before anything else. Since last year, she’s going to move dead slow, seek more facts.”
“Yup, sounds right to me. So, I’ll stay at least til Sunday,” Amy said. “And before then, I’ll talk to Mom and find out if the mind-altering pain-killers will still affect Beckie’s judgment.” She stood. “Or if she’ll change her orders. I can do that when I go to visit Beckie later today. Maurice, can you talk to Else and then Janni, to cancel my flight for today? I’ll call Dylan… He won’t be happy! And Willie, you want me when you talk to Beth and Leonid?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.” He glanced at his watch. “But I better do it now, before the absolute end of their day. Thanks, Amy.” He stood and gave her a side-hug before leaving.
“I love him,” Amy said.
“You and everyone else. Talk to Sue,” Shalin said.
“Can you come along when we talk to Beckie? Are you going to tell the twins yet?”
“I’ll be there. And no, I want more definite information before getting their hopes up. No matter the video, it says nothing about them today. Let me know what the doctors approve. And I’ll go with you when you visit, if you don’t mind.”
Sunday, April first, the morning of Ralf’s fourth day, Beckie allowed the nurse to lift him away once he’d had his mid-morning bellyful of milk. Doctor Claire’s immediate appearance was a bit unexpected; since she’d returned to Miami after the delivery, Beckie hoped it might portend a change in routine—the past two days she hadn’t exercised much of anything beyond having one of the nurses help her walk first to the bathroom, and then as far as she could make it toward the corridor and the atrium.
While the pain relievers seemed to work, her mind was also beginning to want for something useful to do. Maybe…
“After Dr. Ardan and I talked, I’m going to allow a brief meeting with… Well, I’m not sure who they all are…” Yeah. She only knows Millie and me. “… but Shen Go vouches for them.”
“If Shen says ok, it’ll be fine, Doctor. Any warnings?”
“Don’t get excited. Don’t stress. If you need to cough, use the pillow the way the nurses showed you. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
The doctor opened the door to Beckie’s room. With a nod, Amy held it for Willie, Shalin, Boynton and Xia Zhang. Beckie fell back, but then waved to the nurse who hadn’t left. “Give me a hand into the chair, please.”
It took a minute or so to get into a position that could pass for comfortable; she took a not-too-deep breath and said, “While I’m happy to see all of you, this particular collection… And none of you look very happy.
“Amy, what are you doing here? Supposed to be back in school, aren’t you?”
The visitors exchanged glances of longer or shorter duration. Then, before Beckie lost patience, Amy said, “Yeah, well, I was gonna head back… And then…” She reached into the laptop bag that Boynton had placed by her chair and withdrew a heavy white envelope. “… this came Friday morning.” She waved it, then laid it on the table beside Beckie. “You can either look at it now or not. By itself, it’s not particularly interesting.”
Beckie glanced at the creamy paper oblong and wondered about the bold calligraphy. But she said, “Okay, what is ‘particularly interesting’ then?”
“The web site it pointed to.” Amy paused, then fixed Shalin in a steady gaze.
“Just tell her, Amy. Don’t put her through it; just tell her.”
What! Put me through what?
“Yeah,” Amy said. “You can watch later, tell us if you agree.” She took a breath and swiped her hand through her hair. “Well—”
“They sent a video that implies that Kevin and Ian are still alive,” Shalin said.
“What! What did you say?” Beckie sagged into her chair. “That… that can’t be.” She sat up a little straighter. “Tell me this is not an April Fool’s thing! We were there, Amy, we saw him! How…”
“No Fool-ish crap here, sister. I got no answer for you, any more than I did when Willie, Maurice and I opened it. It doesn’t say they’re alive now, but they were when the video was made. We’re pretty sure it’s them, not somebody acting.” She reached to the bag again and dragged a laptop out.
The nurse was beside Beckie. The needle in her hand argues that she thinks I’m getting too worked up, I guess. Not yet. I need to hear this out! Beckie waved her back. “I’ll be all right. Thanks.” With a look at Amy, making the computer work, she said, “Put it here, on the table. I guess I’m the only one hasn’t seen it, right?”
“Of us, right.” Amy waved at the others.
“And,” Willie said to the nurse, “we’d like to keep it quiet, so… Thanks,” he replied when she nodded to him.
Beckie was very briefly amused at the surprise on the nurse’s face. “Thanks,” she repeated. “If you’d rather claim ignorance honestly, you can leave.”
“No. It’ll be okay, I’m sure.”
Beckie nodded and turned to see Amy’d finished with what she was doing; the computer waited, blank blue screen with a large triangle in the center. She clicked.
Starring anyone else, the ninety seconds of torpid action wouldn’t have held Beckie’s attention for more than a tenth of the duration. But this was Ian! And Kevin, too. Gasping for breath, she clutched the pillow to her belly to hold her insides in.
It ended and she pressed Replay. This time, she watched to determine as best she could the condition of the two men. “Audio?” Amy shook her head. The men were talking, sitting on wooden planks that must also do for beds, since there was no other furniture in view. No dressings or bandages, they appeared perfectly normal, albeit not as jovial as she would hope for.
She pulled the computer’s lid closed. “You said… Friday, right? And this is?”
“Sunday, Mistress.”
Maurice, here to keep me straight, Beckie thought with a forced grin.
“So, two days. Why—”
“I talked to Mom and she called Dr. Claire. They both said… They wouldn’t clear you for this.”
“They know?”
Amy nodded, as did Willie. “They understand the need for security,” he said.
“Okay. I’ll talk to them later.” She focused on Willie. “What’ve you done so far?”
“Amy and Else archived the site. You were watching the version we saved, since the on-line one’s been deleted. Beyond that and asking Leonid and Beth to have Beth return to PMB to check with Tjaart again, nothing. Not enough information to make any other rash decisions.”
She smiled, though it felt tight and forced. Ian’s out there, somewhere! She took a couple of breaths to calm herself. “Good. No word from her yet, right?”
“She’s there, but that’s about it. We agreed she’d be back with Leonid next Sunday, and those are the flight arrangements Boynton made.”
“Good. Although, if she or Tjaart find anything… Well, let’s wait on that, until she reports. So. You guys all spent Friday and Saturday beating this thing into the ground, right? So, the synopsis?”
The team spent ten minutes reviewing the several meetings and conversations since Amy’d opened the l
etter.
Finally, Amy said, “After that, we spent a few minutes thinking about a team to send… if we knew where to send them and if you agreed. Like Willie said, there’s not enough data to do anything else. And while Else and I looked at the web site, there was nothing there of value. So, here we are, with the obvious questions. How’d they do it? Why’d they do it?”
“I guess we’d have to ask Millie how. I don’t know. But I agree. What I want to know is why? Not even why the charade so much, but why reveal it now? What’s happened in the past week that changed things? What do they want?” Beckie looked into Shalin’s eyes. “You agree it is him? Kevin? Not some actor playing a part?”
“I think it’s him. And Ian, too.”
“So we want to know what the— what’s going on that they sent this now?”
“One other detail…” Willie said. “To get them back, they want a ransom. Part of which is, they want to meet with you… We guess they think it’s the only way we’d allow you—”
“Or anyone, Willie!” Beckie glared at him. No, I gotta be calm. Not his fault. She pressed her hands against the pillow and took three deep breaths. “That’s right. And no way I wouldn’t go if that’s what it meant.” She took another deep breath. “I am so fucking angry about their seeming stupidity… Which must be what they want: us, or me anyway, to be so angry or anxious that we miss the point and do something we wouldn’t otherwise.
“Okay. Dr. Claire will be back soon, so let’s make the most of our time. First, anything else?”
“The conversation they wish to have with you will begin in Pakistan,” Xia said.
“What!”
“They say you know where.”
What can this mean? “Well, let’s warn Leonid about this… since that’s the only damn thing I know about Pakistan. Don’t want him blind-sided.”
“That’s for sure,” Xia said. “Then at the end, play no games. You know, the usual dramatic threats.”
“Yeah.” Beckie pulled her ponytail around in front and fake braided it. “Other thoughts or ideas?”
