Freedom Code

by Elaine Levine

  “I’m not willing to sacrifice you for the sake of appearances. The FBI has kept the fair organizers up to date with everything. They have the info they need to make the call. What they choose to do with it is up to them. I don’t know if you heard, but we did get Abdul’s attackers. They were planning to hit the fair.”

  Relief washed across her features. “Well, that’s it then. It’s done. We’re in the clear.”

  Levi stepped away from her. He went to her fridge and looked for a beer, but remembered as soon as he saw her empty shelves that beer—or sustenance of any type—wasn’t her thing.

  “No, we’re not.” He faced her with the counter between them. “They had help implementing their plan. We still think that help came from the Tahrir al-Sham cell. The same guys that hit your place. We’re trying to track them down. It’s gonna be a long night. Did you eat?”

  “No.” She came around the counter and pulled a small notebook from a cupboard. “Here’s the list of places that will deliver up here. Whatever you want works for me.” She opened the notebook and pointed to a Mediterranean restaurant. “This place has great Greek salads.”

  Levi grinned as he looked at the opened page. Anything he picked was good for her as long as it was Greek salad. At least her signals were clear. “That sounds good.” He called in their order.

  When he hung up the phone, the silence between them was oppressive. So much was at risk, and all of it was out of his control. Finally, he’d found a woman who filled all the hollow, empty parts of him that he hid even from himself…but he had no idea how solid what they had was.

  Julia.

  He closed his eyes against the echo of that name. He’d failed Julia. He couldn’t fail Zaida.

  Their food came a little later. Neither of them was in much of a talking mood. After supper, Zaida went to take a shower. Levi sat on her sofa with his laptop. He researched the brand of drones the kids had primed for use, reconfirming their payload capabilities, their flight time capacities given different payload amounts. He came up with three different scenarios that gave the terrorists different ranges for setting up their attack.

  Zaida came into the living room, wearing that silky robe she’d had at his house. Her hair was toweled dry. She wore no makeup. Her dark eyes were intense. “Will you come to bed with me, Levi?”

  Her voice was soft. His dick responded as if she’d whispered those words just to it. “Can’t. I have to finish this.”

  She nodded, then pivoted and returned to her room. He focused on the analysis he was doing, forcing himself to put her hurt look out of his mind.

  He pulled up a satellite image of the area around the fairgrounds, overlaying his three rings of danger. It showed a lot of open ground—some undeveloped, some ranch land. A few neighborhoods. A chunk of interstate. Some businesses, stand-alone restaurants, and isolated residences. A new, unopened gas station. He’d seen that area today with Max. He used Google Streetview to look at the developed properties in the search zone. The gas station was still under construction, but that image was old.

  Anything going on in the open fields would quickly be identified. Jack had succeeded in getting a no-fly zone put in place during the fair, providing a dome of safety. Police helicopters would be able to quickly respond to a large drone penetrating the airspace, but not so much a fleet of smaller drones. And their helicopter would be grounded during the fireworks both tomorrow night and Saturday. Perfect time to deploy a dozen claymore-carrying drones to unleash hell on unsuspecting fair goers.

  The more he thought about it, the more it made sense that the cell had to be planning their attack between sunset and when the crowd left the fairgrounds.

  Tomorrow, they were going to have to clear the entire circumference he’d plotted around the fairgrounds. And once they had, they were going to need continued police presence in the target area.

  He called Jack and told him his findings.

  “We already came to the same conclusion,” Jack said. “We’ve alerted the proper teams. We’ll sweep the area in the morning. By the way, we contacted the manufacturer of the drones the boys had. They confirmed they only fulfilled one large order placed directly with them. It was for the twelve drones we recovered. They gave us the names of their distributors in the area. We’ve got calls in to them as well. So far, we’re only coming up with one or two on each sale, and none to the names we’re tracking.”

  “Okay,” Levi said.

  “We’ve got this as locked down as we can, Levi. The fair isn’t going to be called off.”

  Shit. Shitshitshit. “Roger that.” He dropped the call.

  Levi tossed his cell on the cushion beside him and leaned back, forking his fingers through his hair, fisting it as he stared at his computer. What the fuck more could he do? One shoe had dropped. He knew the other would follow…it was just a matter of where and when.

  Ace and Selena came down at seven-thirty the next morning. Levi let them in. Zaida hadn’t come out of her room yet. He was already up and showered. He’d managed to crash for a few hours last night.

  He brought the fighters up to speed on his analysis and what Jack had put in motion for security sweeps and the establishment of a wide perimeter security.

  “I don’t want Zaida to go today,” Levi said.

  “We’ll be there with her,” Selena said. “Everything that can possibly be done is being done.”

  Levi shook his head.

  “Look,” Ace said, “this means the world to her. You said you think the biggest threat comes after nightfall. We’ll get her out of there by seven. She’ll be back here and safe long before the fireworks start.”

  Levi shook his head again. “I don’t like it. I gotta go with my gut.”

  “You don’t like what?” Zaida asked as she came out of the hallway. Damn, how did she always look like a runway model? She wore a tight pair of white jeans, a loose red tank top made of some crinkled silk material, a faded blue jean jacket, a cascading necklace of dozens of strands of turquoise beads and matching earrings, and a pair of pointed-toe pumps that had just the toe and heels covered, leaving the sides of her feet exposed.

  She always stole his breath.

  “What don’t you like?” she asked, repeating her question.

  Nothing. There was not a fucking thing about her he didn’t like and didn’t want to devour right then. Selena elbowed him. “Um. Right. The fair. I don’t like you going to the fair.”

  “But we’ve worked it out,” Ace said, shaking her head at him. “Unless the threat becomes clearer by this afternoon, we’ll get you to your booth and keep you protected.”

  Joy spilled over her face. Shit, Levi growled to himself. She ran over to him and clasped his face, bringing him down for a kiss with those blood red lips of hers. He almost forgot they weren’t alone.

  “Thank you, Levi,” Zaida said.

  “Don’t thank me.” He nodded toward Ace and Selena. “They made the case for you.”

  She smiled at them. “Thank you, ladies. Do you think we can get these boxes in your Jeep?” she asked Levi.

  “Not all of them.” He shook his head.

  Selena held up her keys. “We’ve got one of the team’s big SUVs. They’ll fit in there.”

  There was a knock on the door. Max announced himself. Levi let him in.

  “Ready to go?” Max asked.

  “Sure. After we load some boxes,” Levi said, taking Selena’s keys.

  Max’s eyes narrowed at Levi. “You letting her do the fair?”

  Ace hissed a sigh. “Got it covered, Max.”

  After the guys had left with the boxes, Zaida looked at Selena and Ace. “Are the rest of your team all knuckle draggers too?”

  Ace rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

  “How do you deal with them?”

  “Logic. Lots and lots of it,” Selena said. “They get wrapped up in the emotion of being alpha protectors. We have to keep them grounded.”

  All three of them laughed at that.

/>   Zaida’s morning didn’t go quite how she wanted. Levi gave her a couple hundred-dollar bills, then asked Selena and Ace to run some errands with her. He wanted them to stop at a game store and pick up some things for everyone trapped in the hotel room. If there wasn’t a break in the case soon, they’d all be in protective custody for a few more days and would be badly in need of something to do besides watch TV. And then he wanted Zaida to pick up lunch from a local deli.

  It was thoughtful of him. Zaida wondered if his intent had been to keep her from worrying about the fair. If so, his distraction had worked. She wasn’t sure what she would find when she entered the suite where her parents, Jamal, and the Baqris were. Her parents were both Type A personalities. So was Jamal. The Baqris weren’t, but perhaps only because they were the youngest of the group. Add to that mix the FBI agents, and the energy in the confined space had to be near explosive after so many days together.

  Selena opened the door. The TV was on in the living room. Her mother saw her first. She looked stressed, but who wouldn’t in the same circumstances? Zaida smiled at her. She set her shopping bag on the coffee table. After greeting everyone and introducing Ace and Selena, she showed her mother what she’d brought. Mahjong, Dominos, some board games, some crossword puzzles and Sudoku magazines. She even brought coloring books and colored pencils.

  “It was nice of you to join us today,” Rayna said.

  “Of course, Mother.” Zaida hid her smile, knowing her mom was truly glad she’d come today, but equally upset she hadn’t been there yesterday. “I’m sorry I didn’t come yesterday. I found some quiet hours to do some work. This is putting me behind schedule.”

  “It is affecting all of our jobs,” Rayna quipped.

  Zaida nodded and led her mother to the kitchen. Levi had sent them to his favorite deli to pick up buffalo meat Reubens and several salads. He’d figured the group were getting tired of pizzas and other fast food delivery options.

  “Is everything okay at your office? Who’s taking your patients?” Zaida asked her mom as she unpacked the meal.

  “It is fine. Fortunately, we’d already planned to cover for each other for our vacations. I just had to move my vacation up in the schedule.” She gave an angry glance around the room and sighed. “This was not the vacation your father and I had planned.”

  “I know. It isn’t what I had planned either. I’m worried this won’t get resolved before this afternoon. I might be forced to cancel. It was important to me to present what the different literacy foundations are doing.”

  “We didn’t even know you were working with them,” Rayna said.

  “They aren’t the cause of this trouble, Mother.”

  “But if not for them, if not for your dangerous stance, none of this would have happened.”

  “No. This is happening because some very small-minded people decided to express their hatred in a violent and awful manner. This has nothing to do with the foundations that I work with. It has nothing to do with the women I work with. It has nothing to do with you or me or Daddy or anything, anyone, that we love.”

  Her mother’s lips pursed in the typical way she had of showing her displeasure. “And yet, here we are.”

  Zaida nodded. “Yes. Here we are. Safe. Together. Thanks to these agents. And Levi.”

  “And Jamal,” her mother added, shooting her an admonishing look. She leaned closed to Zaida. “We have much to discuss after lunch.”

  Why, at twenty-nine years old, did that still strike terror in Zaida’s heart? She smiled as she thought of Levi saying yesterday that after spending time with her mother, she’d think of all the ways her life was fucked.

  “What has you grinning so, Zaida?” Rayna asked.

  “Nothing in particular. I’m just feeling very grateful, right now. I’m very lucky to have been raised by you and Daddy.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  She reached over and took Hidaya’s hand. “And I’m very lucky to have friends like Hidaya and Abdul.”

  Hidaya sniffled and gave Zaida a hug. “How can you say that after what we did to you?”

  “You didn’t do anything to me. You didn’t do this on purpose. How could you know any of this was going to happen? This will all be successfully resolved very soon. We have to have faith in our helpers.”

  It was afternoon, almost the middle of a very long day. Zaida’s anxiety over what was happening and her worry about Levi’s safety was eating at her.

  The women had retreated to one of the guest bedrooms, the men to the other for an afternoon rest. Selena went with Zaida, her mom, and Hidaya, while Ace stayed in the main room. Rayna drew her daughter over to the sofa. Her face was all business, her grip on Zaida’s wrist relentless. Zaida knew exactly what talk was coming.

  “Zaida, I’m your mother,” Rayna began.

  Zaida kept from smiling. All of their serious discussions began this way, as if being her mom entitled Rayna to special rights that allowed her to cross Zaida’s boundaries.

  Perhaps it did. Zaida wondered if she’d do the same when she had a daughter who needed a blunt conversation. At least her mom’s words were whispered, though Zaida had the feeling she was making something of a presentation for Hidaya’s benefit, since her friend had no mother to guide her.

  Zaida smiled at her mother. “Are you sure?”

  “Sure what?” Rayna asked.

  “That you’re my mother.”

  Her mother was not amused. “This is a serious conversation, Daughter.”

  “Very well. I’m listening.”

  “You are almost thirty years old. You aren’t a child any longer. You aren’t a student. You’re settled in a career…such as it is.”

  “It’s a very good career, Mother.”

  Rayna waved that away. “It is what it is. Your father and I have always thought the Arts important, however they present themselves. That is not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Oh.”

  “As I said, you are of an age where it’s time to accept your adult responsibilities.”

  “I pay my bills. I haven’t missed a mortgage payment to you and Dad yet.”

  “Yes, you are very good at managing your money. Your social life…not so much. A woman only has so much time before her physiology begins to age. It is time you married and had children.”

  “Says who? Is it written somewhere?” Zaida asked.

  “What does it matter? Your father and I say it’s time. We’ve chosen a wonderful man for you, yet you refuse to even consider him. Jamal is perfect for you. He is strong, successful. He’ll be a good provider for you. He wants many children, too.”

  “You’ve worked this all out with him?”

  “We have.”

  “I see.”

  “Good. It’s clear you have an infatuation with Levi, but he is not one of us. And you’re not a child. It’s time to face life as an adult woman.”

  Zaida sighed. Up to now, her mother was covering Zaida’s hands with hers. Zaida pulled free and took hold of her mother’s hands, shifting dominance in their conversation to her favor.

  “You know I love and respect you and Dad. You gave up everything in your world to come here so that I could have this world. I can understand the points you make about Jamal. He is a fine man, but he is not to my taste.”

  “This is not a decision that should be made based on hormones. It is one your intellect must make.”

  “I don’t know what part of me is making this decision. Maybe my heart. Jamal doesn’t make my heart jump. Levi does.”

  “Has Levi asked you to marry him?”

  “Of course not. We’ve only known each other a few days.”

  Rayna grunted and pulled her hands free. “This is your last chance with Jamal. If you dally with this Levi, Jamal will not linger to pick up the pieces when your life crashes around you.”

  “I set Jamal free a long time ago. It is not my fault that he persists in his fantasy that we’ll be together. I’ve been very clear that w
ould not be the case, even before Levi came on the scene.”

  Rayna’s shoulders slumped. She looked as if the world would never again be right.

  “Mother, how many times have you told me the story of how you and Dad met? Of how you knew, only seconds in to your acquaintance, that your lives would be forever entwined? Your story is why I fell in love with love. I’ve wanted what you and Daddy have all my life. I never felt that with Jamal. Never. But the first moment Levi and I looked at each other, I swear the ground shook. It was like a herd of elephants surrounded us, stamping on the ground, forcing me to pay attention. He’s everything I’ve wanted all my life.”

  Rayna sighed. “So. That is the way of it, then. Does this Levi feel the same for you?”

  “He’s been a little busy since we first met. I think so. I see it in his eyes.” She shook her head. “We haven’t talked about it yet.”

  “Well, if you love him and he loves you, and he will honor our family, then your father and I will consider him.”

  “What would you have done if your family didn’t accept Dad?”

  Rayna’s eyes narrowed. “Do not give me an ultimatum. I have said we will consider him.”

  Zaida laughed. She leaned forward and hugged her mom. Life hadn’t been easy for Rayna. War, oppression, religious practices that should have made enemies of her parents, a new start in a new country, language barriers, gender barriers…her mom had survived all of it to build a successful career and make for herself a thriving life, against all the odds a human could face.

  Zaida was deeply proud of her parents, but they still could not decide her future for her. “All I need you to do, Mother, is accept that this decision is mine. You’ve raised me to be like you. Now it’s time to let me be me.”

  17

  Zaida was in the shared living room later that afternoon, when Levi texted that he was coming to pick her up. Jamal, Jack, and one of the other FBI agents had already left with Abdul.

  There was a heavy silence in the room. Her parents did not want her to go. Her dad looked close to a full-blown temper tantrum. That he didn’t cut loose, made her proud. He wasn’t treating her like a child, giving her ultimatums. He accepted her decision, even though he didn’t agree with it.