Defending Zahrah

by Kendra Mei Chailyn

  The men continued speaking, debating how to raise money for their organization. They talked about how they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves, especially from the American and Canadian intelligence communities.

  Too late!

  They listened for a while longer, Zahrah translating softly and after a bit they continued on. They wandered through an unopened side door. The floors were concrete which didn’t give way for much sound. Still, she tiptoed after Declan.

  The silence inside was heart-shattering. As they entered deeper, the voices from the room they’d eavesdropped on echoed around them. Each space they looked in was empty, so was the kitchen, the two bathrooms they passed and a small closet. In one space, they found a blade. Declan handed it to her.

  Zahrah nodded.

  They wandered through the house—taking in as much information as they could. Zahrah tried her best to memorize the space. She needed to remember where the doors were, the windows, the uneven bits of flooring. Anything that would help her make their lives easier. Eventually, Declan pointed back the way they’d come. It was easy enough to find their way back. But just before they were to exit, someone was having a conversation at the door. Declan closed his eyes and pressed his back to the wall.

  He caressed down her side then pulled the blade out. Once he had it, Declan removed something from his pocket and threw it across the space.

  “What was that?” One voice asked in English. Soon footsteps came their way. “Let me check it out.”

  Zahrah clamped a hand over her mouth because it didn’t take a genius to know what was about to happen. When the man rounded the corner, Declan grabbed in him a chokehold and pulled him into his chest. Quick as flash, the man was on the floor, dead—bleeding from his throat.

  She wanted to turn away but the startled look on his face, the way his eyes opened as if staring up at her, sent her entire body into shivers.

  “Fatir?” The other called.

  He ended with the same fate.

  Zahrah was frozen.

  Dead bodies hitting the ground was loud.

  One right after the other threatened to blow her eardrums out.

  Declan took her free hand and tugged. She tripped over one of the bodies and the hand over her mouth wobbled, almost allowing the scream it was holding in to escape. Outside, they didn’t stop until he was lifting her into the front seat of the SUV. Still, she left her hand where it was lodged over her mouth, now keeping sheer terror in and her heart from escaping. Declan said nothing, he simply climbed behind the wheel, dropped the blade on the floor in the back of the vehicle and sped out of the lot.

  Chapter 6

  At the hotel, Zahrah locked herself in the bathroom and Cyclops knew why. He figured she didn’t see someone get their throats slashed every day. He groaned and dragged a hand over his head. While she was locked away, he exited the suit, wandered through the nearby streets for food. By the time he returned, he had two servings of ful medames, falafel, okra stew and steamed rice. He also bought some drinks and bottled water.

  When he returned, Zahrah was in her room and didn’t exit even when he set the bags in the kitchenette. Cyclops frowned and knocked on her door.

  “We have to talk about this,” Cyclops said from the door.

  She turned from the window.

  “You’re afraid of me.” Cyclops told her. “I get it. But at this point, it is what it is.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like that before.” She swallowed.

  “I went out for some food,” Cyclops said, turning from the room. “Eat something before it gets cold.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Out.”

  “Declan.”

  “I’m not going to apologise for what happened.” Cyclops told her without facing her. “Just so you know, it’s going to happen again. You have to decide what you can and can’t handle. Now, you’re afraid of me—I get it. So, let’s get this done so you can go home.”

  He left the hotel again but this time, he sat in the front seat of the SUV, talking to Tex while watching the building. They should still have the element of surprise. As far as Cyclops could tell, no one but their friends knew of their movement into Egypt. Still, he stayed awake, watching over the hotel and replaying audio Tex had managed to get his hands on.

  The useless part he understood for they were in English. A bit of the slangs he got because his brother Darius was fluent in Arabic. But most of it was gibberish.

  Cyclops frowned and turned it off.

  As the time ticked by, he couldn’t help dwelling on the way Zahrah looked at him. Suddenly, he didn’t like being a monster. She was terrified of him and it killed him she would think he would harm her.

  Then again, she didn’t know anything about him. Maybe she was right to be terrified.

  Cyclops stayed out in the vehicle all night. Early the next morning, he bought breakfast and made his way back to the room. He set the food on the counter with the rest from the night before. Zahrah exited her room, but he entered his, grabbed a change of clothes and locked himself in the bathroom. He took a quick shower, dressed then exited to get some breakfast.

  “You can’t keep ignoring me.” Zahrah told him.

  “I’m not ignoring you,” Cyclops replied. “I’m giving you room to breathe. There’s a difference.”

  As he made to walk by her, Zahrah caught his arm. “Come on, who are you kidding?” She sighed. “You haven’t said two words to me since you got back. I don’t even know where you stayed last night. I was worried.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “That’s—that’s not what I…” She sighed.

  He turned to leave again, and she caught his arm once more. “I’m sorry, okay? But you can’t fault me for being a little cautious around you after what I just saw.”

  “You’re serious.” Cyclops tilted his head. “You actually believe I would hurt you. Tell me the truth, Kitten.”

  She released his arm and folded hers across her chest. “After what I’ve been through in the last little while? Can you blame me?”

  “Those men would have done the same thing to us.” He explained. “You don’t have to take my word for it—it doesn’t matter. I’ll help you through this and bring you back to American soil. Once we land, you never have to see me again. Deal?”

  “No.” Zahrah lifted her chin. “That’s a shitty deal.”

  “Then I don’t get it, Zahrah.” Cyclops frowned at her. The exhaustion the conversation sent through him was unbelievable. “What do you want from me?”

  She bit her bottom lip. “Don’t shut me out. I get it. You barely know me. But I’m putting my life in your hands. All I’m asking in return, is that you don’t shut me out.”

  “Fine.”

  “Declan?”

  He didn’t stop to look at her. Instead, he dished out some breakfast for her and himself, then used what he could find in the kitchenette to make them some coffee. It wasn’t the best tasting brew in the world, but it would have to do. He ate silently, going over what Tex had told him. The bodies he’d dropped the night before had raised some alarm within the ranks of the organization, but it seemed they were keeping it under wraps. There had to be a reason for it.

  “Do you have family here?”

  “Yes.” Her voice cracked. “My father and two brothers.”

  “When was the last time you’ve been in contact with them?”

  Zahrah said nothing. She shoved a piece of falafel into her mouth and sniffled.

  “Kitten?”

  “A few years.” She admitted. “After my mother’s death something happened that caused me to be disowned. After my father told me I was dead to him, there was nothing left for us to say to each other.”

  “People still do that?”

  Zahrah offered a one shoulder shrug.

  “And your brothers?” Cyclops asked.

  “My older brother was left in a very precarious position.” Zahrah explained. “My youn
ger brother—well, he’s always been a bit of a dick.”

  Cyclops scoffed. “Are you gay?”

  She laughed. “No.”

  “Sorry.” Cyclops felt like an idiot for asking. “I seem to be saying dumb things around you.”

  “That would have been my first question too.” Zahrah admitted. “But it’s nothing like that. The long and short of it all is, my father chose strangers over me and it was then I realized he didn’t really love me.”

  “Do they live around here?”

  “About two hours? They live in Alexandria.” She eyed him. “You don’t think they have anything to do with this, right?”

  “Not really.” Cyclops shrugged. “I just want to know all the angles are covered.”

  “When my father closes a door, it stays that way.”

  Cyclops nodded. “We should have Tex check into them anyway. Once we clear them, we can move on. But right now, we have to grasp at whatever we can to figure this out.”

  Zahrah frowned but said nothing to the contrary. She ate in silence and Cyclops lost his appetite.

  “I was listening to some of the recordings Tex picked up,” Cyclops told her. “I’m not fluent in Arabic. I picked up a bit but, I kind of need you to listen to the chatter to see if we could get a break.”

  She nodded and Cyclops set her up with the recordings. While she listened, he opened his laptop to check if Darius had checked in. His brother was still radio silent. It meant Darius was still in the field or—he shook his head. Instead of dwelling on the darkness, he checked in with the offsite storage he used to store confidential information.

  “Declan!” Zahrah called.

  He swirled around to face her. “What’s the matter?”

  “Do you know what Kayaka is?” she asked.

  “Yes—a small ghetto just north of here. Why?”

  She paused the recording and hurried over. “They’re talking about the cave with the river through it. That’s in Kayaka, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. Maybe that has something for us.

  “You could be right—everything else is basically everyday talk. They said something about Malik—I’m still not sure if it’s the name Malik or king.”

  “What did they say about Malik?” He asked.

  “Apparently, he won’t be happy with the outcome of their last mission.”

  He pressed his lips into a thin line. It wasn’t the first time that word or name popped up. He frowned. “Care to take a little trip?”

  She swallowed but nodded.

  “But we will wait until later tonight. In the meantime, we have another lead to run down.” Cyclops stopped to send Tex an email asking for anything Tex could find on Zahrah’s family. While their new friend worked, Declan figured there were other things they could do. “How would you like to go shopping with your husband?”

  Zahrah blushed. “I’d like that very much.”

  She hurried from the room and soon returned wearing a niqab instead of a hijab. Cyclops tilted his head.

  “Um…”

  “I figured this way my identity can remain a secret for a while longer,” Zahrah said.

  “Kitten…”

  “I know. You don’t like it.”

  “It’s not that I don’t like it. I’m not closed minded—to each their own. I just like my…” Cyclops smiled but turned away from her to pick up his phone and wallet. When he faced her again, the mirth was gone.

  “Your what?”

  “Forget I said anything.” Cyclops told her. “Shall we?”

  Cyclops led her from the hotel, walking by her side until they were outside and moving across the parking lot. Someone watched them from the front lobby window. He slowed down but only slightly. Rushing would only draw added attention to them. Not to scare or worry Zahrah, he said nothing. He opened her door for her, and she thanked him with a gentle hand against his cheek. Cyclops wondered if that was for the eyes around them or if she meant to be tender with him.

  After he was behind the wheel, he started the ignition while glancing toward the hotel’s lobby. There wasn’t anyone there, but he knew there was earlier. He frowned, drew his belt in place and shifted the car into drive. For a while, Zahrah said nothing. It was probably for the best since Cyclops’ mind was going a mile a minute. All the questions he had revolved around Zahrah and her family.

  How could a father walk away from his child—his daughter?

  How could he so callously throw away a human being?

  Sure, Cyclops got pissed at Darius often, but he never once thought of merely walking away. Darius was like his child—most times.

  “Where are we going shopping?” Zahrah asked.

  “Cairo,” Cyclops said. He glanced into his mirrors and arched a brow. “Interesting.”

  “What is?”

  “Don’t look now, but we’re being followed.”

  “What?” Zahrah asked. “How do you know?”

  “Practise?”

  She groaned. “What do we do?”

  “We pretend we don’t know he’s there.”

  “But we can’t take him with us.” Zahrah pointed out. “And he’s not just going to go away.”

  Cyclops glanced in his mirrors again. “Hang on.”

  She gripped her seat and nodded just as he pressed his foot on the gas bringing the medal to the floor. The SUV zoomed forward. Cyclops guided it through the light traffic, zig-zagging around other vehicles. The car on their tail remained there. Cyclops went off route and though the GPS recalculated, he wasn’t really paying attention to it. Zahrah was right—they couldn’t take their tail to look into the lead.

  Who could it be? He didn’t think their cover was broken. So, to have a tail already worried him greatly.

  “Persistent little ass, isn’t he?” Zahrah muttered.

  A car pulled into the lane in front of Cyclops who swerved to avoid a collision. Zahrah screamed but he couldn’t focus on her. Other cars honked at him. But he focused on pushing the vehicle to hits ultimate speed.

  Still, the car remained on his tail.

  “This is bullshit.” He gripped the steering with one hand and started turning the car. Once he felt the pressure on his right, he pulled up the hand brake to push the vehicle into a drift but instead of driving through the turn, he slammed on the brake. The tires squealed but the vehicle jarred to a sudden stop. The car following him quickly stopped and began going in reverse.

  Other cars swerved out of the way and honked.

  Cyclops released the handbrake and slammed on the gas. The other vehicle jerked to a stopped, flipped a U-turn and began speeding back the way they’d come. Cyclops sped up and swerve onto the right side of the road but didn’t slow down. It didn’t take long for the other car to slam into a truck. The entire front-end of the car wound up underneath the truck and he knew no one could survive that.

  “Shit!” Cyclops swore, jerking to a stop. “I needed him alive.”

  “This is getting worse.”

  “Tell me about it.” Cyclops continued in the wrong direction before making a left turn in order to make a U-turn to head back in the right direction. “He could have told me why he was following us. He could have maybe pointed us toward this Malik person.”

  “We’ll find another way.”

  He glanced in the rear-view mirror and a bit after the explosion, Cyclops slowed down. The rest of the trip to the small strip of stores were basically quiet. Zahrah seemed thoughtful and Cyclops respected that process for her. When they arrived and parked, he turned in his seat to look at her.

  “Ready?”

  She chuckled bitterly. “How does one get ready for something like this?”

  “Stay close to my side.”

  “Of course. You’re my husband.”

  Cyclops smiled at her before reaching into his bag on the back seat. When he shifted around again, he handed her a pair of designer sunglasses. “We’re going to wander from one store to another until we get to the one we want. It’s the third one fr
om this end. Tex said he’s been tracking a couple of guys from the group we hit the first night we arrived her. They come to that store more than is really necessary. I mean, how many shirts does one really need?”

  “You’d be surprised.” She sighed. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”

  Cyclops watched her opened her door and stepped out. “Yes, dear.”

  Zahrah glanced back at him and he winked at her. He couldn’t see her cheeks for they were covered with fabric, but he knew she’d blushed.

  Chapter 7

  Wandering the stores made Zahrah feel normal. She’d never been shopping with a man before. When she was a child, it was always with her mother. As the years drifted by, she was left to handle that part of life alone. She always envied girls who had girlfriends to hang out with. Zahrah always imagined it would have been like Sex and the City.

  The first shop they stepped into was a jewelry store. The shock of it pulsed through her chest and she clung tightly to Declan’s hand. He whispered comforts to her and never once pushed her away. Instead, he walked around with her, looking at beautiful things in the glass cases, and rubbed her back when the memories of her store became too much.

  The store lit an angry fire under her ass. It made her rage like a storm on the inside. Catching whoever was responsible for ruining her life became an almost obsession. It was there, pressed against Declan’s side, eyeing all the beautiful rings and necklaces, bracelets and trinkets, Zahrah vowed revenge. If it was the last thing she did, she would make sure she looked into that person’s eyes as she burned his world to the ground.

  “Look!” She gasped while hunching down to peer at a beautiful dragonfly pendant. The outer edges were made of white gold with diamond wings and rose gold body. It glistened in the light and she couldn’t imagine seeing anything so wonderful. Though she wanted to buy it, Zahrah did the math inside her head and figured since she didn’t have a source of income at the moment, splurging on a pendant that cost more than some people’s car was a bad idea.