Dr.Richard turns his attention to me.I shake my head.He turns next to Sabera.“Your face…”
“I’ve got her,” Lilla interrupts.“As you say, better than it looks.Whereas…”
I’ve forgotten about Aliah.She’s standing at the other end of the long island, and for the first time, I realize that she’s swaying on her feet.Her hand is pressed to her side.When she pulls it back, it’s covered in blood.
Dr.Richard wastes no time as I scramble to assist.Together we ease Aliah to the floor.I expect to see buckshot or glass, but instead, when he pulls up her blouse, we discover a crude bandage covering a previous injury that’s resumed bleeding.Dr.Richard peels off the tape.I gag slightly and have to look away.
A symbol of some kind has been carved into her flesh, ugly, brutal, and already bright red with infection.
Dr.Richard, who clearly understands its significance, murmurs, “I’m sorry.”
I take her hand, squeezing her fingers with my own.She trembles but keeps her chin up.She didn’t give them the satisfaction of breaking before; she’s not going to do it now.
I glance over at Lilla and Sabera, who seem to be doing okay.
“There, there, poppet.”Lilla is cupping Sabera’s face between her palms as she searches for further wounds to tend.The cut on Sabera’s cheek has reopened, blood trickling down.Lilla brushes it away with her thumb.“The worst is past.Now we just need Zahra, and all will be well.You do have the child someplace safe, yes?”
She gazes at me expectantly.
I’m not ready to make nice, however.
“You.”I start with Kurtz, who’s now wrapping long rolls of gauze around Daryl’s torso to hold the makeshift bandages in place.“You and the good doctor here, obviously you’re brothers?”
A grunt of acknowledgment.
“He works in New York.And you… The main headquarters for No One Left Behind are in DC.You two are the ones who orchestrated everything.”
This earns me a look from Kurtz.“Define ‘everything.’”
“You got Sabera and her family moved to Tucson.”
“Technically, the United Nations made it happen, by virtue of granting them refugee status.But once they finally arrived in the States, I possibly requested a few favors—in a strictly personal, not professional capacity, I assure you.What can I say, I’ve always been a sucker for my little brother’s lost causes.”
Dr.Richard rolls his eyes.
“Why Tucson?”I want to know.
“Aliah started it.She’d already been working official channels at the resettlement agency.Claimed she was family, so could assist with the Ahmadis’ transition.Add to that, my organization wasgenuinely looking to open a satellite office here, meaning there’d be two of us to look after Sabera and her family.”
“Because she is the key.And you worried something like this might happen?”
“Hope for the best, plan for the worst.”
I scowl.“And you couldn’t just tell me all this from the very beginning?”
Kurtz gives me a look.“Some mystery woman who shows up out of the blue?Barely has basic background info and almost zero digital footprint?Honestly, I figured you for CIA.”
I blink, which flicks blood in my eye and makes it sting.I can’t decide if I should be insulted or honored.
I’m still trying to piece this together in my head, which is no mean feat after the past twenty-four hours.“So… you two rescued Sabera when she was kidnapped the first time.Isaad contacted you, and all of you went to save her?”
“Isaad reached out to me,” Dr.Richard corrects.“After Sabera spotted Habib in Tucson, he knew there’d be trouble.I’d just flown in to figure out options when Sabera was kidnapped.Once Isaad received the ‘ransom’ note, ostensibly from the kidnappers but created by Sabera with encoded instructions… Isaad chose to go on the offensive.Isaad would distract her abductors; I’d get Sabera out of there.It nearly worked.Until it didn’t.”
He keeps his gaze fixed on Aliah’s wound, which he’s deftly bandaging.“I had to help Sabera out of the warehouse.Once she was steadier on her feet, I sent her in the direction of the car, then returned for Isaad.But it was already too late.Rafiq and his cousin had attacked, Isaad grabbing a hammer.They were in the thick of things, Isaad yelling for me to go, he’d catch up.
“I never saw him again.”
“You picked up Sabera,” I fill in.“Several blocks away, as no traffic cameras caught a glimpse.”
