“Jafar didn’t used to be like this.” Chalah sighed in regret as her lips trembled with the painful emotion she was feeling. “He wanted to be an American. He wanted to have the freedom to do as he wished, as Khalid did, as he knew Abram did.”
“He knew Abram wanted to defect to the U.S.?” Paige asked.
“Paige.” Chalah stared back at her in bemusement. “Abram, Tariq, Jafar, and several other cousins planned to defect together. It’s been their plan since Abram’s first wife, Lessa, was murdered by Ayid and Aman. Jafar has always known his plans, because they made them together.”
“And Jafar would know exactly how to block every move Abram made.” She sighed.
“But Abram knows what Jafar is aware of,” Chalah pointed out. “It’s some sort of battle between them.” The other girl frowned in confusion. “And I can’t understand what started it or why they are at odds with each other.”
It was the same problem Paige had, trying to figure out what had changed Jafar since the last time she had seen him. She had been vacationing with her parents in Greece, three, perhaps four years before.
As she watched, Chalah’s expression turned somber.
“Jafar was a good man once, wasn’t he, Paige?” she whispered, grief flashing in her eyes for just a moment.
Paige looked away for a second wondering if she should lie, of if she should tell Chalah how she felt in regards to good men.
“Men are what they are,” she finally said softly. “They’re either born mostly good, or they’re born mostly bad, just like anyone else is, Chalah. But the bad is always there, and for most men, the good is always there as well.”
“For most men?” Chalah asked with bitterness. Paige could see the need in her eyes for an affirmation that there was a chance that her brother wasn’t mostly, or even worse, fully bad.
“Sometimes, some men are always bad,” she said gently. “And then, there are those good men, those really really good men, Chalah, who just want everyone to think they’re bad for whatever reason.”
“And then,” Chalah whispered, tears filling her eyes. “There are those really bad men who are really good at making some people think they’re good.”
Paige dropped her eyes and crossed her arms over her br**sts to hold back the pain she felt for the other girl, to hold back her need to comfort her.
She hadn’t decided yet, was Chalah the young woman she had once known? The future pediatrician with a gentle, loving heart, or was she one of those people everyone thought was good, but who for whatever reason, knew the evil inside her personally?
She lifted her eyes as Chalah sighed heavily. “Go home, Chalah,” she said softly. “If you really want to help Abram, if you really want to help Jafar, then go home.”
“Because you don’t trust me, and if you don’t trust me, then neither will Abram,” Chalah guessed.
“It has nothing to do with trust, Chalah, and everything to do with the fact that from the sound of it, you know more than I do about the entire situation. And I think you know that if you talk to Abram, then he’s going to tell you the same thing I did. Go home.”
Tears glittered in her eyes. “They’re my family, Paige. They’re all I have left.”
What the hell could she say? She knew exactly how she felt. After the death of her uncle when she was still a teenager she only had her parents and Khalid left, and she’d always been aware of the crosshairs Azir Mustafa kept the family under.
She’d always been aware that any time, she could either be dead, or alone.
As her lips parted to attempt to comfort the other girl, the sound of a heavy knock on the door sliced through the room, causing both women to jump, and Chalah’s eyes to flash with fear.
A fear far stronger than she should have felt.
“Chalah, it’s time to go.” Jafar’s voice was far cold than it had been earlier.
Paige swung her gaze around to the girl, and watched in fury as a tear slipped from the corner of her eye. Slowly, she lifted her hand to the medallion on the necklace she wore, turned it around, and showed Paige the device on the back of it.
She’d seen enough television programs and read enough adventure-romance novels to know exactly what it was. An electronic listening device. And Chalah had waited until the last minute to show it to her.
Paige straightened slowly, her arms dropping to her sides as she flashed Chalah a look of promised retribution. One way, some way, she would repay her for this.
Go home! she mouthed. Now!
Because if she ever saw the younger girl again then she would ensure Chalah knew exactly how completely severed their friendship was.
Jerking the scarf around her head, neck, and finally tucking it around her face until nothing but her eyes showed, she moved with jerky fury to the door and wrenched it open.
Chalah had only just managed to pull the abaya back on and secure the mesh over her eyes when Paige found herself facing the stone-hard, pale-eyed monster that watched her with calculating eyes.
She didn’t dare speak. There were rules and punishments, consequences and dangers to uttering even one of the curses tearing through her brain now.
Hatred welled inside her, blistering hot and searing her from the inside out.
What had Jafar hoped to gain by using his sister this way?
She stood back and turned slowly to stare at Chalah.
“Good-bye,” she stated with a withering stare. A ring of finality clearly echoed as she refused to say anything more.
She wouldn’t endanger the younger girl, but if Chalah dared to return then the rules would change.
“Good-bye, Paige,” Chalah said softly, miserably. Before Paige could avoid her, the other girl wrapped her arms around her in a tight, desperate hug. She whispered, “I swear, I’m good.”
Paige stepped back slowly, deliberately pushing her away as her gaze moved to Jafar once again. He had forced Chalah, there was no doubt, but she had still betrayed Paige, Abram, and Tariq. She should have shown her the device before they ever spoke.
“Tell Abram when he returns that it would not be advisable to leave at night any longer, for either him or Tariq,” he warned evenly, his pale green eyes like glass, cold and unemotional as his gaze flicked over her. “Or, Ms. Galbraithe, for you.”
He reached past her, gripped Chalah’s upper arm, and all but jerked her from the room.