"I cannot change what my government might logically suspect. I know that they—"
"I have paid a thousand times over for your government's misplaced suspicion," she shot back hotly. "Go ahead and arrest me. Take me back to that prison. Shoot me if you want. I'm not taking another step to help you." She turned on her heel and started walking back toward the security gate.
Before she even reached their burly escort, a large hand caught Fahimah by the arm. Newman turned her around to face him.
"You have quite a temper, Dr. Banaz. I think you should consider doing a little more meditating."
Fahimah folded her arms across her chest, glaring up at him. "I have been in your prisons for five years, and I have never said a word, in order to protect my sister. I will gladly go back there for another fifty. I won't help you to hurt Rahaf."
"Look, I have no intention of hurting her or arresting her or prosecuting her. I'm looking for a way to stop people from dying. I can learn from her. The remedy might not be enough. If we can't stop who's behind the attacks, we'll be forever fighting against time. She might know the real people behind all of this. She knows so many people in this field. She could help us find them, stop them."
"But you believe she's behind these outbreaks."
"I was speaking honestly about what others might think," he said in obvious frustration. "When I came to offer you a deal, I had no idea that you might not be Rahaf Banaz. But now I need to find your sister. Innocent people are dying. I do not want anything to happen to her, and I will give you any guarantee you ask for that is within my power."
Fahimah knew that he would say anything. It was not the first time American agents had made offers in return for her cooperation. It was different this time, though. She had only one way to go, and that was forward. Now that they knew Rahaf was out there, the Americans would find her, with or without Fahimah's help. For the first time in five years, though, Fahimah was truly in a position to bargain. She would use it to save Rahaf.
"Let's go," she said quietly, starting again toward the hangar.
"Where are we going?" He fell into step with her.
"To Erbil."
"And from there?"
"I will tell you when we arrive."
"But what about your sister?"
"You have just asked me to trust you with the life and future of my only sister. I ask you to trust me. This is all I will say for now. It should be enough."
He fell silent and walked thoughtfully with her toward the plane.
Chapter Twelve
You can't talk us out of it. We're going, Mom," Josh stressed as he continued to stuff his backpack with the clothes he was taking on the week-long trip.
Arms folded across her chest, her shoulder leaning against the doorjamb, Sally Link wasn't ready to give up this fight just yet.
She turned and looked in the doorway of the adjoining bedroom. David was still packing. "David, you're the adult here. Talk some sense into him. You guys can go on this trip another time."
"No, Mom. There's a waiting list," Josh answered for his father. "We signed up for this trip three months ago. Please, this has been the one thing that I've been looking forward to all summer. I want to go on it."
Sally knew what her son was up to. He was trying to work on her sympathy. Josh's year so far had consisted of two chemo treatments and ten days in the hospital. It was a miracle that he felt as good as he did during this vacation.
"This isn't the best time for your father," she said to Josh. "He's got too much going on at work. They could need him at any time."
"Dad is on vacation," Josh answered.
She stared meaningfully at her husband. He'd talked with her for nearly an hour after dinner last night about the last-minute shuffling that they were doing with their key accounts because of some production crisis.
"David?" she urged, motioning for him to help her with this.
"They know how to reach me if they absolutely must." He shook his head and made a palms-up gesture, mouthing the words, "I can't disappoint him."
"It's not safe to go away," she said, blurting out her main concern.
"I told you not to read the newspaper," David warned. "It's all a lot of hype. They're making it all out to be much worse than it is."
"They have pictures of the corpses on the front page," Sally protested.
"They have pictures of the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot, too, Mom," Josh said, cracking a smile. He pulled a baseball cap over his bald head. "You really have to stop reading the National Enquirer."
"Honey, we'll be fine," David said, coming out of their room and putting an arm around Sally. "You're dropping us off at the pier. It's half a mile away. We'll only be gone for a week. You and Kate can pick us up right at the same pier."
Kate, still in her pajamas, took that moment to stroll into the room. She looked around at the faces. "Did someone just use my name in vain?"
"Mom is being overly protective," Josh told his sister.
"So what else is new?" the nineteen-year-old said sarcastically just before the dish towel Sally had in one hand snapped her on the butt.
"Ow!" Kate yelped, hopping out of striking range. "Hey, that's child abuse, you know!"
"Save it for Oprah," Sally said. "Besides, you're too old to call it child abuse."
"Have you got everything, sport?" David said to his son.
"Yep." Josh zipped up his pack and slung it over his shoulder.
"David, seriously," Sally persisted. "Did you call them to make sure they haven't canceled the trip?"
"I called them an hour ago, when you asked me to. Like I told you, they said everything is going on as scheduled. The research boat is ready for us. The crew is all set. And they haven't had any cancellations from other parents."
"You see, Mom? You're the only one who's overreacting," Josh said, giving her a big hug.
Kate slipped past them. "Well, Mom, I guess it's just you, me, Oprah and the beach for the next week."
Josh grinned up at Sally and followed his sister to the kitchen.
"I'm all ready, Dad. Call me when you're ready to go," he said over his shoulder.
Sally sat down on the arm of the sleep sofa. This past week had been like heaven. With the three children around her and David staying here, too, it had been almost like the old days. Spending the days together on the beach, noisy dinners and arguments and laughter. Sally wished she could bottle that joy for the tough days that she knew they'd have ahead.
"Honey, what's going on? It's not like you to buy into these things." David rubbed her shoulders. "I know five people are dead in Arizona, but people die every day. It's been pretty quiet as far as big news stories for the past couple of months, so the press is making the most out of what they can."
"I'm not so sure, David," she whispered uneasily.
"There was nothing in the president's speech last night that made me want to grab all of you and hide in the basement. Think about it. We're going to be out on the open sea with nothing but clean salt air to breathe. And aren't you the same woman who let Jamie go back to New York City this morning? New York City, honey."
Sally smiled, remembering how upset she'd been when Jamie had taken a job in New York right out of college. She'd been afraid the big bad monster would eat up her baby alive. Two months later, their daughter was doing great and feeling right at home in the city.
"Come on. Tell me you're okay with this."
She knew her husband was right. Still, she couldn't kick the worry eating away at the lining of her stomach.
"Repeat after me. This… is… good… for.. Josh."