Again she paused for effect. She shook her head so Taylor would keep his mouth shut. She didn’t need an update. She knew exactly what she was doing. She unbuttoned her blouse an extra button and smoothed out the wrinkles of the skirt she was wearing, then stepped around the chair and met the nervous gaze of Navid Yazidi with a gentle smile as she put her blonde hair in a ponytail.
“I want to be your friend, Navid,” she said softly. “There are people in this building who want to put you in that chair, but I just want you to know that I’m not one of them. I want to help you. But first you have to help me. I don’t want anyone else to die. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, especially you. But they’re only going to give me a few more minutes with you, Navid. And if you don’t help me, then I can’t help you. And then those men who beat you are going to come back in here and do what they do best. So tell me what you know about Firouz. Tell me what you know about his driver, Jamshad. That’s right. We know the names of your accomplices — that’s another mistake you made. You left them both voice messages in their hotel rooms, and you used their real names.”
Najjar stared out his bedroom windows.
He watched some nameless couple and their two children who lived in the house just behind the safe house packing up their minivan with suitcases and beach blankets and all kinds of toys, headed off on a vacation of some kind. The image made him miss his own family all the more. He wanted to play with his daughter. What he wouldn’t give to get away with them on a vacation. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken a break and gotten away from all the cares of life. His father-in-law had worked him like a slave, and he was constantly exhausted.
He turned away and flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn’t talk to his family or hold them, much less go on holiday with them. So he began to pray for them. He prayed they wouldn’t worry too much about him or about their future. He prayed the baby was being peaceful for Sheyda, that she and her mother could laugh together and not be too lonely without him. Eventually he drifted off to sleep with their faces crossing his mind’s eye and a prayer on his lips.
And as he slept, he had a dream.
“Najjar, do not be afraid,” a voice said. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you about these things. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. Yes, I am coming quickly. You must speak to the sons of your people. Say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’”
Still dreaming, Najjar was careful to remember the words, just as they had been spoken. He somehow knew this was more than just a dream and that he would remember these words even after he awoke. He also realized he knew the sword was coming soon, and his heart quickened at what he sensed was coming next.
“Now as for you, Najjar, I have appointed you a watchman for the nation of Persia. When you hear a word from My mouth warn them from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.”
20
“Is Rahim really dead?”
Eva looked up from the magazine she was reading as she sat patiently in a wooden chair on the other side of the cell. It had been quiet for too long. She was beginning to think Navid Yazidi wasn’t going to take the bait. But now he was nibbling, and Eva was determined to hook him and reel him all the way in.
“I beg your pardon?” she asked, though she had heard every word.
“Rahim? Is he… is he really dead?”
Eva nodded. “I’m afraid so. Didn’t anyone tell you when they first brought you in?”
“No.”
“I thought they did.”
“They didn’t.”
“I’m very sorry, Navid,” Eva said gently. “It’s hard to lose a brother, I know. My older brother died four years ago next week. Drunk driver. Never saw it coming.”
It was a lie. Eva had three sisters, all younger, but not a single brother. But she certainly sounded convincing and empathetic. Navid nodded and hung his head. It was working. The ice was beginning to crack.
“May I have some water?” he asked, his tone subdued but his eyes pleading with her for mercy.
“Of course, Navid. Would you like something to eat as well? Have they fed you yet? You must be famished.”
“No, no, just some water, please.”
This was a good sign. She got up, knocked three times on the steel door, and stepped out for a few minutes. While she was gone, guards gave the prisoner several sips of water and a few bites of warm pita bread dipped in freshly made hummus, then led the man to the facilities to allow him to relieve himself. Only when Navid was locked down again and given a bit more water and pita did Eva return.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“A little better,” he said softly, his voice hoarse, his spirit nearly broken.
“Good,” she said and then went back to her reading, knowing all the while that he was staring at her, sizing her up, trying to understand who she was and whether he could really trust her.
After several minutes, she lowered her magazine, looked him in the eye, and asked, “What did you love most about Rahim?”
The question seemed to take Navid completely by surprise. He quickly turned away and closed his eyes. So Eva went back to reading. But after another few minutes, it seemed Navid couldn’t help himself.
“Rahim was always more devout than I.”