A Deadly Divide by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Author:Ausma Zehanat Khan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

38

There was no amount of damage control Lemaire could do that would be enough now. The vigil had gone just about as badly as Rachel had anticipated, and the fallout would dominate the next news cycle. The premier, the INSET team, and the Wolf Allegiance were under fire to varying degrees. It was rumored that the prime minister would be visiting Saint-Isidore to pay his respects at the mosque, creating additional security problems for Lemaire’s team to manage. No progress had been made on the firearms or on the investigation. As a result, Rachel was surprised that Lemaire hadn’t been summarily removed from his post, but judging from his discussions on the phone, he wasn’t going down without a fight.

There were a handful of police officers left in the park, keeping an eye out for signs of disturbance. While Lemaire was on the phone, Khattak was in the unenviable position of defending his actions to two angry women at once: Diana Shehadeh and Isabelle Clément. Rachel waited for him, her arms crossed under her chest, ready to step in if he needed backup. She was expecting a moment of reckoning from him, not knowing what Sehr might have said. She couldn’t ask her, either, because Sehr had returned to the hotel, finding herself in Esa’s way in the midst of the ongoing debriefing. Rachel hadn’t had a chance to talk to her yet and was still puzzling over whether Sehr’s arrival had made any difference to Khattak. He wasn’t on the defensive speaking to the two women; rather, he sounded like he was on the attack.

“There should have been stronger measures against the Allegiance from the start. That was my recommendation to the premier.”

Diana Shehadeh waved at the mess left behind in the park. “Don’t try and cover your inadequacies. If this is your idea of serving the community, no wonder you’ve been a disappointment.”

“I’ll speak to you in a moment, Diana. Isabelle, the only appropriate response is to shut down the Allegiance at once.”

Isabelle’s response was as dispassionate as Rachel had grown to expect. She let her eyes trail over the now-destroyed memorial for the victims, the wholesome signs trodden by angry feet, flowers and stuffed toys scattered over the grounds.

“Inspector Lemaire gave clear instructions to members of his team. That should have been enough to handle the situation.”

“They were protecting these murderers,” Diana interjected. “They weren’t here for the people who came here to pray.”

“The prayer was a provocation.”

Diana’s laugh was bitter. “It seems to me in la belle province it’s our existence that’s the provocation.”

Esa turned on Diana again. “This isn’t helping. Can you wait for me by your car?”

“Why? So you can cover this up? I don’t think so, Esa. I’m here to watch exactly how effective you are.”

He shrugged one shoulder, a rudely dismissive gesture.

Sweet holy Christ. What the hell was Khattak doing?

Rachel cleared her throat, intending a reminder that he needed to play fair. He shot her a glance—bleak and resonant with anger. She swallowed a hasty response.

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