Empire of Lies by Raymond Khoury

Author:Raymond Khoury
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

* * *

It was Kamal who finally broke through the silence.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but as far as he could tell, it was still dark outside. Dawn, however, couldn’t be too far off. Which meant his fury and his questions would have to wait. More urgent decisions needed to be made.

“We can’t stay here,” he said softly. “It’s not safe.”

Nisreen didn’t reply at first. She was still on the floor, hunched over while holding her dead children tight against her.

He shuffled over and, slowly, very hesitantly, reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.

She flinched and pulled away the instant it brushed her.

“Don’t.” She spoke without turning to face him. “Don’t touch me.”

“Nisreen…”

She went silent for a few breaths.

“Did you know about this place?” she finally asked without looking at him. Her tone was calm, but hard and bitter and clearly accusing.

He felt the earth crumble under his feet. “No. Of course not—”

“Did you ever come here and…” She couldn’t complete the question.

“Nisreen, listen to me. I swear to you—I never … You know me, for God’s sake. You think I would ever do something like this?”

“I don’t know.”

“You do. Of course you do. You know me,” he insisted.

She nodded, barely, but didn’t reply. She lowered her head so she was nuzzling Tarek’s head and went silent, the only sound a new burst of low sobs.

After a few minutes, she quieted down, then mumbled, “These bastards … the ones who brought us here, the ones you killed … did you know them?”

“No.”

“But they were agents. Like you.”

“Nisreen, please—”

“They were following your boss’s orders. Your boss.”

“I didn’t know them,” he protested, his voice cracking. “They were Z Directorate. And just so you know … the reason I’m here? It’s because they sent two others to my place. They wanted to kill me, too. That’s what led me here.”

She went silent for a moment. “Did you kill them?”

“Yes. One of them. The other … he’s had better days.”

“Good.” She still hadn’t looked at him. “Why would they want you dead?”

“Because I was looking for you. Because they know that if anything happened to you or to Ramazan or to … They know I’d never stop until every last one of them was dead.”

She said nothing.

He gave her a moment. “Nisreen, we have to go. They’ll soon know something’s wrong. They’ll send others.”

She didn’t react. After a long moment, she said, “We can’t leave them here. We need to bury them.”

“Of course. But … where? We need to keep out of sight. They’re going to be looking for us.”

She finally turned to face him. Her eyes were red and swollen, her pupils fully dilated, making them seem hollowed out. As painful as that was to see, it wasn’t what pained Kamal the most.

It was the unmistakable accusation in her glare.

“Not here,” she said. “Anywhere, but not here.”

Kamal understood, and nodded. “We should get moving then.”

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