Chapter 12 - The False Confession
The voice repeated only once before dissolving into static. Maria stared at the radio as if it might explain itself.
Adam took one step back. “It could be a recording.”
“It knew your name.”
“Daniel may have programmed it.”
“It said not to let you bring me home.”
“That may be exactly what someone wants you to hear.”
Samira examined the radio. “The transmission came through a closed emergency band. Whoever sent it knew our location.”
Farid laughed weakly. “Rashad likes theater. He believes fear makes people honest.”
“Where is Rashad now?” Maria asked.
“In Chicago, preparing for the treaty ceremony.”
“Then why are his men here?”
“Because the ceremony is not the real event.”
Farid told them Rashad intended to announce a new international water consortium at the ceremony. Grant Bell’s companies would receive exclusive development rights in Noor and several American cities. The treaty would give the consortium control over the technology, patents, and water routes built through Blue Gate.
“Your father’s project was designed to prevent that,” Maria said to Adam.
“Which is why Rashad needed my father discredited, Kareem imprisoned, and me isolated.”
“And Daniel killed.”
“And your mother silenced.”
They followed the storm channel to an abandoned rail spur. A freight train waited in the darkness, its doors unlocked. Farid refused to come with them.
“If I disappear, Rashad will know I talked,” he said.
“If you stay, he will know anyway,” Samira replied.
“I have a daughter.”
Maria recognized the fear in his voice. She had heard it in Victor, in Adam, and perhaps in herself.
“Then give us something useful,” she said. “A name.”
Farid looked at the keys in her hand. “The person who gave Grant the access codes was not Kareem. It was Hassan’s private secretary.”
“Name,” Adam said.
“Nadia Vale.”
Adam closed his eyes.
“You know her,” Maria said.
“She raised me after my mother died.”
“And she is still in the palace.”
“She is Rashad’s chief adviser now.”
Maria stepped into the freight car. “Then she knows where my mother is.”
The train moved before Adam climbed aboard. Samira hauled Farid into the doorway, then jumped inside herself. Cleveland disappeared behind them, replaced by darkness and the thunder of wheels.
Hours later, Maria woke to find Adam sitting across from her, his head resting against the metal wall. His face looked unguarded in sleep. She wondered what he had been like before his father died, before a kingdom became a burden and every friendship became a potential weapon.
He opened his eyes. “You are staring.”
“You are difficult to study when you are awake.”
“I am flattered.”
“Do you love Nadia?”
The question startled him. “She was family.”
“That was not my question.”
“No.”
“Did you ever suspect her?”
“No.”
“Then my father was right about one thing. We trust people because we need them to be innocent.”
Adam looked down at the brass keys. “I am afraid of what I will do if she betrayed my family.”
“You mean afraid you will become like your father.”
He did not answer.
Maria reached across the space between them and covered his hand with hers. It was not a declaration, only a gesture to remind him he was not alone. He turned his hand and held hers.
The train whistle screamed.
At the far end of the car, a figure stepped from behind the crates.
May you like
Leon Voss raised both hands.
“Before you shoot,” he said, “you should know that I was the one who sent Elena’s message.”
