Chapter 15 - The Witness from Noor
They returned to Chicago in Nora’s sedan, taking back roads and changing vehicles twice. The video cassette remained locked in its case between Maria’s feet. Adam did not speak for most of the journey.
At dawn, he finally said, “My father would never order the deaths of workers.”
“Nora said he authorized the collapse,” Maria replied.
“She may be wrong.”
“You believe witnesses when they accuse Grant. You doubt them when they accuse Hassan.”
“I know my father.”
“You knew the man who raised you. That is not always the same person who ruled Noor.”
The words hurt him. Maria regretted them but did not withdraw them.
They hid in a church-owned community center while Nora arranged for the video to be copied. Samira found an old television and a working cassette player. The recording began with a view of the Blue Gate station taken from an upper catwalk. Daniel stood beside Grant Bell and Nadia Vale. Hassan Khalid entered a few seconds later.
The sound was poor, but the words were clear.
“The station cannot be opened until the workers are evacuated,” Daniel said.
Grant replied, “The demonstration must happen tonight. Investors are already here.”
Hassan turned toward Nadia. “You assured me the pressure sequence had been tested.”
“It has,” Nadia said.
“Then why is Daniel objecting?”
Daniel placed a folder on the rail. “Because the system is being altered without my approval.”
Grant picked up the folder. “You are not the owner of this project.”
“No,” Daniel replied. “I am the engineer responsible for keeping people alive.”
Hassan looked furious. “Cancel the demonstration.”
Nadia leaned toward him and whispered something the recording could not capture. Hassan’s expression changed. He looked at Grant, then at Daniel.
“Move the workers,” he ordered. “We will run the test at midnight.”
“That is not enough time,” Daniel said.
“It is an order.”
The video ended in static.
Maria turned to Adam. “Your father knew the station was unsafe.”
“He believed Nadia’s report that the workers could be moved.”
“And when the evacuation failed?”
“He may have thought the system would hold.”
Nora placed a second cassette on the table. “There is more.”
This recording showed Hassan and Nadia alone in a palace office. Hassan was older, exhausted, and without his ring.
“If Daniel takes the records to the council, the consortium will collapse,” Hassan said.
Nadia answered, “Then the records cannot reach the council.”
“I will not have him killed.”
“No one said killed.”
“You know what Rashad will do.”
“Rashad will do what is necessary to preserve Noor.”
Hassan stared at her. “Preserve Noor for whom?”
The recording ended.
Adam covered his face with both hands.
“He did not order the collapse,” he said. “But he allowed the cover-up afterward.”
“Because he thought the kingdom would fall if the truth came out.”
“He chose the throne over the people.”
Maria sat beside him. “That does not excuse him.”
“No.”
“But it may explain why Kareem and Nadia fought him.”
Nora entered with a message on her phone. Her face had gone white.
“The clinic in Noor has been located,” she said. “Elena Ruiz is alive.”
Maria stood.
“Where?”
“The northern border.”
“We go now.”
Nora shook her head. “There is one problem.”
She turned the phone toward them. A photograph showed Elena sitting in a hospital bed, guarded by two men.
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Below the photograph was a message from Rashad:
Bring me both keys, or Maria’s mother dies before sunset.
