A deserted road
Rural Maryland, outside Annapolis
L
ying in a fetal position inside a car trunk with a hood over her head and her ankles and wrists bound by duct tape, Jennifer Conner fought the urge to cry.
Jennifer wasn't certain what had happened after Cassy left her in the cabin. Moments after she'd gone, Aludra had appeared and said the FBI was coming to rescue her. But the FBI hadn't come. Akbar had come and taken her out of the cabin to the backseat of a car where he'd covered her with a blanket. She had heard Akbar and Aludra arguing in the front seat during the drive, but they were speaking in a foreign language so she hadn't understood them.
Jennifer had needed to use the toilet after riding for what seemed to be several hours. Aludra had taken her into some woods and when they were together, Jennifer could tell that Aludra had been crying. It looked as if Akbar had struck her face.
“Where's Cassy?” Jennifer had asked her.
“Just hurry up and don't ask questions!”
“What about the FBI?”
“Don't say another word about the FBI or he will kill us both.”
Jennifer had again been put into the car's rear seat under a blanket and ordered not to move or speak. After another long drive, the car had stopped and Jennifer had heard both car doors open and shut. She thought she might be alone in the backseat but she had been afraid to peek out from under the blanket. Not long after that, she heard only one car door open and close. Akbar had driven a short distance and then stopped and removed her blanket. He'd ordered her out of the car. It was dark by now and Jennifer did not see Aludra. They had stopped near another parked car. Its trunk was open and he'd made her climb into it. After covering her head with a hood, he'd applied duct tape to her wrists and ankles and closed the trunk.
She had not seen Aludra. She had no idea what had happened to Cassy.
Did Cassy escape? Or had Akbar caught her hiding in the cabin and murdered her? Where is Aludra? What happened to her?
Jennifer couldn't stretch out in the trunk, and her wrists and ankles were swollen because of how tightly he'd bound them. The car had been traveling on a smooth road when suddenly Akbar slowed and began riding onto a bumpy one. Jennifer's head slapped against the trunk floor several times. Now Akbar was slowing down, and Jennifer didn't like that. Akbar was cruel. She didn't want him to park, open the trunk, and hurt her.
Where is Aludra?
The car stopped and Jennifer heard Akbar switch off its engine. She heard his car door open and shut. She braced herself.
But Akbar didn't open the trunk. Instead, Jennifer smelled cigarette smoke. Her father had smoked and the whiff reminded her of him.
What was that next sound? It sounded like a car engine. Was Akbar switching cars again? Would he put her in a new trunk or in the backseat under a blanket? Was this where he planned to kill her?
She heard another car door open and close. That was followed by Akbar's voice.
“What am I supposed to do now?” he asked.
“The Falcon wants the girl alive.”
Wait! That is a stranger's voice. Who is he?
She listened and tried to remember the sound of the man's voice. He didn't have a foreign accent like Akbar's. He sounded American, not too much different from Brooke Grant or even her own voice.
“The American president will not free our brothers in Gitmo in return for this donkey,” she overheard Akbar say.
“Shall I tell the Falcon you are questioning him?”
“No. I'm merely saying this donkey is of no real worth to us any longer.”
“Don't be a fool. This was never about exchanging the girl and the congressman's daughter for prisoners at Gitmo. The Falcon never expected President Allworth to agree.”
“Then why did he demand their release?”
“To send our brothers in Gitmo a message. To remind them they are heroes in this war. To give them hope. To prove that we can reach anywhereâeven into Washington, D.C.âand strike. The Falcon had other reasons for having you abduct the two girls, reasons that had nothing to do with Gitmo.”
“I understand. We proved we could abduct the daughter of a member of Congress,” Akbar said. “We proved we could abduct the daughter of a CIA agent. No one is safe and now everyone in Washington is worried about closing their eyes at night. I will beat this girl. I will disgrace her by taking her virginity.”
“No. The Falcon does not want you to violate her. You must listen to his orders. Do not risk making him angry. He already is disappointed the congressman's daughter escaped from you.”
Inside the car trunk, Jennifer couldn't help but grin.
Cassy escaped! She is free!
“Aludra betrayed us,” Akbar said. “She betrayed me. She is to blame for the girl's escape, not me.”
“I told the Falcon that Aludra telephoned Washington from a store in the Virginia mountains. This is why he told you to kill her. But the congressman's daughter escaped from that cabin while you and Aludra were still in that store buying groceries. Cassy Adeogo slipped her feet from her riding boots, and that was your mistake. You wrapped tape around her boots instead of her ankles. That is how she escaped from the cabin and ran into the woods, and you are to blame.”
Although she was locked inside the car trunk, the two men were standing so close outside it that Jennifer felt as if they were part of their conversation.
He killed Aludra! How does this stranger know that Aludra telephoned Brooke? How had he known about Cassy's oversize riding boots? He is telling Akbar about mistakes that Akbar had made. Is he his boss?
Jennifer continued listening. “If I had not called and warned you,” the stranger continued, “the FBI would have surprised you at that cabin, killed you, and rescued both girls.”
Akbar didn't respond.
“I am the Falcon's eyes and ears here,” the stranger said. “If you can't do what you have been told, others will. Aludra betrayed us and now she is dead.”
Jennifer felt sorry for her.
“Aludra was a woman and women have no stomach for what is necessary,” Akbar said. “Even when I beat her, she did not understand. She was too kind to the donkey in the trunk but I am not kind and now the donkey must deal only with me.”
“Is that where you have the Conner girl?”
“Do you wish to see her? Her head is hooded. She will not see you.”
“No! I have no interest in seeing her. And you may not rape her.”
“Does her age trouble you? She is an infidel. Her age means nothing to me. She is an enemy of Allah and I will gladly remove her head.”
“Akbar, you failed to kill General Grant as ordered.”
“It was an impossible shot.”
“Do not make excuses. The congressman's daughter escaped while you were watching her. You must not fail again.”
“I will not. I swear it on my life as Allah is my protector and Master.”
“Study these papers and wait for my call. I will tell the Falcon what you have said, that you have sworn an oath on your life.”
“And the donkey?”
“Beat her if necessary, but again, you may not take her virginity. Not yet.”
“How much longer before I am rid of her?”
“Not long. Study these instructions and wait for my call.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu wa maghfiratuhu.
”
“And may Allah's peace, mercy, and blessing be upon you too, my brother,” Akbar replied.
Jennifer heard a door open, a car engine start, and the sound of a car leaving. When it was quiet outside, she said: “I need to use the toilet.”
The trunk lid opened. Akbar removed the hood covering her face.
“I heard you clearly just now. Did you hear us talking? You did, didn't you?”
“I didn't hear anything.”
He slapped her. “Do not lie to me, little donkey.”
“I'm not lying. I need to use the toilet.”
“I am not your servant. Piss in your pants.”
She could see a manila envelope tucked under his left arm. As she watched, Akbar dialed a number on a cell phone and held it down to her ear.
“Hello, who is this?” Brooke Grant asked.
“Mommy!” Jennifer screamed.
Akbar backhanded Jennifer without losing his grip on the phone, making certain the blow was loud enough for Brooke to hear.
“Jennifer! Jennifer where are you?” Brooke asked.
Putting the phone to his ear, Akbar said, “She is my prisoner and I am going to beat her.”
He ended their call.
Jennifer readied herself for another slap and worse, but Akbar slammed down the trunk lid and got behind the wheel. They began riding on the bumpy road through the woods again.
As Akbar was driving, he removed the SIM card and tossed the phone out the window into the trees.
Congressman Rudy Adeogo's Tacoma Park home
Northwest Washington, D.C.
R
udy Adeogo stood in the doorway of his daughter's upstairs bedroom and watched as Dheeh tucked Cassy into bed and tenderly kissed her forehead.
“Get some sleep, baby love,” Dheeh said.
“I'm afraid,” Cassy replied.
“We'll leave your door open. Your father and I are in the bedroom right next door.”
“There's no reason to be frightened now,” Adeogo added. “There are police officers stationed outside our house. No one can come inside to hurt you.”
“Did you look under the bed?”
“Yes,” Dheeh responded. “Twice!”
“What about Jennifer? Has she been rescued yet?”
“No,” Adeogo said, “but I am certain she will be.” He had intentionally kept Cassy away from watching the television news and surfing the Internet. She had no idea that Akbar had blown up a boat in Annapolis, killing two FBI agents, and that Major Brooke Grant had found Aludra's body on the Naval Academy's golf course.
“Allah is watching over Jennifer,” Dheeh said in a soothing voice. “Just as He watched over you, baby love.”
“But she's only a half Muslim and
he
is a full Muslim,” she replied. There was no need for Cassy to explain to her mother and father why Jennifer was only half Muslim or identify who “he” was.
“No, he is not a Muslim. He is an abomination,” Adeogo said. “A corrupter of the truth.”
“I heard someone say that Uncle George was a terrorist too. They said he changed his name to Abdul Hafeez and he killed Americans in Somalia. He cut off a man's hands.”
Dheeh shot Adeogo an anxious look. They had never told Cassy the truth about her uncle George. Her grandparents, uncles, and aunts had shielded all of the children from Hafeez's radicalization and decision to join Al-Shabaab.
“You're old enough to hear the truth now,” Adeogo said. “My youngest brotherâyour uncleâjoined Al-Shabaab in Somalia. He became a terrorist.”
“Then he was no different from the man who kidnapped me and Jennifer, and beat us.”
“Your uncle would not have harmed you,” Dheeh answered. “These are adult matters. Go to sleep, baby love.”
“If they're adult matters, that evil man should have left Jennifer and me alone.”
Dheeh stepped away from her daughter's bed and joined her husband in the room's doorway, where she switched off the light.
“I don't want it dark,” Cassy cried out.
“We'll leave the door open,” Dheeh replied. “The hallway light is on.”
“I want to sleep in your room. In your bed. Please don't leave me alone here.”
Dheeh looked at her husband, who nodded approvingly.
“Okay, baby love, but just tonight,” Dheeh replied.
Cassy threw back her covers and scrambled from her bed. Dheeh put her arm around Cassy's shoulders and kissed her forehead.
“Hurry down to our room. I need to speak to your father and then we can read for a while,” she said. One of the ways that the two of them bonded was by reading the same young adult fiction. Cassy would read one book and then give it to her mother.
After Cassy had left them in the hallway, Dheeh said, “I'm glad you told the truth about your brother to the world and our daughter. You were brave to go on television, but it was a secret we could no longer keep.”
“You never wanted to come to Washington. I'm certain you are happy now that my career has been destroyed.”
“How can you say that? I have always done what a good wife does. I simply warned you when you decided to run for Congress that you could not hide the truth about your brother.”
“All I ever wanted was to help our people, to do good.”
“You cannot do good based on a lie. And now that our daughter is safe, you cannot do good if you retreat into self-pity and shame. You must be an example for her and the world. You must show them that not all Muslims are like your brother. Now more than before, you must speak out. Is that something a wife who wants you to fail would say?”
He touched her shoulders and pulled her close to hug her, but she did not put her arms around him. Adeogo sensed there was something more bothering her than Dheeh's uncomfortableness with physical affection.
“What is it?” he asked.
“That woman who came to the house while Cassy was still missing. Mary Margaret Delaney.”
“What about her?”
“You told me after she left that night that she had threatened you. You said she had learned about George and you told me that she was trying to blackmail you. She wanted to control you for her clients. That is why you decided to tell the truthâbecause you were not going to be her puppetâis that correct?”
“Yes, I would not let her turn me into her pawn.”
“But you have only told me about thisâhow she wanted to blackmail you. You have not reported her to the authorities. You did not tell the FBI agents who were here with us that night. It must be against the law to threaten and blackmail a congressman. Why are you keeping silent about this horrible woman?”
“It doesn't matter now, does it? What would be the point now?”
“To punish her,” Dheeh responded.
Adeogo shrugged.
“There is only one possible explanation for your actions,” Dheeh continued. “This woman knows something else about you, doesn't she? There is more that she can tell.”
Adeogo released his arms from around her back and stepped back from her, but he did not answer her question.
“I remember you first telling me about this Delaney woman after you first visited Washington, D.C. You told me she was sent by Timothy Coldridge to be your handler. She was helping himâhelping run his presidential campaign. She became angry with you after you refused to speak at a press conference. You told me that she was angry, bitter, and wanted revenge against you.”
Dheeh looked directly into his eyes and said, “This woman's hate for you is more than politics. Did you sleep with her?”
Although Adeogo had often thought about how he would react if Dheeh had confronted him, he found himself floundering for words, and during those few seconds of hesitation, Dheeh knew the answer.
She turned away from him and walked into their bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Adeogo retreated downstairs to his office. He tried to work but couldn't concentrate. Dheeh was right. He had not reported Delaney's blackmail attempt because he was afraid she would reveal his infidelity. He closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded arms on the desktop. His political world and now his personal world were collapsing. Dheeh would never forgive him.
A loud knock on the front door woke him. He checked the time. It was a few minutes after four a.m. He had fallen asleep at his desk.
Peering through the front door's security peephole, he saw his congressional public information officer, Fatima Olol, standing next to the policeman stationed on the porch. The D.C. police had promised to remain outside his house until Akbar either was captured or killed. He swung open the door and welcomed her inside.
“Is Cassy okay?” Olol asked.
“Yes, she's upstairs with Dheeh sleeping in our bedroom.”
“There's something we need to discuss,” Olol said in a nervous voice.
Adeogo led her into his study for privacy. “What's so important that you've come at this hour?”
“Ebio Kattan from Al Arabic television called me a few minutes ago. She asked me about your relationship with Mary Margaret Delaney.”
“What did she ask you?”
“She said reporters had seen Delaney visit your house before Cassy was rescued. She asked me if her visit had anything to do with your decision to tell reporters about your brother.”
Olol paused, but Adeogo was not inclined to answer either of her questions.
“And then Kattan said something that is really, really upsetting.”
Adeogo let out a sigh.
Here it comes
, he thought, bracing himself. He assumed Delaney had told the Al Arabic reporter about their sexual affair. His indiscretion.
Was there no end to her hatred for him? No end to what she would do to destroy him?
“Ebio Kattan told me,” Olol continued, “that Mary Margaret Delaney had just been found dead.”