Amin's POV
I slammed the car wheel in frustration and cursed. The bitch has destroyed everything. I leaned my forehead against the wheel, sighing, and felt a small warm hand on my arm.
"Amin?" she asked her voice small and concerned.
I don't know what she must be thinking; an interview that turned into a wild date, then a complete and utter disaster. And now I'm making a fool of myself by being mad and out of control. "I'm sorry," I apologize. "Don't be," She says retrieving her hand and folding them both on her lap. She is pretty stable for someone who has had alcohol for the first time. Amira's sudden entry and the adrenaline rush associated with it, must have sobered up both of us. "Your frustration is understandable."
I thought she would at least confide in me, I would have done something to prevent all of this from happening. The images must be all over the media now. I sped the car out of the wretched town, climbing onto a branch of a bumpy road that would lead me into the city. The night was cool, dark and moonless with only the twinkling stars to light our way. The branches of trees that were planted on either sides of the road swept in the wind and loomed over the road and our car time and time again. Jala was leant back on her seat, and fatigue was evident on her frail figure as her chest heaved up and down with each long breath that she took. I wanted to take her hand in mine and tell her it was alright, that the calloused night was over, but I was too tired and shocked myself to wrap my head around everything, to comfort someone else.
Fate had chosen our paths too far from one another that it was painful to even try. She told me that her house was on the other end of the city, so the way was long and the silence comforting.
"Just around this corner," she said, as we saw a petrol station.
I parked the car in front of a stony porch, the one she claimed to be her house.
"Jala, I truly had a wonderful evening today, and I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable in any way. Trust me, I had no idea about what was going to happen and if I did, I would never have gone there." I don't know why but I felt the need to clarify myself to her. "I know, Amin," she said. "Tonight was thrilling to say the least, and I enjoyed every bit of it." She doesn't realize she is getting ensnared into a dangerous web and the worst part is I can't even stop her, because I'm the one knitting it. Maybe she does and is coming to get me.
She hesitantly closes in and wraps her arms around my neck, and I claim her tiny waist, inhaling her intoxicating sweet scent. "Thank you," she says, her arms still wrapped around me. "No," I reply tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. I could feel the quickening of her heart pace, inside her chest as she realized what I was about to do. She closed her eyes instinctively as our lips entwined with one another, her lips plump and her mouth sweet and soft as she slowly responded to the kiss. My hands moved on her tiny waist and I moved lower trailing down her neck towards her collar bone. The sound that she was emitting was delicious, somewhere between a suppressed moan of pleasure. I felt a buzzing between our chests, and her eyes shot open at the sensation. Damn who ever called at this moment to the endless pits of hell. "Crap," I cursed as I held up my phone; I knew it was a call from hell. I looked up at Jala and saw a blush creeping from her chest towards her face, her nose and cheeks already tinged red. "It's ok. See you at work?" "Sure," I replied, and she got out of the car fixing her skirt.
I took a deep breath and slid the green icon up.
"Hello?"
"Come to where you left us. We need you here."
A Change of Plans
Salman's POV
The officer just left, leaving me the details Gul Badin told them. It was quite easy to open him up, since it was apparent to him that he was a lost man. They also gave me a copy of the original drive Jala found in his room, which mainly held a map to their source of weapons and finance. It was due in the north, near the Atlantic Ocean, a place not very clear in the satellites, which may be due to the surrounding mountain terrain. The abode could also be built underground, another reason for the location to be so discrete. The only thing that he would disclose about them was that they were known as the Mother of The North.
I'll have to send these details to Ali, sooner or later, but he was pretty busy in his dealing with the other businessmen of the underground, so I guess it would have to be later. I made a mug of black coffee in the kitchen, laid back on the couch and switched on the television for some chill time. I was browsing through the entertainment channels and found nothing but crap.
Switching onto the news channels they were all flashing with headlines of the present hour. Normally, I wouldn't bother with news, as it was so hard to distinguish the truth from falsehood nowadays, and most of the news that circulated the media, was fake anyways. But today almost all channels held pictures of Amira. Not just any pictures; pictures that would be deemed controversial in our part of the world. Close ups of those images even showed splatters of blood on her face, neck and arms. What caused her to do what she did? She didn't even try to conceal anything. It was apparent that she was hiding something from me, but what? What drove her to such carelessness, dare I say madness? This would be considered political suicide in our media and society, so why? The Amira I knew would never compromise on her party's or family's image. She was always so in control of her life, her appearance, her affairs and political career, but the images showed anything but that.
She was laughing and dancing in the pictures, but her eyes looked so empty and devoid of emotion, that I knew this was a façade. She was punishing herself. I tried calling her, but always got the same answer; "the number has been switched off". I rubbed my face in frustration; the fact Jala was not home yet, added to my anxiety. I heard the screech of tires halting down our front door and sincerely hoped it was Jala. I hopped of the couch and made my way to the gate, the night being too cold for summers and saw her within the arms of another man. They were kissing passionately and I wanted to pull her out of the car and beat the guy to pulp, but what if he was too pretty to be beaten up? So I chose not to act on my instincts, walked back inside and waited calmly on the couch, breathing like a rhino.
I heard the click clacking of her heels on the stony floor of the garage and then on the smooth marble floor, as she entered the living room. "You won't believe what happened tonight, Salman. Me and Amin went to a night club and guess who we saw there? Amira!"
"What? You went to a night club with a stranger who was supposed to interview you and didn't even bother telling me?" it was getting harder
"I'm sorry I didn't realize I was supposed to give you updates after every minute about where I was and who I was interacting with," she said sarcastically and folded her arms on her chest. "And for your information, I didn't know where he was taking me. I thought I made it pretty clear over the phone call."
"You didn't even ask him where you were going, and just went away with a stranger?" I fisted my hair in frustration. "That could very well have been a trap, Jala. Did you interact with the press?"
"Why would we say interact with the press? And, what has got you all worked up?" She pointed out, oblivious to my anger.
"Wasn't Amin aware about the incident? He is from politics and most of all he is Amira's assistant. They are mostly responsible for handling their boss's affairs, including security and protocol. He should have known about this or maybe he even does and set this all up as part of the opposition's trick."
"He was just as surprised as I was, and even angry. Not to mention, pretty smart and managed to steer us away from the crowd without attracting any attention. And for your information I have got a job at Amira's office meaning, that I will have an advantage over the information flowing through the government and their allies. I have succeeded in my first mission without creating any difficulties for me or the rest of you guys. So pardon me, if I ask you how close you have gotten to the whereabouts of Gulbadin's supplier, from the USB I acquired and gave to you?" She asked me while sipping water from the glass, as if she was asking me about the weather. The fact that she had so calmly answered all my questions keeping her tone calm and collected, pissed me off even more.
"It's near the Atlantic, even further up north, making it almost impossible to decipher. The satellite doesnt have much access there and the signals are pretty weak due to the mountains."
"Perhaps, their main communication channel runs underground? I mean, the main internet cable runs through the sea. Is there a way to track them from below?"
"We could try, but we would need the government's help. Especially the establishment's."
"We could try, now that I have got a job at Amira's office. I know it's mainly where she handles her business affairs but, the guy who took my interview seemed to be part of the intelligence. He seemed to know more than what he was letting on."
"How do you know he hasn't got other plans and he plans to use you for their success?"
"Who cares what his plans are? All we want from him is permission and access, to get hold of the main communication channel. If we could use him to get through to that, your job would be made much easier."
"Yeah, and how do you plan on convincing him?"
"Well, we have already started off as pretty good friends…"
Before I could ask how she got that mark on her collarbone and her lips were bigger and pink than usual, the laptop started ringing. I decided to ignore the monstrous bubble of jealousy in my chest, saving my questions for later and answered Ali's call.
He looked grim and pale as he spoke with us, and delivered the news.
"I'm sorry guys, but tensions are higher than usual around here. The mafia organizations all around the world are rallying up to fight. This might be the greatest war the underworld has witnessed yet."
"Seriously, Ali?" I wanted to smack him in the face. "You are going on a war and didn't even bother telling us?"
"Who is it against?" Jala asks him.
"There's a mafia up in the North. Their boss is known as the Mother."