Whimpering, Mena jerked from side to side, trying to loosen the vise Tubeec had around her neck. As quickly as he’d attacked, the terrorist released his grip.
Mena looked into his eyes, knowing she had to answer, or her silence would be the last act of her life. Inhaling deeply, she said, “Worse day of my life.”
Tubeec’s eyes softened in a moment, pain and hurt reflected back at her. “It appears we have something in common.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sunny slammed the back door of the warehouse open and stomped onto the damp concrete of the alley behind the TIDES office.
“I know I was wrong for what I said to you. I didn’t want you to find out about Reggie and me, and I damn sure didn’t expect you to throw my past in my face. But, I would never, ever do anything to stand in the way of your happiness. You have to believe that I’m not that petty or jealous to stop you from going to Uganda—”
Julian stepped over broken wooden pallets and a rat scurrying toward the garbage bin. He placed his hands on Sunny’s arms, stopping her. “I believe you.”
“Do you? Because I have no proof of what I’m about to tell you. It’s just my word. You’ll have to decide whether to trust it or not,” Sunny said.
“You don’t have to explain what happened back then. I don’t need to know the details,” Julian said.
Sunny jerked away from him, retreating into the shadows of the garbage bin, overflowing with crumpled food wrappers, empty liquor bottles, and large stuffed garbage bags. Swatting at the flies, she stared into the distance. The hollowness in her gaze tore his heart out.
“I’ve made my peace with what I went through. The months with Tubeec when I fought every day to stay alive, not knowing if he would ever let me go,” Sunny whispered.
“But, he did, and that’s all behind you now,” Julian said. She never shared with him the heinous things she’d witnessed as a captive of Tubeec Hirad and his militia. The acts she must have been subjected to month after month. Things that still haunted her.
A gust of wind rushed through the tight space, sending empty plastic water bottles skittering across the surface. The smell of rotting garbage faded from his senses as he stared at Sunny.
“It’s not behind me, can’t you see? Every time I think I’ve freed myself from him, he comes back into my life one way or another. I don’t know if I’ll ever be free of him. But I do know that the time I spent with him, the things I learned can be used for good,” Sunny said.
“If you say he’s not in Uganda, I believe you,” Julian said. Despite what happened between them in the past, Julian knew without a doubt that Sunny would never manipulate him or lie to him. She wouldn’t risk Mena’s life over the past. Whether it was from direct knowledge or a gut feeling, he’d trust Sunny’s instincts over any intel provided by the ASF.
Sunny rubbed her arms, then turned toward him. “He’s not there. He’d never go back there.”
“Okay,” Julian said. Reaching a hand toward her, he took one of her hands in his. “That’s all I need to know. We’ll keep working to get a new lead on where he could be. Let’s go back inside.”
“I need you to know that I’m not making this up,” Sunny insisted, her eyes searching his as if pleading for confirmation of his belief in her.
Julian nodded. ”I know that.”
“I did horrible things back then. Things no one knows. I … did things that I never thought I would, that I will never, ever forgive myself for … but it also gave me information on Tubeec. I know things about him that I shouldn’t—”
“Shh,” Julian said, lifting a finger to her lips. “We’ve all done things we regret. Actions that we hope no one will ever find out about and decisions we made that we’ll take to our graves, hoping that the truth will die with us.”
The mission in Central Sulawesi raced to his mind, the worst mistake of his life. The moment that had riddled him with guilt and regret, robbing him of a future he didn’t believe he deserved. Until he met Mena. He’d opened up to her about his secret. Instead of the repulsion he’d expected, Mena had shown him compassion. Her understanding and acceptance of him, along with the letter Broman had written, helped him to move past the pain and forgive himself for the mistakes he’d made. He hoped Sunny would find a way to forgive herself for whatever she’d been forced to do while Tubeec Hirad held her captive.
“Everyone thinks he and his family were attacked in Somalia, but it didn’t happen there. He brought them to Somalia to bury them in their homeland. They were attacked in Uganda. Tubeec saw his family killed before his eyes in that country, and he’s never been back since. That’s how I know he wouldn’t take Wangari and Mena there,” Sunny said.
Julian’s mind raced. The insight into the terrorist’s behavior was shocking, something he never would have expected.
The back door of the TIDES office flung open.
“ASF got it wrong,” Glaze said, his eyes wild with excitement.
“Where is Tubeec?” Julian asked, following Glaze back into the war room. Enzo moved quickly, snatching weapons, bulletproof vests, and infrared goggles from the cabinets and arranging them in piles on the conference room table.
“He’s actually still in Kenya, in Tarbaj, at a registered CSL for USAFRICOM,” said Glaze.
Cooperative security locations, or CSLs, were not official US military bases or outposts. They were locations that could be used by the US military to support a wide range of unspecified contingencies, with the permission of the local government. CSLs could go untapped for years, leaving them dormant hiding places for rebel and militant groups.
“Cagey bastard is hiding in plain sight, knowing that anyone monitoring the area would think it’s a secret training run for the US military and not a terrorist who’d kidnapped three innocent people,” Glaze said. “Take a look here.”
