“I brought you back to Nairobi—“
“Why did you do that?” Julian demanded. “I need to be close to the search, so I can join the team and help find Mena!”
“You were in no condition to help anyone, let alone Mena. You need to focus on getting better,” Sunny said.
“Flying me 500 miles away was fucking overkill. Any clinic in Wajir or Garissa would have been better than this. I’ve had concussions plenty of times before,” Julian said.
“I didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with you!” Sunny screamed at him. “All I knew was it felt like history was fucking repeating itself, and you were unconscious being dragged onto my helo … again. Excuse me if I wanted to take you to the best hospital, just like I did the last damn time.”
Julian took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not. You’re pissed at me, and I’m okay with that. If I had to do it again, I’d do the same damn thing. I think Mena would back me up on that and I know her parents do,” Sunny said, slumping down into the chair in the corner.
“Her parents?” Julian asked. “How did they find out what happened to Mena?”
“After the museum explosion, they got concerned that they couldn’t reach her. Seems like they have some elite connections. Wangari said they flew over this morning in a private 747 owned by Aurora Nathaniel.”
“Who is that?”
“Only the second richest woman in France and the mother of Leo Bronson, who owns thePalmchat Gazettewhere Mena’s dad works,” Sunny said.
“Where are they now?” Julian asked.
“At Wangari’s family estate. They’ve been fully briefed on the details of what happened. Her mother wanted to come to the hospital to see you, but I told her to wait until we knew more about your condition.”
“I need to get out of here, Sunny. Dee and Caleb need me to bring their daughter back to them, safe and sound. You’ve got to take me back to Wajir County.”
“I will, as soon as the doctors release you. Somebody should be here soon to check on you,” Sunny said.
Julian drummed his fingers against the mattress as impatience threatened to push him over the edge. He was wasting time lying in this bed when Mena was out there.
“Any idea who ambushed us?”
“No, but if I had to guess, I’d say al-Harakat. Reggie thinks whoever did it was acting on Tubeec’s request, which is why they didn’t bother killing you,” Sunny said.
“Why does Tubeec want Mena? What use could she possibly have to him?” Julian asked.
Sunny shifted in the chair, resting her elbows on the armrests as she stared into the distance. Julian waited, knowing she was going to tell him something he didn’t want to hear. But he needed to hear it. He needed to understand what was going on in Tubeec Hirad’s sick fucking mind.
After several seconds of silence, Sunny said, “Tubeec is driven by inflicting pain on others. He wants the world to suffer the same pain he went through as he watched his wife and twin boys being tortured and killed. He wants you to suffer like he did. Allowing you to watch Mena being taken away from you, knowing you were helpless to stop it … he wants that to haunt you for the rest of your life. Just like he’s haunted.”
“But why me and Mena? What put us on his radar?” Julian asked.
“I’m not sure …”
“Crazy bastard,” Julian muttered under his breath.
“It’s even worse than that,” Sunny said.
“How can it be worse than that?” Julian asked.
“Okeyo and his office lost all the evidence against Rono. The files were destroyed. All copies on all known servers. No trace of them anywhere,” Sunny said.
“That’s impossible,” Julian said.
“I know. That’s what makes this whole thing crazy. Some kind of way, Tubeec made it happen. Rono gets what he wanted. No evidence exists anymore that could be used against him and he’s free to run for President without fear of being indicted or convicted for past wrongdoings,” Sunny said.
“Now I really don’t understand why Tubeec cared that Mena got away. Why try to get her back?”
