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Finally Laila stepped up to the most sympathetic-looking man and said quietly, “Bahram has heard and seen some things that are relevant to what’s happening in the country right now. He’s got important intel for Mel, and I’m sure she’ll want to hear it.”
The Marine studied her for a long moment, then said, “Are you willing to vouch for that kid?”
Laila turned to Bahram and switched to Pashto. “Will you cooperate fully with my boss? Tell her everything you know? Answer all her questions?” She narrowed her eyes at the boy. “Tell her the truth about what you and Feroz did?”
“If I tell her that, she won’t let me leave,” Bahram said, his lip quivering.
“If she finds out you lied or withheld information, she definitely won’t let you leave,” Laila retorted. “I’ll talk to her and explain what happened, but the decision is up to her. And unless you’re completely honest, you’re not getting on any planes for America.”
The boy drew in a deep, shuddering breath. Blew it out. Finally nodded. “Yes. I will be honest and tell her everything. Even...” He swallowed. “Even the things I’m ashamed of.”
“Good,” Laila said. “That was exactly the right answer. Tell my boss everything. Even the small details that may not seem important.”
“I will. I promise.” He grabbed Laila’s hands. “Thank you for taking a chance and allowing me to come here. I know I don’t deserve it after what I did.”
“I’m not passing judgment on you, Bahram,” she said, extracting her hands from his too-tight, desperate grip. “What you did was wrong, and you’ll have to live with that. You also have a lot of work to do, mending your relationship with your sister and your mother, and it’s not going to be easy. But I hope you get the chance to go with them to America.”
She turned to the Marine. “I’m willing to vouch for him. He’s promised to tell Mel everything he knows, and he has some useful information.”
The Marine pursed his lips and finally nodded. “Tell him to join his family. I’ll find him when it’s time for him to talk to Mel.”
Laila repeated the instructions in Pashto, and Bahram’s eyes closed. He took a deep breath, then opened his eyes. Nodded at Laila. “I am in your debt.”
“Make sure you don’t betray anyone else, or lie to my boss, and we’re good.”
She watched as Bahram joined his family, and another Marine led them toward the barracks. When they disappeared inside, she turned around, braced her shoulders and headed for the embassy. She wasn’t looking forward to her conversation with Mel, but she wanted to get it over with.
Hurrying into a side entrance to the building, she made her way to Mel’s office. Taking a deep breath, she rapped on the door.
Mel opened it and smiled when she saw Laila. “Come in,” she said, stepping aside as Laila entered, then closing and locking the door behind her.
“Have a seat, Laila. I’ve heard what Jase, Dev and Cody had to say. Now I want to hear from you.”
Laila slid into a seat on the other side of Mel’s desk. “First of all, I assume you know about the families I brought with me from Al Kamen.”
Mel leaned back in her chair and Laila couldn’t read her expression. Was she angry? Horrified? Or did she understand why Laila had done it.
“Yes, I know about the families and your adventures in the box truck.” Mel bounced her pen on her desk. “I assume that truck needs to be returned to Al Kamen?”
Laila nodded. “We... ah... liberated it, but it needs to go back to its owner.”
Mel nodded. “Give me the name and location of the owner of that truck, and I’ll send it back when we retrieve your belongings from that village.”
Swallowing, Laila said, “Can the families be relocated in the U.S.? The Taliban are gaining strength in the north, and it would be dangerous for those girls to stay in Al Kamen. Everyone knows they went to the school. That’s why I brought them with me.”
Mel leaned forward. “I don’t like it when my agents go rogue. When you strike off on your own, you endanger the other agents who are involved and jeopardize our operations in the area. You should have cleared it with me before you piled those people into the box truck and drove them here. We could have had a giant clusterfuck on our hands. Especially right now, when this country is devolving into chaos and disaster.”
She stared at Laila for a long moment, her gaze hard. Then she sighed and tossed the pen onto the desk. “That said, I admire your concern for those young women. And that you detoured back to the village where you were in danger to rescue them.” She leaned forward over the desk. “If you stay with the CIA, don’t do anything like that again. Get clearance first. Coordinate with me or whoever your boss is. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I do,” she said. Swallowing hard, she added, “You need to know that Jase, Dev and Cody were against the idea. They said it was too risky. Too dangerous. They wanted to come straight back to Kabul.”
“Which is exactly what they should have done.” She narrowed her gaze. “I’m curious. How did you persuade them to take you back to the village?”
“They didn’t tell you?” Laila asked.
“Nope. Not a word.”
“I told them if they didn’t take me, I’d walk back to Al Kamen. Arrange everything myself.”
