a hand across his brow. “I do a great deal of business with NATO governments, with the United States, with Russia. My daughter as a bomber? It would destroy everything I’ve built.”
“People would understand that she was brainwashed. Think of Patty Hearst,” I said.
Zaid’s voice was iron. “Patty Hearst was convicted, Mr. Capra. The world did not see her then as a victim: it saw her as a good girl turned anarchist and bank robber. The world is an even less forgiving place now. There will be enough doubt to undo my entire business. Even the mere suggestion that my daughter could be a bomber would destroy my company.” He closed his eyes. “My company gained billions in contracts when Western governments wanted to show they held no bias against Muslim-run firms. You see the trap they have set for me? I cannot go to the police. I dare not defy their demands.”
“Maybe this isn’t about Yasmin, or the ransoms. Maybe they want to bring you down.”
“Then they would release the video now and destroy Bahjat,” Mila said quietly. “But they haven’t. They’re using Bahjat’s hope against him.”
I glanced at Mila. “So you want me to find and rescue Yasmin.”
Zaid’s stare was steel. “Oh, more than that. I want you to find these people who took her… and kill them.”
“Kill them?”
“Kill her kidnappers. I don’t care if there are only two or two dozen. No one who could tie her to this act can live to indict her name,” Zaid said. “If she is rescued, and any of them survive, they could release the tape in revenge.”
But I needed the scarred man alive to answer my questions. “If I get Yasmin out, surely that is the primary goal.”
“Of course. But all of them must be dead. That is nonnegotiable.”
“You’re afraid once she’s rescued that the kidnappers might come after you?”
“Yasmin has seen their faces. They won’t let her go. Ever.” He looked at me, a long measured stare, and then he looked at Mila. “You said he could rescue Yasmin. I am not sure.”
“I don’t rush in like a fool, Mr. Zaid. This is not a suicide mission, especially since you want to be sure no one escapes your wrath.”
He raised an eyebrow at the dryness of my tone.
“Bahjat,” Mila said quietly. “Let Sam do what Sam does.”
“I would like to ask you both a question. Have you heard the term Novem Soles? Or Nine Suns? Does it mean anything to either of you?”
Both of them shook their heads.
“I would like to know how you propose to take action,” Zaid said.
“You don’t need to know. It’s better you don’t.”
He swallowed. “I want to be sure Yasmin is safe…”
I sighed. “Mr. Zaid. Yasmin may not even be in Amsterdam anymore. In which case I’ve got to find where she’s gone. I have no leads to follow right now. And if her face is on the cameras in the train station, and the Dutch forensics teams figure out she planted the bomb, then the police are going to be looking for her. We’re on a deadline. I am not spending my time asking your approval or permission.”
“It is just… I feel I failed her. I failed to protect her.” The words came from his mouth as though pulled by force. He was a man used to iron control of situations, and I guessed his helplessness ate at him.
I leaned forward. “I know what you’re going through. I know what it is to be missing a loved one. I will get your daughter back for you.”
Bahjat Zaid looked at me and then he smiled: an awful, stressed smile that held no joy. Like a dog showing its teeth. “If you fail, or you take an action that results in Yasmin’s death, there will be consequences, Mr. Capra.”
He was probably good at handling contracts and subordinates and accounts. I was none of those things. “Don’t threaten me, Mr. Zaid. I so easily crumble under pressure.”
He closed his mouth and his stare turned to a glare.
“I need all the information you have on your daughter and the kidnappers.”
He handed me the laptop. “It’s all there.”
“Thank you.” I studied his drawn face, knowing he had just handed me every hope of finding his daughter. “Why you?”
“Pardon me?”
“Why did they target you?”
He blinked, once, twice, glancing at Mila. “My money. Why else?”
“If money was all they wanted, then they could have asked for more. They want more. I’m wondering what it is you have that they want.”