the lounge. She caught his smile and remembered why she’d fallen in love with him ten years ago. He looked so exotic and handsome, and when his hand settled on her foot, she felt a familiar tingle, but it was from far away and long ago, and the distance—and Dafoe—had weakened its force.
“Are you going to be okay?” she asked him.
He nodded. “Bilal called this morning. The rest of Senada’s brothers are willing to talk to me.”
“Is that safe?”
“I trust him. He say it’s okay, that they know things are going wrong with our country and Islam. It’s crazy. So we’ll talk. If I can get them to understand why Senada is dead, I can go to the mosque. Then maybe I can get others to listen, too. We’re peaceful people, we don’t deserve this violence.”
Jenna took his hands. “Rafan, you’re so brave. News teams get to take off when the story’s done. But you have to stay behind and work out all the disagreements and arguments.” She looked at the sea. “There’s not a lot of room to get away from people here, is there?”
“No. And it’s getting smaller all the time,” he laughed.
“Don’t joke,” she chided him gently. “This is serious.”
“I know, and I’m a survivor. I want my people to survive, and we won’t if we don’t stand up to the Islamists.” He looked away and cleared his throat. “I’ve lost Basheera and Senada, but everybody is going to lose someone if things don’t change.” He stood up. “I should let you go. I’ve got to go, too. So little dirt, so little time.” He smiled once more, bent over, and kissed her. She smelled the sea air on his skin and felt the tingle move to her lips.
“Be careful,” she said.
“Travel well.”
Minutes later, as she was also about to leave the balcony, her cell went off.
“Did you really record Marv without his knowledge?” James Elfren asked in his high-pitched voice, not bothering with a greeting of any kind.
“Record him? Of course not. Did he say that? That’s bizarre.” All’s fair in love and network wars. “Why would he say that?”
“I don’t know but he did. And he’s really upset. Regardless, I take it that you two had quite a row.”
“He was screaming at me, if that’s what you mean. He was out of control. And he called Nicci a lesbo, which I—”
“I can’t mediate this at a distance,” Elfren cut in. “But is it correct that you and Alicia are also having difficulties?”
Jenna suddenly felt like the problem child. “That’s why Marv called me, because of her. It’s not like they’re separate issues. She was trying to script me.”
“She doesn’t see it that way.”
“You talked to her?” Already?
“Yes. I’m not assigning blame here, but to keep our coverage on track, I do think you and Nicci ought to—”
“We’ve already made the decision to come back. I would never stay here under these circumstances. We’re booked to fly out in a couple of hours. Marv said that the two of us are suspended from the show.”
“He might have overreacted.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“Jenna, I really can’t do this long distance. There’s a lot of anger in the air. Come back, call me when you get some sleep, and we’ll sort it out.”
When he ended the call, Jenna found that Nicci had sidled up to her. “Not good news, I take it,” the producer said.
“I don’t know. Elfren says Marv might have overreacted with the suspension.”
“Might have?” Nicci stomped her foot on the decking.
“And that Alicia’s version is very different from mine. Not exactly a bulletin, that. I really wish I had a recording of her.”
“I guess we better get ready to do battle when we get back there.”
Jenna grabbed her bags and tried to gird herself for what was to come.
But nothing she’d heard from Marv or Elfren, or experienced firsthand with Alicia—and nothing she might have imagined happening on board the supertanker—could possibly have matched the murderous fury that awaited everyone on the other side of the world.
CHAPTER 22
A thick, funereal haze hung over New York City. From Jenna’s window seat, she could catch only blurry views of the buildings and bridges below, gloomy glimpses that seemed to mirror the dim prospects of a planet under siege.
Inky waterways appeared as the Airbus descended, and daytime headlights glistened like glittery scales on the snakelike expressways that curled around JFK.
Jenna and Nicci were nearing the end of a full day of travel, sleeping when they weren’t keeping abreast