Page 61 of Rescuing You

Which brought up another question, one that’d hummed in the back of his mind since they’d been escaping the compound.

“I thought your parents lived in Germany.”

Her shoulders lifted and fell, but she offered no defense for what had obviously been a lie.

“Can I ask you something else?”

Her nod was her only answer. She still wouldn’t quite meet his eyes.

“When you were walking to the plane, Qasim didn’t have ahold of you. Did he have a weapon? Why didn’t you try to get away? I mean, even in the terminal, you could’ve tried to run or alert somebody that you were being taken.” He didn’t actually know she hadn’t, but it was a logical guess.

“He threatened Yasamin.”

That made sense. Michael would risk everything to protect his brothers.

“How does your father know Qasim?”

“They have known each other as long as I can remember.”

“Do they work together?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“What does your father do for a living?”

She shrugged. “When I left, he was with the government. Now, I do not know.”

“What is his name?”

That question was greeted by silence.

“Leila?”

“When we’re out of Iraq, I will tell you more about my family.”

“What’s the big secret?”

“It is not a secret. It is only that…I just want out of this country. You don’t need to know who my father is in order to get me out of Iraq. His name will mean nothing to you.”

Probably not true, but he didn’t say so. “More information is usually better than less.”

“What is there to say? I escaped. They found me and brought me back.”

By means of a suspected terrorist, one Michael had been surveilling.

She was keeping secrets, but he was too. And he wasn’t ready to reveal his.

“You told me you came to Christ through the family of a school friend. Was that friend Heba?”

“No, no. A girl at the international school in Baghdad.”

Now that he’d shifted the conversation away from Leila’s parentage, she seemed to relax.

“Her family was from Dallas, Texas,” Leila added. “She used to speak of a brother who was in the rodeo, with horses and bulls. Does that not sound exotic?”

He laughed. “I’ve been to Dallas. I wouldn’t describe it as exotic.”

“But the American West, with ranches and cowboys.”