Page 74 of Sheltering You

In other words, about three months before. Except if they went back, he wouldn’t know Jasmine.

He wouldn’t trade knowing her for anything.

“Fine,” Derrick said. “But I can’t leave my plane at Dulles forever.”

“Could Bryan pick it up for you?”

Like it was a car with an extra set of keys.

But…yeah. Maybe, as if his brother had nothing better to do than fly to DC. “I’ll ask.”

“Good. Okay, along with the car, you’ll get ID, a clean credit card, and a couple of burner phones. I don’t want you and Jasmine turning your personal phones on at all. Just use the burners. Travel after dark and try to avoid cameras. I assume the cousin is still in the Chicago area, so go that direction until you hear differently. Wear a baseball cap. Keep Jasmine and the kid in the car as much as possible. When they have to get out to use the bathroom or whatever, get them caps, too, and make sure she hides that hair. Try to choose small, independent gas stations and restaurants, which are less likely to have surveillance cameras. Don’t take the most direct route, in case they guess where you’re headed. Start out going west and then turn north.”

“How could they guess Chicago?”

“How many people could Basma know in the States? If they follow the logic we’re following, then they could learn what we’ve learned.”

That made sense.

“One more thing,” Michael said. “We think Dariush might have accessed the email address Jasmine and her friend used, which is how he was prepared for the escape attempt. We’re monitoring it, hoping he’ll access it again. If he does, we might be able to catch him. You need to let Jasmine know that if any messages pop up, she can’t answer them.”

“But what about Basma? How will⁠—?”

“We’ll take care of her. We’ve got a lot of people working on this, and we’re very good at it. Trust me.”

Easy for Michael to say. He didn’t have a distraught pregnant woman and a scared little boy to take care of.

Derrick hated this. He hated all of it.

Man, if he could go back to the other night when Jasmine asked him for his help, he’d tell her absolutely not and immediately alert Michael.

If he’d known then what he knew now…

But he hadn’t. And if not for this, when would Jasmine have told him about the baby? When she needed a ride to the hospital to give birth?

Too late to go back. They were in the middle of it now. He just needed to keep Rabie and Jasmine safe all the way to the other side.

An hour later, Derrick knocked on Rabie’s door, then peeked inside. “You hungry?”

The kid hopped down from the bed. “Where’s Yasamin?”

“She’s taking a nap. You like macaroni and cheese?” He’d prepared the box already, so the answer better be yes.

Walking in front of Derrick toward the kitchen, Rabie shrugged. “I have never had it.”

Derrick couldn’t imagine a life without mac and cheese, although it might be a healthier life.

In the kitchen, he dolloped a spoonful onto Rabie’s plate, put one onto his own, added a couple of carrot sticks and celery sticks to each of them, and carried them to the kitchen table.

Rabie sat where Jasmine had earlier. Derrick half expected him to turn up his nose at the vegetables, but Rabie grabbed a celery stick first, munching until it was gone.

Derrick snatched the plastic bag of veggies before he sat. “I’m going to say grace.” He bowed his head without waiting for a reply. “Thank You, Father, for bringing us safely to this place. Take us to our next stop. Please keep Basma safe and bring her and Rabie back together soon. And bless this yummy food. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

When he looked up, Rabie was watching him through squinted eyes. “I do not pray to Jesus.”

“You can pray to whomever you want.” Derrick speared a forkful of macaroni. “I pray to Jesus because He saved me.”

The kid seemed like he wanted to say something, but after a moment, he turned his attention to the food, wary.