Living Stones (18 page)

“We’ll wait until ten minutes after nine,” Jim replied, “and if you’re not here, we take off for Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. If so, don’t go too far alone, and stay in touch. Take care.”

Sami needed to get back to classes, and Rafiq to work, so with an early breakfast finished, Ashley said her goodbyes and thanked everyone.
Eight-thirty, plenty of time to get to the hotel to catch up with my friends from Seattle
. Sami soon threaded the Pinto through the narrow streets of Nazareth when they heard a loud bang and a repeating thump.

“Oh, oh. A tire!”

“Do you have a spare tire, Sami?”

“Yes, but not a good one. And I’ve never had to use it.”

She made a quick call to Jim. “We may not make it in time, so please go ahead with your trip. I’ll be careful. Have a great one.”

With Ashley’s help, Sami found the jack and attempted to raise the right rear of the car. It fell off the jack. They tried again. Sami struggled to loosen the lug screws, then the spare tire needed air. Sami found a hand pump in the car and slowly filled the tire.

Ashley gave Sami a hug and wiped away a tear. She realized that she might never see him again, and stood in front of the small hotel watching him drive off.

Walid in dark glasses looked like any resident of Nazareth among the half of the population that followed Islam. He stepped into the narrow street and strolled to a small grove of trees. The old city of Nazareth buzzed with the sounds of tourists and honking taxis. He would be both hidden and able to hear Umar. He speed dialed his friend.

“Asalam alekum, Umar,” he spoke in hushed Arabic.

“Asalam alekum. Any good fortune?”

“No. Are you sure she’s not in the hotel?”

“Yes. I’ve been in the car here for hours now,” Umar said. “I know
she didn’t get on any tour-group bus this morning. I have her picture in front of me and saw no one that looks like her approaching any bus. So I waited and saw her come by car to the hotel after the buses left. An hour later she walked out of the hotel and up toward the old city along with other tourists. Pretty blonde—fit her description in every way and matched her picture. She walked up toward the basilica two hours ago as I told you. You didn’t see her come out?”

“No, but there is more than one door, so either I missed her or she’s still in there.”

“That seems unlikely. There’s not that much to see.”

“I’ve checked the other churches tourists usually visit and have not seen her anywhere.”

“Well, keep looking, Walid. We’ve got to find her. We missed twice in Bethlehem and can’t fail now. The boss will be very upset if we have to follow her to Jerusalem. There’s a lot of money riding on this.”

After her shower, Ashley had picked up a walking guide to Nazareth and strolled along with a group of tourists uphill to the old city, passing many shops along the way. She wanted to visit the Grotto of Annunciation, Mary’s family home. Descending the stairs in the basilica, she reached the grotto and the few remaining stones presumably of Mary’s childhood residence. Without the crowds as in Bethlehem, Ashley could ponder the young teenager encountering a frightening angel who told her she would be the mother of the Messiah.

Ashley ambled down the hill and through shops looking for small gifts she could bring home to friends. She would find a small restaurant for lunch. The tourists increased in number, and she mixed freely with them, overhearing some of their remarks about the best places to go for gifts. Most of the shoppers were women and she lost any concern about being alone as she stayed in the crowd.

Walid continued walking the streets to no avail and then started looking in the shops. As he rounded the corner of a small narrow street, he almost ran into a young woman carrying a shopping bag, peering into an open stall displaying linens. She did not seem to see him as he jumped to the side to avoid a collision. She shouted “Sorry!” over her shoulder without looking back and moved on. Tourists crowded around that particular shop, so he couldn’t see her well as she walked away, but he had glimpsed her face momentarily. His jaw dropped as he fished out Ashley’s picture from his pocket near the switchblade knife. “That’s her!” he whispered excitedly to himself. “I’m sure of it.”

Walid wheeled around, turned the corner again in the opposite direction, and sped up to find her. She seemed to have disappeared as he walked fast to catch up. He should be seeing her. He slowed his pace, turned back to gaze in several shops, and finally saw her reaching for some small paintings. She faced the back of the shop and spoke to the single salesperson, a man.

Walid moved across the street to stand in front of a small restaurant so he could watch from a safe distance. Ashley came out after
several minutes, stood on the side of the narrow street, turned her head in both directions, and then looked across the road. Quickly, Walid spun and strode away for a short distance, hoping she hadn’t seen him. When he looked back, Ashley had crossed the street almost to where he had waited, and entered the restaurant. Walid pulled out his cell phone.

“Umar,” he whispered into it. “I’ve found her. She’s in a restaurant now.”

“Are you sure it’s her?”

“Yes, I almost bumped into her. I checked the picture. It’s definitely her, and she spoke a word of English I didn’t recognize.”

“Did she see you?”

“No.”

“At anytime?”

“I’m quite sure she hasn’t seen me.”

“Good. What is your plan?”

“I’ll follow her at a distance. Maybe she’ll go down the street that is dead-end—you know, the one that points right to the hotel, but you can’t get through.”

“You mean Daoud Street, with all the shops right up to the end?”

“Yes.”

“How will you do it?”

“If she actually goes there, I can wait for her when she discovers she can’t continue. Then if most tourists have left, I can move out quickly behind her. She will never know what happened. The long knife will do its work, quietly. It won’t attract attention like the gun going off. I still have it in my pocket, but don’t plan to use it this time. It will be quick, and I will be gone before anyone sees her on the street.”

“Let’s hope she turns into Daoud Street. Keep me informed, Walid.”

Walid waited across the street from the restaurant. After an hour she still had not appeared.
She must have met someone
. He finally saw with dismay that he had guessed correctly. She and another Western woman walked back up the street the way Ashley had come. He followed from a distance as the two women talked, laughing and
pointing at items in the open stalls of the market. They stopped at several of them and came out with small packages. The afternoon wore on, and Walid wondered, with the sun almost disappearing behind the nearby western hill, what Ashley would do. Near five, they stopped and Ashley pointed in the direction of the hotel. The other woman nodded, smiled, hugged her, and continued on, alone.

Ashley squinted up at the street sign indicating the cross street: Daoud Street, written in Arabic and English. She turned right, toward the hotel just as Walid had hoped, and strolled downhill, peeking in the shops but not stopping. Walid ducked into a leather shop and perused the belts for men. He could see around the corner of the shop that she continued, obviously expecting to approach the hotel. He lost her for a few seconds in the setting sun. He knew she would round the final bend and realize she’d have to turn back. His heart raced. Sweat ran down his face. He gritted his teeth and pulled a different cap from his pocket, one with a visor. His hands shook as he felt in his pocket for the knife. It had the fastest blade action of any knife he had ever seen and switched from a smooth bone handle to a long blade fifteen centimeters in length.

He pulled out her picture again.
Yes, it’s her
. He walked by a shop she’d entered then headed down the street as though looking for some item. He rounded the bend in the road and darted behind a dumpster.

After several agonizing minutes, she finally appeared, rounding the turn in the street. He watched as she walked toward the cul-de-sac with a puzzled look on her face. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she squinted into the glare of the low western sun. She stopped. Empty. No shops. She turned around and started slowly back toward the bend of the street.

His heart pounded. He approached silently from behind. He and the woman were alone, finally. Right hand in his pocket, he partially encircled the knife handle with his fingers, his thumb finding the button that would switch the blade open in an instant. He would wrap her with his right arm and the knife, hold his left hand over her mouth to stifle a scream, and plunge the knife home over her heart. It would be quick, and he would duck through shops to another side street in seconds.

The characteristic Skype signal sounded as Rafiq checked the Internet for olive and fig prices. He answered Najid’s call and saw him on the screen looking rumpled as if he had just arisen from bed.

They spoke in Arabic, and after the usual greetings, Rafiq smiled, but with a quizzical frown. “Why are you calling now? What is it, seven o’clock in the morning in Seattle? Are you well?”

“I am well, Father. But I couldn’t sleep last night and want to find out how your visit went with Ashley. I tried to call yesterday but you weren’t online.”

“We took a trip to Zubuda to see Faisal and Almas and help with their orchard. Ashley went with us. We had a good time with her. They gave us the usual hassle at the wall.”

“Did you like her, and did Mother like her?”

“Oh yes. She seems like a very nice young woman.”

“She is a jewel. I wish I were there to show her around.”

“She had a good time with the boys, even played football with them. Sami translated for us all, and we had no difficulty communicating.”

“I’m worried about her, Father. I don’t know why. But I couldn’t sleep thinking about her, and that maybe she’s in some kind of trouble.”

“It’s nothing I know about, Najid. Sami took her to the hotel in Nazareth this morning, and he’s not back from school yet.”

“What is it there, almost five in the afternoon?”

“Yes.”

“I want to pray for Ashley. Will you pray with me?”