The Other Half of My Soul (18 page)

Rami spoke with Eli about the upcoming trip to South America, asking him to look after Rayna while he was gone. He withheld the enormity of the situation, preventing Eli from learning the full threat to Rayna’s safety.

* * *

In their new townhouse, between unpacked cartons and sheer exhaustion, Rayna lay quietly at the edge of the bed trying to sort through the past year, wishing to come to terms with her life in the present. Aware that she had been behaving badly toward Rami and that he did not deserve her brusque recoiling, she concluded that although she feared for his life, he in turn feared for hers. She must let go. She must allow Rami to follow his own judgment. She could warn him. She could beg him. But in the end, the decision was Rami’s to make. Losing him would devastate her.
Love changes everything
, she thought.
How you live. How you die
.
Once you make that commitment, nothing can ever go back to how it was.

This time, when Rami reached over and gently brought her to him, she did not resist. When his hands moved slowly over her slim frame, she responded. Facing the man she loved so completely, Rayna met his lips and surrendered. Together, they penetrated a dimension where love and death are transposable. Rami and Rayna had known an earlier life together.

twenty-one

I have seen that in any great undertaking, it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself.

—Lone Man, Isna la-wica, Teton Sioux

Familiar with danger, Kamil was known to delve into perilous investigations to get his stories. He had endured kidnapping, torture, and incarceration. Living through the Hamah massacre of 1982 had sharpened his survival instincts. In 1989, he was caught in the middle of a violent insurrection against Indian rule in Kashmir. That same year, he was taken prisoner when Islamic fundamentalists seized power in Sudan. When Kamil went to Rwanda in 1994 to cover the massacre of the Tutsis, Hutus captured him and buried him up to his neck, then set a swarm of bees around his head. And it was just a year ago that Kamil had gone to Afghanistan to report on the Taliban. He was taken hostage and forced into an isolated cave with only vipers to keep him company.

Rami, on the other hand, was a novice to the brutalities of life.

* * *

“Fanatics represent no government and no country. They follow no rules. International law doesn’t restrain them. Irrational beings stop at nothing to get what they want.” Sitting in Simon’s office, Rami listened to Kamil’s dire counseling. “Yousef Mugniyeh is a bully of the worst kind. He is evil. Slime. This is not a scare tactic session, Rami. I want you to fully grasp the dangers ahead. Simon himself has misgivings about our going. A man like Yousef has no conscience. When you’re dealing with someone so twisted, you better have all your antennas up.” He handed Rami a hexagon-shaped copper coin. “You are to keep this with you at all times. I also will carry one. This allows Simon to track our whereabouts, just in case.”

“The coin is linked to the GPS tracking system,” Simon explained. “There are two types of satellites—those that look out into space and those that look down on earth. GPS, the Global Positioning System of satellites, looks down on our world and, with the proper tools, we can get pretty near the exact location of anyone or anything. So don’t lose this coin. It may mean the difference between life and death for you.”

Rami studied the piece of metal in his hand, then closed his palm over it, contemplating where to put it.
In my pocket, with the other coins.

“Dense areas block the signal and will prevent Simon from getting a reading on your site. So, although we don’t anticipate it, be sure to keep out of forests and jungles, just in case you and I were to get separated.” Kamil wanted Rami to be aware of all the dangers.

A pit formed inside Rami’s stomach.

* * *

On Monday, August fourth, Rayna drove Rami to JFK International Airport. As the couple walked toward the gate, Kamil spotted them. He had arrived moments earlier and was on the phone. Rayna approached him and glared into his face. Kamil hung up. “If anything happens to my husband, I swear to God I’ll make your life miserable for the rest of your days.”

From the beginning, Kamil had been struck with Rayna’s beauty and sensuality. Grasping her passion to love and to commit so completely to another, served only to intensify his arousal for her. After losing all his family during the Hamah massacre, Kamil’s emotions had shut down. Rayna ignited feelings in him that he had never known. She awakened sensations he had thought were long gone. Observing her now, he wished she were his, but knew better than to overstep that boundary. Kamil’s wife, Maddy, was a schoolteacher who lived her life in a lecture mode. Their marriage was not idyllic.

Rami assured Rayna that he would call often and twice on August tenth, the day they both were to turn nineteen, and promised to bring her back a special gift. Then, dramatically, their hands separated. “Allah maak. God be with you, my love.” She watched Rami start down the ramp. Kamil was next to board. Rayna grabbed his sleeve, “Salaam. Peace. Kamil, don’t you dare return without Rami.”

* * *

When Rami and Kamil arrived at the small airport in Foz do Iguaçu, they found Omar waiting. “As-salaam alaykum.”

“Wa-alaykum as-salaam.” Rami introduced Kamil. “This is a friend I met on the plane. He is here on business. I offered him a ride into Ciudad del Este.”

“Yousef told me to pick up only you. Nothing was said about him.” Cautious to do exactly what Yousef bid, Omar did not want to give the stranger a ride. Rami’s persistence won out.

* * *

The car crept above the Paraná. All was as Rami remembered. Traffic inched along at a turtle’s pace, traversing the decaying Amistad Bridge. Pedestrians scurried along the outer edge of the overpass, pushing carts filled with cigarettes and hauling backpacks bulging with black-market merchandise. They tossed their loot over the side to avoid inspection. Below, their go-betweens carried off the spoils to sell for significant profits.

As the vehicle approached Ciudad del Este, the sun was just beginning to set. “It is not safe to be out after dark. I will take your friend to a hotel,” Omar announced. Stopping at a seedy-looking place, he turned around and faced Kamil, “Get out. This is as far as I can take you.”

Glaring at Omar, Kamil raised his brow and shook his head, “Surely, you do not expect me to sleep in such a place. Take me to where Rami will be staying.”

“No! Now get out!” When Kamil did not budge, Omar clutched the steering wheel in exasperation, and stepped hard on the gas pedal. The car lurched forward. Dodging potholes and snaking the shabby gravel alleyways, Omar drove to the outskirts of town. Maneuvering onto a narrow dirt street, he parked adjacent to an old one-story adobe bungalow. “Rami, this is where I am living for the summer. There is one vacant room with two beds. You and your friend can share it . . . for tonight. Tomorrow, he goes or we will all suffer Yousef’s wrath.” Omar’s fear of Yousef was pronounced. “There is one bathroom out in the hall. A woman comes everyday to clean and cook. She leaves food in the kitchen. If Yousef finds out about this . . .”

“Omar, thank you for . . .”

“Forget it, Rami. You have forced this upon me. I will be at Yousef’s mercy if he . . .”

“Omar, you already are at Yousef’s mercy.”

* * *

That night, Rami’s haunting nightmare returned, the same one he had grown up with in Halab. “Raynaaa! Raynaaa!” He wakened Kamil.

Approaching Rami’s bed, Kamil calmed him. “Shhh. Shhh. A bad dream. You were calling out for Rayna. It’s okay now.”

Unsettled, Rami was embarrassed, “I am so sorry to have wakened you.”

“Don’t be sorry. Even I have nightmares,” Kamil smiled protectively.

An hour later, Rami was still awake. He glanced over at Kamil who was now fast asleep. Quietly, he got out of bed, reached for his jeans hanging over the chair, and put them on. Barefooted, Rami went into the kitchen. A bowl of petite bananas sat on the table. He ate one, then slipped his hand into his pocket and took out the GPS coin, twiddling it between his fingers. Soon, Rami’s eyelids grew heavy and he was ready for sleep. Putting the coin back in his pocket, he returned to the bedroom. In the darkness, Rami slipped off his jeans and tossed them over the chair. Noiselessly, the coin fell and rolled under the bed. Rami did not notice.

* * *

Driving into town to meet Yousef and Abdallah the next morning, Omar hoped that he would not have to explain the stranger in their midst. His face paled; his palms turned clammy.

“What’s wrong with you, Omar? You look sick.” Abdallah then disregarded Omar’s presence and turned his attention to Yousef. “Sami is the best we’ve got, boss. If he can’t break Nolan, nobody can. By this time tomorrow, we should be free to dispense with Rami. Nolan and the bacteria will be yours.”

With an evil eye, Yousef leered at Omar, “Where’s Rami? I want him at the warehouse.”

“I will go get him. He is at the house.” Relieved that he was not questioned about Kamil’s presence, Omar drove back to the house.

* * *

“Get your things. You are to leave now.” Omar was anxious to get rid of Kamil before anyone discovered him.

Kamil nodded courteously, then glanced at Rami.

“Rami, Yousef is expecting you. Now! I will drive your friend back into town. That is as far as I can take him.”

With their backpacks, Rami and Kamil climbed into the car. Omar swerved around the cratered streets until he came to a sprawling concrete building fortified by barred windows and steel doors. He pulled around to the back of the structure and parked. “Mister Kamil, I believe you came to this city on business. I suggest you go do it.”

* * *

Kamil made himself invisible, observing Omar and Rami entering the building from the front. He followed, keeping a reasonable distance behind. Through a barred window, Kamil was able to see that the structure housed a store. He watched Omar and Rami walk to the back. A camouflaged door opened, just enough to allow Omar and Rami to squeeze through.

Guards approached, motioning Kamil to move on. He went into the shop. Young Arab men assisted customers. Kamil mulled around, pretending to be a shopper. He kept close vigil on the back of the store, and hoped Rami was safe behind the hidden paneled door.

* * *

“Salaam, Rami.”

“Salaam, Yousef.”

Yousef walked with Rami to the far end of the stockroom. “There’s a man named Carlos el Negro. Until four months ago, we had a lucrative arrangement trading arms for drugs. Then the bastard accused me of cheating him. Now, el Negro refuses to do business with me or with any of my people. But he has heard much about you from others. He inquires. Sometimes too much. He knows more than I care for him to know. The man likes what he has heard of you. Young. Smart. Master negotiator. And as I, he is also taken with your beautiful wife.”

The color drained from Rami’s face.

“Carlos el Negro wants to meet with you. On my behalf, of course. You are to revive the alliance and negotiate for me. I want his drugs. He wants my weapons. You succeed and I will reward you handsomely.”

“Yousef, I know of the attempts you have made to replace me on Doctor Nolan’s project. If you have such big plans for me, then why do you want me out of the way?”

Yousef grabbed Rami tightly by the throat, “Nobody challenges me! Nobody!”

Jolted by Yousef’s severe reaction, Rami felt his breath being taken from him and he gasped for air. Meanwhile, Yousef grappled to keep his own volatility in check, mindful that he needed Rami, at least for now. He released his hold. “Tomorrow morning, you leave for Manaus in northwestern Brazil. From there, you will fly to Putumayo in southern Colombia. Someone will be waiting to take you into La Paya National Forest. There you will meet Carlos el Negro.”

* * *

A national forest!
Rami’s senses heightened.
Dense areas block the signal. Keep out of forests and jungles
.
Be alert in case you and I get separated
. Reflecting on Kamil’s warnings, uneasy thoughts whirled through Rami’s brain.
I do not know why Yousef is providing me with information. He could have sent me on this trip and said nothing. He could have kept me guessing.
For sure, he would not be so forthcoming if Kamil’s nearness were known. So Omar kept his mouth shut, not to protect me but to protect himself. Still, I am grateful
.

“Are you going to show me the weapons, Yousef . . . the ones to trade for the cocaine? How much leeway do I have in negotiating?”

“Leeway! You want leeway?”

“If you want me to negotiate, I must know my bargaining space. How much?”

Yousef’s explosive disposition unleashed full force. He shoved Rami hard against the wall. Once again, he grabbed Rami tightly by the throat, strangling his air supply. “I give leeway to no one. I dictate the terms and you carry them out. Understood?”

In his peripheral vision, Rami caught sight of Abdallah closing in. Regaining strength, Rami swiftly drew up his knee and rammed it into Yousef’s testicles. Doubled over in pain, Yousef’s hold on Rami dissolved. “You slimy bastard! You are worse than a dog . . . than a pig!”

Abdallah raised his handgun and aimed it at Rami’s temple. Through his pain, Yousef managed to strike the firearm from Abdallah’s hand. “Not yet, Abdallah . . . not yet.”

* * *

Maintaining a low profile, Kamil kept vigil over the camouflaged door, unaware of the situation behind it. Slowly, Yousef cracked the opening just enough to peer out into the shop. Kamil caught a glimpse of his father’s murderer. A need for revenge engulfed him. Impulsively, he reached for the small pistol hidden inside the waist of his jeans and pondered the risk of assassinating Yousef. The door shut. Kamil withdrew his hand from the weapon.
Get hold of yourself. You gave your word to return safely with Rami. A foolish move now could cost both of us our lives.

Kamil waited a long while before Rami emerged from behind the hidden door. He made eye contact, then walked down the street. Rami followed. When they were safely out of sight, Kamil paid a man to drive them both to a respectable hotel. “Omar will not report your absence from the house. He’s too scared . . . and he couldn’t care less where you sleep tonight.”

* * *

Over lunch, Rami spoke of Yousef’s attack on him in the warehouse. Then Rami told of the journey ahead, the meeting with Carlos el Negro in La Paya National Forest, and Yousef’s expectation for a successful arms-for-drugs trade. “I am frightened, Kamil. If something should go wrong . . . I am really worried about Rayna. I cannot leave her to be alone.”

“Nothing will go wrong. I’ll be near all the time and Simon is tracking your every move.”

“Like in the warehouse today? You had no clue what was hap-pening. Yousef could have killed me. You were not inside to see.”

“You’re right. Let this be a lesson for both of us not to take anything for granted.”

In their hotel room that evening, Kamil briefed Rami on the dangers inside the forest, then reached for his satellite phone, checked the signal, and dialed Simon. Reporting in, he provided the details of Rami’s journey, agreed to call again when they landed in Manaus, and said that Rami wanted Rayna kept informed of everything.