Naeem stared back at Steve. “Because it’s a stupid idea. We can’t just go in there and take those women. They belong to my brothers. We will get killed.”
“Are you afraid?”
“I’m not afraid of anything.” Naeem stuck his chin out. “Allah is with me.”
John stepped forward as Steve glared at Naeem from inches away.
“Hey, hey, calm down, guys. This is not helping anyone.” He looked up and down the street. “You are just going to attract attention.”
Steve relaxed his grip and stepped back. John caught his eye, and with a jerk of his head, indicated he should move away. Steve stepped back further, still glaring at Naeem, his eyes hard, flexing his hands. John stepped between them and fixed Naeem in his gaze.
“Naeem, Mia says she won’t leave without them...”
“I won’t,” Mia piped up from the front seat.
“See?” John nodded at Naeem. “Now, if you want her and your daughter to get out of here safely, I suggest you help us. Understand?”
Naeem nodded reluctantly and straightened his jacket.
“The sooner we get out of here, the better.” John waited until Naeem nodded again. “Now, tell me how many men are there? Will they be in the building?”
Naeem sighed. “There are normally eight of us, including me and Karam. They might be there, I don’t know. We have a couple of days’ rest from the front, there’s a ceasefire, so they could be there or out getting food.” He shrugged. “I really don’t know. There will be at least one there. A guard.”
John pursed his lips and studied Naeem’s face.
“Aren’t you supposed to be with them?”
“Yes...”
“And?”
“I don’t get on with my commander, Abu Mujahid.”
“The guy who captured us?”
“Yes.”
“So, something I’m puzzled about, Naeem. Why did they let us go?”
Naeem looked down at the ground and scuffed the ground with his boot.
“I told them to.”
“You told them to? You and,”—John nodded toward the boy standing in the tray and gave him a reassuring smile—“Karam here?”
“That’s right.” Naeem’s tone was defensive.
“And they just said okay?”
“Yeah.” Naeem looked away, crossing his arms across his chest. John looked across at Mansur, who gave a subtle shake of his head.
They knew he was lying. But why? What was really going on?
“Okay, so you will take us to this house, we’ll check it out, and if we can get the women out safely, we will. But first, we will take a look. Okay?”
“Okay,” Naeem mumbled.
“Is that okay with you, Mia?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Steve, Mansur?”
“Yup.”
John looked at Mansur, who nodded in return.
“Mansur, tell Karam what we are doing.”
Mansur started translating, the young boy looking down at his weapon as he listened. Mansur stopped speaking, and the boy nodded. John saw him glance in his direction, then back at Mansur. He said something, and when Mansur replied, he nodded again, lowering himself down, so he was sitting in the back of the pickup again.
“He’ll help us if we help him go home.”
“Raqqa?”
“Yes.”
“Shit.” John pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is never-ending.” He looked over at Karam, who was watching him from the back of the pickup. He nodded at him and smiled. “Poor kid. Okay, one thing at a time.” He looked at Steve. “You okay?”
“Yeah, mate. Let’s do it.”
John turned back to Naeem, who was still leaning against the vehicle, a sullen look on his face.
“Let’s go, Naeem.”
John climbed back into the rear of the pickup and placed a hand on Karam’s shoulder.
“Shukraan, Karam.”
The boy nodded and looked away shyly.
John sat down beside Mansur as Naeem started the pickup.
“One thing’s for sure, we will need another vehicle. We won’t fit another seven women in the back here.”
“Don’t worry, John, it will be okay.” He smiled. “We have a saying, la tehmel ham Allah yehellha. God will provide.”
“We will find out soon enough, Mansur.”
76
Naeem slowed to a stop beside a row of damaged buildings and parked. He climbed out and came around to the rear of the vehicle.
“We can’t go any closer in this. It’s too dangerous.”
“Where is it?”
“I’ll show you.”
John vaulted out of the pickup and looked around. The street reminded him of pictures he had seen of European cities during World War II—partially destroyed buildings on each side, separated by gaps where other buildings had once stood, piles of rubble and garbage filled the gaps and lined the road. There were few people around, and those who were, hurried with their heads down, avoiding eye contact.
“This way.” Naeem walked off while Steve and Mansur climbed out of the car and followed, leaving Karam to watch over Mia and Malak. About two hundred meters up the road, there was a road heading left. Naeem stopped just beside the junction, keeping close to the wall of the building on the corner and waited for John, Steve, and Mansur to catch up.
“Down this street on the left. There are three buildings, then a gap. It’s the building after the gap.”
John nodded, stepped forward to the edge of the building, and peered around the corner. He counted and found the building. The angle was wrong, though. He needed to see it from the other side of the street. He ducked his head back and thought for a moment.
“Give me your jacket.” He pointed at Naeem’s camouflage jacket.
“Why?”
“Just give it to me.”
Naeem unfastened his jacket, unslung his AKM, passed it to John, then shrugged off the jacket. John passed the weapon back and took the jacket. He slipped it on, covering his vest, then stepped into the junction and crossed the road, turning his face away from the street. He hoped anyone looking in his direction would just see another fighter walking down the road. Reaching the opposite corner, he crouched down as if relacing his boot. He had an unobstructed view of the building now. It stood alone, the buildings on each side destroyed in earlier air raids, but it was partially damaged, exposed rafters showing in the roof, and
