Circle of Fire by S. M. Hall Page B

daughter of our captive. The woman who tried to ruin all our plans.’ He swivelled his head to look at Maya and gave a short, mocking laugh. ‘No doubt you have come to find your mother.’
    Maya dropped her head and closed her eyes, defeated.
    Khaled stepped forward. ‘What?’ he shouted at her. ‘You told me a pack of lies?’
    She opened her eyes and glared at him, but said nothing.
    He threw back his head and stood tall. ‘Omar, I can’t believe it. She said she was my cousin Soraya, that her mother sent her to be educated. She’s the same age and looks like Soraya, but I admit I haven’t seen her for a few years. I can’t believe I was such a fool.’
    â€˜You have put our organisation at risk,’ Omar told him. ‘You are either a fool or a traitor. We’ll see.’
    Omar nodded, and another bearded man in a long grey robe stepped forward and pointed to Maya’s jeans pocket.
    â€˜Phone,’ he said.
    Reluctantly Maya handed over her mobile.
    â€˜And one more thing,’ Omar said. His face came close to hers, she smelt a faint waft of stale sweat. He was no taller than Maya. His dark bushy eyebrows, the wiry hair of his beard, the pink wetness of his mouth filled her vision. He reached down, took her wounded hand, held it up and examined the bandage.
    â€˜Oh dear. We must get you a clean one,’ he said. Then letting go of one hand, he took the other in a tighter grip, his fingers pinching her ring. ‘I need something, a little trinket. Hm. . .This will do.’
    Maya tried to snatch her hand away but he held it firmly.
    â€˜If you don’t give me the ring I’ll take something else – a finger, perhaps.’
    His soft tone didn’t change, but Maya saw that his face was hard as stone. Her fingers stiffened as he pulled off her ruby ring and put it in his pocket.
    With an imperious wave of his hand, he snapped out orders. ‘Come, leave her,’ he said. ‘We have more important things to attend to.’ Then his tone turned to ice as he spoke to Khaled. ‘You stay with me. I’ll deal with you after the meeting.’
    When they had gone Maya closed her eyes, her fingers touching the place where her ring had been. She rocked and swayed, her mind replaying the last few minutes – padding down the stairs, nervous, hopeful, then that voice hitting her like a slap of cold water, singing out her name.
    It had been a trap, Maya realised. Omar had been waiting for her, but how did he know she’d go down to the cellar? Did Khaled betray her? No, he’d tried to save her. She remembered the look Nazim had given her in the yard, his mouth twisted by a cruel smile, a triumphant gleam in his eyes. He knew she’d follow him.
    She rubbed at her neck, sore from rough hands; her arms hurt, too, where fingers had dug into her flesh. Anger smouldered in her like a slow fuse until she exploded into action. She dashed across the room, belted up the stairs and pulled at the door. Of course, it was locked. With clenched fists she hammered and yelled. There was no response.
    Sadly she turned away and went back down the stairs, then prowled around looking for a way to escape. There were no windows or doors, just blank brick walls. How was she going to get out? Slumping down on the floor, despair came over her like a giant net.
    The cold of the concrete floor seeped into her bones and she sat shivering in her thin T-shirt and jacket. What an idiot she’d been to think she could act like a secret agent – she was crazy. But, she asked herself, was it any wonder? What other girls lived with kidnapping threats, had their every movement monitored by security officers, had their mother seized by terrorists? Of course she was crazy, crazy enough to risk everything.
    She thought about what Lubna had told her – the Qur’an teaches that nothing is random, everything is God’s will.
    Well, for the moment