WASHINGTON DC: The Sadir Affair (The Puppets of Washington Book 1) by Lavina Giamusso

was not cut out to be anything else than a technical advisor, and he would rather never have been involved with any of Muhammad’s shenanigans, if it had not been for his interest in tracking down Mossad’s movements.
    As he was about to leave, he saw something that attracted his attention on one of the side screen, a message from Prince Abdullah to his nephew. He had been tracking Khalid’s computer relays through his email service provider.
    Thomas sat down at his desk again. He read the last three lines with a smile on his face.
     
    How is she progressing? If you do see her, please give her my regards and my best wishes for her recovery. What she suffered is my fault.
    Your uncle, Abdullah Saif Al-Fadir.
     
    Thomas decided to keep this bit of intel for himself. Fuelling Muhammad’s tank of mischief was not a good idea. Thomas knew he had been too close to this affair, without alerting his supervisor, and he wanted to curb his involvement, or turn this thing around while there was still time to do so. On second thought, he decided to tell someone right now. Muhammad could wait.
    “Hey…, Camy... Do you mind having a look at this?” Thomas called out to his supervisor, standing up and beckoning to Cameron Sheffield two cubicles down from his.
    “Hold on…, I’ll be right there,” Cameron replied, saving whatever work he had on his screen. “What’s up?” He came to stand behind Thomas’s chair.
    “This... Have a read...” Cameron did.
    “Have you told anyone else yet?”
    Thomas shook his head. “No. I thought you might be interested.”
    “Okay. Let’s keep tracking the prince, I mean Khalid, and... Are you going somewhere?” Cameron asked, noticing that Thomas had his jacket on.”
    “Yeah, Sadir’s invited me for lunch. He’s waiting downstairs…”
    “Oh he did, did he? Well, sorry to have to tell you this, D., but our Muhammad is off the board as of ten minutes ago.”
    “What do you mean?” Thomas’s sudden anxiety appeared in the beady eyes hidden in the reflection of his heavily rimmed glasses. “Is he going on holidays…?” He was hoping that’s all there was behind this strange announcement.
    “You could say that. Actually, he is, but it will be an extended one. We’ll make sure of it. So, I think it’ll be better for you to quit the game with him right now, if you know what’s good for you.”
    Looking up at Cameron, Thomas felt the blood drain from his face. He felt sick to his stomach. Had he gone too far?
    “But don’t you worry your big head about it. What you’ve done will be very useful to us in the long run.”
    Beads of sweat pearled above Thomas’s brow. “Do you want everything I got on Mossad then?” There was no need to beat about the bush; Cameron obviously knew what he had been doing.
    “Sure, and everything you’ve got on Muhammad’s latest communications with anyone, and I mean anyone.”
    “Yes, sir!”
    “Okay... and I think I’ll have lunch with our vacationing fellow now. And you stay put, okay?”
    “Yes, sir. Thank you!”
    “You’ll owe me…,” Cameron said, walking away.
    Thomas felt relieved. Camy had allowed him to get back into the team, a team he should never have left. As he turned to the tracking screen once again and took off his jacket, he let out a sigh of contentment. He wiped his face with a tissue he pulled out of the box on his desk, and with another, he wiped his glasses before putting them back across the bridge of his nose. There’s no place like home, he thought.

Chapter 24
     
    As Mrs. Allison opened the door for her guests, she stared down at Talya. “My Dear God, Ms Kartz, what on earth happened to you? Please, come in…, both of you. Dr. Hendrix, good to see you again. But tell me... I really don’t know what to say... Sorry for staring...” She couldn’t keep her eyes from Talya’s frail-looking body…, the chair…, the blanket... It was all too much for the old woman.
    Amid this babbling, incoherent