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CHAPTER ONE

COULD HE BE DEAD? Could soone? Could sohed with, soone in the blink of an eye?

Lauren Hahed it down

It had been the same for the past two days The more she saw of the colorful capital city of Behraat and the destruction the recent riots had wreaked, the more she saw Zafir everywhere

But now, staring at the centuries-old trade center building, every nerve in her vibrated The answer she had been seeking for six weeks was here, she could feel it in her bones All she had was his name and description but she was desperate to find out what had happened to him

Desperate to find out about the man who had somehow come to mean more than just a lover More than a friend, even

The richly kept grounds were a lush contrast to the stark silence in the city The glittering rectangular shallow pool of water lined on either side by mosaic tiles and flanked by palm trees showed her strained reflection She walked the concrete-tiled path laid out between the pool’s edge and the perfectly cut lush lawn, her heart hae

Marble steps led to the enor, circular ceiling and, she couldn’t help siant pots

There was so hts and sounds around her dulled the edge during the day But at night, the grief pushed in with vehe up in this country

She saw hi man, remembered the pride and love hich he’d painted a picture of Behraat to her

“You co, Lauren?”

Her friend David had spent the past few days capturing footage about the recent riots in the city

She looked up and averted her face as he pointed his ca to see the records of people who died in the riots so necessary to your documentary on Behraat?”

Her gazein the spectacular fountain in the ainst the light shed by the orange, filigreed dome

A hu marble reception area

Her rubber soles made no sound as she walked past the fountain toward the reception desk The glass elevator pinged down, a group of

A quiet hush descended over the activity Her nape prickling, Lauren turned, the sudden shift in the very air around her raising goose bumps on her skin Six men stood in a circle in front of the elevator, all dressed in the traditional long robes One roup, addressed the rest in Arabic

His words washed over Lauren, the tenor of his tone harsh and unyielding It whispered over her skin like a familiar caress