The Sordid Affairs of Kate Samaha

Prologue: Flashes of Green

At a bar called The Pitcherful, dozens had gathered round the TV mounted over the beer taps. They were here to watch a broadcast of Kate Samaha’s concert, happening in the MBW Arena just a few blocks away. Kate strutted up and down the stage, her age not showing in the slightest, singing a song that was inaudible over the din of the bar

“Amal? Amal?” Lindsay yelled over the racket

Amal stopped tuning out the world and looked up at her friend through a haze of cigarette smoke. “Sorry, just zoned out for a bit”

“It’s time to gooo already, come on!” Lindsay said, slurring her words a bit, before turning and making for the door

“That girl can’t hold her alcohol, but she’ll never stop trying” said Layla, shaking her head. She passed Lindsay’s unfinished pitcher to Amal. “Want a sip?”

“I’m good, thanks” replied Amal, looking exasperatedly at the TV behind the bar. Layla understood why Amal was going easy on the booze

“You won’t become your mother if you get a little tipsy, you know”

Amal gave Layla a hard look that made her drop the subject

The two of them fought through the crowd and left the bar, joining Lindsay on the street. She was staring at a black SUV standing in front of her

“Dudes, am I drunk or did that car just pop in outta nowhere?” asked Lindsay

A tall dark man in a suit stepped out of the driver side door. Without a word, he pulled a stone from the pocket inside the coat and blasted flashes of green at Layla and Lindsay. Both collapsed to the ground, sending the people around running off in a panic

Amal screamed and made to join the retreating masses, but the assailant was faster and tackled her to the ground. He pressed down on her throat, quieting her screams and knocking her unconscious

The tall dark man carried her back to the car on his shoulder, and then they disappeared with as little fanfare as there had been on his arrival

---

Chapter 1: ‘Artist’

The headquarters of the Zahab al-Aswad Police Department were located on the outskirts of Zahab al-Aswad, a grand, showy building meant to project the might of the city’s police force to the people. It was supposed to make the masses feel safe, but the men inside had a penchant for brutality and shady behavior, and most people tended to see that building as a purgatory that few were able to escape

An Indian man was discovering it for himself on the night of Amal Samaha’s kidnapping. He was being pushed through the headquarters by two officers to the holding cells while the man cried endlessly about his innocence. One of the officers, who’d had enough, punched the man in the stomach. The man went down on his knees, winded

“You can either shut up and let a jury decide that for you, or I could just shoot you right here and that’ll be that” he threatened

The man stopped his blubbering and, before he’d caught his breath, was jerked up and marched to jail

It’s a shame that most of the ZAPD was like this, as there were a few decent men and women on the force as well. While two officers marched a potentially innocent man through the headquarters, detectives Ali Tabarik and Rashid Awad sat in their offices and browsed cars

“Wait, did I hear you right? You want me to not get a Mercedes?” asked Ali

“The only people who buy Mercedes are people who don’t know cars and just want a ‘cool’ German car” replied Rashid. There was a word on the tip of Ali’s tongue to describe Rashid’s tone, but it wasn’t coming to him just now

“So all these people driving around in the S and G-Classes don’t know cars?”

“Exactly! I’ll give them this, they have a lot of money to throw around”

“I dunno, no one has G-Class money to throw around”

“Ali, you asked me to help because you want expert advice, yes? Then take my expert advice: BMW is the only way to go!”

Ali found the word he was looking for

“Rash…are you fanboying?”

There was a knock on their office door. Through the window, the two of them saw the Commissioner’s assistant. Rashid motioned to admit him in

“The Commissioner wants you to see him in his office in half an hour” the assistant explained

“What did Rashid do now?” asked Ali, earning him an annoyed look

“From the sound of it, it might be a big case. None other than Kate Samaha is in his office right now”

“Of course she is” groaned Ali

“Kate Samaha is that artist who had a concert tonight, isn’t she?” asked Rashid

“Yep, Kate Samaha the ‘artist’, scandal-meister extraordinaire. I guess we should’ve expected her, she did cancel her concert in the middle of performing”

“Did she?”

“Yeah, it’s all over the internet” replied Ali in an annoyed tone

“The internet we were looking up cars on just now?”

“I gotta get Khalid to teach you about the internet. Anyway, we’re getting caught up in some celebrity drama now. Do I have vacation days left?”

“Half an hour” the assistant reminded before leaving

---

“Alright Ali, since I’m so old and out of touch, why don’t you brief me on Kate Samaha?” Rashid said

“Come on, Rashid, you have to know something about her. Isn’t she in your telegrams?”

Rashid looked at Ali with a frown

“Alright, fine. I’m not an expert on her or anything, but here’s the short version: she grew up in the US. Tried to get into music, changed her name to something more white –”

“So Kate’s not her given name?” interrupted Rashid

“No, Rashid, the girl of very obviously Arab descent was not named Kate by her parents”

“What was her given name, then?”

Ali tried to recall. “You know what? I don’t think she’s ever revealed that to the public. And funnily enough, no one’s even looked it up

“Anyway, she got into music, had a nice little run, made some money and then faded into irrelevance. Your average 80s pop star, in other words. She lost all her money pretty quick the way everyone lost their money back then – it rhymes with ‘snugs’. Tried to get back onto the charts, but single after single and album after album flopped and she was getting increasingly desperate over the 90s. About 10 or so years ago, she decided it was time to take the nuclear option”

“Sex tape?” Rashid guessed

“There is, I believe, a sex tape, but that came later. You’re pretty close, though: she went ahead and charged a bunch of the producers she worked with over the years with rape. Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of that”

“It was almost as big as OJ’s trial, wasn’t it?” Rashid recalled

“The men she was suing asked her to settle out of court, and she did, but guys can’t really outrun a rape allegation. Some people like to decide that settlement means guilt, and those poor saps were blacklisted throughout the industry. So there you go, Kate ruined the lives of some of the people who helped her on that nice little run she had but she’s officially a tabloid star

“A million scandals later, Kate has the music career she always wanted. Except no one really likes her. It’s extremely obvious she has fuck-all talent of her own, and the drugs haven’t helped. She’s the type of artist who actually needs some talented people behind the scenes”

“But no one would risk their career working with her” Rashid completed for Ali

“Exactly. Thoughts?”

“She sounds like a real mess. But something’s wrong and it’s our duty to help her. Come on, time to go”

As they walked to the Commissioner’s office, Ali reminded Rashid that “for all we know, this is just another cry for attention. Gotta keep your eyes and ears sharp with celebs like these”

---

Chapter 2: Egg Shells

On the top floor of the headquarters was the administrative block. Here were the offices of the highest ranking officials of the police, along with representatives of other government departments who may get involved in police cases. There was only one elevator that went to this floor, and not everyone in the police had clearance to use it. Detectives like Ali and Rashid did, and they scanned their badges to be admitted into the lift

They reached the top floor (faster, Ali could’ve sworn, than the other lifts in the building) and walked down a long corridor. Doors on either side lead to the offices of other officials. Commissioner Abdullah Jaafari’s office was behind the biggest set of mahogany doors on the floor, his name and rank engraved in gold on a black plaque big enough to be almost readable from the other end of the floor. His assistant sat at a desk outside and looked up at the approaching detectives

“Just go on in” he said before informing the Commissioner on the intercom

The office of the Commissioner was huge and grandiose, fitting of one of the most powerful men in Majhool and one who had the ear of the Sheikha herself. Abdullah Jaafari sat at his desk, head in one hand and tapping the tabletop with the other

“Here I was thinking I could retire without a single case of celebrity bullshit in my career” he muttered. “Good evening, detectives” he greeted, standing up

“You wanted to see us, sir?” asked Rashid

“Yes I did. We’ve – or rather, I – have just gotten a report from the most curious individual” the Commissioner explained, saying ‘curious’ in a spiteful way

“Kate Samaha?” Ali asked

“That’s right. Apparently, she canceled her concert tonight and forced her way into my office to tell me her daughter has been kidnapped. I need you to find and save her”

“You want us to take the case?” Ali asked, with one last glimmer of desperate hope the Commissioner would say no

“I know you two are more accustomed to cases with dead bodies, but the profile is high this time around and I had to put my best detectives on the job”

“He thinks we’re the best” Ali said to Rashid, elbowing his partner. He seemed to be forgetting whose office he was in

“I’m reevaluating that opinion just now” the Commissioner chastised. That made Ali shut up

“She didn’t know a lot about the kidnapping herself, but we’ve had calls about a man abducting a girl they recognized as Amal Samaha outside The Pitcherful. He also incapacitated the two girls she was with, but he didn’t take them. They’re at the hospital now. I’m afraid there isn’t much of a crime scene, it was a suspiciously clean job.

“Speaking of which, there’s another reason I want you to work this: witnesses say the car just materialized in front of the bar and then vanished just as fast. Remind you two of anything?”

Ali’s brow furrowed and Rashid’s head turned to the ground as they recalled the case of the Soulful Cuts barbershop. The barber had had some kind of supernatural powers, and he too seemed to have a teleporting vehicle at his disposal. That case had come early in Ali’s career and, despite Rashid’s admonishments, he’d never been able to forget or ignore the things he’d seen

“Kate is in an interrogation room waiting for you two to take her statement. Detective Ali, I’d like a word with Detective Rashid, if you don’t mind”

“Yes, sir” Ali said before turning to leave, still thinking about the implications of what the Commissioner had just told them

After Ali had left, the Commissioner gestured Rashid to sit down

“So the whole world knows Kate’s daughter is in trouble. That means the media will be watching us even more closely than usual” the Commissioner said, sitting across the desk from Rashid

“I’ve never been as concerned with the press’ opinion of things as you have, but I suppose that’s why you’re commissioner and I’m just a detective”

The Commissioner smiled. “All these years, Rashid, and you’re still terrible at the politics of it all

“Being completely honest, the ZAPD tends to take an…indiscriminate approach to fighting crime. We have a long history of overreacting to things and in that process, officers have disregarded the very laws they’re trying to uphold. For instance, I suppose you’re wishing now that you hadn’t just shot that barber in Soulful Cuts. He could have shed some light on this case”

“I stand by my actions, Commissioner”

“And I’m not reprimanding you. A closed case is a closed case. But understand that this is the reason we try to keep the media out of our business, despite the government’s stance on freedom of the press. It’s looking as though that’ll be harder this time around”

“I don’t know, the media always tends to know more about our cases than we let on”

“There it is again, your trouble with politics. We have some moles in the ZAPD who think they’re being very discreet. That’s how you end up reading about your work in the newspaper

“I would’ve had an internal affairs witch hunt and a couple of hangings all by now if I wanted, but they’re a useful conduit of information. They’ll never tell the press anything that would compromise their jobs or discredit the ZAPD, and the public seem to be okay with what they’re getting. This relationship between us and the masses has worked for over 20 years, and Kate has jeopardized it. Understand, Rashid, that you’re walking on egg shells in this case. Operate with the utmost discretion”

“Understood”

“And look, I meant it when I said you and Ali are the best the ZAPD has to offer, but could you please keep Ali on a tighter leash? Just this once?”

Rashid chuckled and shook his head. “I can only give you my word, but only Allah knows what happens next”

“Go interview Kate, get some leads. Maybe talk to Amal’s friends at the hospital. Get this mess over with ASAP” the Commissioner ordered

“Copy that”

---

Rashid met Ali outside one of the interrogation rooms. He was watching Kate Samaha through the one-way window. She looked a lot tinier in person than she did on TV and in photoshoots, skinny to the point of being almost anorexic. Despite her petite frame, she had managed to force her way into a meeting with the Commissioner himself and pushed for the police to prioritize her daughter’s kidnapping over everything else. And yet, she seemed oddly dispassionate about everything. There was just the faintest look of worry in her eyes as she twirled a lock of platinum blonde hair

“Her makeup is pretty spiffy” Ali pointed out

“It is” Rashid agreed

“She hasn’t even cried for her daughter”

Ali was an emotional man, Rashid knew. He was trying to imagine what he would do in Kate’s place – having a family had been a dream of Ali’s for a long time. As a family man himself, though, Rashid knew better

“Not everyone deals with these things the way you’d expect. Ms Samaha is processing all this in her own way”

“You think so?” asked Ali, not entirely convinced

“I know what you’re thinking: Samaha’s actions right now are more about preserving her image than saving her daughter. It’s possible, I suppose”

“Then I guess it’s time we found out who read her better” Ali declared, opening the door to the room. Rashid turned on the voice recorder app on his phone, ready to catch everything on tape

Kate looked up at them with sudden anger as the two detectives entered the interrogation room. “What is taking so long?! Are you waiting for him to rape and murder my baby girl?” she asked, with obviously manufactured outrage

“Ms Kate Samaha, I’m Detective Rashid Awad and this my partner, Ali Tabarik. We’ll be handling this case”

“The Commissioner told me he was getting me the best detectives in the city. I’m not entirely convinced, frankly”

“Simmer down, lady” Ali said. Rashid gave him a reproachful look

“There’s nothing to worry about, Ms Samaha. With your cooperation, we ought to track her down in time for you to get back on tour”

Kate’s eyes lit up at the idea of saving Amal in time to continue her tour, and Rashid realized with dismay that Ali had pegged her right

“Now tell me everything you know about the kidnapping”

“Well, I have just no idea. Someone interrupts me, in the middle of performing, and tells me my daughter has been kidnapped. I had to cancel the concert! Leave right away! I got here as soon as I heard

“Oh yeah, they also mentioned the man knocked out those lousy friends of hers. Can’t say I’m too shook up about that, to be honest”

“Have you been contacted by anyone? Has anyone made demands?”

“Nope, nothing”

“Okay, is there anyone you suspect at all? People who might want to hurt Amal or use her to hurt you?” asked Rashid

“Hurt Amal? Please, the girl has no life. Now, if you’re talking about hurting me, that’s a long list”

“Are you sure no one would do this to Amal? No one at her school or something?” asked Ali. “Children of celebrities often become celebrities themselves in their social circles”

Kate looked around nervously before replying. “I mean, I wouldn’t know…”

“She’s never mentioned anything to you?”

“We don’t talk much. I’ve got much bigger things to worry about than whoever bullies her at school”

Ali had a look on his face of extreme outrage and was just about to say something before Rashid said “Tell us about that long list of those who’d hurt you”

“We’d be here all night!” protested Kate

“The sooner we start the better, eh?” Ali said, looking annoyed. “The kidnapper had something to knock out Amal’s friends with. Do any of your ‘legions’ of enemies have access to weapons?”

Kate thought about this. “There are my competitors. All very rich. But they wouldn’t kidnap my daughter, it’d be career suicide”

“Anyone not in the music business then?”

After some more thought, Kate replied “There are two men who’d try something like this. The first is Salman Rahal, my ex-husband. He’d totally try to get some kind of sick revenge by kidnapping Amal”

“Revenge for what?”

“I’m not telling you”

Rashid and Ali both stared at Kate for a moment before Rashid repeated the question. “Revenge for what?”

“I can’t tell you”

“Alright, that’s it, do you actually want to save your daughter or what?” asked Ali in exasperation, face in hands

“How dare you cast aspersions on me?!”

“If you want us to get to Amal as fast as possible, give us the information we need to do it”

“I am giving you the information you need. You’re asking for information you don’t need”

“Last I checked, I’m the detective, so I’ll be the judge of that”

Rashid cleared his throat to stifle the argument. “Who’s the other man?”

“He’s another ex of mine. Jackie Dawson is his name and he might bear me a grudge. Kidnapping little girls would be right in his wheelhouse, actually”

The detectives gave each other a look. “The Jackdaw?” asked Rashid

“That’s right”

“The alleged drug dealer?” asked Ali

“The very same”

“Gee, I wonder why this guy has a grudge” said Ali sarcastically

“I broke up with him a few years ago, before I met Salman, once I found out about his drug business” Kate explained. “That’s right, he’s not just an ‘alleged’ drug dealer, but it sounds like you boys already had a clue. He might be scared I’ll rat him out”

“His trust was well placed. You waited years to tell us you were dating the Jackdaw?”

“Well, I didn’t wanna risk my career to put a man I loved behind bars” answered Kate indignantly

“More like you didn’t wanna risk your career period” muttered Ali

“Ms Samaha, you need to tell us everything you know about the Jackdaw. If Amal is with him, she’s in serious danger”

Just then, a song – one of Kate’s own, from her glory days – began blaring from her open handbag. Kate pulled the phone out, frowned at the unknown number, and answered

“Hello?”

Ali and Rashid didn’t hear what was happening on the other end, but they did see Kate’s face go from idle curiosity to shock and awe and then to horror. By the time the caller had hung up, Kate’s free hand was over her mouth and tears streamed down her eyes

“Kate,” Ali asked soothingly, his normal personable nature now back, “was that the kidnapper?”

Kate nodded

“Okay, take a few deep breaths, settle down and tell us everything”

---

Chapter 3: Disgrace

“He called me a disgrace” Kate began at last, quieter and less feisty than she had been. “He said I have a week to bring him $5 million and-and-and-” Kate stopped here, regained her composure, and went on “and retire. He’ll kill her if I don’t”

“Ms Samaha, give me your phone so I can have the call traced” ordered Rashid. With Kate’s phone in hand, Rashid dashed out of the interrogation room, leaving Ali to continue the interview on his own

“Did the kidnapper put Amal on the phone?” asked Ali

“N-no” replied Kate. “I should’ve asked him to do that. Ya rab!”

If there’s a god, he ain’t on your side reflected Ali. Let’s hope he’s on Amal’s

“What did the kidnapper sound like?” he asked

“L-like some kind of robot”

A voice modulator. Damn. Ali had been nursing a theory that the caller may have been some loser trying to take advantage of the kidnapping, which by now would be making the rounds through every corner of the internet and be the talk of all the mainstream media. The voice modulator poked a hole in his theory, but it still held water

“Did he say where to bring the money?”

“He asked me to bury it somewhere in the desert. He sent me a location an hour out from the city”

“And he wanted US dollars?”

“Uh-uh”

Ali looked down at the table and rubbed his eyes. It was definitely too late at night and Ali hadn’t had nearly enough coffee

The jury was still out as to whether the kidnapper was a pro or an amateur who’d watched way too much TV – or indeed, that this caller was a fake and the real kidnapper hadn’t yet made his move. He was handling the whole thing like a pro, but then again, these precautions would occur to anyone who’d read a Wikipedia article on some famous kidnapping. That business about a dead drop in the desert implied the kidnapper was Majhooli and knew the lay of the land, but he was demanding the ransom in dollars. I bet he even made the call from a payphone

“Detective?” Kate called, interrupting Ali’s train of thought

“Singer?”

“The kidnapper said one other thing”

“What did he say?”

“If he finds out I’m working with the police…”

“He won’t” Ali said firmly

“But if he does…”

“He won’t. And we sure as hell ain’t giving in to his demands. Did you tell anyone you’re here?”

Kate shook her head

“Then tonight is a ZAPD secret” said Ali, smiling brightly. The smile brought a little one out of Kate as well

“Why don’t you go home and get some rest? Call us if you have anything new” he suggested

Kate nodded and left the interrogation room in silence

Ali had a minute or so to lean back in the chair contemplate before Rashid returned. “He called from a payphone” Rashid said

Of course he did Ali thought

“What’s our next move?” he asked

“Well, we have a week to find Amal. Let’s go home, get some sleep and come back to this case with fresh minds”

“I’ll never say no to sleep, Rash, but fuck me if things get worse in the morning”

In a rare display of self-assurance, Rashid said “don’t worry, there’s no way things could get worse”

Chapter 4: Services

At that hour of night, the park was empty and silent save for the crickets. Lance leaned back in the bench and whistled as he read Majhool’s motto, inscribed in Arabic around the base of the Tower of Babel, that biblical painting come to life. Well, ‘read’ isn’t quite right, since Lance couldn’t understand Arabic for the life of him, but he was looking at it and he knew what it said

“Life Through Art”That’s what makes this fine country so different from the ones next door, Lance thought. Good thing, too. I’d never get away with this shit over there

His informant lumbered down the path towards him, looking left and right into the darkness beyond the lamp posts, a portly man whose kandura was very obviously tailored around his massive gut. Lance could hear him wheezing from several feet away. At last, he took his seat beside Lance, smelling strongly of oudh and sweat

“What have you got for me tonight?” asked Lance

“Just a…proposition” replied the informant in a thick Arab accent, struggling with the English. “You see, the services I provide – very risky. Even now, my career is at risk if I get caught. I think my, ah, I think I need to be compensated more. Starting this month”

“And here I thought you were doing this because you believed in freedom of the press”

“The police are crazy. You know this, Zahab al Aswad knows this, it’s no secret. I can’t keep doing this leaks forever, whatever I believe. If I will continue taking these chances, you must pay me more”

Lance thought hard about this. “Well, if you can’t take the heat anymore, I could always buy someone else on the force”

“No, I believe in the truth. I want Majhool to know what the ZAPD does and how they are doing it. But try to understand how dangerous this is for me”

“You say you believe in the truth while putting a price tag on it?” retorted Lance. He himself didn’t believe in the idealism he was spouting, but would it dissuade his informant?

Turning to him, the informant replied “I’m putting a price tag on my life. And if you spent even one day with those crazy fuckers, you would know that it is my life you’re buying

“Also, if you agree to the raise, I have something you will like very much”

“Go on”

“I’ve just eavesdropped on two of the detectives taking a statement. You will like this much, I think”

“Tell me” Lance urged, the greed showing in his voice. A terrorist attack? Drugs? Child porn?. The possibilities were endless

“If I tell you, you will meet me tomorrow night, same time, and you will bring the previous month’s salary plus 25%”

Lance nodded hungrily, and his informant began to tell the tale

---

THE MAJHOOL TIMES

DISGRACE

DAUGHTER OF KATE SAMAHA KIDNAPPED. KIDNAPPER DEMANDS MILLIONS AND RETIREMENT

---

Chapter 5: Spilled Milk

“Is this some kind of joke?!” Kate shrieked, tossing the newspaper down on the commissioner’s desk

“It’s just the press trying to drum up hype” the Commissioner reassured

“The hell it is! That article mentions things that we talked about in that ‘secure‘ interrogation room only! For God’s sake, they’re quoting the kidnapper, word for word! What kind of incompetent police allows something like that to happen?”

Ali’s face was screwed up, trying his hardest to figure out how the leak had happened. That look made Rashid feel even more ashamed, knowing what he knew about the moles in the department. Someone must have been watching the camera in the room Rashid concluded

“We’ll work harder going forward to prevent any further –”

“You listen to me: if I see anything about me or my daughter in the news again, I will sue this department for everything they’re worth. I’ll bring the American embassy in on it! And I won’t stop going after you until your head and the heads of those chucklefucks over there”, gesturing to Ali and Rashid, “roll. I don’t care how much it costs, I’ve got tons of money”

Commissioner Abdullah Jafari only looked on silence. No one on the force had ever seen that man be threatened, and threatened in a way that actually gave him pause. Even seeing someone undermine his authority this way was a shock to the both of them. Rashid held his arm out before Ali, stopping him from going to bat for the three of them

“You have our word” was all the Commissioner said

With that, Kate Samaha stormed out of the office

“Can she do that? Ruin a city’s police department?” asked Ali grimly

The Commissioner resumed his steely tone and posture and replied “no, but if she actually brings in the American embassy, this’ll become an international incident. I answer directly to the Sheikha, and she won’t think twice about firing all three of us. Or worse”

Turning to Rashid, Ali declared that “this can’t happen again”. Rashid nodded, but something about the nod seemed off to Ali. For that matter, Rashid didn’t seem as surprised with this turn of events as Ali thought he should’ve been

“From now on, avoid working this case in any ZAPD facilities” the Commissioner ordered. “Work at each others’ homes or in any other place where you know you have privacy. I’ll see to it that these leaks in the department are plugged, but in the meantime, be discreet. Your jobs as well as mine are on the line here”

“Yes, sir” the two of them intoned

With that drama done, Ali and Rashid stepped out of the office and made for the lift

“‘There’s no way things could get worse’, he says” Ali teased

“Shut up”

---

The Sheikh Sabaar Hospital was another unfortunate connection this kidnapping had to the case of the barber from Soulful Cuts. That barber had been careful enough, but for whatever reason, he’d dropped the body of his last victim across the road from this very hospital. Ali and Rashid had been called to investigate the attack, and that had been their first brush with the supernatural

The victim, Saleh G. Awad, had gone into a coma after the attack. The detectives, here to interview Amal’s friends, decided to drop by on Saleh and found that he was still comatose. His doctor had informed the detectives that his friends and family had stopped visiting ages ago

“Hey Rashid, I just remembered something about this guy” Ali said

“What’s that?”

“His blood, when they brought him into the hospital? There was some green stuff in it that blood tests couldn’t identify”

“Sensing a link?”

“The weapon with which the kidnapper knocked out Amal’s friends. It let out flashes of green light. For that matter, when we fought the barber, he was using green mist”

Rashid said nothing. The subtext of Ali’s words was clear: the supernatural elements of that case should’ve been investigated. That was almost a year ago, when Ali was only just coming into his own as a detective and Rashid thought Ali needed to get better at detaching himself from closed cases. Along with that…well, Rashid had been spooked too, and he didn’t want to take a closer look into the freaky bits because he was scared of what they might uncover. There was no use dwelling on the past though, right?

The detectives moved on

---

“If you’d like to interview them, detectives, be my guest” the doctor said. “Just…don’t expect much”

“Why not?” asked Rashid

“They’ve lost their memories”

“Of the attack?”

“Of everything”

When the doctor let the detectives into Lindsay and Layla’s room, the two of them lay in bed, each with their own thousand yard stare

“Hey there. I’m Detective Ali and this is Detective Rashid” greeted Ali. Rashid disapproved of this kind of frankness, but understood that Ali had a gift for reading and dealing with people, so he let him go on

The girls returned the greeting in mumbles

“How’re you guys doing? Feeling better?”

“I feel fine” replied Lindsay. “They won’t let us out of the hospital though”

“Same” added Layla

“They’re just keeping you guys here for observation. You were attacked and no one knows what you were attacked with” explained Ali

“Everyone keeps talking about the attack. Gee, I wish I could remember it, sounds like it was a hell of a thing” said Lindsay

“I don’t remember anything, either” said Layla. “I don’t even remember Lindsay, who everyone insists is my best friend or something”

Ali’s heart broke a little on hearing that. Sounds like they were close, but they’d forgotten each other. That just made Ali’s drive to catch the son of a bitch stronger

“Do you guys remember Amal? Your friend who was kidnapped?” asked Ali

“Nope” said Layla

“Nope” said Lindsay

“They don’t even remember who the president of the US is, detective” added the doctor. Rashid shut him up with a glare

“Do you guys remember what you were doing last night? Tell me about your night out on the town”

The two of them looked away, tried to recall and became increasingly distressed when they realized they remembered nothing. Nothing

“I-I-don’t remember anything before the hospital” sobbed Layla

“It feels like there’s nothing from before this morning, I…I…”. There was more panicked searching of her memory. And then Lindsay broke down. “What’s wrong with me?” she cried

“I think we’ve heard enough” said Rashid, leading a horrified Ali away by the arm

Outside the room, Ali asked the doctor “have their parents checked in on them?”

“They visited last night, while these two were still unconscious” replied the doctor. “Once they woke up, and the parents found their daughters had forgotten them, each other and even themselves, they…they wrote them off”

“The fuckers” Ali growled

“Is there any chance of their memory recovering?” asked Rashid

“I honestly can’t say. Usually, this kind of memory loss is associated with brain trauma or damage. That’s where you cross your fingers and hope they remember things as the brain heals. A lot of the time, the cause is psychological, where the mind represses all memories of a traumatic event, but that shouldn’t wipe out their memory of their entire lives

“The weapon that was used on them…it’s nothing that we’ve ever heard of. It doesn’t seem to have had any physical effect on the brain – I’d give them a clean bill of health for their x-rays and MRIs. We can’t identify the mechanism of the weapon’s attack, so we can’t say if there’s any recovering from it”

“Can you make a professional guess?”

The doctor was silent for a while. “Don’t get your hopes up”

Ali gave Rashid a look with the same subtext as before: we should’ve taken a closer look into the freaky bits. If they had, these girls could’ve been saved…

No use crying over spilled milk Rashid decided and thought no more of the girls

---

Chapter 6: Verdant Heights

A few months before the kidnapping of Amal Samaha, the ZAPD had changed the policy surrounding the cars driven by detectives and other undercover officers. Back in Rashid’s day, the personal cars of officers would be equipped with a computer that could wirelessly access the ZAPD’s databases, but 2017 was the year of budget cuts and these computers had to be returned. Now each officer or team was assigned a single cheap sedan that was to be used while on police business. Rashid and Ali’s was the kind you could buy third hand from a sketchy used car dealership and it looked the part – the exhaust belched black fumes, its paint was chipped and scratched and only one of the headlights worked. A car like this would never pass inspection, but this particular car was a oolice asset and not inspected by the National Traffic Authority. For what it was worth, the car was definitely inconspicuous, practically invisible

The two of them now sat in the car in the shadow of the JTech Node, a tall spire that was JTech’s office in Zahab al-Aswad. Its windows were all tinted black on the outside, which made the building resemble some kind of dark tower, perfectly befitting the aesthetic and personality of JTech’s eccentric leader. They watched CCTV footage of the attack on Amal and her friends. Rashid’s phone sat on the dash, recording their conversation

“Fucking hell…” muttered Ali after the scene had played out

Rashid rewound the footage and played it frame by frame, starting with the girls emerging from the bar. The kidnapper’s car (was it a car? Sure looked like one) wasn’t there at first, but as Rashid progressed through the frames, the car appeared with no warning. One frame, the road was clear, and the next, a black SUV was parked in front of the girls. Same with its departure – one frame it was there, the next it was gone

“What do you make of it?” Rashid asked, having nothing to say himself

“Could be some kind of technology”

“I don’t think there’s anything that can turn cars invisible”

“Well, that’s not really true, strictly speaking. Pretty sure the alphabet agencies in the US – your DARPAs and DODs – are researching this kind of thing. A schmuck in Majhool would never be able to get his hands on that sort of tech, though”

Any other detective would have mocked Ali for such a far out line of thinking, but Rashid was the most open minded gumshoe in the business. “The Jackdaw’s just a pusher, but the people above him might be able to hook him up with that sort of tech”

“A drug dealer based in Majhool with ties to the American military-industrial complex? I don’t buy it”

“If it’s not a gadget of some sort, the only other thing it could be is magic”

Ali didn’t immediately respond to that. Instead, he stared out the window, contemplating. This contemplation worried Rashid

“Ali, it’s not magic”

“Then what the hell is it?” Ali asked angrily

“Look, I’m willing to entertain every possibility, but we have to stay in the real world here”

“This is the thing you wouldn’t see before and you still won’t see now: shit like this does not happen in the real world. Whatever rules we had don’t apply. I mean, look at this”

Ali seeked through the footage to where the kidnapper used his weapon. Zooming into the weapon, it seemed to be some kind of glowing rock with strange characters carved into it that wouldn’t resolve because of the low quality of the CCTV’s recording

“A rock that wipes people’s memories. Which lab could that possibly come out of? We’re dealing with something we don’t understand, and not for the first time either”

“Fine, I’m willing to stretch my definition of reality. Do you have a theory on what is going on?”

“Of course not, I don’t exactly encounter magic on a regular basis”

The two fell silent after that, realizing that they didn’t have enough information to figure out the weird happenings of that night. In fact, Ali believed that, while rescuing Amal was important, the real mystery was in that video of teleporting cars and magic rocks. That mystery had dire implications, not just for Majhool but for the whole world, and solving it had to be a priority

“Only thing left to do is interview Kate’s suspects and see what that turns up” Rashid said, breaking the silence. “I’m thinking Jackdaw is behind this”

“Actually, I’m not so sure. Think about the guy’s demands: he wants a ton of money and he wants Kate to retire. Called her a disgrace and everything. Doesn’t sound like drug dealer demands”

“Alright, what does it sound like to you?”

“Now, I’m no expert on Kate Samaha’s finances, but $5 million is basically chump change to a singer of her level” explained Ali. “For most people, though, that’s a lot of money. Safe to say the guy wants to get rich, right? His other demand was for her to retire, so she gets to leave the biz on her own terms

“If the guy made the kind of demands that would ruin Kate, that would strike me as Jackdaw behavior. But as far as demanding a ransom from someone goes, this kidnapper is being awfully considerate”

Rashid didn’t think demanding $5 million from someone could be considerate from any point of view, but he didn’t know as much about this bizarre culture that had sprung up around celebrities as Ali seemed to

“What about this business of calling Kate a disgrace?” asked Rashid

“Must not be a fan of her music” replied Ali with a shrug. “I don’t really think that’s something to worry about”

“I have a gut feeling that it actually is important, but I can’t say for sure why”

“You think that’s the real motive? He wants Kate to go into obscurity?”

“That’s a definite possibility, but for now, we have to pay these two a visit. Sounds like you suspect the ex-husband”

“As a matter of fact, I do think the ex-husband is the more likely of these two. Great detective work, Rash”

For the first time since Ali had started calling him that, Rashid was relieved to hear it. Hell, for the first time since they’d started working together, Rashid had been worried that he’d alienated his partner by not being on the same page with him about the kidnapper’s car and weapon. But Ali was still using that stupid nickname, so things were good between them, and ole Rash hoped it would be that way even after the case was over

The sedan pulled from under the long shadow of the Node, the detectives’ discarded bag of donuts flying out the window. Ali and Rashid, unlike many of their peers, tended to actually follow the law, but even they took advantage of the ZAPD’s privilege of rule breaking every now and then

---

Far from the kind of grand mansion one expects from a former household name like Salman Rahal, the ‘Rahal Estate’ was nothing more than an apartment in a medium sized tower. Verdant Heights was definitely several cuts above your average middle class residence, with its name written in gold letters on a concrete awning above the entrance. But like most buildings, it was practically just a big rectangle rising into the sky, and it wasn’t even the swankiest big rectangle on that street. A bit of Googling had revealed the reason for Salman’s modest digs

“Apparently, Salman Rahal was once a big name fashion designer. Which explains why I don’t know the guy” explained Ali

“I think Wafa used to mention this guy years ago. He had his own stores and everything, didn’t he?”

“He did. Ole Katie cat sued him for everything he was worth”

“What did she sue him for?”

“Can’t find out anything about that. It was a messy divorce that ended in millions of dollars in settlements. Seems to be a pattern with this lady” Ali said dismissively, putting the tablet away

Rashid stroked his beard in thought. “Suppose the divorce had to do with the kid. Salman wasn’t happy with the way custody shook out, so he went ahead and kidnapped Amal”

“I like your theory, except someone who cares enough about his reputation to settle for millions wouldn’t kidnap someone after the fact”

“Not everything parents do makes sense, Ali” Rashid said sagely as he parked the car at the curb in front of the entrance

They went through a revolving door into Verdant Heights, Rashid starting a new recording on his phone. The lobby was small, but had a receptionist sitting at a desk. She was flanked on both sides with steps leading to elevator banks. A ramp for the handicapped went along with the steps. As the detectives approached the receptionist, Ali stared at their warped reflection in the mirror taking up the entire wall behind the receptionist

“Good afternoon, gentlemen, and welcome to Verdant Heights. How can I help you?” the receptionist asked genially

“The Zahab al-Aswad police department wishes you a very nice afternoon as well” replied Ali, showing the receptionist his badge. “If you could direct us to the residence of one Salman Rahal esquire, we would appreciate it so very much”

“He’s living in the penthouse. Is everything okay?”

“Actually, we’d like to ask you a few questions” said Rashid. “How long have you been on this shift?”

“It started at 9AM”

“Did the one before you report anything suspicious? Noises or strange behavior?”

“There’s no one at this desk from 1AM to 9. I don’t really talk to the guy who works the night shift, he’s kind of a weirdo”

We need to question that receptionist it occurred to Rashid. Subpoena the CCTV footage of the lobby too

“Do you have cameras watching the lobby?” he asked

“Of course we do. We take tenant security very seriously at Verdant Heights”

“Is it possible to get the night shift receptionist over? We have some questions for him”

The receptionist flinched at the thought, but she wouldn’t say no to detectives. “I’ll phone him right away”

“And one last thing”. Rashid knew this was a long shot, but he had to try. “Don’t suppose I could get CCTV footage from yesterday, could I?”

“Do you have a warrant?”

Dammit, Rashid thought

“Forget I asked”

There was only one elevator that went up to the penthouse. This could be only called by someone with a keycard, but a security guard called it for them. The detectives embarked the elevator, spacious and with mirrors on the walls, and listened to elevator muzak as they rode it to the penthouse

The doors opened into the reception hall of the penthouse. With its wood paneled floors and lampshaded lights hanging off the ceiling, the apartment looked tasteful and classy. Salman Rahal stood before the lift, a skinny man dressed in business casual, with well practiced look of fake indifference on his foundation-laden face

“Good afternoon, detectives” he greeted. “I hope I’m not in any trouble”

“We’ll find out soon enough, Mr Rahal. I’m detective Ali, and this is my partner, detective Rashid. We’re here to question you about the kidnapping of Amal Samaha” Ali explained

“I was expecting this, to be honest” said Salman, rubbing his eyes. When he moved his hands away, Rashid noticed Salman’s eyes were red. Lack of sleep? Crying? Both? he wondered

“Why don’t you take a seat?” Salman offered, gesturing to white leather couches off to the side

The three men walked over and sat down, Rashid and Ali together across from Salman

“What would you like to know?” asked Salman. “I’m prepared to offer my full cooperation in this case”

Rashid had been on the verge of deciding Salman Rahal was innocent as soon as the elevator doors had opened. Ali was coming around to that line of thinking now as well. The fact was that Salman seemed worried, not about getting caught, but about Amal’s safety. Of course, he could also be acting like he was gunning for an Oscar. Jumping to conclusions was no good

“Kate Samaha, your ex-wife, reported the kidnapping to us last night” Rashid began. “Has she been in touch with you?”

Salman scoffed. “Of course not. She gutted me and left me for dead, and that’s all I am to her now” he replied bitterly

“What do you know about the kidnapping?”

“Only what’s been making the rounds on the internet. The line between fact and fiction there can get pretty slim, though.” He opened his mouth to say something more, then changed his mind

“My partner isn’t really great at the internet. Tell him what’s been making the rounds on the internet” Ali said

“That she’s being held…for ransom.” This seemed hard for Salman to say, and from the look of him, it seemed hard for him to believe, too. “Millions of dollars and Kate’s retirement, isn’t it?”

“Can you tell us what you were doing last night while Kate Samaha belted her melodies to the world?”

“Getting shitfaced, pardon my French” Salman replied, smiling. “That’s how I spend most nights”

“At the Pitcherful, by any chance?”

“No, at the Downtown Abbey. Bartender will vouch for me”

“Kate wasn’t really happy about how things played out between you two. Let’s hear your side of the story” said Rashid

Salman looked at him for what seemed like minutes before finally beginning. “She cheated on me”

Ali nodded in understanding, while Rashid waited stoically for Salman to continue

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Kate Samaha always put her career before everything else, trying to get another 15 minutes of fame. Sleeping her way to the top wouldn’t be beneath her. Just after we moved to Majhool, I –” Salman stopped, looking like he’d said too much

“You…?” asked Ali

“It’s not important”

“You’re the second person in the last 24 hours to tell us, the detectives, what is or isn’t important. Now continue the story”

After a moment’s hesitation, he went on. “Just after we moved to Majhool, I found her meth pipe. I confronted her with it, and she said she’d been sleeping with her dealer. It surprised her that I was more furious about the cheating than I was about the meth, and maybe my priorities are messed up, but when I asked her her how she dared do something like that, she told me she’d slept with a whole lot of people while we were married. “That’s just how my job is” she said with a shrug. I asked for a divorce. It’s been a few years now”

“Where does Amal fit into all this?”

“Of course the divorce went in her favor. That’s how it is everywhere in the world, isn’t it?” said Salman, smiling ruefully. “I had no proof of the cheating, and the pipe happened to ‘disappear’ that same day. She and her lawyer managed to turn it into me trying to profit off her and ruining her career. That lying, cheating, crackhead whore got custody and I’m the one drinking the last of my fortunes”

The detectives gave each other a look before standing up

“You mind if we take a walk around the house? I want an apartment here, become your friendly detective next door” asked Ali

“This isn’t my first encounter with law enforcement, detective. Do you have a warrant?”

Ali had a thought not dissimilar to the one Rashid had in the lobby

“In that case, thank you for your help, Mr Rahal. We’ll be in touch if we need anything more. If you remember something, just give us a call” said Rashid, handing out his business card

After Salman shook hands with the detectives, they made for the lift

“Wait” Salman called out

“What’s up?” asked Ali, turning around

“You’re…you’re gonna find her, aren’t you? Before…”

“Sure, sure, stop calling me a detective if I don’t” said Ali with a flick of the hand before stepping into the elevator

Rashid, on the other hand, found that last minute plea rather interesting

---

“I’m not saying I’m positive Salman Rahal is innocent, but him turning out to be the kidnapper would be one hell of a twist” Ali remarked as the detectives pulled away from Verdant Heights

“There has to be more to him than meets the eye” replied Rashid. “If he was as worried about Amal as he looked, why wouldn’t he let us search the house?”

“Let’s be honest, that’s like asking why an innocent man should lawyer up”

“There’s a difference between a trial and a simple search. He may have had relevant information or evidence that he wasn’t aware of”

“Alright then, Rash, what do you think he’s hiding?”

Rashid took a hand off the wheel and rubbed his beard. “He found Kate’s meth pipe in their house. Sounded like she’d been doing it for a while”

“And yet he never noticed. That’s weird” Ali finished for him. “Then again, did she seem like a meth-head to you?”

“In hindsight, she did. So did Salman, come to think of it”

“You’re saying Salman Rahal is hiding a secret meth habit from us. I see where you’re coming from”

“It’d be convenient if he and Kate both had secret meth habits. We could use that to force information out of them”

“That’s pretty ruthless, dude” said Ali with a look of distaste

“They were doing meth, in a house with a kid. We should have them locked up already”

“I guess. What now?”

“We need to get a warrant to search Salman’s house. Also, I’d like to talk to Kate about what we’ve just heard, why don’t you call her over to the station?”

“Okie doke” Ali replied and then dialed Kate Samaha on his cell

“Hello? It’s detective Ali, the debonair gentleman saving your daughter. We’d like to talk to you, can you meet us somewhere?”

And after a moment of listening on the phone, “WHAT? You’re too busy to help us with rescuing your daughter? Doing what?

“Oh, a radio interview. Sounds like something we ought to tune into right now” Ali said on the phone. Rashid took the hint and turned on the radio, a long gray antenna rising up from left of the windshield

---

Chapter 7: Playing With Fire

“What’s happening out there, nerds? It’s your main man DJ Atomika, making sure y’all are still alive and kicking. And it’s a good day to be alive, because boy have we got some interesting things to talk about today – so interesting that we’re actually gonna skip the music so we can get to the real goodness. Those ads weren’t lies, I’m actually here in the studio with none other than famed pop star Kate Samaha, and she’s ready to give us the exclusive on the kidnapping that ruined her concert and derailed her tour. Say hi to the nerds, Kate”

“Hi, nerds. I’m glad to be here today, this is really helping take my mind off the kidnapping of my baby girl and I need all the relief I can get from all the stress”

“Speaking of that kidnapping, why don’t you tell us what exactly has been going on? After you canceled your show, all we have is whatever the MSM tells us, and the MSM will say anything that’ll bring in the clicks”

“Well, as soon as I was told that someone took my baby girl, I rushed over to the police headquarters. I told them everything I knew, which was hard because everything was still so raw and the detectives were so rude and inconsiderate of what I’ve been going through. In the middle of all that, I got a call from the kidnapper and he made his demands: billions of dollars and my retirement. I could hardly breathe, I was so scared! They forced me to tell them about some of acquaintances who could be behind it and then I left. The next morning, everything was in the papers and on the web!”

“You’re saying there was a leak from the police?”

“Yes! Can you imagine how outraged I was when I read the words of the kidnapper in the papers?! What kind of show does the police run in this country?!”

“This isn’t the first time the ZAPD has screwed up, Kate. These posers always think with their dicks before their brains, and it’s gotten a lot of people hurt or dead. The masses have gotten used to it, and without a democracy, there’s no way this’ll ever change”

“I have half a mind to fly over to that island palace and teach that Sheikha a lesson. She needs to get her country in order if this is something that happens on the reg here”

“Uh…you’re new here, aren’t you?”

“I am not. Didn’t you do your research?”

“It’s just insulting the Sheikha where everyone can hear it is kind of playing with fire…”

“I’m too big for anyone to hurt, especially an incompetent ruler like yours. See if I ever come back to this hole once I get Amal back”

“Uhuh…so, do you have any theories on who took her?”

“Not really. I threw the police after some nobodies so they’d stop with the questions and actually do their job. It really is insane, no one in Majhool is doing their job right. You really need to start making some changes here, not everyone has my kind of star power and some people can’t bully the authorities into working”

“Right. In case the kidnapper is listening to this show right now, have you got anything you’d like to say to them?”

“As a matter of fact, I do: your days are numbered. Once I find you out, I will make you wish God would take you and toss you right into hell. I will hurt you a thousand times more than you hurt me. I will take away everything that matters to you and set it aflame right in front of your eyes. Once you’ve seen everything you ever loved turn to ash, your own flesh and blood is next. And I am, and always have been a woman of my word”

bzzzz

“Is that your phone?”

“It is. I don’t recognize the number”

“Why don’t you put the phone on speaker? Unless it’s something private, of course”

“Oh no, I doubt it’s anything like that. Let’s turn on that speaker”

“Kate Samaha. That was very bold of you, calling me out like that on live radio. Stupid, but boldYour behavior is exactly the reason why talentless hacks like you need to be taught a lesson – you’re too stupid to see that I have all the cards in this game. Do you realize that if I was even slightly more angry about what you said, I could redecorate my wall with your daughter’s brains?Despite your stupidity, you are far richer and far more powerful than I could ever be. You absolutely could ruin me if I didn’t have this very important bit of leverage. And that is what truly disgusts me about people like you and the culture that empowers your kindAllow me to demonstrate to you that I’m the one who’s really in control: your deadline has just been cut. You have until day after tomorrow to give me what I want, or elseYour daughter has something she’d like to say to you”“Mom? Mom, can you hear me?”

“I can hear you, Amal”

“Mom, give him what he wants, please. I’m scared, I wanna go home”

…

“No. I will not be ruined and pushed around like this. Don’t be scared Amal, everything will be okay”

---

“This bitch is gonna make such a mess of everything” Ali said exasperatedly. “In a single interview, she slanders the police, lies about us, threatens the Sheikha and provokes the kidnapper into slashing the deadline”

“I’m honestly having trouble figuring out what she’s trying to do. She can’t want to make things worse for herself and Amal” said Rashid

“It’s not that. I’m pretty sure saving Amal isn’t as important to her as keeping her career safe. You hear what she said when her daughter begged her to give in?”

“I’m gonna call Kate over to HQ. We have a lot of talking to do”

---

Chapter 8: The Demon

“Before we go on, answer one question for me: do you want us to save Amal or not?” asked Ali. They were back in the interrogation room, all surveillance switched off and the one-way mirror blacked out to prevent any more leaks. Kate sat across from the detectives, looking defiant and self-assured

“What do you mean ‘do I want you to save them’? She’s my daughter” she fired back

“All you’ve done is impede our investigation. You wouldn’t give us the information we need, and now you go on the radio and pick fights with the kidnapper”

“I don’t think I need to sacrifice my grace and dignity in order to save my daughter”

“What grace?!”

Kate and Rashid both gave him stunned looks

Ali wanted to tell her she was a washed up junkie star of the 80s trying to get another 15 minutes of the spotlight. That she had no real talent, and so had to coast on scandals and backstabbing to make her way to the top. That she’d ruined the lives of a hell of a lot of people so she could go on stage and sing songs she could neither sing nor write

But then, Ali thought, that makes me sound an awful lot like the kidnapper

“We talked to Salman Rahal earlier. It was quite the eye-opener” said Rashid finally

“Oh yeah, should’ve mentioned…” replied Kate, shrinking a bit in her seat. “My meth problem has nothing do to with Amal, so I figured there was no point disclosing it to the police. Besides, I’m not asking to be sent to jail”

“Don’t worry, we’re not gonna leave Amal to the wolves because you like your crystal” said Ali. “That being said, this will come back to you” he added with a smirk

“Do your worst. I have my legion of lawyers” she replied, venom in her voice

“Let’s not get side-tracked” Rashid interjected. “Were you getting your meth from the Jackdaw?”

“I don’t have to answer that”

“Are you kidding me?” sighed Ali

“How long have you been living here, Ms Samaha?” asked Rashid

“I wanna say 6, 7 years?”

“Do you know what the punishment for using and possessing hard narcotics is?”

There was no reply. Kate simply looked at him, the color fading from her makeup plastered face

“Death. Once you make it to trial and they find you guilty, your clock starts ticking. That’s one holdover we have from our friends across the Janaan” he explained, referring to the similar rule in the neighboring United Arab Emirates. “And make no mistake, Ms Samaha, you will face trial for this. After all, in your infinite grace and dignity, you didn’t even bother denying Mr Rahal’s accusation. Which is convenient, because he didn’t really give us any proof”

“Listen here…” Kate said weakly, the weight of her mistake sinking in

“Like I said, though, your fate gets locked in at court, but right now you still have a chance to turn things around. You can either risk a battle with the Majhooli court system – I’m sure your lawyerly legion is impressive – or you can cooperate with us and we’ll make things easier for you”

“We call this a ‘plea bargain’ in the local parlance” added Ali

“Tell us everything you know about the Jackdaw and we can see about getting you a lighter sentence. And I’m frankly appalled this is what it takes to get your cooperation in the rescue of your own daughter”

Kate stared down at her hands, saying nothing. And while staring down at her hands, she asked “How light?”

“A fine, some jail time and exile from Majhool. Best we can do. You’re lucky Amal wasn’t born here, or the court would’ve taken away your custody as well”

After a long consideration, Kate finally muttered “Fine”

“Look, meth is an expensive habit to have, and it’s only in the past couple of years that I can pay for it, okay? Salman was already in a rough spot before the divorce –”

“Before he caught you cheating and you proceeded to fleece him in return” Ali interrupted

“Sure. Back when we first came to Majhool, he and I weren’t doing so great and it’s not like we could quit, right? So I find out about the Jackdaw. And I paid him”

Even after everything Kate had done, Ali couldn’t help but feel for her. That’s addiction for ya. Either you quit, or you sacrifice more and more of yourself to the demon

Rashid, who tended not to fall into such thoughts, noted something in Kate’s story. “”We could quit” you said. Mr Rahal is a meth user too?”

Kate nodded. “Pretty sure we wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for meth. And it’s not like we’re those redneck meth-head couples either. It’s just…drugs have a way of bringing people together”

“Trust me, we know all about that. We have to talk to the Jackdaw, see what he’s got to say. Where can we find him?”

“He lives downtown” she replied, writing down an address on paper. “Doesn’t run his drug operation from there, of course”

“We need to talk more about that drug operation too” said Ali. “Maybe get you an even lighter sentence”

“Oh stop it” Kate said, flaring up. “I’ve never met police as cold and ruthless as the two of you”

“Ya see, we have a job to do and a little girl to save. And, pardon my French, but fuck me if we’re letting your bullshit get in our way”

---

Chapter 9: The ZAPD Playbook

As they escorted Kate Samaha out to the entrance, the detectives couldn’t help but notice the change in the demeanor of the other staff at headquarters. Everywhere they walked, people would stop what they were doing and give the three of them mean looks. A couple of the officers even made threatening gestures to the trio, gestures that Rashid shut down with just a look. He didn’t have to think too hard about why people were behaving this way – she’d bitten the hand that was helping her, and the Zahab al Aswad police could be dangerous even to people who hadn’t openly antagonized the institution

If this chilly reception bothered Kate at all, she didn’t show it. She stared straight ahead with a steely composure, refusing to acknowledge the mood. That’s hardly surprising – this is a woman who has dealt with hatred of some kind or another for most of her adult life, built her success off it even. Of course, average Joes and Janes armed with fake Twitter accounts weren’t capable of hurting her the way a disgruntled police officer could…

When they finally stepped through the sliding glass doors outside, the detectives let out a tense breath. Kate remained as cool as before, though, and she walked without a word to her car. The chauffeur opened the door for her and she disappeared into the posh Mercedes (the car reminded Ali of his life before the Samahas had made a mess of it)

“Nice car, eh?” Ali teased

“Time’s running out” Rashid said. “We need to go hit the Jackdaw, and fast”

“Isn’t the commish gonna grill us for letting this happen?”

“It’s not really our fault, and besides, he’ll be too busy putting out fires right now”

“Fuck, Rashid, she called out the Sheikha”

“Which is why we need to find Amal as quickly as possible so we can get that witch out of our lives”

The two of them walked over to a bench in the expansive gardens that ringed the building, Ali reassuring his comrade that he was old enough for the b-word now

Sitting down, Ali asked “what’s our game plan with Jackdaw? Gonna go visit him?”

“I don’t know, is there a point? The address of his apartment is awfully close to the Pitcherful, so he could’ve had Amal there temporarily, but he won’t have her there anymore. And he won’t cooperate with us either”

“Thing is, if we had a shred of credible proof, we could make the Jackdaw sing”

Rashid scratched his beard in thought. “The other option could be to threaten his drug operation somehow”

“But we don’t have any ‘holds-up-in-court’ proof of Jackdaw’s involvement there either”

“Well, we do have a pair proofs…”

“Those are?”

“Salman and Kate”

“Uh-huh. We’re gonna take Kate Samaha’s word for it that he’s a tweaker too?” asked Ali, shaking his head

“I suspected something when we visited him and now we have a witness” Rashid replied. “Allegedly” he added

“If he is on meth and buys from the Jackdaw, he can help us sting him. Good thinking, Rash”

“We should probably go in and apply for a warrant now”

“A warrant?” asked Ali indignantly. “A warrant? I thought you didn’t want to drag this shit out”

“There’s a way of doing things, Ali”

Standing up, he said “No no, screw that. I wanna save Amal and be rid of that crone yesterday. Maybe we borrow a page from the ZAPD playbook this time?”

“We’ve talked about this a lot. I thought you’d learned”

“Tell me, Rashid, how long will it take to get a warrant? Or don’t, I already know – 24 hours at the least? That’s 24 hours in which Kate could do something even more stupid and this time, the police will do more than just mean mug her. It’ll also leave us with just another day to solve the case, and lets face it, we don’t know for sure the Jackdaw even has her”

The rant, especially the closer, gave Rashid pause

“And 24 hours is how long it normally takes” continued Ali. “The department is kinda pissed right now, in case you haven’t noticed. Partly at us”

“Okay” said Rashid finally and quietly

“Back to Verdant Heights we go?”

“Back to Verdant Heights we go”

---

Chapter 10: Sting Operation

The receptionist’s greetings were ignored as the detectives strode through the lobby. “Salman Rahal, ZAPD, yadda yadda” barked Ali as the passed her on their way to the lift

When the two of them arrived at Salman’s apartment this time, he was a lot less composed, dressed in just a black bath robe with his old brand’s logo stitched in gold thread. And he had apparently had no time for makeup either, because the wrinkles and pockmarks on his face were a lot more pronounced this time. If Ali had seen him this way the first time round, he never would’ve given Salman the benefit of the doubt

All the same, ‘if it looks like a duck’ is not proof enough for a conviction, and Ali and Rashid couldn’t hold that over Salman’s head just yet

“Mr Rahal, you haven’t forgotten us, have ya?” asked Ali

“No, I remember you two quite well” Salman replied. “Have a seat please”

The three of them sat down on the same couch as before. “You haven’t been listening to the radio, have you?” asked Ali

“I have. Kate slagged off the police. That wasn’t very smart, was it?”

“It was incredibly, unbelievably stu–”

“No, it wasn’t smart, but it happened” cut in Rashid. “Now the clock is ticking faster and your cooperation is more important than ever”

“I thought I’d given you all the information I had to offer last time, but I’ll answer any follow up questions you have”

“Actually, we were counting on searching your house this time” Rashid said, with just a hint of an accusatory tone

“You can search whatever you like when you’ve got a warrant”

“I’ll be honest, Mr Rahal, we don’t have much time. The more of the red tape we can skip, the faster we can save Amal. She’s your daughter, surely you’re concerned for her”

Salman fidgeted in his chair, a battle in his mind playing out on his face

“Besides, Kate has already told us your secret”

Suddenly, Salman looked up wide-eyed. A flicker of rage flashed on and off his face. Then, with a resigned sigh, he got up and fetched a pack of cigarettes from the counter

“Want one?” he asked the detectives. Both declined

“Look, you’re right about the red tape, okay?” Salman began, lighting up. “It would slow you down, and I want Amal to be saved as quickly as possible

“Amal is not a ‘meth baby’, if that’s what you’re thinking. Both of us started after she was born. Our careers, y’know, they got to us, and being in showbiz tends to hook you up with the wrong sorts of people. So Kate got started on the meth, and…and…”

“She dragged you into the black hole with her” finished Ali

“Yeah, that’s right”

“And Jackdaw is dealing to both of you?”

“Yes he is”

“As it happens, Mr Rahal, Jackdaw is suspecto uno in our investigation and we need to bring him in. Unfortunately, we don’t have any solid, ball-busting evidence to hang him by, so you’re gonna help us make some”

Salman looked from one to the other before asking “have you, uh, asked him? Like you’re asking me?”

“He’d just tell us, right?”

“Still, isn’t that how things are supposed to be done? There’s the chance that he isn’t the kidnapper”

As Rashid fumbled through an answer, the truth occurred to both of them: they hadn’t given it much of a thought. As soon as Kate Samaha had mentioned the Jackdaw, they’d both decided that he was the culprit. The department’s guilty before proven innocent bullshit is getting to me, Ali thought guiltily. At this point, though, there wasn’t enough time to go to the Jackdaw, listen to his lies and get to the same point…at least, that was their best excuse. It would have to be good enough for now

“I get to be in a sting operation. Sounds good” Salman said. “So what’s the plan?”

---

“Since we don’t have a warrant, we can’t requisition any equipment” Rashid explained. “So we’ll have to rely on what we’ve got, which is, apart from standard police gear, a beat-up old sedan”

“How do you usually go about getting your product from the Jackdaw, Mr Rahal?” asked Ali

“We’re doing a sting operation together” said Salman. “I think we can be on first name basis now, eh?”

“I’ll call you whatever you like, Salman, but you stick to ‘detective'” Ali snarked. “Answer the question”

“If I message him, he’ll set up a meet for 12 hours later. At the beach, where you can see the Janaan?”

A lot of shady shit goes down at that beach Ali thought sullenly, remembering the case of his murdered fiance, where a man had been shot at that beach. He tried to dismiss thoughts of Nina from his mind, focusing instead on Salman

“I go to meet him alone. He searches me. I hand him the dough and he hands me the crystal”

“Quaint” noted Rashid

“Keeping it simple means less things that could go wrong”

“There’s not much room to hide there, Rashid” Ali pointed out. “Especially at that time of night, when the coastal road is deserted?”

“We could observe from the buildings across the road” Rashid suggested

“Yeah, and by the time we got to the Jackdaw, the deal would be done. Unless there was a way to keep the Jackdaw put…”

“Any ideas?” Rashid asked Salman

“Uhh…you want me to knock him out?”

The detectives gave the scrawny fashion designer a once over before Ali told him to “put your gloves away, Muhammad Ali”

“Can you keep him busy with chatter?” asked Rashid

“For a little while, maybe”

“I think it’s the best we’ve got” said Rashid to Ali

“For safety, I think we should give him a gun. Like a small one” Ali suggested

“He’ll search me” said Salman

Ali grinned. “Back when I was in uniform, we had a hostage rescue exercise. The hostage takers would make us drop our guns, natch, but I happened to think of a pretty ingenious hiding spot…”

---

Chapter 11: Caged

At 2AM that night, while the city of Zahab al-Aswad slept, Salman parked his Mercedes in the beach parking lot and made his way across the sand. His leather shoes sank into the sand as he walked, making each step an effort. There was no lighting save for the street lamps along the pavement, and all he could see of the Jackdaw was a silhouette standing where the tide washed upon the shore

Jackie Dawson was obviously dipping into his own supply, and looked the part. Less scrupulous than Salman was about his appearance, the Jackdaw bore all the hallmarks of crystal meth abuse – he was skinny enough for his ribs to be visible against his shirt pressed against his body by the wind, with skin so pale that it would seem transparent if not for the red pockmarks. He grinned as Salman approached him, though he had few teeth with which to grin

“Hurry up, thlowpoke!” urged the Jackdaw

Finally, Salman reached the Jackdaw

“Hi. Um, nice night?” Salman asked awkwardly

“Thure ith. Armth up” Jackie ordered

Salman did as commanded and let the Jackdaw pat him down

“Yer clear, like alwayth. Y’know, thometimes I think I oughta thkip the thearch with you, yer a tholid dude. But I can’t take chanceth, you know how it ith. Now, show me the cheddar”

“Can I pay by card?” joked Salman

“Sure thing, buddy, let me get my card paying thingamajig. Now enough mething about”

Jackie’s pronunciation of ‘messing’ struck Salman as strangely hilarious in his heightened state of nervousness, and he cracked up laughing. Jackie didn’t like that

“The fuck’th so funny?”

“You’re a meth dealer telling me to stop mething –”

He stopped laughing when he looked at the gun Jackie was pointing at him

“Are you trying to get me caught, yelling about meth like that?!”

Salman made an effort to get his laughter under control, but the whole situation was so fucked that it was hard for him to break out of the hysteria. And every second that Salman laughed, the Jackdaw’s finger squeezed tighter around the trigger

---

One of the privileges in the ZAPD playbook was the right to commandeer civilian assets. This particular tenet of the rulebook was law, but the police were supposed to provide proof that the commandeering was necessary. The officers tended to ignore that, though, and people would let them – there was not a bit of good in risking the police’s wrath in Zahab al-Aswad

Rashid and Ali had taken the privilege of barging into an apartment on the middle floor of a residential not far from the coastal road. They had planned to use their police issue binoculars to observe the sting, but the tenants happened to have a strangely high power telescope they’d gotten for their kids. That had prompted a tinge of envy in Rashid, who hadn’t been lavished with such toys as a child though his parents could certainly have afforded it

“Dude, Rash, eat some of these cookies, they’re amazing” Ali urged Rashid, who was peering through the telescope

“Let me concentrate, Ali. Mind the camera”

“Is something big going down?” asked Ali, munching on the cookies the residents had given them

“Salman just parked his jalopy”

“Does his Merc make you angry?” Ali teased

Changing the subject, Rashid noted that “I can see the man’s pores through this thing, it’s ridiculous”

“Ew. What else can you see?”

“Pretty sure I can see each individual grain of sand. Is this a NASA grade telescope or something?”

“Want me to ask?”

“You stay right here. Salman is talking to the Jackdaw now”

“How’s it look?”

“Alright so far, but I don’t see any meth. We can’t catch them until we get footage of meth changing hands”

“Well, this is boring and we’re out of cookies” said Ali, holding up the empty plate. “I’m gonna ask for seconds. Besides, I wanna play with the baby some more”

“Stop bothering the baby, Ali”

“Hey, you’re lucky I haven’t commandeered her for cuteness”

“Ali, Jackdaw just drew a gun on Salman!”

“Shit! I mean, poop! Time to skedaddle!”

---

Salman finally stopped laughing and confronted the reality of the gun pointed at him

“Jackie, Jackie! There’s no need to get violent…” pleaded Salman

“You think I’m funny, do ya?”

“Look, Jackie, I’m kinda stressed right now, okay? I’m not thinking straight”

“Not my fucking problem”. There was a click as Jackie took the safety off

“Jackie, please, put the gun away! Just give me the meth and we’ll forget tonight happened!”

“There you go yelling about the goddamn meth again”

The snub nose gun in Salman’s shoe had hurt his foot as trekked across the beach, but it had been all forgotten by now. Salman went down on his knees and put his hands together

“Please, Jackie, put the gun away”

“Well, I want compenthation for your offentheth”

“…monetary compensation?”

“Ohohoho, no thir, I want –”

“ZAHAB AL-ASWAD POLICE, HANDS IN THE AIR!” yelled Rashid

The Jackdaw dropped his gun and raised his hands, muttering “motherfucker” all the while

“Cuff him, Ali, and search him while you’re at it”

Ali gave Jackie a pat down not unlike the one Jackie himself had administered on Salman. In Jackie’s pockets, he found baggies of what was unmistakably crystal meth

With a satisfied grin, Ali began to cuff the Jackdaw. “By the powers vested in my by the Zahab al-Aswad police department, I hereby pronounce this Jackdaw caged. You may start singing about your drug operations and the kidnapping of Amal Samaha whenever you feel like it”

---

Chapter 12: Interrogation

“I’ve been having a pretty great night. Sure, some stupid shit happened this afternoon, but I managed to catch a notorious drug dealer and possible kidnapper, so it’s pretty good all and all. How about you, how’s your day going?” Ali asked Jackie Dawson, who sat across from the detectives in the interrogation room, his hands cuffed to the table

“I don’t know noffin about no kidnapping. Of courth, blaming me for everyfing would be a clathic zapped move” replied Jackie

“ZAPD. Zapped. That’s pretty clever” remarked Ali. “How come we never thought of that?”

“Focus, Ali” said Rashid to Ali. To Jackie, he explained that “we’re not the ones handling the investigation into your drug business, though I won’t kid you by saying we’re not gonna turn you over to them. But before that, there’s a more urgent matter”

“Your buddy thaid kidnapping. Thith mutht be the Amal Thamaha thing I keep hearing about”

“That’s right”

“I have nothing to do with it”

“Oh yes, we’ll totally take your word for it” snarked Ali

“Lithen to me, I did not kidnap Amal but I have a pretty good idea who did”

“I have a pretty good idea that you’re full of shit, but I’ll indulge you”

“Katie was cheating on her huthband with me. To pay for the drugth, you know. She told me about thome fuck who kept harrathing her on the internet, thending her death threatth and thuch. He even went ahead and doxxed her, if you guyth aren’t too old to know about that”

“I assure you, Jackdaw, we’re not” said Ali

Rashid quietly made a mental note to ask Ali what doxxing was. No, he then decided, I’d better Google it instead. Don’t feel like hearing Ali’s teasing just now

“Tho he thent her her own addreth and thaid he would ‘bring artithtic integrity back to muthic”” continued the Jackdaw. “She actually athked me for a ‘goon thquad’ to protect her. I told her I’m jutht a dealer, not fucking Heithenberg”

“I find it strange that she told all this to her drug dealer but her husband doesn’t know a thing” said Rashid

“Thingth weren’t really hot between them, I thought you’d have figured that by now”

“She didn’t report it to the police or the press either” Rashid added. “She’s a real attention hog, she’d never miss this opportunity for publicity”

“The threat this time around was a bit more, how you thay, credible. He thtarted mailing the threats to her houth. And mine, actually. Thomehow he knew she wath thpending nigthth at my plathe. I thtill have the letterth in cathe you don’t believe me, why don’t we head back to my apartment?”

“Don’t worry about it, Jackie, someone’s probably already on their way over” said Ali

Neither he nor Rashid had much doubt over what the Jackdaw told them. It would seem like keeping an Excel spreadsheet for his dealing would be beyond Jackie’s technological abilities, yet this kidnapper knew to hide his voice and cover his tracks. Jackie also didn’t seem like the kind of person who would be offended by what Kate Samaha represented to the art-form of music. That didn’t mean he wasn’t making up this story about the online stalker, of course

The detectives stepped out of the interrogation room, leaving Jackie to stew inside

“How soon do you think Jackie’s investigators could get us those letters?” Ali asked Rashid

“I know those guys, I’ll make some calls and they’ll head over tomorrow morning”

“That’s awfully close to the deadline, Rash”

“We’ll have to take what we can get. There’s something more important we need to get our hands on”

“What’s that?”

“His online correspondence with Kate”

“Of course” Ali said, his hand going to his head. He’d forgotten about what the police called the ‘Ayoun al-Taneen’, a facility somewhere in Majhool that spied on network traffic in the country. It was the Sheikha’s idea, and it was one of the few of her proposals that got instant agreement from the regional government in Bani Sabaar. Ayoun was a secret from the public, of course, but police forces and other government departments were allowed to use their services. Even so, detectives like Ali and Rashid had no personal contact with operators there – they dealt with the Ayoun as a unit. If anyone could take the kidnapper’s online messages and trace them to the source, it’d be the cloak and dagger types there

Then again, it would mean dealing with Kate Samaha again. And both detectives were just about done with that shrew

---

THE MAJHOOL TIMES

THE SORDID AFFAIRS OF KATE SAMAHA

SECRET DRUG PROBLEMS AND AFFAIRS OF KATE SAMAHA EMERGE AS INVESTIGATION INTO DAUGHTER’S KIDNAPPING CONTINUES

---

Chapter 13: Empathy

Kate Samaha stormed into the GHQ of the ZAPD, ignored everyone who tried to get her attention and got into the lift leading to the Commissioner’s office. Ali and Rashid witnessed the scene and knew there had been more leaks

“How the fuck?” asked Rashid

“You need to look at this” said Ali, beckoning Rashid to his workstation

#KateSamaha was trending on the social networks and no one had anything nice to say about her

#KateSamaha is a druggie has-been just like the rest of her gen

Wow can’t believe #KateSamaha would wreck her family like that smh

Meth. Not even once #KateSamaha

“We. Are. Fucked” whispered Ali

“How did this happen? Kate Samaha was barely in the goddamn station!”

“No, Rashid, we talked to her in the interrogation room”

“We made sure the cameras were off and the window was out! Are you telling me the interrogation rooms are bugged or something?!”

“You’ve been in the force a lot longer than I have. Would you put that past them?” asked Ali in a sobering tone

The Commissioner’s assistant broke the silence by entering the office without knocking

“Uh, guys. The Commissioner wants to see you. Now”

---

“I just wanted to do the three of you a courtesy you don’t deserve by letting you know that I’m bringing the US embassy in on this” Kate announced, her voice less shrill and more dark fury. “This police force is completely unprofessional, corrupt and incompetent. You people have ruined my career and I’ll make you pay every dollar that I’ve lost”

“Leaks are bound to happen in high profile cases like this, Ms Samaha” the Commissioner replied. “You have to know this”

“I know I did my part to keep this case hush-hush!”

“Going on the radio and slagging off the police trying to help you is not keeping the case hush-hush”

“I have a responsibility to the public as a celebrity. You had a responsibility to me as the police trying to save my daughter. I did my part, but you guys seem to be having some trouble doing yours

“This is going to be an international fucking incident, mark my words” she warned

Rashid’s phone started buzzing in his pocket

“What are you waiting for? ANSWER IT!” Kate thundered

He complied and had a brief conversation on the phone during which his frown deepened. After the call, he put the phone away

“The Ayoun just sent us the kidnapper’s address. CCTV footage from around the time of the kidnapping shows a man carrying a girl into the building. We’ve found them”

The standoff between the singer and the Commissioner reached a fever pitch of tension. Kate spoke first to the detectives

“Well, go save her”

“You don’t get to order my officers, Ms Samaha” warned the Commissioner

“What’s your endgame here, Commissioner? Are you so mad at me that you’ll let a little girl stew in some kidnapper’s hidey hole?”

“Saving Amal is definitely a priority, but I do have to cover my own bases. Some negotiations are in order”

It suddenly occurred to Ali that the Commissioner was going to bargain for the safety of the department with Amal’s life and that enraged him

“Y’know, maybe we ought to –” he started but Rashid grabbed his arm and silenced him

“You people aren’t just incompetent, you’re despicable” seethed Kate. “Using my daughter to serve your own needs? You’re no better than her kidnapper”

“Well, you’re the one who marched in here and threatened the department. Multiple times. Saving your daughter is a priority, but protecting the ZAPD and the people who work here is my responsibility”

“Look, enough with the drama, we gotta –” Ali tried to interject again

“Rashid, get him out of here” barked the Commissioner. Rashid quickly complied

---

“Are you seriously not taking my side here?” asked Ali. “He’s trying to trade Amal for the ZAPD and that bitch might just let her daughter go to get her revenge!”

“Take a breath and relax, Ali. We’re going rogue”

“The great Rashid Awad going rogue?” Ali asked, smirking

“Let those two play their games. We have a job to do” Rashid replied, grim determination in his voice

---

The kidnapper was holed up in an apartment in a four storey residential in the town of Nadim bin Nassar City. There were many of these small towns in desert between Majhool’s three cities, built by the government to expand housing and to give options to those who couldn’t pay the rents of the big city – or wanted to avoid all the commotion. Unlike the villages deep in the desert, these towns were close to the highways and joined to them by exits. NbN was an hour’s drive from Zahab al-Aswad proper, and the two detectives talked about the twilight of their careers on the way

“To think I worked so hard to get here” mused Ali. “Being a detective wasn’t all that bad, supernatural crap aside”

“Really. I always thought you hadn’t had time to get desensitized to things yet” said Rashid, eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. “Guys at your point in this job either get drunk on power or quit”

“I dunno man, I feel like everyone has the one case that toughens them up for good. Flips the switch from ‘green’ to ‘jaded’, y’know?”

“Soulful Cuts was it for you?”

“Actually, no” replied Ali, turning to stare out the window

“It was Nina, wasn’t it?”

Ali remained quiet for a second and then smiled wanly. “She’d be so disappointed. She had to watch me pull everything together to get through the UoZAB, and then get into the police and rise through the ranks, only for it to end like this”

“I never knew Nina, but if you ask me, I think she’d be proud”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’ve always done the right thing, even with her murderer. You’re getting kicked off the force for doing the right thing. That’s something to be proud of”

“You have a point”. Then, turning to face Rashid, “how about you? Being a cop is pretty much all you’ve ever known. You must be bummed. Did you ever think you’d retire this early?”

“Not at all. I had no intention of ever retiring, unless an injury took me out of the field. I’d rather stay at home with my family than sit at a desk or play politics in some higher rank”

“Love the job that much?”

“No one can ever come to love this job. Being a detective exposes you to the worst humanity has to offer. Fighting that…I’ll also say this, no job could ever be so fulfilling”

“Amen, brother”

“Besides, the things you see haunt you. Even if you resign, retire or get fired, you can never unsee any of it”

“I know. I’ve gotten this song and dance from you a couple of times”

“And…”

“And?”

“I think of my family. How people like this kidnapper are out there, how much power they have and how badly they could hurt someone. It could’ve been Khalid or Wafa in place of Amal right now. Being a detective puts me in the position of stopping them before they can hurt my family or anyone else’s”

“This is the part where you say I wouldn’t understand until I have a family of my own, right?”

“I know you understand. What’s the word for when you can feel what someone else feels without experiencing the same thing?”

“Empathy, Rash. It’s empathy”

They were silent for a while after that

“You know what we should do?” began Ali, breaking the silence. “Go into business for ourselves. Private investigators”

“I’ve never heard of those in the Middle East”

“Right? We could corner the hell out of the market”

“Is there a market?”

“Think about it. Kate would never have gone to the police with all its bullshit if she had the option of a private investigator. Dealing with dirty cases like this is what PIs do”

“It’s nice to dream about, but it’d never work out” said Rashid, seemingly ending the conversation. And then, “what would our rates be?”

“Case by case basis. Being the only game in town means we could gouge customers like nuts, but we don’t do that because we have the ‘e’ word”

“Empathy?”

Ali fired a finger gun at him. “You know it”

“Think I could pay for the house?”

“Who knows? You could get a whole other house with all the cheddar we rake in”

“Or we could crash and burn”

“Hey, we smart, we can figure that out” Ali said with a shrug

Rashid quietly pictured this in his mind. Two of the only decent men in the police going off on their own, answerable to no one, free to do the right thing without anyone forcing their agendas on them. Working with the only person in the force that he’d come to trust – well, the only one apart from Walid bin Saleh, his old mentor whose years of shisha smoking had caught up to him and left him unable to walk from one end of the house to the other without getting short of breath

He liked this picture quite a bit

“What would we call ourselves?” Rashid finally asked

Ali leaned back in his seat and mulled it over. “We’ve been saying ’empathy’ a lot and I’m starting to dig that word”

“Empathy Investigations?”

“Empathic Investigations”

“Ali. Say that we don’t get fired for this”

“Oh, we are getting fired, 200%”

“Say we don’t. I’d like to revisit this conversation”

“Me too. NbN is the next exit”

---

Chapter 14: Noble Cause

Far from the skyscraping spectacle of Zahab al-Aswad, Nadim bin Nassar City’s buildings barely left the ground. The tallest one would’ve been about ten storeys high and most were far below that peak. At this time in the morning, the town was quiet, with a few drivers on the roads who thought themselves free to play fast and loose with the country’s traffic laws

Rashid drove the tan sedan into a back alley lined on both sides with strangely named stores and groups of young loafers gathered outside the small restaurants and cafeterias. Most wore school uniforms, indicating that they had run away from school. Truancy was actually formally illegal, but the detectives had bigger fish to fry

They pulled over just in front of the entrance to the kidnapper’s hideout. Rashid turned on the bubblegum lights concealed in the car’s headlights and the two exited the vehicle. The loafers scattered on seeing the two grim detectives emerge from their unmarked car

“Last bust of our careers. How’re you feeling?” asked Ali as he checked his pistol

“Like something’s about to end and something’s about to begin” replied Rashid as he checked his pistol

---

John Vanderbilt stood at the window and watched the detectives stride into the building. With a sigh, he turned away and stared at the ground

“The game’s coming to an end, and in the only way it ever could’ve ended” he announced glumly

He sat down on the bed, with its dirty and smelly mattress that had been discarded next to a dumpster nearby, and laced his hands

“I got my point across, though, didn’t I?” he asked his captive, who sat in a corner of the bedroom, shivering and scared, a plate of food laying before her untouched

Amal Samaha said nothing. She didn’t even look at her jailer

“Your mother was a poisonous character and a representative of a terrible culture. One that values scandals and immorality over true artistic talent. One that rewards people for ruining other people’s lives and encouraging the youth of today to do the same. Stopping her and bringing down her house of cards is worth sacrificing one’s life, don’t you think?”

Still no reply

“I’m sure you disagree. Kate Samaha is your mother and I’ve ruined her and surely this will blow back on you. Try to think of all this objectively, though, and you’ll see that the world is better off now, will be better off now”

Still no reply

“It’s funny. A pasty white guy like me could never have achieved anything in person. That’s the power of the internet, the power of technology. It empowers flabby nobodies like me to bring change to the world. Shame that it’s so easily traceable. I haven’t had a great life, but I don’t know that I’m ready to die yet”

“Maybe you won’t die” Amal said finally

“You don’t think I deserve to die?”

“You deserve something” she replied spitefully, “but maybe not death”

John Vanderbilt smiled and listened to someone outside the apartment yell knock knock before the door came crashing down. Another voice announced the arrival of the ZAPD. The end was here. John stood up, squared his shoulders, and prepared for the showdown

---

“This is the Zahab al-Aswad police! Come out with your hands up!” Rashid called out, but no one came

Ali had imagined a couple of things about the kidnapper’s hideout, but what he hadn’t expected was for it to be just an apartment. Not a great apartment, certainly nowhere near the level of Salman Rahal’s digs at Verdant Heights, but it was something. The white paint on the walls was cracked, the tiles were dirty and the place smelled like food and sweat, but a normal person could absolutely live here. This would not be the only surprise the detectives would encounter in this apartment

The two of them advanced through the corridor, checking the rooms. The kitchen was empty, but it looked like it had been used. The living room was empty, and it looked like no one had ever set foot in there

Finally came the bedroom. Taking position at the sides of the door, Ali and Rashid signaled each other and they pushed in and found two more surprises

The first was their target. Majhool and one of its biggest stars had been terrorized by a pasty, slightly overweight white man with hunched shoulders and a bald spot. On the bed behind him were a cheap laptop and a not-cheap voice modulator. The man himself stood with his chest puffed out, but despite his best efforts, he did not come off as intimidating in the least

The second surprise was the girl they’d come to rescue. Amal Samaha looked like she hadn’t eaten for days, and she was scared to death, but she wasn’t tied up or hurt in any other way save for a cut on her face from when she’d been tackled. Before her was an uneaten sandwich

“Surprised?” asked the kidnapper

“A little bit, yeah” replied Ali. “Hands where I can see them”

The kidnapper raised his hands. “Before I die, I want you to know this: my name is John Vanderbilt and I’m happy to die for such a noble cause”

“The noble cause of kidnapping girls?” asked Ali

“The noble cause of ending celebrity culture and destroying those who profit from it”

“By kidnapping girls?”

“You’ll see that I haven’t hurt Amal. That wouldn’t have achieved anything and would only undermine my point”

“And what a point it is”

“Go on, then” urged John. “Do it. Do it!”

The two parties stared each other down

“If that’s all, cuff him” Rashid said to Ali, ending the showdown

“Wait, what?” asked John

“I know, this is all a bit anticlimactic” said Ali, cuffing the man’s hands behind his back

“Are you disappointed you don’t get to be a martyr for your ’cause’?” Rashid asked

“It’s just I was expecting you to shoot on sight. That’s how the police here does things, isn’t it?”

Goddamn this department and its reputation thought Ali

Rashid went to Amal and crouched in front of her

“He’s telling the truth, he hasn’t hurt me” she said meekly

“I believe him. It’s time for you to go home now”

Amal didn’t look happy to be here in this apartment, but she didn’t seem happy about going home either. And after everything this investigation had revealed about her family, who could blame her?

---

THE MAJHOOL TIMES

KATE SAMAHA’S DAUGHTER SAVED, CAREER FINISHED?

KATE SAMAHA’S SECRETS CONTINUE TO BRING HER DOWN EVEN AS SHE IS REUNITED WITH HER DAUGHTER THANKS TO THE WORK OF ZAPD DETECTIVES

---

Chapter 15: Bad Press

“John Vanderbilt is in jail now, awaiting trial” explained the Commissioner. “He keeps talking about how whatever happens now was worth it to ruin Kate Samaha’s career and make the world a better place. I’m glad that trying to understand that kind of thinking isn’t my job

“Amal Samaha is with her mother, but it looks like that won’t be for long. Salman Rahal finally has the ammunition he needs to sue for custody, and with everything that’s come out about her mother, he might actually get it this time. Of course, Salman has his own secrets as well, but the outcome of that custody battle isn’t our problem

“Speaking of which, this custody matter is the only reason why Kate Samaha isn’t trying to rain fire on us right now. And that brings us to the two of you”

“Give it to us straight, doc, how fired are we?” asked Ali, sitting across the desk from the Commissioner

“You, in particular, Ali, have caused me one headache too many. Not only did you act against the interests of the Zahab al-Aswad police department, you undermined my authority in front of Kate Samaha. I absolutely should fire you. Sadly, you two are all over the news now and firing you would make for bad press, which is exactly the problem I asked Rashid to avoid”

“We only did what we thought was necessary to save Amal. I didn’t realize ‘good press’ was that important” said Rashid

“The department is the most important thing. I thought you of all people would’ve realized this by now, Rashid” replied the Commissioner

“On the subject of your good press. Ali, could you give us a moment?”

Ali left the office, grumbling to himself about being left out of an important conversation again

“You can’t honestly blame the leaks on us, Commissioner” Rashid began, “it’s the moles that you’ve allowed to stay in the force that leaked all that information”

“They’re not blameless. Someone clearly got a big payoff for those leaks and I’ll make sure the man is on the other side of the Janaan, but it’s not as if you couldn’t have done anything to control it”

“Control it?” Rashid asked, angry now. “The damn interrogation room was bugged! We questioned her in there with the camera off, the window out, and the dirt still got out there. How are we supposed to control that, Abdullah?”

Invoking his name was supposed to be a reminder of how long the two of them had known each other, and the Commissioner didn’t like it or Rashid’s tone one bit. He stood up, an straight and imposing figure that radiated command and control

“Get the hell out of my office” he said with cold fury

“Copy that” Rashid replied and stormed out

---

Epilogue: The Loose End

After taking the long way through the building and stopping by the Lucky Star to get a coffee, Rashid finally arrived at his office. Ali was sitting at his workstation inside, staring intently at the screen. Rashid figured what Ali was up to

“Is that the footage of the disappearing car?” he asked

“We took the perp alive this time. Tell me Vanderbilt talked about this”

Rashid brought a chair next to Ali and sat down beside him

“Apparently, he hired that man through a listing on AswadNet. He has no idea how he got Amal, only that he dropped the girl at the doorstep of the building”

“Someone is listing abduction services on a classifieds site and the Ayoun knows nothing about it?”

“They must have investigated it and found nothing to report”

“Was that listing there when Soulful Cuts went down?”

“I don’t think so”

Ali closed the video and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his head

“Goddamn, Rash, we did everything right this time and the loose end remains loose. The one that would tie both cases together. There has to be something we’re not seeing, that no one is seeing”

Rashid looked around through the glass walls of the office, making sure no one was paying them any undue attention

“Alright, so let’s go find the thing that no one is seeing. Why wait until a case with supernatural elements shows up? We can take what we know from this investigation, look back through our records of Soulful Cuts, do some detective work of our own. All we need is empathy, right?”

The detectives gave each other a knowing look. Something really had ended there at John Vanderbilt’s hideout. And something really was beginning here

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