Current Taliban laws stated girls over the age of twelve weren’t allowed to attend school or receive any sort of formal education. Because the girls she’d been charged with teaching were below the cutoff, Evie hadn’t considered themselves targets.
She also hadn’t considered the possibility that a group of militant extremists who believedallfemales—despite their ages—should be denied the right to learn would kidnap them and hold them against their will.
He tried to tell you.
Of its own accord, her scattered mind began replaying the last conversation Evie had shared with her father. The day had been sunny and bright. So perfect, in fact, she couldn’t recall even a single cloud hovering above her in the brilliant blue sky.
Of course, the multi-million-dollar view from her family’s estate in the Hamptons had always taken her breath away. Between the vast, open skies, white, sandy beach, and sparkling blue water for as far as the eye could see, there wasn’t a single thing she didn’t love.
But then, as she always eventually did, Evie had forced herself to turn away from the water to face the monstrosity that was a so-called home. Even now, with her butt numb from having sat in the same position for far too long, she could almost feel the heavy, gut-tightening sense of dread that always came with stepping foot inside her family’s estate.
It hadn’t come as a surprise when her father had expressed his disapproval of her plan to travel to Afghanistan. In fact, he’d flat-out forbidden it.
I’ve looked the other way for the last time. You do this, consider yourself out.
It was the last thing the man had said to her that day before turning and leaving the room.
“Do you think your father will pay for your safe return?”
Evie spun her gaze toward Sadia. The wary expression directly contradicted the child’s usual happy-go-lucky attitude. But even someone as blissful and positive as Sadia had their limits, and from the skeptical expression on the little girl’s dirt-smudged face, Evie knew her optimistic young student was on the brink of reaching hers.
“Of course, he will.” Evie sounded far more convinced than she actually felt.
There was more than enough money in the bank. Of that, she was certain. Paying the combined ransom amounts—hers plus the four girls’—would be the equivalent of Evie spending the loose change buried deep within her couch cushions.
So, no. Her father wouldn’t let her rot in this place with monsters who called themselves men. She’d make the call; he’d pay the money. And soon, she and the girls would be on their way back home.
You willing to bet your life on that? Because that’s pretty much what you’re doing.
No, it wasexactlywhat she was doing. Evie was betting not only her life but also the four precious, innocent souls she’d been charged with keeping safe.
She was betting itallon the hope that her father would find some sliver of compassion in his money-hungry heart and arrange for their immediate release. Unfortunately, all they could do now was wait.
And wait is what they did.
For the next several hours, she and the girls passed the time by telling stories. They of their favorite memories to date, and Evie of the times she’d been most mischievous as a child.
In the back of her mind, she wondered if perhaps she shouldn’t be telling her students about the few harmless stunts she’d pulled as a teenager. But it was never anything truly bad.
Mostly, Evie told them about the times she’d snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to sit by the pool and read beneath the stars. Or when she’d spy on the help or her father and his colleagues, eavesdropping on their hushed—and hopelessly boring—conversations.
Her imaginative side had always hoped for some massive revelation. Like discovering that their cook was actually in the CIA or that the gardener was some international assassin who worked for the good guys.
The silly stories made the girls smile and—on the rarest of occasions—even laugh. So, to Evie, that alone was worth any potentially bad influence she may or may not have bestowed.
“I do not think I have ever been this hungry,” Armineh complained.
She couldn’t blame the poor girl. They were all so very,veryhungry.
Evie opened her mouth with the intent of appeasing her student again when the rugged, wood-slat door pushed open, and one of the kidnappers stormed inside.
“You!” He marched straight over to where she sat. “Come with me.”
Before she could even think of protesting, the man reached down, grabbed hold of her upper arm, and yanked her roughly to her feet.
“Hey! That hurts!” Evie instinctively tried pulling herself free. “Where are you taking me?”
Hauling her unceremoniously toward the room’s exit, the man growled back, “Move! No talk!”