14 SAM #2
Youssef spun it, stopping it with his fingers perfectly positioned on the grip. The movement froze my heart and tensed every muscle in my body. Even ones I didn’t know I had.
Connor remained impassive.
“I’ll ask again and give you a chance to improve your answer,” he said, playing with the safety on Connor’s gun. “What’s a New York detective doing in my city, armed, and causing trouble with my son and his friends?”
“Mohani hurt me and he was just trying to defend me,” I tried to intervene, but all I managed was to make Youssef dissatisfied and eager to test Connor’s gun on me.
“Wow,” I flinched.
“Okay,” Connor said, staring at Youssef. “You want answers, right? I’ll give them to you. But don’t make me take that gun from your hand and shoot these two assholes behind me before putting a bullet in your forehead.”
Youssef narrowed his eyes and studied Connor’s posture, but I couldn’t tell you what it was exactly because my eyes were glued to the metal tube pointed at me.
“You’re pushing your luck, Mr. O’Brien.”
“You can’t judge me for being willing to do anything to save her,” Connor replied calmly, and that was the first time my eyes left the piece of metal in front of me to look at him.
There was nothing special about his words, yet at the same time they could mean absolutely everything. Somehow, for some strange reason, it was… comforting.
“You certainly don’t know her,” Youssef said resentfully. “But I admire the courage.”
“Give me back my gun and we’ll have a man-to-man conversation.”
“Don’t test my patience, detective. I’m willing to give you one more chance to speak. That’s already far more than other men have gotten.”
Connor touched my hands, and only then did I realize they were still raised. I lowered them slowly, feeling his hand cover mine before he pulled away.
“My friend Robert was here at the club the night he was killed.”
“And you’re helping the police with the investigation?” Youssef asked me before a smile spread across his face, as if he’d just solved a mystery. “Of course not. That’s why you were snooping around Mohani’s office.”
His mocking smile faded.
“You’re not as smart as you think, little girl. I have eyes and ears everywhere,” he growled. “Detective, you should be careful with this one… she bewitches everyone, takes what she needs, and disappears. How’s that asshole Ahmed doing? Did he send you here?”
I stared at Youssef, completely embarrassed at the thought that Connor might hear a whole litany of stories about me. And I wasn’t proud of some of them.
“I’m not here as a cop. And I’m certainly not interested in your personal opinion about Samantha,” Connor replied. “I’m here because my friend and I were working on an old case, and the leads brought us to your city.”
“And what does my club have to do with this case?”
“Nothing. Except that it was the last place my friend was seen before he disappeared. We were hoping someone would remember him, or that you’d be kind enough to give us the footage from the day he vanished.”
“What kind of case would make a cop not trust the police?”
“Ammit.”
Youssef stretched in his chair and leaned back.
“Of course… revenge.”
“Justice,” Connor countered.
“I know your story, Mr. O’Brien. Ammit gave you quite a runaround, didn’t he?” he provoked. “But I respect you. This Ammit shit caused a lot of problems for good friends.”
“I imagine.”
“Never found out who the costumed asshole was?”
“Still working on it.” The bitterness in his words hung in the air.
“You know, my daughters were studying in New York when the case broke. I pulled them all out of there and brought them to Egypt with me.”
Youssef’s daughters were good girls. Nothing like their father or Assaf. I remember getting close to one of them during a weekend we spent in Luxor. Days before Youssef banned me from Azur for giving information to Ahmed.
“I respect what you did to protect our families.” Youssef put the gun on the table and opened one of his drawers.
“I did my job to protect those who didn’t ask to be part of this game.”
“I appreciate that. And I’m going to reward you for it.”
“How?” I asked.
“I'll let you see the cameras and find out what your friend came here to do. But it might be frustrating because my nightclub is a place of entertainment and joy, nothing more.” Youssef flashed a predatory smile.
“And how much is this going to cost us?” Connor asked, well aware that nothing in this game comes free.
“Nothing, detective. If you're here to make sure Ammit doesn't resume his hunt, I won't be the one to stop you.” He called over one of the security guards, who took a seat at the computer. “But be careful… most of the time, we're not ready for the truth, no matter how badly we want it.”
Youssef was no longer looking at Connor but at me. As if his words were masking others that would remain unspoken.
“When exactly was your friend here?” the security guard asked Connor.
“Two nights ago.”
The man typed something, and one of the screens behind Youssef switched to footage from the day Bob was at Azur.