Chapter 24
Lamya and Abu followed Greer, but kept back several feet and didn’t talk to her. Abu kept glancing back at Helena, but Lamya kept her head straight. She didn’t look left or right. And she didn’t gawk when they entered the Rahmi royal family’s home.
Helena had been around money her whole life.
This house was something she’d seen only rarely.
A mansion that somehow felt homey. Especially the sitting room where they were led by Greer just past the front door.
There were couches, and not the kind that looked as if they’d break if you sat on them.
The kind that looked comfortable to curl up in and read a good book, even when surrounded by luxury.
“Exactly who are you?” Lamya asked Greer once the door closed. “You say that you’re friends with Helena and work with Rahmi, but Helena’s never mentioned you, and she’s deferring to you. That means you hold some kind of power. Plus you never answered Bella.”
“She also has two guns on her,” Abu added.
“Four,” Greer replied with a smile. “But who’s counting? Have a seat. As I said, my name is Greer Abel. I work for the president of the United States as an advisor. I’m here to help, should you want it. I’ll let Helena explain everything.”
Helena had argued cases at every national and international court level. Nothing was more nerve-wracking than two young people eyeing her with distrust. The best course of action was the truth.
“Lamya, do you know your parents’ names?” Lamya instantly shut her mouth. It was exactly as Helena had thought. She knew her parents were important, but did she know why? “I know who they are. I’m just trying to figure out how much you know so I know where to start the story.”
Abu looked confused. Poor Lamya had been carrying this by herself as the dutiful elder child. “Our parents died right after I was born in a town raid,” Abu answered before looking at his sister. “Right? That’s what you and our aunt and uncle always told me.”
Lamya stared intently at Helena, but Helena had the feeling that Lamya might not hold the entirety of the facts.
“Our parents opposed the regime trying to take over and they were killed for it. Our father was in the military and that’s why we have to stay away from Garang and the others who came before him. It’s so the opposition won’t target us. It’s why we took auntie and uncle’s last name.”
“Wait,” Abu said, “Hanifa isn’t our last name? Then what is it?”
Lamya’s brow creased and it was just like Helena suspected.
She only knew, or could remember, part of the story.
“I’m not sure. I just know that auntie told me that if anything happened to get a lawyer not from South Sudan and that every year I needed to take you and go to the Swiss embassy if possible.
She told me it was so that bad people couldn’t claim we were dead.
I failed her. I couldn’t get us to the embassy these past two years. ”
“But what’s our last name?” Abu asked, getting agitated.
“I . . . I don’t remember,” Lamya admitted.
“It’s Ismail,” Helena told them gently. “Your parents were Okot and Amna Ismail and they loved you both very much.”
“Okot Ismail,” Abu muttered. “Why do I know that name?” he asked his sister. But then Helena watched his expression clear the moment he remembered. “The great general! General Ismail is our father?”
Helena nodded as she saw Lamya putting pieces together, too. “That means,” Lamya said, sounding slightly breathless, “that our mother was the owner of A.O. Petroleum. It’s the biggest source of oil in the region.”
“She also owned and ran A.O. Mining and T.K. Sudanese International Group,” Helena replied. “Your mother was a business and political powerhouse, while your father was one of the most respected generals in history,” Helena confirmed.
“Why hide that from us?” Abu asked, clearly confused and upset.
“Because,” Lamya answered before Helena could, “we might have told someone and if someone knew that they were our parents, then they might think we have the same kind of money and power.” Suddenly her head snapped to face Helena, her eyes filled with both hope and fear.
She understood the situation perfectly. “That’s why we were hidden and why we checked in once a year.
To prove we were alive because we do have that money and power, don’t we? ”
“You do. You inherited A.O. Mining when you turned eighteen and Abu will inherit A.O. Petroleum when he does. Furthermore, you will each own half of T.K. Sudanese International Group. Until Abu turns eighteen, Lamya can control the entire empire. But more importantly, you inherited the last name of Ismail,” Helena explained.
Helena continued as the siblings clutched each other’s hands.
“Your name was changed to protect you. Not only do you hold all this money, influence, and power, but you have more power than you even realize. You think it’s because of your name, but that’s not all.
You have the power to dismiss the entire board of directors that’s been running the companies in your absence.
But if you should die, the directors become the owners of the companies. ”
“Any of the directors could want us dead,” Lamya gasped.
“We believe one of them does, and he or she is working with Garang to make that happen,” Helena told them, ripping off the Band-Aid. “That’s where Greer comes in.”
Greer nodded and leaned forward. “Take a couple of deep breaths. This is just the beginning. Let me tell you about the New Renaissance.”
Helena, Lamya, and Abu listened intently as Greer spoke. Lamya teared up and had to look away when Greer explained that Garang had been hunting them.
“It’s my fault all these people have been attacked and killed? It’s my fault . . . the rapes . . .” Lamya barely got out.
“Absolutely not. None of that is your fault,” Helena tried to assure her. “You didn’t make him a bad person. He was already a bad person. Now he has an incentive to be even worse. We believe he was offered control of South Sudan if he succeeded.”
“It’s not for sure that he wants to kill you,” Greer told them. “It would be easier if he could get you to sign everything over to him or if he could get you to join his cause. Either way, he becomes the de facto president of your companies.”
“That’s why we’re here. Why we are in the same place he’s been looking,” Abu stated. “So we can take him down?”
“Would you take him down?” Greer asked softly. “If he cornered you and said, sign over the companies you didn’t even know you owned thirty minutes ago and live, or he offered for you to join them, or die. What would you do?”
“I’d try to kill him in the seconds I’d have before he’d probably shoot me,” Abu answered immediately.
Lamya nodded. “I will never bow down to a man or a group who has done the things he’s done. I will use every last penny to take them out. Screw justice. I would kill them in a back alley and dump their bodies for the animals after I torture them the way they tortured me, my aunt, and my friends.”
Helena was momentarily shocked, but not Greer. She smiled. “Good. Then I think it’s time you met my team. This team is going to help you bring Garang, and anyone in your company who is working against you, down.”
“But you will put Garang in a comfortable prison where he will still run his minions. I’ve seen the news. Gang leaders, cartel leaders, they don’t stop leading once they go to prison,” Lamya challenged with blood still on her mind.
Greer reached out and put her hand on Lamya’s. “My group doesn’t have to follow the law. I’ll put him tied up in a locked room with you, Fiza, and Nafisa and walk away after I get what I need from him. And trust me when I say, my group won’t be nice.”
“As much as I want to believe you, anyone who thinks they’re above the law is corrupt.” Lamya clearly had her mother’s intelligence.
“Our power isn’t unchecked. I can’t tell you who is in charge, but we have one head of department and an international advisory board.
For this case, Rahmi's leadership is our point of contact.” It was an interesting way to describe the off-the-book ops group.
The President of the United States was the leader, but several governing allies had a voice too.
“However, our main guiding force is right versus wrong. We are the last line of defense to fix those wrongs. You were wronged. We will let you fix it how you want. If you want Garang to go to prison, he’ll go to prison.
If you want him dead, I’ll hand you a gun or shoot him myself.
There’s too much evil in this world. It's our job to give the good people of this world a chance to thrive.” Greer sat back and looked at the two siblings.
“So, what do you think? Will you meet my team and help us or would you prefer for me to send you to a safe house with Interpol?”
Abu leaned and whispered to Lamya, who in return whispered something back to him.
Then they both nodded to each other. “We’re in,” Lamya told them.
“It’s time to step into our parents’ legacies.
They made sure we were protected until now.
Now it’s time to make them proud. What do you need us to do? ”
The next few hours were a blur. DNA samples were taken. Helena went over the wills and the company overviews. The Rahmi royal family stopped by to offer their assistance and Greer’s husband, a billionaire tycoon, also stopped by to offer Lamya and Abu help with their companies.
“You will try to take these from us,” Lamya had accused. Trust was clearly not something freely given.
Sebastian was calmly rocking two sleeping babies in their stroller as he smiled at her.
“I have enough money and too much to do as it is. I don’t want your companies.
But I do want them solvent, stable, and functioning.
It’s good for the international economy that way, which does help my bottom line. ”
“So, you’re selfish?” Lamya shot back. She clearly wouldn’t be intimidated by her board of directors.
“In business? Of course, and anyone who says otherwise is lying. Do you want the companies your family built to fail?” Lamya shook her head.
“Then you’re being selfish too. It’s not a bad thing if done right.
You’re selfishly wanting your company to succeed so you can keep food on your employees’ tables.
So, you can make your family proud. So you can help build up a region that needs those jobs or that oil or whatever product you’re making.
If you’re only doing it for the money, then yeah, you’re a prick.
But I’ve looked over your businesses. There are improvements that the current board won’t make because it would cost them money.
However, it would make your employees’ lives better.
Someone who is selfish would say no to improving their workers’ lives because it would cost them a million dollars.
But the key to being good at business is investing in your company and your employees.
Something your mother did and something I believe in. Even if I’m a bit of an asshole.”
“And you can teach me this?” Lamya asked, intrigued.
“I can teach you both this. Further, I know enough people who can teach you specifics in your areas—like Abu with oil and you with mines,” Sebastian told them.
“Why would you do this for us?” Lamya asked suspiciously.
“I could say because it’s the right thing to do, but it’s all about stabilizing a region that needs stability. Plus, my wife likes you and I’d do anything for my wife.”
“What do you want in return?” Abu asked with the same suspicion.
“You two have kept each other alive. I bet you could keep our twins alive so I can take my wife out on a date night. I’ll trade business lessons for babysitting. Deal?”
Abu and Lamya looked at each other with surprise. “Deal,” they both replied.
“Great. Your lessons start tomorrow morning at six and I’ll drop the twins off tonight at five.
Tomorrow we will work for two hours then I have to get to work.
And I hear Ahmed is going to teach you how to defend yourselves.
Write down any questions. In the meantime, use the computers to search for everything you can about the companies you own. Come with questions.”
Sebastian stood, kissed Greer, and took the babies with him as he headed out.
“I know it’s a lot. What can I do for you?” Helena asked them as the evening began to darken the sky.
“Can we tell Fiza, Nafisa, and Kuol,” Lamya asked.
Helena nodded, but then realized this was a Greer question.
“It appears you trust them with your life. You can tell them everything except for who I am or who my team is. We’re only here helping the Rahmi soldiers keep you safe.
That’s all they need to know. However, you’re free to tell them about the fact that we want to capture Garang and about your family.
That’s all up to you,” Greer responded. The answer seemed to put them at ease.
“Why don’t you go back? It’s been a long day and it sounds as if tomorrow will be off to an early start. We’ll keep you updated on Garang.”
Both of them nodded and stood. They looked at the floor as they walked slowly out of the room. It was as if their thoughts were physically weighing them down. They walked, whispering to each other, until they reached the security center when Lamya looked up and screamed.
Helena jumped in front of them only to instantly relax. “Don’t worry. That’s just Cy. He’s my driver.”
Cy’s look shot daggers at her from under his eyebrows and Helena blew him a kiss in return. That made Lamya smile as she walked by him, but she still gave him a wide berth. As soon as they opened the door, their friends were there, as if they were waiting for them.
“These three old ladies dropped off food a moment ago and we’ve never smelled anything so good!” Fiza told them, grabbing Lamya’s hand. “Let’s eat and you can tell us where you’ve been all day.”
The door closed behind them and Helena let out a breath. They were safe for the night. They were holding up better than she thought. And they were going to fight. She hoped there wouldn’t be any danger to them.
“Ready for your date?” Cy asked as he opened the door. When he moved to do so, she saw the guns at his waist.
“Expecting trouble?”
“I hope so. Miles called dibs on the next guy, but there’s no way in hell I’ll just give up on one. The one with the most bad guys gets a bottle of bourbon.”
Helena just shook her head. Nolan had warned her Keeneston was different.
But here she was, no longer shocked by armed grandfathers, dogs in baby slings, or even people betting on her potential marriage.
Speaking of marriage. It was time to see her potential husband—at least that’s what the town was calling Nolan.