Chapter 27
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“Wait!” Panic sharpened Haris’s voice. “Don’t do this. Please.”
Hena kept the gun steady, her arms locked tight, even as her insides shook.
“Familiar words,” she said bitterly. “I said the same once. Years ago. When the man you sent tried to strangle me.”
His eyes darted between Hena and the gun.
“I get it,” he said. “You’re pissed. You have every right to be. Like you said, I should have been honest with you from the start. I should’ve trusted you to handle it.”
The gun was impossibly heavy in her hands. Her head was foggy from whatever he had given her. But the adrenaline coursing through her veins kept her upright. Alert.
Haris stepped forward a fraction—slow, careful, his eyes locked on hers. “You don’t want to shoot me, Hena,” he said. “I know you don’t.”
He was right. She didn’t. She wasn’t sure she could physically pull the trigger.
Except this wasn’t just about her.
It was about Nasir. It was about everyone she cared about.
And Reza—the text message said he’d been neutralized.
Fury and grief merged and bubbled up inside her. Those words could only mean one thing.
She steadied her grip.
Haris saw the shift in her. His face darkened.
“My people will be here any minute,” he said. “You might be able to take me down, but you’re no match for what’s to come.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
She rested her finger against the trigger.
Breathe in. Breathe out. She braced herself.
A bang echoed in the cabin.
The door had burst open.
He hadn’t been bluffing. They were here. His people.
A heavy dread sank through her. It was over.
Then she looked toward the entrance.
She was seeing things. She had to be.
Because it wasn’t his people who stepped inside the cabin.
“Ammi?”
Her mother stood at the doorway, her breathing shallow. She clutched her sides as she took a halting step forward. Her eyes swept the room, landing on Haris, who stared at her, shell-shocked. Looking at Hena, her eyes drifted to the gun in her hand. Her mouth pressed tight. She turned to Haris.
“Thank you, Haris,” she said. “I heard you helped her escape tonight. I was certain you would take her to safety.”
His brow furrowed. She gave him a smile.
“Did you think I forgot about this place? I knew about it. I also knew it was important to you. That’s why I staked no claim to it, nor the money he kept tucked away here.
” At his surprised expression, she nodded.
“Ah, yes. I knew about that as well. It was a tidy sum, but considering all you did for us, you deserved it, didn’t you?
I wanted you to have it. And look how life works.
You’ve used this place exactly as I’d hoped—to protect my family. ”
Hena’s heart raced. Ammi knew. She knew about this place. She knew about Haris. She thought he’d brought Hena here to protect her.
“Ammi, that’s not what happened. He—”
“It has been so many years.” She looked at Haris. “Time really does fly. Remind me what your role was? A fixer, yes?”
Haris didn’t answer right away. Finally—
“I was,” he said.
“I thought as much.” She took a step toward Hena, then another. Each step hurt. Hena could see it in her face. But Ammi kept coming until she stood by her side.
“Uncle and I were close,” Haris said. “I…I loved him.”
“You were the son he never had.” Her mother gave him a knowing smile. “He spoke highly of you. I know how you grieved his loss.”
Haris’s expression softened at the acknowledgment as beads of sweat formed on Hena’s forehead. What was going on?
Haris took a step toward her. “Auntie, thank goodness you’re here. It’s like you said. I wanted to bring her to safety, but she was spooked by Nasir. She thinks everyone’s after her.”
“You need to put the gun down, Hena.” Her mother turned to her. Her words were calm. Commanding. “We don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret.”
“Ammi, I can’t. You don’t understand.”
Ammi looked at her. For a moment she didn’t speak. Her eyes filled with tears.
“Honey, I do.” Her voice broke the slightest bit. She coughed, then cleared her throat. She was struggling to breathe. Every word was painful. “Listen to me,” she said. “I need you to hear me. If I ever meant anything to you, you’ll give me the gun.”
The crack in her voice. The term of endearment. The fierce look in her eyes. It broke something open inside Hena. Because she recognized that look from the night her father laid his hands on her for the last time. The night she was sure she wouldn’t survive.
The night her mother stepped between them and saved her life.
Tears blurred her vision. Suddenly, she didn’t see a frail woman before her—she saw the woman Ammi was all those years ago. When she’d walked in on him. His hands in tight fists. When she’d called out his name. When she’d talked him down one final time.
Hena knew she shouldn’t. Every instinct in her screamed to hold on to the gun. But that look. That voice.
Trembling, she lowered it into her mother’s waiting hands.
“Thank you, Auntie.” Haris exhaled. He moved toward her. His mouth curled into a sneer. “Now we can—”
But he didn’t get to finish his sentence. He didn’t even get to take the step that had felt so guaranteed.
Because her mother took the gun Hena had given her, raised it straight at him, and fired. The shot rang out, deafening in the enclosed space.
Haris staggered back, a dark stain blooming across his chest. His eyes sprang wide. He looked down at the wound.
Then he crumpled to the ground.
Ammi watched his still body. She shot again. Then again. Three extra rounds.
“Ammi. Stop.” Hena shivered. “He’s already dead.”
Her mother eyed him with a grim expression.
“With monsters like this, you don’t take chances.”