The Truth Staring Him in the Face
Mohammed looked at Ali. In a very soft voice, he said, “Only the Supreme Party knew all of that about you, right?” He did not want to disturb Ali by what he had to say because he knew that his comment could upset him; however, he also knew who in the organization was capable of leaking so much information about Ali so quickly, since he was familiar with a very different face of the Supreme Party.
Mohammed’s one statement had cleared the mist in Ali’s mind, and the truth was staring him right in the face. Ali said, “They have betrayed me. The mission, all of it, it was all a fake. They meant for me to die in that attack; the bomb was set up for me. They wanted to kill me!”
Ali was feeling used and betrayed. The plot was becoming clearer. He just couldn’t imagine that the Supreme Party would want to do away with him; not after all these years of service—as loyal as he was. Now, this is one thing he wouldn’t entertain. After he had killed that much people? With the police all over his trail? Was it Ammar? Who the hell? So the bomb was really meant for me. He was depressed. In a low voice, he kept repeating, “Meant for me.”
Mohammed was thinking, but Kelly’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. “Him? We all were the target of that bomb! We need to call the police or–”
“No!” Ali shouted, springing to his feet. “No authorities at all! It is out of question! Out of question!”
Mohammed thought the same way as Ali. “I’m forced to agree with him, Kelly,” he said. “We need to stay out of sight for a while until we can sort this out. We have no way of knowing who we can trust. First, we need to get to the bottom of the matter.”
Kelly was still not convinced. “But someone tried to kill us, and when you people know who those people are–”
“Kelly, please try and understand,” said Mohammed, stepping closer to Kelly with his hands spread. “We are dealing with ordinary people over here. The Supreme Party has their loyalists all around. They play their games on a level that people like you and I cannot even imagine.”
Mohammed had his own reasons for refusing to take the matter to the police. He had been through all this before. He knew it was only luck that they were standing there alive. They had seen the people who had come to kill. They had escaped for the time being, but there was no guarantee that they were safe from another attack.