Rafik was at the U-Stor-It, supervising some Mexicans he had hired on the fly from the shelter. It was freezing. Some of these desperadoes didn’t even have coats and gloves. They were unloading some shit Kamal and Dhakir wanted, and fast. Rafik was in the van with the heat cranked. He paid in beer, which is why they always came running when they saw him coming.

This was the greased crease to the high-hills villa. No more fat girls with rich dads. No more hash deals with club hounds. No more Tunisian two-bit embezzle. If people wanted to believe this jihad shit, so be it. They created opportunities for those smart enough to take them. You couldn’t stop it, so you might as well make money off it. It’s not like he was lighting the fuse. What was that billboard he saw? GUNS DON’T KILL, PEOPLE DO.

They were going to do this shit anyway. Dhakir had decided to be a mosque-head long before Rafik arrived on the scene. Dickbrain acted like he was the CEO of Jihad Ventures, Canadian Division. London calling, got to go. Board meeting in Jakarta. He loved talking in code. The wedding cakes are on time. The caterer is quite satisfied. The bride will have a beautiful reception. Her father will bring blessings to my house. If Dhakir thought his fat dick was going to impress anyone in Kandahar, he was crazy. That dick had ruined him. If he’d had a smaller one, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten on this Allah train. If he’d been a little worse at soccer, he’d be thinking small, which was all he would ever be.

After this final delivery, Rafik was on his way to Italy. You could be a whole new person there.

Everyone on the task force had discouraged April from seeking a subpoena for Heather Montrose. They argued that Montrose had been at 6A Brooks for four years, harboring a terrorist cell, and she was—microcams don’t lie—Mourad Arkoun’s bedmate. There was evidence from a Somerville travel agent named Linda Ricco who had come forward in the past week that Montrose had been Abdelrafik Ghezil’s girlfriend until a year ago, and it was well established that he was at the center of the conspiracy, though April’s deputy, Mark, had doubts about Ghezil’s motives. “If Ghezil’s a religious fanatic, I’ll wear a burka to the office,” he said. But even Mark agreed that bringing in Montrose at this point would be a mistake. All they had her for was conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism; they would argue that paying the 6A Brooks phone bill, which she did, fell under the rubric of the statute. But once a federal judge saw her Richmond birth certificate, they would never get a sealed order to hold her without bond.