“I saw a brown Cadillac behind me an hour ago over near the river. I spotted it again on the expressway.” Huda’s pulse throbbed at her wrist. “I think I saw the same car just a few minutes ago on al-Kindi Boulevard, so I parked and went into the souk. I snuck out the alley behind the market and came here on foot.”

“What if they saw you?” Rania’s gaze flicked toward Hanan’s bedroom on the second floor. “What if they come here? What do we tell them?”

“We say we’re old friends.” A blush crept across Huda’s cheeks. “Friends from childhood.”

“Why have you come, anyway?” said Rania. “Did you convince Ally to leave? Has she applied for an exit visa?”

Huda shook her head.

“She’s not interested. So I lodged an application for her.”

“You what?”

“I filled out the form for an exit visa and forged her husband’s signature. Apparently you’re not the only artist here.”

Huda checked the path to the gate. Her ears strained for the rumble of an approaching car or the flat buzz of the bell.

“I’m supposed to meet with Kareem tomorrow,” said Rania.

“I don’t like this plan.” Huda’s nerves fizzed like a length of burning fuse. “If Ally hasn’t left by the time the regime finds out she’s American, they might—”

“I told you already.” Rania cut her off. “In that case, we call the embassy with an anonymous tip. She’ll have enough time to make a run for the border, or she can take refuge inside the embassy. She’ll be safe enough.”

“I can’t have her blood on my hands.”

“Don’t be dramatic. That’s not going to happen,” said Rania. “If you want to back out, that’s your choice. But I’ll do whatever I need to do to keep Hanan safe.”

Huda straightened her shoulders.

“I’ve got a new plan,” she said. “And if it works, we won’t have to sell our souls to the mukhabarat or to Kareem and the cleric.”

Rania eyed her skeptically.

“So what is it?”

“It came to me at the river, after I talked with a nurseryman.” In her mind’s eye, Huda saw dregs of coffee stretching out like the dark side of the moon. “It turns out, Ally has more secrets than she even dreamed.”

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 23

While Huda locked her car, Ally waited at the top of the riverbank and inhaled the aroma of roasting fish drifting from the kitchen of the masgouf restaurant. Below, the Tigris rippled south, the crests of its milky-tea waters waving at the sun. Ally shaded her eyes and watched the shadow of a cloud sail across the river, climb the opposite bank, and vanish from view.