The gate rattled. Ally hurried onto the sidewalk. Ghassan reached for her small suitcase, but she waved him off and strode stiffly on, head down, arms pumping like an automaton. She threw open the door and shoved her suitcase into the Land Cruiser.

“Let’s go.” She scrambled into the passenger’s seat. “Now.”

“What is it? What’s happened?”

“I’ll tell you, but first, let’s go.”

Ally glanced past her, her mouth a frightened circle. Ghassan rapped his knuckles on the window by Huda’s ear. She waved at him, but the way that she raised her hand looked less like a greeting than an attempt to ward off a blow. The Land Cruiser jerked away from the curb. A pickup honked and swerved out of the way.

In the periphery of her vision, Huda spotted the mukhabarat spy lumber out of the neighboring yard. He watched the Land Cruiser circle past. Ally saw him too. Her eyes sparkled with fear. Huda could tell every nerve in her body was popping, just like hers.

The girl tugged a portable CD player from her handbag.

“Hey, Khalid.” Her hand trembled as she passed her headphones to him. “I’ve got the new album by Usher. Why don’t you have a listen?”

“Usher? Thanks, Mrs. Wilson.”

They waited till Khalid slid the headphones over his ears and began to nod his head in time with the music. Ally leaned across the cabin.

“Abdul Amir called the house. He wanted to speak to Tom. When I asked him what it was about, he refused to tell me.”

Huda’s breath jammed in her throat.

“What did you do?”

“What could I do?” She glanced over her shoulder. “I hung up on him and then I left the phone off the hook. We better hope Tom doesn’t notice and put it back on.”

“When did he call?”

“About five minutes before you arrived.”

Huda had thought she’d convinced Abdul Amir that Khalid wouldn’t be safe in Iraq. But as they loaded the backpacks into the car, she saw doubt multiply in his eyes. Was Tom the only one he’d called? Was he phoning the mukhabarat right now?

Ally glanced over her shoulder again.

“Ghassan is talking to that creepy guy next door. They don’t look happy.” Her fingers knotted and unknotted in her lap. “Please tell me I’m being paranoid.”

Huda said nothing, and accelerated past the blinking traffic lights.

CHAPTER 29

CHAPTER 29

In Rania’s garden, the eucalypts quivered. She paced back and forth, unable to still herself as the wind tugged at her hair. At the picnic table, Hanan pushed a fried egg around her plate.

“Eat your breakfast,” she said. “We have to go soon.”