“Mom, don’t go.” Khalid lurched toward the front seat. “Don’t do it.”

“I love you, my darling.” She touched his cheek. “Never doubt that.”

Huda slid out of the Land Cruiser and hurried toward the Bolt Cutter.

“Well, well.” The Bolt Cutter’s gun swung lazily at his side. “It’s my lucky day.”

“What are you doing?” She frowned. “You’ve frightened the diplomat’s wife. She thinks you’re going to rob us.”

“Rob you?” The Bolt Cutter laughed. “That’s not exactly what I had in mind.”

He tried to catch her eye, but she kept her gaze on his feet. She didn’t want to get his blood up.

“Where’s Abu Issa? Does he know you’re here?”

“The old man’s got no idea. This is, how do you say, off-the-books.” The Bolt Cutter snorted. “All Abu Issa cares about is his precious paperwork and his goddamn regulations.”

He flexed his fingers and swapped the gun from his right hand to his left. Huda followed its passage back and forth, dark snout gleaming in the sun.

“Abu Issa is nothing but a spineless bureaucrat.” The Bolt Cutter stepped closer. “Don’t you realize, Huda, I’m the real mukhabarat?”

Huda tried not to tremble.

“I’m supposed to be taking the diplomat’s wife sightseeing. Now she thinks we’re being robbed. How am I going to explain this? You should go before you make the situation worse.”

The Bolt Cutter squinted at the Land Cruiser.

“I can see the foreign slut sitting up front, but who’s that in the back seat? Is it your friend Rania Mansour?” He peered over her shoulder. “Or is that her sexy little daughter? And that’s Khalid cuddled up next to her, right?”

Huda stiffened.

“I thought if I brought the kids along, Ally would be more relaxed and feel more comfortable opening up to me.” Her heart thumped like a mallet against her ribs. “But she’s not going to feel relaxed now that a man with a gun has blocked our way. I’m going to tell her you’re a security guard from the old hotel and you got carried away. I’ll tell her you’re sorry for the mistake.”

“Sorry?” The Bolt Cutter rocked on his heels. “Why would I be sorry? And why would I leave when I’ve just found you sneaking out of Baghdad in a diplomatic vehicle?” He took another step toward her. “If I search your car, what will I find?”

“Nothing, nothing at all.”

“I tell you what I’d like to search.” Once again, the Bolt Cutter swapped his gun from hand to hand. “I’d like to search that foreign slut. Oh, yeah, then I’ll do the same to the Mansour girl. What’s her name? Hanan, right? Yeah, I think I’m going to take her in for questioning.” He bared his teeth. “If you know what I mean.”