Unholy Code (A Lana Elkins Thriller) by Thomas Waite Read Free Book Online Page B

remembered the windswept waters of the Black Sea and Don sailing her to a perilous rendezvous with Galina Bortnik. Lana and Don had been forced to work together after having had no contact for most of Emma’s life. And to think they’d not only survived that mission but been reunited. A potent brew of danger, physical chemistry, and rekindled love had brought them back together. Lana still couldn’t parse the appeal. She just knew it was as real as the rings they’d slipped back onto their fingers. They’d already talked about making it formal—again.
    “’Morning, Mom.”
    Emma glided past, putting the espresso machine back into service.
    “How’d you sleep?”
    “So-so.”
    “Same here. We need to talk.”
    “I’m pretty sure I made my position clear last night.”
    “This is not about saying you can’t see Sufyan. I wouldn’t do that, Em. That’s not on my agenda.”
    “It’s sure on Dad’s,” Emma shot back.
    “Your father’s been worried about the whole religious thing with Sufyan’s family, and after last night I think we both have to admit there were grounds for that.”
    “He’s never liked Sufyan.”
    “I honestly don’t think that’s true, Em. They’ve talked plenty about basketball and—”
    “They’ve talked plenty about everything but Islam. He won’t say a word about that to him.”
    “He’s not comfortable with it. Give your father—”
    “Neither are you. Admit it.”
    Emma’s arms and legs were crossed, her coffee mug pressed against her shoulders hard enough to whiten her fingers. Closed up like a bank vault .
    “I’m a skeptic about all religions. That’s no bulletin. But I’ve never tried to sway your beliefs. Who drove you to church for choir practice and Sunday services? And if you become a Muslim, I’ll be driving you to a mosque.”
    “I can drive myself now.”
    “Point taken.”
    “Yours, too.”
    “Look, your happiness is most important to me, not whether you believe what I believe. I could be wrong about all that stuff. Maybe St. Pete’s going to meet me at the Pearly Gates and give me the old heave- ho.” Which eked a smile out of Emma.
    “Do you really mean you’d accept it if I became a Muslim?”
    “Absolutely. I just want you to know that your choice is yours alone, and not confused with feelings for someone else.”
    “I don’t think that’s what’s happening here, Mom, although I do love him.”
    “So what are you going to do about his uncle?”
    “This is America, not the Sudan. Tahir’s going to have to deal with our feelings.”
    “Did Sufyan text you after they left?”
    Emma nodded. “I’m picking him up for school just like always. He says his uncle can’t stop him from seeing me.”
    “You can’t blame Tahir for being worried, not after what that family’s been through. And you can’t go the same way to school anymore.” Lana pulled out her phone: “Here’s the route that creep put up on the Web about you two.”
    Emma studied the screen. “What the hell! That’s exactly how I go. How did he even know that?”
    “That’s the shortest distance between those two points,” Lana said, hoping that Steel Fist had simply been guessing; the thought of neo-Nazis already tracking her daughter’s movements was too horrifying to consider. “But you’ve got to start changing how you go every day. It’s not hard to do. Look at this.”
    She slid a map in front of Emma. Before going to bed, Lana had highlighted half a dozen different routes her daughter could take to and from school, which included stops for Sufyan; a small red dot designated his home. She’d also colluded with Don on another security measure.
    Emma ran her finger along the yellow lines, shifting the map to read the street names.
    “I figured you’d be doing the driving,” Lana said. Sufyan didn’t have a car.
    Emma looked up. “Do you think those threats are going to become news?”
    “I hope not, but the Post probably has someone monitoring the