Abhijat hesitated, glancing at Laihan and Rito on the bed.

“Oh, come on,” his sister needled. “We’ve already seen the prime minister wearing glitter eyeshadow. Nothing can possibly shock us now.”

“We’re immune to astonishment,” Laihan agreed.

Abhijat looked uncertain. “This case is still under investigation. This is classified information.”

Rito turned to Jehan. “You outrank him. Can’t you order him to tell us what he’s found? My brother’s annoyingly anal retentive.”

“I agree. And I’m pretty sure I can,” Jehan nodded solemnly.

“Fine. But if Ruqaiya asks any questions, it’s all on you,” Abhijat pointed an accusatory finger at him. “This hasn’t been verified yet, but I learned from a source that Sajal – that's the guy I was chasing – has named Badal in connection with the fire.”

“Shit,” Rito muttered. “Is there anything that bastard isn’t involved in?”

Abhijat frowned suspiciously at his sister. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

She turned to Laihan and shrugged. “Tell him, dude. He might as well know everything if he’s going to investigate this fricking mess.”

Laihan nodded and pushed himself up on an elbow. “I’d done quite a bit of research on the La Fantome club, for an article I was writing for my website. The thing is, that club is owned by a shell company, which is in turn held, through several offshore subsidiaries, by the former deputy PM’s only daughter.”

“And her husband,” Rito added.

“Wait, isn’t Badal’s daughter married to Rinisa’s brother?” Abhijat exclaimed. The conversation between Jehan and Rinisa he’d overheard on the day of the swearing-in ceremony rang in his ears.

“She is,” Jehan grinned, looking positively gleeful. “This is gonna make the meeting in Eraon even more fun than I’d expected it to be. Once the La Fantome scandal breaks...well, that’s another sword I can dangle over Rinisa’s head, isn’t it?”

“The point is, we need to remove Sajal from police custody and get him to Qayit as soon as possible,” Abhijat said. “The local authorities can’t be trusted, not when people as powerful as Badal and Rinisa are involved.”

Laihan nodded. “Much of the local police force is definitely in their pocket. A section of the state bureaucracy is too. Quite frankly, I’m surprised they cooperated as much as they did.” His gaze rested on Jehan. “Although I suppose they had to, since the prime minister’s safety was involved.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Abhijat looked over at Jehan, who reclined on the couch, looking peaceful and ingenuous. He wondered if Fasih had taken that fact into account, that his presence at the club would force the hand of the local authorities, compel them to raid the premises of the La Fantome. He wondered if that was one of the reasons why he had gone there by himself.

“But I don’t understand,” Rito said, turning to Laihan. “Why would Badal do all this? What could he possibly have to gain by it? Why risk his position as deputy prime minister of the country to run a – a trafficking ring? He would’ve been prime minister in another couple of years. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, I don’t think losing the position of deputy PM was part of his plan,” Jehan said, his head tipped back and eyes closed. “In fact, I’d bet he was counting on becoming prime minister rather sooner than expected.

“As for the rest, well, I certainly do think he has a special interest in the Amven drug. After the terror attacks on the metro stations, he was one of the most vocal advocates for using the drug on the captured suspects, despite knowing exactly how volatile and unreliable Amven is. And I don’t think he was solely motivated by the desire to curb terrorism.”

“Really?” Rito bristled, glaring daggers at Jehan. “I thought it was our father who was forcing you to use Amven against the wishes of the vaunted QRI.”

“He was, but he was far from being the most insistent faction,” Jehan said matter-of-factly. “Badal, on the other hand… How did he even manage to acquire such a large sample of one of the older Amven prototypes? Large enough to keep more than fifty people drugged over a period of weeks. Even if he’d somehow gotten his hands on the formula during his time as deputy PM, Amven isn’t cheap to manufacture. He must have had substantial funding.”

“You suspect foreign interference?” Laihan asked. “You think Maralana’s involved, don’t you? Maganti’s been waxing poetic about the potential of the Amven drug for almost half a decade now. I don’t think there’d be anyone much happier than him when it finally becomes available for largescale commercial use.”

“You’re a perceptive man, Mr. Ajera,” Jehan smiled. “It’s a possibility, yes. But we still don’t know who bankrolled the metro station blasts. Once we know that, I suspect all the other pieces of the puzzle will fall into place.”

“You don’t believe it was domestic terrorism?” Rito frowned.

Jehan snorted. “Let’s hope not. If our homegrown separatists had that kind of ammunition, we’d have another civil war on our hands.”

“That’s precisely what I thought when news of the attack first broke,” Laihan said, nodding.

Resting her chin on her palm, Rito gazed down at him. “I’d say you two were long lost twins, if he wasn’t too pretty to be related to you.”

“Good burn,” Laihan nodded appreciatively. “Still, nice as this has been, I do have work tomorrow.” He pushed himself off the bed. “See you later, kids. I’ll check up on Afreen on my way to work in the morning. You wanna come with?”

Rito nodded. “I’m not leaving Weritlan until I know for certain she and the children are gonna be okay.”

“I’ll drop you off, then.” Jehan rose to his feet, holding his injured hand close to his chest. “I have a plane to catch in the morning, anyway.”

“Where’re you off to?”

“Waimar. Can’t keep Rinisa waiting, can we now? We have an impending water crisis to avert, after all,” he said cheerfully. “And if I can catch a hold of her before the news about La Fantome breaks, I’ll have the exquisite pleasure of rubbing salt into her wounds as she bleeds money from every pore.”

“And in the meantime, I’ll settle for the very crass pleasure of making Sajal bleed his guts out for all the trouble he’s caused me.” Abhijat bared his teeth in a shark-like grin.

Laihan shuddered. “I can’t imagine why you two don’t get along.”