When you know

22. Aisha

'You have guests.' Juned said as he moved away from the door. Ariana gasped and wondered if her eyes were deceiving her.

'Aisha.' Her voice trembled, as her cousin ran towards her and they embraced.

'Anna. I can't believe it.' They hugged tightly. It was almost eight years since they had last seen each other, which felt like a lifetime ago. 'It's really you.' Tears began spilling out of Aisha's leaf shaped brown eyes.

'Look at you. You've turned into such a beauty and so much taller.' Ariana said with a smile, holding Aisha back and wiping her tears. Her cousin had grown into such a beautiful young women, no longer the geeky thirteen year old she had left her as. For the first time since her life had turned completely upside down, those four long days ago, she found herself smiling. Aisha let out a laugh.

'Well, you've always been a beauty, but you look so different to before. Your hair for instance.' She said, combing Ariana's miserable hair.

'So much has happened.' The sadness and fear came hurtling back and those few moments of happiness quickly faded. She realised that Juned was still there and she looked up. 'Can you give us some privacy please?'

Juned thought for a few seconds and to her relief, he nodded his head and shut the door. Ariana wondered if the room was bugged and she could just imagine Junaid eavesdropping outside the door. So, she began talking in hushed voices.

'What happened? What's going on?' She quickly asked.

'I don't know Anna. My father just ordered me to get ready because he said we're going on a long drive. We arrived at this place...this castle and then Juned, of all people was here. God, did he do anything to you?'

'No. But I think he's a little,' she gestured that he was little insane by winding her fingers near her temple. 'He says that he bought this castle for me.'

'What?'

'I know. But before he abducted me he killed two men in my flat and then bought me here. He said he's not going to kill me but then what? I don't know what they want from me. But there's something big going on. Even the secret service was involved...' she went on to talk about her ordeal with the AT100

'That's crazy. What the hell is my dad up to? This must be some serious shit, Anna. I have a bad feeling about this.'

'So do I.' Ariana gulped. 'Is you're dad here.'

'Yes. Do you think he knows?' Aisha frowned. 'Because he hasn' t said anything at all. He just looks like his normal self but I just know there's something wrong. I just know it.'

'Right now, I don't know anything anymore. What happened to your wedding?' Ariana asked, wanting to change the subject. She realised there was no point worrying them both about what was going to happen and somehow wanted a few moments of normalcy amidst the horror of her situation. Aisha's wedding had been postponed for some reason. They talked about normal, everyday things mainly regarding Aisha's life.

'What about, you know,' Aisha whispered, showing her a heart sign with her fingers. Ariana immediately felt crestfallen and it must have shown on her face.

'What happened?'

'He's not who I thought he was. Everything was a lie.'

'What do you mean?'

'He's an...undercover agent, and he was spying on me. I was his mission.' She said it slowly, the words sinking in painfully.

'Oh, Anna. I..I don't know what to say.'

'There's nothing to say. Some things are too good to be true. I guess that's why... I couldn't fully trust him. ' They sat in silence for a while.

'Wait, imagine he actually fell for you during the process. Come on, he married you!'

'It meant nothing to him. He said that himself?' But before they could, there was knock and Juned entered.

'Time for dinner.' He smiled. 'Uncle Kamal is waiting for us.'

Ariana felt her mouth dry up and panic curse through her body. This was the moment she had dreaded and now here she was facing it. Both of them got up and followed behind Juned. His silencer was ever-present in his hand. As they walked out the room, Ariana noticed men with machine guns around the castle, in practically every corner they turned. There was no escaping.

********

'How the fuck could you have let this happen?' Aidan roared in anger as he burst into the conference room of AT100 HQ, where Agents sat figuring out a plan. As soon as he received the message about Ariana's disappearance, he had been on his way.

'We were not expecting them, Jones.' Agent Anderson said in his neutral voice as he sat calmly on the leather chair around the conference tale. Aidan felt ready to rip his throat out.

'She could be dead by now.' He said, taking out his phone.

'Not very likely. They need her alive as much as we do. Or She may even be working with them.'

'She wouldn't. Believe me. Besides, its clear from the scene that she's been taken.' Aidan spoke firmly. He knew Ariana, evidently not everything but enough to know that she wouldn't betray him nor work with such a despicable being. 'Whose the IT guy?' He asked looking around the dark room. A wiry, thin man in glasses raised his hand. 'My name is Hans.'

'What are you doing Jones?' Anderson grumbled.

'Her necklace. I put a tracker in it and there's a chance she may be wearing it. If she is, then we can track her.' He said as he went to the guy. 'This is the number.' The man nodded and immediately got to work.

Aidan massaged his forehead as he waited for the answer. Please let her be wearing, he prayed. Would she have taken it off out of hatred for him?

It was crazy how that morning had unfolded. They had spent an amazing night together, and then in the morning, she disappeared. He knew there was something immediately wrong as the kettle continued to boil and eggs in the pan were burnt; like she had just fled. He had opened the secret door and the cluttered gun on the floor confirmed his fears. She had found out about his double life.

He could just imagine the stab of betrayal she had felt. She wouldn't cry and She wouldn't forgive him either. As he had put on his shirt to chase after her, Anderson called informing AT100 had taken over and that his mission was done. He felt useless and was ordered to stay away and had made the mistake of obeying. No more mistakes, he vowed. He would do everything in his power to get her back safely to him.

'Got it.' The IT man said. Immediately, the agents crowded around him.

'She's in a remote Castle on the south coast..'

' Find the floor plan, get the plane ready and a team. I'm leading the operation.' Aidan stated, looking directly at Anderson.

' I don't think so. '

In great irritation, Aidan walked right up to Anderson and stared down at him. Their faces were inches apart which just added to the threatening and dangerous expression on Aidan's face.

' I don't give a fuck what you think. If you hadn't interfered, none of this would've happened.' He sneered and walked back to the plan. He needed to save Ariana, no matter what the cost was.