Chapter 13 - The Clock Tower
The tower shook with every gunshot below.
Maya climbed first.
Laila behind her.
Samir insisted on following.
Amina stayed with Noura.
At the top, an old brass clock mechanism filled the room.
Moonlight cut through dusty glass.
Maya heard voices outside.
Kareem.
General Fahad.
Two guards.
Laila whispered, “Fahad survived.”
Maya pointed toward the wooden beams.
They hid.
Kareem entered.
His jacket was torn.
His calm expression was gone.
“Find it.”
Fahad searched the wall.
“What exactly?”
“A recorder. A tape. Anything.”
“You said Hassan destroyed it.”
“He lied.”
Maya tightened her grip on the pistol.
Laila leaned toward her.
“Do not shoot unless you have to.”
“Good advice.”
“You’re holding it backward.”
Maya looked.
She was.
She turned it around.
Laila stared.
“Give me the gun.”
Maya handed it over immediately.
Below them, Khalid’s voice echoed.
“Kareem!”
Kareem turned.
Khalid entered from the opposite stairwell with two guards.
His forehead was bleeding.
Kareem smiled.
“You always were stubborn.”
Khalid raised his weapon.
“Step away from the clock.”
Kareem laughed.
“You still think truth saves people?”
“It’s about to ruin you.”
“No. Truth ruined your mother.”
He pointed toward the clock.
“She believed evidence mattered.”
Khalid’s voice hardened.
“You killed her.”
Kareem stopped smiling.
“She forced my hand.”
Maya’s heart pounded.
Khalid said, “Say that again.”
“She was going to expose everything.”
“So you murdered her.”
“I protected the state.”
Khalid stepped closer.
“You murdered my mother.”
“She was one woman.”
A floorboard creaked beneath Maya.
Kareem looked up.
Their eyes met.
“Maya.”
Fahad fired.
Laila pulled Maya backward.
The bullet struck wood.
Khalid fired at Fahad.
Chaos exploded.
Samir crawled toward the clock.
Kareem saw him.
“No!”
He ran.
Samir grabbed a metal lever and pulled.
A hidden compartment opened behind the clock face.
Inside sat a dusty tape recorder.
Kareem raised his gun.
Maya screamed, “Samir!”
A shot fired.
Samir fell.
Khalid tackled Kareem.
The recorder dropped.
Maya caught it.
Fahad rushed toward her.
Laila fired.
The bullet struck his leg.
He fell screaming.
Maya pressed PLAY.
Static.
Then Sheikh Hassan’s voice filled the tower.
“My name is Hassan Al-Rashid.”
Everyone froze.
“If Khalid ever hears this, then I failed to stop Kareem.”
Kareem’s face changed.
Hassan’s recording continued.
“Kareem ordered Omar Haddad’s first assassination attempt seventeen years ago. Omar survived.”
Samir smiled weakly from the floor.
“He survived.”
The tape continued.
“Omar returned secretly and provided Mariam with evidence of Kareem’s crimes.”
Maya held her breath.
“On the night Mariam died, Kareem’s men followed her into the mountains.”
Khalid stared at Kareem.
“My car followed. I tried to warn her.”
Hassan’s voice broke.
“I failed.”
Maya’s eyes filled.
“The crash killed Mariam.”
A pause.
“But Omar was in the vehicle behind her.”
Samir’s head lifted.
Maya looked at him.
Samir whispered, “No.”
The recording continued.
“Omar survived the crash.”
Kareem suddenly lunged for the recorder.
Maya stepped back.
Khalid punched him.
The tape kept playing.
“Omar rescued Mariam’s infant daughter before Kareem’s men reached the wreck.”
Maya stopped breathing.
Amina had always said she carried Maya away.
But the tape said Omar did.
Hassan continued.
“Omar gave the child to Amina and disappeared again.”
Samir stared at the machine.
“My brother survived.”
Hassan’s final words filled the room.
“I believe Omar Haddad is still alive.”
The tape clicked off.
Nobody moved.
Kareem began laughing.
Samir turned toward him.
“Where is my brother?”
Kareem smiled through bloodied teeth.
“You really want to know?”
Samir lifted the gun.
Khalid stopped him.
“Where is Omar?”
Kareem looked at Maya.
“Closer than you think.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
May you like
Kareem’s smile widened.
“He’s been inside this palace for years.”
