Chapter 18

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    Dalia is now stretched on the sofa asleep, but her head is still on my lap. I flex my arm as far as I can to drag a table in front of me, and then I place the laptop on the table and look through what Dalia has found. My eyes read articles, and stories told by ordinary people, so I can’t be sure of any of what I am reading is true, but if they were true, then I better find a solution quick before they take my wife away from me. As my eyes scan through the pages, I notice a name that sounds familiar. I look at it, and try to remember when I’ve heard or read this name, Salman Al-X. I press hard on my brain, is he one of my old friends? No. Can he be a distant cousin of mine? But why would his name be on a page of some thief? Think, Abdulrahman!

-FLASHBACK-

    I ran away from Faisal when we were at the abandoned house after I broke the bottle of alcohol on the cigar chest and threatened to burn everything inside it. Faisal did as I ordered him to by locking himself in a room so I would leave without burning anything. I ran downstairs with the three cigarette boxes I took from the cigar box. When I looked around, I saw Fahad under the staircase but he was too busy juggling his bottle of alcohol and a cigarette to see me running away.

    I paced quickly towards the door, and when I was standing by the door, I noticed a small piece of paper on the ground just three feet away. I took a quick look at the paper. It had the name Salman Al-X and some other things written on it, but I didn’t dare to look at them, because I didn’t want to risk having Faisal rush from upstairs and hunt me down. I took a quick look at Fahad who was still too dozed off to notice me and ran away.

-PRESENT-

    How come I have never recalled this part before? Could it be because I lost my memory? Why would his name be on a piece of paper on the ground, and what else was written on that paper?  All I know now is that his name is on this page I’m looking through that supposed to be somehow related to Firas, and his name was also in the abandoned house. That means he has to be connect with Firas somehow.

    I search Salman’s full name and manage to find his number, what he does for a living and where he lives. However, something interesting I have found was that he was never related to any sort of illegal things! In fact, from his bio, I found out that he is very interested in charity work, so what would Firas do with a guy like him?

    I try to move, so I would get to my phone without disturbing Dalia. I grab a pillow and try to slip it under head, as I move away. I walk towards my phone, but Dalia’s voice stops me, “Abdulrahman, where are you going?” She asks half asleep.

    “Go back to sleep, you’re research last night has hopefully paid off. Now get some rest, you deserve it.” I grab a blanket, cover her with it, give her a kiss on the forehead and leave the house with my phone in my hand.

    I’m out of the garage in my car, right when I am about to drive away; I stop, and remember Faris. Could he be spying on me right now? What if he is and gets into our house as soon as I’m out of sight? I turn the car off, rush back into the house, make sure that every window, door, and every place that someone could enter from is locked. Then I go back into the car and drive to where Salman works. From what I have read, I learned that he works in a bank, so I am not sure if I will be able to talk to him, especially since I have no idea what I want to ask him, or what I need from him exactly. What do you want from him anyway, I ask myself. I found a paper with his name on it in the abandoned house thirteen years ago! So he might not even remember Faris, but let me presume that he does. If he does know Fairs, and actually hates him as much as I do; how can he help me? How am I even going to start a conversation with him? What was I thinking by just leaving the house and think that’ll just talk to some guy I have never met about a criminal who wants to take away the love of my life from me? I am almost there, so I decide I will just improvise and hope for the best.

    I walk into the building, head to the receptionist and ask her to lead me to Salman. When she asks me who I am, I just tell her that I’m a friend and that I need to talk to him about something urgent. She leads me to his office, and tells Salman about me. When I am allowed in, I see a man in a dark black suit, with neatly combed black hair. He has thick eyebrows that could be clearly seen despite the glasses that cover most of his face. He is well settled on his comfy leather chair. His office isn’t that big, but its size isn’t so bad. He has a stack of paper laid in front of him, and judging by the number of novels at his office, he seems to love reading a lot.

    He rises up from his chair, his eyes puzzled, but he couldn’t seem to be able to wipe his smile off his face, “Abdulrahman!” He begins, how does he know my name? “What are you doing here, and how do you even know me?”

    My face doesn’t show anything but the way I am feeling; confusion, “You actually know me?” I ask in astonishment.

    “Yes, of course I do, I am a huge fan of your books!” Now things are making sense, I think. “So what brings you here? You may sit down.” He chuckles and point at the chair.

    I take a seat in front of his desk and try to sound as casual as possible, “Sorry, but before we start, do you have a cigarette with you?”

    He laughs, “Sorry but my smoking days are over!”

    “So you used to smoke?” I ask.

    “When I was a teenager, but I stopped now.”

    “What made you start?”

    He readjusts himself on his seat, looking a bit uncomfortable, “I used to be friends with the wrong crowd when I was young, but I learned my lesson, and these days are over.”

    I decide to take this opportunity to bring Faris’s name. “Yeah me too, I have stopped once, but now I am back to it because of some guy named Faris.” I say, totally disgusted by his name.

    Salman’s eyes widen, and he gets up from his place for a split second, but then seats himself again, “Are you talking about Faris Al-X?”

    Thank you Dalia, if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have been able to find this man, I think to myself, “Yeah, that’s him! How do you know him?”

    “He’s one of the people I was friends with, he was actually sort of the leader of the pack, but thank God I am no longer friends with that guy!”

    “Do you know people who may still associate with him?” I can’t continue going around the subject, I have to find a way to stop Faris.

    “I actually do know a few, why do you need to know?” He asks.

    “It’s a long story, could you just write the names for me please?”

    He hesitates for a moment, but then decides to trust me and he give me the list, “Is that what you came here for?” He asks.

    “Thank you.” I say in appreciation and leave before he could go any deeper with his questions.

    I drive my car into the garage, and start heading to the door. As I move, I notice a necklace on the ground. I pick it up, and realize that it can slide open, and when I open it, I find a picture of a woman; someone entered the house. I stuff the necklace in my pocket, unlock the door quickly and race to where Dalia was sleeping. My heart is racing, my forehead is sweating, I have no idea what I will do if I find anyone besides Dalia, but all I know is that I will not let anyone harm her. “Dalia!” I shout as loud as I can.

    “Haman, what’s wrong you scared me?” She walks right in front of me. She’s still in her pajamas, her hair is still messy, but no one is around her.

    I feel so relieved. I thought I lost my whole world, but there she is right in front of me, safe, and untouched. I run to her, and hold her tight, “I missed you.” I say, still trying to catch my breath.

    “What happened?” She asks still worried.

    I think about it for a second, and decide not to tell her about the necklace, “I thought something happened to you, but you are fine.”

    She pulls away, “Why would you think that?” Her face is turning a bit pale and she looks terrified.

    I think quickly and decide that I have to lie to her even though I hate doing that, “I thought someone unlocked the door and came in, but then I remembered that I left it unlocked before I left. Anyway you genius wife of mine, guess what I found because of you!”

    She smiles, and I hold my breath at the sight of her smile, “What did you find?” She asks.

    “I found a guy who gave me a list of the people who could still be associating with Faris. If we know them, we could find a way to stop this, right?

    Her smile flips, “Why would you go there without telling me? For all you’ve know that guy you met could have been the enemy.”

    “I didn’t want to wake you up.” I say childishly.

    She laughs, “I married an idiot.”

    “Who you love very much!” I point out as we head back to the living room.

    “More than I love myself.” She replies with a wink.

    Later at night, Dalia goes to sleep and I sneak out of the bedroom quietly, and I exam the necklace I found. Who could it belong to, and who would try to sneak into a house and drop their necklace without noticing? Was it dropped on purpose, as some sort of warning? Is Faris done from my money and now he wants to finalize his revenge? Or could it have been dropped by mistake, because leaving a necklace with someone’s picture would be a bit stupid. Who was that woman anyway? How is she related to Faris? Is she related to Faris?

    A lot of questions are spinning in my head, which are keeping me up all night. However, I only want one answer for all these questions, how can I keep Dalia safe and happy?