Garage Sale Diamonds (Garage Sale Mystery) (15 page)

Your friend, Khadija          

He inhaled sharply, realizing he’d held his breath as he read the note. She was alive and he’d see her again—today! A smile of relief crossed his face, followed by a quick frown. Had this occurred in his homeland, honor directed him to give the note to the girl’s father for proper reprimand of her immodest behavior. But not here, not now…

Hurrying to his desk he tore a sheet of paper in half, wrote “yes” and folded the note into a small square. Opening the door, he looked both ways before easing into the empty hall. The table stood near the top of the stairs. He paused, tucked the note under the flowerpot, made sure it didn’t show under the edge and continued down the stairs.

He joined Mahmud at the dining room table as Heba brought breakfast. Zayneb and Safia entered a short time later, but to his great disappointment, Khadija did not appear. In a foul mood, Mahmud criticized everyone except his guest for real or imagined demerits and particularly Heba’s breakfast—the coffee too strong, the eggs too dry, the fruit not ripe, the pancakes under-cooked. The food tasted fine to the rest, but no one contradicted him to alleviate the servant’s shame at this verbal lashing.

When Mahmud threw his napkin into his syrupy plate and stalked from the room, awkward silence enveloped the table. Then Ahmed cleared his throat and said to Heba in front of Zayneb and Safia, “Your breakfast tasted very good. Thank you.” Did he see a tiny flicker of appreciation before she disappeared into the kitchen? Hard to tell since she always averted her face.

Certain Mahmud couldn’t hear, Zayneb whispered, “Bless you for that kindness. She’s worked twenty-four years for our family.” She wanted to add how, during those years, she’d discovered and engaged Heba’s bright mind. But such knowledge would infuriate her husband and this stranger, Mahmud’s kinsman, might reveal her secret if he knew.

Ahmed excused himself from the table and found his host in the garage. “Shall we leave in twenty minutes, Mahmud ?”

Still testy, the man asked, “Where do we go today and what time is our meeting?”

“Nine o’clock in a church parking lot in Arlington. I’ll enter their car, which will leave immediately. You wait three minutes then drive around until I call you with my pickup location.”

“You are our leader. We can’t control your safety once you’re in their car. Is this wise?”

“Today’s meeting is important but with little risk. The next meeting is more serious because we strike the deal and the third meeting perhaps dangerous when we make the trade. I will remind them any failure to cooperate as agreed earns deadly consequences.” Ahmed left to go upstairs.

On the way to his room he looked under the blue flowerpot. His note was gone. In his room he took the envelope from his desk, assured himself the packet of ten diamonds lay inside and strapped to his leg the leather-sheathed knife bought the day before. He stood, smoothing his pant leg over the weapon to conceal this protection.

Downstairs he climbed into Mahmud’s vehicle. As the men drove away at 8:00 they passed neighborhood front yards strewn with sale items. Shoppers spilled from cars coursing through the subdivision. Ahmed couldn’t believe the transformation from yesterday’s quiet residential streets to today’s purposeful lines of cars clogging their streets. Strangers roamed sidewalks and crossed lawns to shop the community sale’s merchandise.

“What’s this?” Ahmed asked in surprise.

Already in a bad mood, Mahmud ranted. “This idiotic American custom disgraces our home. Look—our once dignified neighborhood streams with traffic and herds of strangers roaming like camels across our lawns. At least in the Middle-East we have the sense to create market places.”

They stopped for gas at Old Dominion and Chain Bridge before driving into North Arlington to re-con the meeting site. Parking nearby to study the situation, they agreed the small church’s parking lot seemed surveillance-free. “Those we meet don’t want attention any more than we do.”

Troubled, Mahmud asked, “Should I know who they are if…in case something goes wrong?”

Ahmed thought this over. “They are Russian. Record their license number, but I expect no trouble at this meeting. I don’t know where they intend to drop me after we talk or how long this will take; probably thirty minutes or less. I will call your cell phone with that location.”

“If it is not a place I know, with an exact address my GPS will find you. Shall we drive the neighborhood until it’s time for the meeting?” At Ahmed’s nod, Mahmud started the car.

32

Saturday, 8:00 AM

Zayneb stood at the window as the car disappeared from view before hurrying into action. She’d check the house one last time for saleable items, for this opportunity to make money was rare. In each room she looked under beds, through drawers and in closets, collecting items in a plastic bag. She hesitated at Ahmed’s closed door, then opened it resolutely to continue her search.

Yesterday Heba had removed the toy box from this closet. No stray playthings lay under the bed. Curiosity prompted her to open several drawers and touch the contents to better assess what threat their mysterious guest posed. Uncertain about the man’s visit or what to expect from him next, she looked under the pillow and mattress for a weapon but found none.

High in the closet, a doll’s foot stuck out from behind the guest’s suitcase. She pulled over the desk chair and climbed up to nudge his valise forward, extracted Safia’s old doll, and repositioned the case. Examining the dressed doll, she thought it saleable and added it to her bag. Ten minutes later the doll joined her other for-sale items on a blanket spread in Roshan’s yard.

Doubting Zayneb had money to take her daughters to other sales, Roshan pressed cash into her god-daughter’s hand. “Here, take this. If you must, pay me back later from your earnings here.”

Zayneb wanted to protest, but this cash advance seemed a blessing. She hugged Roshan and thanked her before hurrying home with a big smile.

“Guess what,” she said to her daughters, “let’s walk around to see the sales. Maybe we’ll find a little surprise for each of you.”

Safia giggled her delight but Khadija asked, “Would Baba approve?”

Zayneb hid the nervousness in her laugh, “Let me deal with your father. You two do not need to upset him with this information. Do we agree about that, girls?”

“Yes,” they chorused.

Zayneb clutched at this chance for harmless fun with her daughters. If Mahmud found out, she knew he’d give the girls a tongue lashing.

Her punishment would be far worse.

33

Saturday, 9:05 AM

At the exact meeting time Mahmud’s car drove into the church parking lot where a car waited. “May Allah bless you, praised is His name,” Mahmud said as Ahmed walked to the other vehicle.

That car’s window lowered as he approached. “Are you here to look at a ring?” Ahmed asked.

“Yes, a diamond ring.” The code words matched. The driver spoke with a heavy Russian accent. “Get in the back.”

Mahmud watched Ahmed enter the car and saw it glide away. He counted three minutes and left the lot, deciding to stop en route for coffee and a snack while he awaited Ahmed’s call.

Inside the Russian’s vehicle, a male driver and another man sat in the front seat, but to Ahmed’s surprise, a woman waited for him in the rear. “Hello,” she said in unaccented English. “You may call me…Natasha.”

She offered her hand, which he shook. “And you are…?”

“You may call me…Mustafa,” Ahmed invented, noting her slight body, expensive clothes and European features.

“Good. Have you something to show me, Mustafa?”

He passed her the envelope from his shirt pocket. She eased it open, spread the jewelry paper and glanced at the diamonds. Pulling a jeweler’s loupe from her purse, she held it to her eye to examine several stones. “Boris, can you park where I’ll get direct sunlight?”

As Boris obliged, she made no small talk. A few minutes later the car maneuvered so sunshine streamed in her window. She studied each gem with her loupe. “How many?”

“Three hundred, similar size, same quality as promised in advance. Guaranteed.”

“And you want…?”

“Three million American dollars.” Ahmed read no reaction in her face or body language. “You were sent our list: part cash plus certain explosives and weapons. I have a copy of that list with me if you’d like to see it again. We understand such armaments present no problem for you.”

She matched this new list against the original and locked eyes with Ahmed. “Three million?”

“We know and you know these diamonds are more valuable than this amount. A bargain for you. I’m told you recognize a special deal when you see one. We can approach other buyers, but we talk to you first for three reasons: First, our organizations have made mutually satisfactory deals together before so a good record exists between us. Second, you are a good fit for our interest in a combination payment, part cash and part military ordnance. Third, we share mutual common enemies: the United States and Israel.”

Natasha gave him a disarming smile. “When?”

“Immediately.” 

“You have my attention, Mustafa, but someone else makes this decision. We must test these diamonds in our lab to be sure. In twenty-four hours we will use the phone contact already established to speak further about ‘the ring.’”

“Thank you, Natasha.”

“Boris,” she instructed the driver, “our meeting is over. Find a comfortable place for Mustafa to wait for his ride.”

Fifteen minutes later Mahmud found Ahmed sitting on a bench in Cherrydale.

“Where to next?”

“To make our videos for American TV with the other cell members at Abdul’s.”

34

Saturday, 10:01 AM

Dodging shards of glass scattered across the kitchen floor, Jennifer rinsed a trickle of blood from her hand and pressed a towel hard against her palm to hasten clotting. Aware of the room’s deathly silence, broken only by the ticking wall clock, she looked up. Across the room, three pairs of eyes riveted upon her from open-mouthed faces frozen with morbid fascination. This situation needed a fast positive spin. “So, what exactly happened here?” she asked her visiting Grands.

Christine took the lead, talking fast. “Milo wanted a drink and pushed a chair over to the counter and climbed up on it to get a glass but the glasses were stacked in the cupboard so tight on that little wire shelf and when the shelf jiggled as he reached for one, a lot of glasses fell out instead.”

“And,” Alicia added, “some broke when they fell on the counter and some rolled off and smashed on the floor. Milo didn’t mean it, Gran. Nobody could stop them once they started falling.”

Christine cut in again importantly. “And because I was the only one wearing shoes, I walked through the pieces of glass to rescue Milo and carry him over here where he’d be safe.”

Four-year-old Milo hung his head with guilt. “I’m sowwy, Gwan,” he apologized.

Jennifer smiled. “I know you’re sorry, Milo. You didn’t mean to do it. Accidents are strange because they happen without warning. A good accident might be finding a dollar bill on the sidewalk, but a bad accident might be dangerous, like breaking this glass into sharp pieces.”

“Would you like an Angry Bird bandage, Gran? I know where they are,” Christine offered.

“Yes, Chris. Thank you. Have you thought of becoming a doctor someday?” The girl nodded. When she brought the bandage, Jennifer asked her to put it on the cut. “Tell me: what can we learn from this?”

“Broken glass is dangerous,” volunteered Christine.

“It’s so dangerous it can even cut grownups,” added wide-eyed Alicia.

“I was twying to be a big boy and get a glass all by myself,” explained Milo.

Jennifer soothed, “I understand. Lucky I was close in the next room to hurry in when I heard the crash, but what if I hadn’t heard it?” The youngsters exchanged nervous looks, unsure of a “right” answer. Jennifer helped them out. “Is it safe for children to clean up sharp pieces of glass?”

The three stirred uneasily, thinking a practical side of this solution meant avoiding discovery.

“The safest idea,” Jennifer supplied, “is getting an adult’s help to solve a dangerous problem. We’ll solve Milo’s problem this way. My bad decision was gathering up pieces of glass with my hand. You see what happened.” She held up her bandaged hand. “My good decision is using paper towels to brush them off the counter and into the wastebasket like this. Notice I’m wearing shoes to protect my feet just as Chris did. Next,” she indicated the broom and dustpan, “we’ll sweep up every piece we see. Then to make sure we don’t miss any tiny pieces, I’ll vacuum the floor so it’s safe to go barefoot here again. Okay, what will you do next time about broken glass?”

“Call an adult,” said Christine with confidence. Seeing Jennifer’s approving smile, the other two chorused the same answer.

Alicia looked confused. “Is this today’s ‘learning surprise’?”

Jennifer laughed. “No, just an extra learning surprise. Okay,” she repeated, “call an adult to help you solve a dangerous problem like this one. Now you each get a drink and a cookie. Then off to play while I clean up here. Did you have fun going to garage sales with me this morning?”