Amidst Our Hearts

Forty seven.

Federal Capital Territory,
Nigeria.

The three brothers reached the polo club where they're supposed to meet the so called anonymous person. They unmounted the car and walked to the lounge with Khalifa lagging far behind. He has so many thoughts rushing through his head, so many 'what ifs'.

They all took a seat on the L shaped couch and ordered for some drinks, waiting for the person they came to meet to show up. Five minutes turned to ten minutes turned to twenty minutes of them waiting. Khalifa hissed and stood up.

Fadeel raised his gaze to him. "Where are you going?"

Khalifa huffed. "Home, this is obviously a scam."

"Khalifa sit down." Abdullah voiced. Khalifa let out a frustrating groan and slumped back down on the couch beside Fadeel, his head starting to throb.

Clicking of heels got all their attention. Their words got stuck within them. None of them could say anything. The lady took a seat opposite the three brothers with a sophisticated smirk on her face, the exact reaction she needed from them.

With shock evident on their faces, Fadeel spoke first. "You're a lady?" 

"What do you expect?" She replied in her alluring yet cunning voice.

"Let's cut to the chase." Abdullah announced. "What do you want?" He leaned forward, his hands supporting his chin.

"Straight to the point." She crossed her legs one on top of the other. "With all due respect, I am here to tell you that I am the one that sent you..." She faced Fadeel. "...all those code messages while you were in Egypt."

"How did you know we were in Egypt?" Fadeel asked.

The lady shrugged. "I'm someone from the inside, a close one." Her gaze landed on Khalifa. "Seriously close."

"Who are you?" Khalifa asked the million dollar question.

"Let's not jump to that yet, let's save it for the end." The lady called a waiter with the flick of a hand. She ordered for a cup of sparkling water and sent the waiter away. "Now, why I called you here."

Khalifa's intense gaze never left her. Even though with the niqab that covered her face except her eyes, he still feels this nagging feeling brewing from the pits of his heart. Her voice sounds familiar, like he knows that voice. He knows for a fact that she's someone really close, just like she said.

"Have you ever wondered how Haaya died?"

"Don't you dare bring Haaya into this. Haaya's dead already so don't." Khalifa's jaw clenched. He's about to lose his calm.