Page 53 of Devil
“Cyn seems to think they still aren’tthatreligious,” he pointed out.
“From their public posts, they aren’t,” Lily conceded. “As she said, more spiritual than religious. But Sonia’s son was right—it wasn’t until a few years ago that both Sonia and Nadia started attending mosque.”
“That reaction isn’t all that unusual, though. They now have time on their hands and are looking to fill it—joining a church or temple or mosque is probably pretty common, I would think. It’s a group of people they identify with, an instant community. And then as they become more and more a part of that community, defending and protecting it seems like a natural thing to do.”
Lily lifted a shoulder. “I agree, but where is their focus? We both know that in some cultures and in some countries, Muslims are persecuted, China being one of those places. But it’s one thing to support causes that protect religious freedoms and another to believe in a worldwide conspiracy of religious persecution. I’m not saying that’s what Nadia and Sonia believe, but if it is, it might explain why they want to make a statement in going after the Chinese president. I’m not certain, but I think that right now, there are very few places other than China where Muslims are so openly denigrated and so regularly have their human rights violated by the government.”
He wasn’t as well-versed on the issue as Lily, but he had no reason to doubt her and every reason to take what she said to heart. “Okay, so we have a potentialwhyfor Nadia and Sonia’s involvement. Do you want to hear what I found on Amy and Tina Lam’s parents?”
“Is it earth-shattering? Maybe the smoking gun?”
He smiled at her sarcasm. “It is not. Mama and Papa Lam fled China thirty-five years ago under threat from the government for performing progressive medicine. Meaning they provided treatments accepted in most of the Western world, but not approved by the Chinese government.”
“Did they come straight to the US?”
He nodded. “The father had a relationship with a professor at a university here in DC, and the professor helped them file for asylum. They gained citizenship a few years after their daughters were born. Both requalified as physicians in the US and have been practicing here ever since.”
Lily made a face. “So potentially, they could still hold a grudge against the Chinese government, but if they did, it would be weird to hold on to it for this long. Well, that’s not exactly right, they may, and probably still do, disagree with much of Chinese policy. But it seems odd that if they held such a strong grudge that they wanted to act on it by, say, killing the president, they’d wait until now to do it.”
He leaned back in his chair and nodded. “Those were my thoughts. They may have plenty of reasons not to like China and its policies, but why suddenly decide to act on it three decades later?”
“And there was nothing in what you looked at that would give us a clue as to how the sisters plan to transmit the virus to the president?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t have as much financial information on the parents as Cyn gave us on the sisters, but from what I have, there was nothing obvious. Is there any chance that when Nadia and Sonia handed off the virus, they also handed over the delivery mechanism?”
Lily’s gaze skated back to her computer. “Like you, I found nothing obvious, but I didn’t specifically look for that in their files. And I’ll be honest, my eyes are starting to cross. Maybe we should get back to it tomorrow?”
They’d both had very little sleep Saturday and Sunday night, and it was already early Tuesday morning. Sleep sounded heavenly. Sex wasn’t off the table, of course. But as Darius contemplated crawling into bed, he found himself hoping that Lily would simply curl up into his arms and drift off. Not because he didn’t want her—that wasnotan issue—but because it wasn’t something friends with benefits did. Earlier, when she’d opened up about why she’d been upset with him, she’d put her toe across that line. Sleeping together, without sex, would be another toe—or perhaps a full step—over it.
He nodded and powered down his computer. After tidying up the kitchen, he followed her upstairs and into the main bedroom. Without a word, they went about the business of getting ready for bed, and soon they were sliding between a very comfortable set of sheets. Darius took a few intentional deep breaths and let the tension fall from his body as his head nestled into the pillow. Beside him, Lily turned to face him, then flipped onto her back, then tucked an arm behind her head before spinning back and facing him again. He smiled. It did not surprise him at all that she wasn’t great at getting herself to relax.
“Rollover,” he said in the dark of the room.
Her head popped up and she rested on one elbow. “What?”
“Rollover,” he repeated, this time making a circular motion with his finger.
She frowned but did as told. He rolled to his side and curled up behind her, wrapping a heavy arm around her waist, anchoring her to him.
“Darius?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t cuddle.”
“Okay.”
“Are you going to move?”
“No. We’re not cuddling.”
“We’re not?”
“I’m acting like a weighted blanket for you. They relax you and help you sleep.”
That she’d see through his subterfuge wasn’t in question. What was in question was whether she’d let it go. Finally, with a little huff that he couldn’t quite tell if it was a laugh or a sound of disgruntlement, she relaxed against him. Minutes later, her breathing evened out. Only then did he allow himself to succumb to his own fatigue.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
