“I’ve told you time and again,” Xander said, walking to the closet. “I have never worked for Al-Rashid. I didn’t kill your father. When will you accept that and move on? It’s been eight years!”
“Then what were the police doing here? What was he talking about? Why can’t you tell me?”
Xander stopped with a pile of shirts draped over his arm and tipped his head up toward the ceiling. “It’s complicated.” He dumped the clothes into the suitcase.
“No kidding,” Leila muttered, tapping her fingers on her upper arm.
“I don’t have time for this,” Xander went on as he unceremoniously swiped the objects off his desk into his suitcase. “It’s not like you’ll believe anything I say.” He zipped up his bag. “I’ve had to fight tooth and nail for your trust. Nothing I’ve done was ever enough for you.”
“How can I trust you when you won’t talk to me?” Kisses, as amazing as they were, as much as she wanted more, wouldn’t be enough.
He shrugged the backpack over one shoulder and slipped on his aviator sunglasses. Without answering, he walked past her out the door, the small suitcase in hand.
“Why are you leaving? When will you be back?” Leila followed him down the stairs. Something like panic thundered in her chest.
Xander stopped at the door, his hand resting on the handle. “I’m not coming back.”
Speechless, she studied his face. His furrowed brow, his tight lips. He meant every word.
“It’s for the best.” He swung the door open and stopped mid-step. Leila nearly sighed from relief. He had reconsidered. But he set his backpack down and searched the pockets. After a moment of rummaging, he straightened and handed Leila a book.
“I wanted to tell you myself. Tonight. But here’s everything you need to know.”
She eyed the Bible in her hands, the one that resembled the one she had cherished for the last eight years. Her throat tightened and she tried to swallow down a hard lump. Everything she needs to know? What did he mean by that? She glanced back up, but he was gone.
• • •
Leila ended up back at the lab, in front of Soliman’s office door. She knocked and waited for a response. A soft voice came. She poked her head inside.
“You busy?”
“Laa.” He shook his head. “Just the usual research.” Soliman set his pen down and pushed his spectacles to the bridge of his nose. He gestured for her to take a seat. “Busy day in the lab?”
Leila took a seat across from him. “Yeah, there’s tons of work to do in there.”
“You three ladies got quite a bit categorized. We will probably be able to ship the first load to Cairo tomorrow.”
“That’s great. I can’t wait to hear the dating results.” Leila gave him a weak smile.
Soliman leaned forward, folding his hands over each other on top of his desk. His features softened. “That’s not what you want to talk about, is it?”
Leila sighed. “No.” She lowered her gaze to her lap. “Did you talk to Xander?”
“Yes, he called on the way to the airport.”
She remained silent for a moment, staring at the Newton’s Cradle on his desk. She resisted the urge to reach out and lift the ball on the end to start the compression wave.
“It came as a bit of a shock, but some things are more important,” Soliman continued as he shuffled the papers on his desk into a neat stack.
Leila knitted her eyebrows together. “What did he say?”
“He has a family emergency. He didn’t tell you?”
“No. Actually, I don’t even know anything about his family. He never says anything.”
Soliman’s eyes closed in understanding.
“Why the secrecy? Why can’t he even talk about his family? If he’s innocent, he could just explain. The less he talks, the more suspicious he is.”
“He’s a private person. For a good reason.” The professor sat back in his chair and stroked his chin with his thumb. “I’ve worked with Xander on and off over the years, and honestly, I misjudged him at first as well. Knowing what had happened to him and your father, I admit I also blamed him for the accident. I considered him reckless and immature. I was skeptical and kept an eye on him, but he did his work well and kept mostly to himself. Every other year he’d join my team again, but I still never got to know him any better. Finally, last year when I hired him for this excavation, he opened up.”
Leila watched Soliman expectantly. That didn’t sound like the Xander she had first met eight years ago. Something changed him.
“Now, I don’t think it’s my place to tell you much. What I will say, knowing you won’t go repeating this to others…” He gave her a pointed look over the rims of his glasses. Leila shook her head vigorously. “…is that five years ago, his parents and sister were at home when someone delivered a package. Upon opening the package, there was an explosion. Both parents were killed in the blast. His sister has been in a coma ever since.”
A chill rattled through her as Soliman spoke, remorse twisting in her chest. Now it made sense what Xander had said that night in the tomb when she asked about his sister, the girl in the photograph.
If only Leila could kick herself back a few hours in time. Why did she have to lash out like that? Why was she always too consumed by her own pain to notice the pain of others?
“So why did he leave?” She asked once she found her voice again. “Did his sister pass away?”
Soliman shook his head. “No.” He smiled. “She woke up.”
Chapter Thirty
In her room, Leila drummed her fingers on her desk, her chin resting in the palm of her hand. Darkness had fallen, and with every passing moment, she longed to curl up in bed and give in to the exhaustion. Yet the conversation with Soliman only provoked more thoughts to start churning through her mind, chasing away any chance of sleep.
She wondered who could be responsible for tearing Xander’s family apart. A letter bomb wasn’t usually a random attack. Amir immediately came to mind. He had been intent on killing Xander. He could have tried before. But why did Amir want him dead so badly?
