Murphy's Law by Kat Attalla

auction block, he co-signed the loan for Mustafa. When Jack called me last week, I sent a message to the ship to tell my husband to go even though I was about to have my baby.”
    Lilly winced. “I’m sorry.”
    Hanan touched her arm and smiled. “Don’t be. Mustafa couldn’t have made it back in time anyway. Mohammed was born four days ago.”
    “Won’t your husband be surprised?”
    Hanan smiled down at the sleeping baby. “Yes. A son. What about you? Do you and Jack plan to have a big family?”
    “We haven’t decided yet. Maybe when we’re settled somewhere,” Lilly fibbed smoothly. She took no pride in the fact that she lied as unflinchingly as Jack.
    “It will be good for Jack to stop living like a gypsy, chasing fugitives all over the world. Those people get themselves in trouble. If they don’t want to return on their own, why should he help them?”
    Lilly swallowed the lump in her throat. What would Hanan think if she knew the truth? “Maybe they need his help to get back.”
    Hanan’s expression softened. “I know. But I worry about him.”
    “Me too.” She worried that he would leave her stranded, not knowing who to trust. Worried that Santana would kill them both. Most of all, she worried that if her ordeal ended, she would never see him again.
    Hanan must have misread her fears. “I’m sorry. You must be tired. Let me show you to a room so you can get some rest. Jack will be fine.”
    Lilly nodded and handed Mohammed back to his mother. Hanan led her through the dining room to a large bedroom, leaving her for a moment to put the baby back in his crib.
    When Hanan returned, she took Lilly’s hand and smiled. “If you’re going to pretend to be his wife, wear this.”
    Lilly looked down at the gold wedding band and groaned. “It wasn’t my idea to lie.”
    “I’m sure it wasn’t. My husband is a good man, but he never would have let Jack stay in the same room if you weren’t married. He’s deeply religious.”
    “It’s nothing like that.”
    “I understand. He’s protecting you. But I think maybe he is a little more emotionally involved than he wants to admit.”
    Lilly frowned. “What makes you say that?”
    “Only strong feelings would enable him to lie to his friends. He’s not that kind of man.
    “If it offends you, then I can sleep on the sofa at night.”
    Hanan shook her head. “It doesn’t offend me. It is not a moral issue, but one of necessity. Mustafa doesn’t always see the difference, so we don’t have to let him in on our little secret.”
    Lilly agreed gratefully. She nodded her thanks and lay down to take a short nap. The sounds of the city mocked her attempt to shut out reality.
    Jack wasn’t anything like she painted him in her mind. He inspired trust and dedication from his friends. Chantal and Hanan were poles apart, but they shared the same latitude of unquestioning devotion. Perhaps because, unlike her, he didn’t pass judgment on people.
    And what right did she have to judge anyone? She, a little coward who ran away. To stay alive , she told herself. What kind of life had she saved? In the past two months, she hadn’t even held an honest conversation with anyone. She was alive, but she wasn’t living.

     

 

     
    Chapter Seven

     

     
    Jack waited in the alley for close to an hour. He checked his watch again. His contact should have met him at four o’clock. Yousef must have heard about the explosion in Nice and given him up for dead. But who would have told him? Only Stucky knew Jack’s contact.
    He slipped his hands into the slash pockets of his long white robe and walked back to the marketplace. He couldn’t go looking for Yousef without putting him in danger. Jack strolled past the many vendors hoping to sell their wares in the outdoor bazaars so common in the Middle East.
    Normally, Jack enjoyed watching customer and merchant square off in a friendly round of bartering, but today his troubled thoughts distracted him. Jack figured