Chapter 70

---------------------Los Angeles, California.

-------------------------------Valentine residence, next morning, 10:00am.

" Wait Mother, you knew about it this whole time?"

" Yes and I'm not at fault for not saying anything, I didn't know that the person who raised Zarah was ever going to work with the green viper and besides I promised her that I wasn't going to tell anyone about it" Mother answered as she collected Kimberly from Sophia's. We all sat round a table in Sophia and Ethan's patio, trying to enjoy the morning breeze and talking.

" She went through one hell of a life, to be honest, if I were in her shoes, I wouldn't want to involve myself in all these problems we're facing" Sophia commented as she munched a cookie. " Yeah, all I'll want is to be at peace" Ethan backed up his wife and I rolled my eyes at the both of them.

" That's a selfish desire" My arm was still hurting from the gun shot I received from Zarah last night. I understood that her anger made her do what she did to me so I couldn't be mad at her.

I actually felt for her.

She wanted a good life but her past just had to catch up with her.

It just had to.

She needed to be very strong to face the battle life threw it. It was definitely for a reason.

Allah always had a reason.

" She needs to understand that a lot of people need her so they can be at peace. I mean we did nothing to deserve this, did we kill the woman's son with our own hands?, we didn't"

" But they died because of us, she lost her source of income all because of us, we messed with her and we now have to face the battle we found ourselves in" Mother answered and I sighed deeply. " we're in some deep shit guys, we need to make sure we're together all the time until those two criminals are brought to justice"

" so we should stay at home and not go any where?" Ethan asked and I nodded. " it's safer for my niece".

" Faryah's father called me up yesterday, Sir Milton. Apparently they managed to catch one of miss Hae Soo's minions yesterday trying to kill the woman that gave us info on the man that took Najmah, luckily the woman survived and is safe now"

" That's amazing news Khalid" Mother's face as well as that of Ethan and Sophia brightened up. " It is good news but she doesn't want to say anything to the police yet"

" she's definitely going to speak up sooner or later" Sophia added and I nodded in agreement. The woman had to speak up because miss Hae Soo was definitely going to shut her up in jail for good. What was the use of her loyalty when it was obvious that she was going to die at the end of the day. The person she was working for was definitely going to kill her.

" any ideas on a new business, if you need a loan I can help you" Mother offered and I shook my head. " I don't need help Mother and I have actually gotten an idea for a new business, I hope the money I plan on investing in it is worth it"

" what business is that?, you have to include me in it" Ethan nagged and I laughed. " Sure, but I really don't plan on setting it up here, as soon as we catch the people harming us, I'll leave LA completely" Yeah, I had already made my decision and I was very much satisfied with it. " where are you going to?, you want to leave us all alone here?"

" Mother I'm not leaving you all alone, you have Sophia and Ethan and Kimberly and don't worry I'll be home for the holidays"

" what business are you going into?" Sophia asked. " don't worry, you'll find out soon"

" why're you keeping all this a secret?"

" I want to surprise you guys"

"whatever" Sophia answered and rolled her eyes. " Do you think I should try contacting Zarah, she should need someone to talk to" I understood why she liked Zarah so much and why she cared so much for her. My childhood would have turned out like Zarah's if she didn't leave David.

" don't go close to Zarah, she's bad news for us" I answered snappily at her. " She needs someone to care for her at this horrible time of her life, she needs our support Khalid, she's your friend isn't she?, you're supposed to be there for her through thick and thin"

" she didn't do the right thing in the first place, she should have told me everything when she saw the picture of Tyler I showed to her, instead she pretended that she was sick"

" she was scared, all she wants is a peaceful life Khalid away from all those things that harm her"

" she knew she was going to end up facing that man sooner or later, now that it's time, isn't it logical for her to do what's right this time and be freed from all the stress, she can live a peaceful life for as long as she wants, she can't run forever" I answered and watched mother keep shut.

" Someone needs to show her that this is what she needs to do, we need to advise her and help her out. We can't let the same mistake we made with Faryah happen again this time" Mother said calmly and my heart softened.

Zarah really needed a friend by her side. Someone to support her. I guess life was giving me a chance to do what I didn't do with Faryah. I could help her, instead of pushing her away.

Mother was right.

I needed to consider how others were going to feel by my actions and words.

I really hoped Zarah was going to be able to give me a chance to help her out.

-------------------- Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

----------------------------Edwards residence, present day, 6:30pm.

My mind and soul calmed a bit as I feasted my eyes on the sun as it disappeared below the western horizon from my room balcony. It was so beautiful, MashaAllah.

Trying my best to stay strong and be patient lately was very hard. Every single time I closed my eyes, all I saw was Najmah in my arms again. I always didn't want to open my eyes to reality.

She wasn't here anymore and I had no idea when she was going to come back to me.

It was killing me and all I could do was to sit and wait, sit and wait for news that wasn't going to lead me to her anytime soon. There were times that I wanted to drive out and look for her round the whole city but I knew she wasn't here. They took her far away from me and all for what?.

For revenge.

" Faryah?" I heard Raihannah’s voice call in my room and I walked back inside to meet her. " Hey" I answered with a small smile as she walked inside my room and closed the door. " Ummah said dinner is ready so I decided to come and call you"

" I'm not sure I'm hungry" I answered as I sat on my bed and I heard her footsteps around me. " the woman still doesn't want to say anything so they said they're going to be taking her to prison"

" is it so hard for someone to have a complete family with little problems and everyone is just mostly happy, I mean I didn't grow up well, don't I deserve a happy ending?" I said to RiRi in between sobs and I felt her arm around my shoulder. " You deserve a happy ending Faryah, you deserve to be happy with your family and your daughter, you deserve all of that but Allah is going to give you at the right time Faryah. You really need to have faith in Allah and be patient"

" Haven't I been patient enough RiRi, I have been the strongest. Don't I at least deserve to know the whereabouts of my daughter, how she is and what she's doing, she's just a baby and she can't defend herself. What if they rape her or cut her or beat her up?, what am I going to do if they do all that to her?, my heart and soul are never at rest knowing that someone could be causing her pain somewhere. I don't want what happened to me to happen to my daughter RiRi" I cried into her chest after she pulled me closer to her. " Don't doubt Allah's plan Faryah, Najmah is going to come back to all of us safe and sound In Sha'a Allah. I really don't know what to tell you or how to comfort you because I don't know how you feel right now but Faryah, don't lose hope. Never lose hope in Allah" she said as she gently patted my back and I soaked her abayah with my tears.

I wasn't doubting Allah, I was just tired of missing my baby.

" Come on dry your tears and let's go have dinner, it's a chickenified dinner" Raihannah chirped and I laughed at the word she used. She was a lover of chicken. " sure let's go" I answered as I cleaned my eyes and threw on my cap to cover my hair.

My apple default ringtone blasted in my room and I quickly rushed to pick it up from my bedside table. It was Miriam calling.

" Assalamu Alaykum Ammie" I greeted into the phone as I listened to the loud noise coming from her side of the phone. The loud music and screams from people surpassed her voice and I couldn't hear a thing from what she was saying. " Miriam" I called but I still couldn't hear anything. " Miriam, where are you?" I yelled into the phone as Raihannah walked closer to me.

" Miriam" I called again and she hung up on me. Miriam never went to clubs or parties. Well none that I know of. She needed help.

" Miriam isn't where she's supposed to be Raihannah" I panicked as I sat back down on my bed and tried to search for her location. "She didn't say where she was?"

"I couldn't hear what she was saying at all, all I heard was loud music" She was at a club very close to city centre.

" she's in a bar RiRi"

" What could she be doing in a club?"

" I have no idea but I have to go find her"

" I'll come with you" she answered as I walked into my closet to take out an abayah. " Thank you"

" I'll just tell the others to leave some of the food for us for when we get back"

" Okay Raihannah" I replied as she walked out of my room. I had no idea what Miriam was doing in a club, why would she even go close to a club. I really hoped we weren't going to receive a huge blow when we got there.

------------------------Ferrero’s, City centre Kuala Lumpur. 7:00pm.

The music and the naked people all around this place was going to make me sick. The atrocious activities that were going on in this place was devastating.

Girls were dancing with guys all around them, loud deafening music was playing, shisha pipes and people doing drugs were everywhere. They weren't even trying to hide themselves. " why will this kind of place be rendered legal?" Raihannah said as we held each others arm tightly. " It's for them to have fun I guess, let's find Ammie and leave this place"

" Yes please, I'm going to pass out anytime soon" she answered as I scanned the crowd for Miriam.

A slim woman in tight black high-waisted leather pants and a blue long sleeved crop top caught my attention. She was at the top of a table dancing and throwing her scarf around. She was swaying her hips back and forth and flipping her hair all around the place.

" Raihannah is that Ammie?" I asked as I pointed towards the girl that was dancing. I really couldn't believe my eyes. " pretty much, yeah" She answered and I sighed deeply. Guys and some other ladies were standing by the table and cheering Ammie up.

This was totally not the Ammie we knew. " Should we go closer to her?" Raihannah asked and I nodded. "sure, we came for her anyways" hand in hand, I and Raihannah walked closer as we tried avoiding bumping into anyone.

" She looks high" of course she is. If she was not, she definitely wasn't going to be dancing on a table top. " yes"

" Banging this one will be so easy" we heard a man say while looking at Ammie. How disgusting.

" pervert" Raihannah whispered.

" Miriam" I yelled as we got close to the table. " Hey" Raihannah added as she looked towards us. " Guys, you came" what got into her head to involve herself with alcohol. I looked deeply into her beautiful brown eyes and saw her sad and depressed, the Miriam we knew was always cheerful. Always.

" Come down Miriam" We were obviously killing the joy of her audience as we carefully helped her get down. " isn't all this fun" Even her breath was disgusting. She probably threw up while dancing. " let's take her out Raihannah"

"No don't kill the fun, I love this place" I once heard that people always said the truth when they were drunk. " Ammie, you're not supposed to be here, this place isn't good for you" Raihannah nagged as she loosened her grip on Ammie.

" you don't know what's good for me" she yelled at us in her intoxicated state. " You all think I have a perfect life just like yours, heck no!"

" Look, I want to be like you guys but I just can't, I love alcohol and I am addicted to it, trying to hard my addiction is hard so I can't do it anymore, I want to drink" She yelled into the crowded place so we could hear her very clearly.

" You don't know what you're saying Ammie" I was more than disappointed. I thought I knew her, I thought she was my friend. " Faryah don't"

" I know what I am saying Faryah, you don't know who I am and all what I have gone through in this world, so let me soak in my misery here, I want to be here, I'm tired of pretending to be perfect" I was used to those I loved breaking my heart by this time. " Let's go Faryah"

" what about Ammie?"

" Don't worry, let's just leave this place, she doesn't want to leave and we definitely can not force her"

" we need to help her"

" we will, let's just leave first" Raihannah said as she held my wrist tightly and pulled me out of the club.

The fresh night air hit my nose and I took my time to enjoy the serenity of the surrounding.

" How are we going to help her now?" I asked Raihannah as I patted my forehead. It was hurting tremendously. " Just watch and see" She was dialling a number on a phone I never knew she had.

" Farouk gave this phone to me so I could use it to call someone I didn't want to trace my number"

" How's that going to help us?"

" we want to get her out of there right?" Raihannah said as I watched her dial 911.

" Hello 911, yes there are people selling marijuana here at Ferrero’s night club" oh my Allah. She was whispering into the phone." They're very dangerous people please come quick" She added and hung up the phone. I watched her quickly remove the sim card from the phone and break it into two as fast as she could.

" If we can't get her out, the police can" She said as she threw away the SIM card she broke. She was right though. " The police should be here any minute, let's go Faryah" She called as she hurriedly ran into my car and I followed her. I was too sober to drive so she drove us here.

" we just lied to the police" I blurted out immediately she drove away from the club and headed back home." We had to, that was the only reasonable way I could think of and besides people are doing drugs there so technically it actually isn't a lie" I sighed deeply after listening to her as I rested my head on the car seat. " I am so confused Raihannah, I thought Ammie was clean from all this"

" well, everyone isn't perfect Faryah, we need to talk to her and see if we can get her to tell us the main reason why she's doing this to herself"

" She said she's an addict, how did she become an addict for Allah's sake" I was annoyed honestly but mostly disappointed. I knew Miriam, I trusted her and we both confided in each other. I really couldn't believe she was a slut deep down inside. I was irritated.

"Why didn't she tell me about this problem of hers?"

" she was probably ashamed and I guess she couldn't hold it in any longer"

" Aren't friends supposed to share everything with each other?"

" Sure. I guess she thought we were probably going to judge her and criticise her" I was already criticising her. " I'm actually doing that already" my head was still hurting and this was making it worse. " Don't, that's wrong. Hear her out first before judging her" Raihannah said as I looked through my bag for my phone.

Someone was calling me.

" is it Khalifa?"

" No, it's an unknown caller" I answered as I accepted the call. " Hello?"

" Faryah Edwards" I've heard this voice before. " It's so nice to hear from you again" my heart began to beat faster as I realised who the caller was.

It was the same heavy Korean accented woman that tried to take Najmah away from me from the start.

" where's my daughter?" I snapped into the phone and heard her cackle. " You miss her so much right?"

" what are you doing to my daughter?, where is she?" I yelled into the phone as hot tears rolled down my cheeks.

" oh my you're so uneasy, at least you have an idea about where your daughter is"

" Don't do anything to harm my daughter" I growled into the phone. I couldn't bear talking to this vile and evil person. I instantly put the phone on speaker and tried to locate where she was calling me from.

" oh but you did something that ended the life of my child, so why don't we do it like this, a child for a child, that's completely fair don't you think?" I could feel her smirking evilly.

Why is teleportation only real in movies!!!

" Your daughter isn't fine" oh my Allah.

" Don't you dare lay a finger on my daughter"

" Oops my bad. I've done that already, your daughter cries a lot you know, she's so annoying" Oh my baby. " Please don't hurt her, I'll do anything you want, just don't harm her" She was in Los Angeles.

Oh my God. She was in Los Angeles.

Najmah was all the way in LA.

" we'll see how that goes, bye bye" She hung up. I couldn't get the exact location of where she was calling from but she was in LA. My daughter was in LA.

" Raihannah look, I tracked the call but she ended it before I could get her exact location, Najmah is in LA" I finally had a lead.

Finally

Alhamdulillah.

--------------Los Angeles, California

------------------------Koreatown, Fleming's cafe, 10:00am

Miss Hae Soo

I lead her right into my trap. She was going to be in LA by tomorrow.

Brilliant!