Excerpt
Sunday afternoon, Matthew Roberts is consumed by papers. His desk is full of
reports and documents. His responsibilities have increased lately because his
superior, Bevan Longhorn, wants him to have a more hands-on approach to his
job, rather than delegating to his junior associates. That, of course, is more satisfying
to Matthew, because it gives him the clout he thinks he deserves among his
peers; however, at the same time, his job now takes up a lot more of his time. The
name his wife mentioned to him earlier in the day is still stuck in his mind, and
he wants to find the time to look into it himself. Somehow, he remembers seeing
the last name “Mahdi” but he doesn’t recall where.
He sips his coffee, his fourth cup of the day. His stomach is tight and has been
upset for a while. He takes a break and dials his home phone number.
The phone rings three times before Emily answers.
“Hi honey, how is your day going?”
“We’re fine, Matthew, here is Jennifer.”
“Hold on, don’t rush away, let me ask you once more. What’s Jennifer’s
boyfriend’s name again?”
“Hakim Mahdi.”
“Oh, yes, I remember now. Let me talk to Jennifer.”
Jennifer comes to the phone.
“Hi Daddy, how are you?”
“I’m okay, sweetie, how’s your day? I called earlier but you were still sleeping.”
“I’m good, dad. When are you coming home?”
“Wednesday, sweetheart.”
“Looking forward to that, Dad.”
“Thank you, angel. By the way, your mom told me about a certain
handsome, young man called Hakim.”
“Oh, Daddy, mom always gets so excited so easily, you know.”
“You mean you’re not excited? I understand you are as excited as much as
she is, perhaps even more so.”
“Of course I’m excited, Dad, Hakim is a nice guy. I like him a lot.”
“Well, I’m very happy to hear that, honey. You are careful, of course?”
“I’m always careful, Dad. See you when you get home, love you. Bye for now.”
“Bye, sweetheart. I love you, have a good day.”
He puts the phone down, and his mind goes to that name again; he
remembers the name on a document.
He logs in the file code-named Swift Creek and browses through it slowly. It is
the file for a clandestine operation during the last years of Saddam Hussein in Iraq,
before the second war that ousted him. There, he locates a link to the elite of the
exiled Iraqis who were working toward the establishment of a freely elected
government, as well as to a group of people in Iraq who, although they kept a low
profile for fear of persecution, helped in the common goal of toppling Saddam.
There it is; one of the names he sees there is Mahdi, Ibrahim Hazim Mahdi. He is a
member of an elite group of Iraqis in the oil industry in Iraq.
Libros Libertad 