"Hell is empty and all the devils are here." – William Shakespeare


Alex jumped when she heard the knocking on her door. Damn it, here we go. Alex calmed herself before opening the door to Fahri. "Tequila, right?" Alex poured them both a shot, grabbed two beers and the bottle of tequila and sat across from Fahri. They both downed their first shot, and Alex poured another. "So?"

Fahri took a long, hard look at Alex. "Are you sure you want to push him like this? He has done nothing to betray your trust." His voice was low and menacing.

Alex scoffed. "Fahri, I spent six years of my life locked up because of my involvement with him. Now I have a life again. I have a career I can be proud of and an amazing woman in my life. I'm only here out of respect for Kubra. If he truly wants to meet with me, then yes, it will be on my terms. If he doesn't like Malaysia, I can certainly pick another place." Alex made her voice as firm and stern as she could muster.

Fahri studied her for a few moments then laughed. "Very well Alex Vause. Kubra will meet you. You will come with me and we shall go together. I trust you can call your contact now." He motioned to Alex's cell phone which was laying on the table. Fahri was testing her.

Alex pulled out her phone and dialed a number from memory. She spoke for a brief while, scribbling some notes, then disconnected. She slid the paper to Fahri. "There. And I will not go with you. We'll meet there."

"No, no Alex. Kubra has much more to lose than do you. We shall be travel companions of sort. I don't want you to get lonely. It is a long trip. Pack your things. I'll be back in half an hour." Fahri tossed back his second shot, drained his beer and left.

Alex drew in a deep breath and let it out, slowing her racing heart. She didn't have much time in case he came back unexpectedly. She removed the noise machine and secure phone and checked in with Caputo to verify that the Malaysian contact had relayed the meeting information. She also wanted to assure that Fahri would not be held up in the US or Hong Kong, both layover locations along the trip. The plan had been set in motion. There was no turning back.


The flight was excruciatingly long, three legs and 30 hours. Fortuitously Alex and Fahri could not sit next to each other. They could not be seen as travel partners; it was dangerous enough taking the same flight. But Fahri would not let Alex out of his site and sat a few rows behind her on each flight. Upon arrival in Malaysia, there was a car waiting at the airport which they took to the hotel.

At the new hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Alex made one last call to Caputo. Her life was now in the hands of the men who had been following her movements by stealth and by the tracking device in the other phone. Surprisingly, Fahri had not been suspicious of her phone. She actually thought he was being rather kind about things. They must really need me, Alex thought. Caputo must have been right about impeding failure of Kubra's empire.

Alex timed her last phone call to Piper to coincide with Fahri's arrival. She made a show of disconnecting then slipped the phone into her pocket. Fahri motioned to Alex and they left the hotel. While Alex had arranged the meeting place, Fahri drove. Pulling up to the building, he did not turn off the vehicle. Alex looked perplexed. "Come on; we'll be late." Alex reached for the door handle.

Fahri reached over and grasped Alex's arm. "No. Plans have changed." He said nothing more. When a blacked out SUV pulled in behind them, they pulled away from the curb and began driving. "Trust Alex. We trusted you. Now you trust us."

Alex was freaking internally. She kept her hand in her pocket, a death grip on her phone. This had been a part of the contingency plan, a change of location, but a take down here would have been better. She could only hope Caputo was true to her word and they were being closely tracked.

Fahri drove about 15 minutes and pulled behind another building. He motioned for Alex to stay put and came around to open her door. He reached into her pocket, pulled out her cell phone, and smashed it with his foot. Leaving the pieces on the ground, he guided her inside. "Is this really necessary?" Alex was actually getting annoyed. Had she truly wanted to talk to Kubra, she would be mad as hell.

A silent Fahri led her to a room which opened up to a meeting table. There sat Kubra with an armed man standing on either side of him. Alex gasped. When they had left the original meeting place, she honestly thought Kubra wouldn't show. But there he was. A series of emotions flowed through her system from anger and resentment to relief that he was there.

"Alex," Kubra sounded honestly happy to see her. He stood and walked over to her. "I am so glad to see you my friend. I have waited a long time for this." He held out his hand.

Alex shook his hand. "Kubra. It's been a while. How have you been?" Alex couldn't care less but she had to keep him talking. She hadn't planned out a conversation as she really didn't think it would come to this. The small talk went on a short while, Alex barely remembering what was discussed.

Suddenly Alex's ears were ringing and she was unable to see anything. There had been a blinding flash and a very loud boom. Alex instinctively cowered beneath the meeting table. Shots were fired. She was roughly dragged from under her protective cover, thrown to the floor and hands pulled behind her back. She started hyperventilating as she felt a zip tie tightening around her wrists. While her ears continued to ring from the stun grenade, her vision returned rather quickly albeit with occasional distortions. A swarm of men dressed in black tactical type gear had crashed through the door and both windows. Shouting in Mayla, Alex could not understand what was happening. She only hoped that these guys were on her side.

With everyone in the room neutralized or contained and the building cleared, the persons remaining alive were each escorted to a separate vehicle by a pair of soldiers. Alex could see Fahri, Kubra, one of the guards, and two other men being shoved into trucks in front of her. Each sped off, taking different routes. Alex shifted her body to try to get off her hands and to relieve the pressure from the ties cutting into her wrists.

Neither soldier spoke for the duration of the short trip. They pulled up to the back of a non-descript building, through the gates to the door and helped her out, considerably more gently than they had pushed her in. One pulled out a knife and cut her ties and escorted her into the building. As she looked around the building, she realized that she was in the US Embassy. Soon a man came into the room in which they had placed her and handed her a phone, motioning that someone was waiting to talk to her. It was Caputo. "We got them Alex. We got them! Well more appropriately Maylasia got them. It's over Alex. Get your ass home."

Alex was in shock. Was it truly finally over? The nightmare that kept creeping back into her life was over. She could not hold back the tears. She felt ridiculous crying, but it was more from relief than anything else. She could now return to Piper and they could start their life in peace. She picked up the phone and called Piper. Getting her voice mail, Alex left a short message. "Piper! I'm coming home babe. I love you. I'm coming home."