Recap: Junie reappears during a storm. She has multiple injuries. Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door, and Evie and Maggie see that Sarit, who might be the suspected terrorist Shekeret, is standing outside the door.
Sarit practically fell into the kitchen.
“Thank you. I need to hide. Where can I hide?”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“I let the dog out and my father found out. He was furious. I sneaked out of the bathroom window.” Sarit was trembling.
That same chill went through me. I was scared to ask, but I had to know. “Who is your father?” I asked.
She was gasping for breath.
“Water, please.”
Maggie brought her a cup of water.
“I did have bad intentions. I did something evil; but please, I want you to know that something inside of me has changed. I’m not the same person I was before.”
She opened her palm. I was shocked to see she was holding my silver ring – the one Rikki had given me.
“It’s yours. I took it. Please take it back. I’m sorry. I took it.”
I slipped it onto my ring finger.
“I know it was so wrong. I took it that Friday night when you were washing. I wanted to prove to my father that I had spent time with Jews, and I was on the track of what he wanted. It had Hebrew letters on it. I was so wrong, and it was so evil.”
She stopped talking. “Sorry, I’m dizzy.”
As she collapsed onto the floor, that’s when I noticed a deep gash on her leg.
“What happened?”
“I think I was cut by the glass when I escaped through the window.”
Maggie quickly grabbed a paper towel to stop the bleeding.
We gave her more water and then led her down into the basement, where she felt safe.
I set up a cot for her to rest.
“Thank you for being so kind to me,” she said. “I don’t blame you if you don’t want to help me. I was not honest with you. I will tell you that now I’m in danger for my life. My father is…”
She took a ragged breath. “He is…” She sighed. “Muhammad Abdullah, and he always gets what he wants.”
“Muhammad Abdullah!” My heart rammed against my chest. That meant she was the daughter wanted by the FBI – Shekeret. Her father was the terrorist the FBI agents had warned us about.
“When you picked up that ID in the kitchen, that was my student ID. I am Shekeret Abdullah. My father wanted the information about Rikki’s mother’s flight so he could capture her and find the information he needs to defeat Mossad. I was supposed to supply that information to him.”
“I told it to you,” I said. I squeezed my eyes shut as I asked her the next question. “Did you tell him?”
My neck muscles tightened. What if she’d told him?
She shook her head.
“My father kidnapped the dog. He was the one who originally hurt Junie and put that device in her ear. He abused her terribly. I let her loose in the storm, praying she would find her way back to you.”
Maggie brought Shekeret a muffin.
“Thank you. Bless you.” She took a bite.
“What made you decide to let Junie free? What made you decide not to tell your father about Rikki’s mother?” I asked.
“Something happened the day of the accident. Something I will never forget.”
I waited, wondering what she meant.
“When the accident happened and that young boy admitted knocking Rikki over, she was badly hurt. Her father, the rabbi, didn’t demand anything from him except for one thing.”
“What was that?” I asked.
“He asked him to come to his house as a guest for Shabbos. Can you imagine such a thing? My father would have demanded much gold and money and revenge.”
“That really moved you?” I asked.
“I saw something I had never thought about before. I saw what true kindness and true belief in G-d is about. And you know what? I want that. I don’t want my father’s evil way. Not anymore.”
“You don’t have to be Jewish to have that,” I said. “There are many Muslims who are just and ethical and not terrorists.”
“Yes, that is true, but I see something so precious and beautiful in your heritage and your way of life. I hope – I pray one day to be worthy of being part of your people.”
Just then we heard a loud banging on the front door.
“Could it be the FBI?” I looked at Maggie.
We both ran upstairs. To my horror I saw that the door was broken down and Shekeret’s father stood in the hallway holding a gun pointed at us.
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of 11 popular Jewish books, including her newly released historical fiction novel The Blizzard (Menucha 2026) and recently published novel Captured (Menucha 2025). She is also the current news editor of Binyan Magazine.
