Rules of Betrayal Read Online Free PDF Page B

her. All that mattered was this little girl.
    A bullet tore through the wall, spraying dust and wood splinters.
    “Shit,” muttered Hamid, ducking.
    Jonathan stepped back from the table. Despite the cold, he was sweating and his shirt clung to his back. “What do you think?”
    Hamid stared down at the girl. “You’re a magician.”
    “Hardly, but it just might do.” Jonathan pulled back skin and straightened the cartilage. “I don’t know if it’s an Afghan nose, but in Beverly Hills it might be the next rage.”
    Just then a volley of automatic-weapons fire rang out close by. It was loud enough to make Jonathan wince and Hamid cry out. Amina’s father held his daughter’s limp hand, eyes to the ground, saying nothing.
    Hamid hurried to the window, pulling his phone out of his pocket and clutching it as if it might save his life. “Why do they keep firing? No one’s trying to stop them.”
    “Get back here,” said Jonathan. “There’s no one to call.”
    Hamid swallowed and slipped the phone back into his pocket. Lowering his head, he returned to the operating table.
    “Let’s close up this palate so this girl can eat some solid foods again,” said Jonathan. “Get me a syringe with five cc’s of lidocaine.”
    Hamid didn’t answer. His eyes were fixed on a funnel of smoke rising from the far end of the village. “That’s near our house.”
    Jonathan looked at the smoke, but only for a moment. “Lidocaine, Hamid. Five cc’s.”
    A camel was braying continuously. A gunshot rang out and the animal went silent. Several vehicles approached, engines whining as they battled the terrible road.
    “Hamid.”
    “Yes, Dr. Jonathan.”
    “Lidocaine.”
    Hamid handed him the syringe.
    “Did I ever tell you why I came to your country?” Jonathan said.
    Hamid met his eyes. “To do this. I mean, to help.”
    Jonathan went back to his work. “That’s part of it. I had other reasons. I came to make up for some of the things I’ve done.”
    “You, Dr. Jonathan? You’ve done bad things?”
    “Not just me. My wife, too.”
    “You told me you were never married.”
    “I lied. I was married for eight years. Officially I still am, but after what she did, I’m going to call that game rained out. For the entire time, I was married to a government operative and I didn’t know it. She married me because my job with Doctors Without Borders provided her with cover and got her into politically sensitive spots in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe so she could carry out her missions.”
    “Missions? I don’t understand.”
    “Bombings, extortion, assassination.”
    “She killed people?”
    “She did. She worked for a secret organization called Division … She was their star.” Jonathan paused, and his tone dropped a notch. “I killed, too. I had to. There was no other way. Even so, I’m still not good with it. There’s more to it than that, but that’s why I’m here. To make up for her sins as well as my own. I figure if I was dumb enough not to know that the woman I shared my bed with was a spy, then at least I ought to own up to part of what she did. The funny thing is that I didn’t even know her real name until three months ago. It’s Lara. She’s Russian. Not even American. Crazy, huh?”
    Outside the window, a pair of pickups with machine-gun mounts pulled up to the clinic. Taliban fighters jumped from the rear and entered the clinic. The door to the operating room opened. A tall, powerful-looking man entered the room, carrying a hunting rifle with a scope. A shorter man followed close behind, grabbed Hamid in an armlock, and forced him to his knees. A half-dozen agitated fighters entered the room and pointed their weapons at Jonathan.
    Jonathan stepped away from the table. “I’m operating,” he said, mustering his calm. “Let go of my assistant and please leave.”
    The tall fighter ignored his instructions and held his ground. “You are the healer everyone is talking about,” he