Untangling the Web

Chapter 14

Emir watches the video on Zafer's phone. Then he watches it again.

"Where did you get this?" he struggles to ask. He still can't believe what he's seeing and hearing.

"About halfway to school, Zeynep realized she had left her assignment. So we went back to get it," Zafer explains. "I was waiting on the patio for her when I heard them in the office. Cemre. And your mom."

"Looking for that flash drive, I assume."

Zafer just nods before continuing his story.

"I heard Cemre begging your mom for help finding the drive and your mom demanding Cemre to tell her what's going on. That's when I started recording."

Emir can remember every vile word they said.

"So how do we take care of Reyhan? Are you going to hit her on the head the same way you did Hikmet amca? Hire another gunman?"

"Killing her is no longer an option, maalesef. I believe the stupid girl has gone and gotten herself pregnant. We can't kill her or simply run her off. Emir would never get over losing a child. It's going to be hard enough to get him to believe she got accidentally dosed with the sleeping pill, but we can put that off on Nigar. We'll say the sleeping pill was for me and Nigar mixed up the tea cups."

"And Emir will believe that?" Cemre is doubtful.

"Emir believes anything I tell him," Cavidan scoffs. "But this baby, if it survives, will be a problem. It's going to forever tie him to this peasant. Unless we rewrite her story again. Emir will have his child and that girl will be gone."

"So we take the baby first? And then get rid of her?" Cemre asks.

Even hearing the words over and over in his head doesn't make them easier to comprehend or believe. How can two women he's loved all his life do this? How could he have been so blind to their true nature?

"So let me see if I have this straight," Emir says, clearing his throat. Clearing the tears clogging his throat. He holds up one finger. "First, my mother hired the hit on herself. Which means she also ..."

He holds up a second finger.

"... set up my father to take the fall for ordering her shooting. And if that weren't bad enough she ..."

He holds up a third finger.

"... had originally planned to have the shooter kill Reyhan. And to add icing to the cake ..."

He holds up a fourth finger.

"... she hit my father on the head to silence him. He may be silenced permanently. Did I get it all? Did I get everything my mother has done in the past two months?"

Emir laughs to keep himself from crying.

"Has it really only been two months?" He covers his face with his hands and rubs vigorously. "And that's not even accounting for the sleeping pill or what she's planning to do. Or what Cemre has done. Or what the two of them have done together. Zafer, what kind of people are these?"

Emir takes a deep breath for a bit of calm, realizing where he is. Realizing he shouldn't be disturbing his wife. He's already been the cause of enough of her disturbance. He can't imagine his mother and Cemre have given Reyhan a day of peace since she married him. Because of him. Because they feel some sick possessive way about him. That's the only reason he can figure.

"What are you going to do about them?" Zafer asks them. "Do you want to call the police?"

"I don't know. Will the police do us any good? I just ..." Emir sighs again. "I just don't know right now."