Free Changeling by David Wood, Sean Ellis Page B

violent faith, filled with radicals and terrorists, but dug deeper, revealing more subtle forms of intolerance, such as unflattering portrayals of Muslims in movies and television shows, which all too often conflated “Muslim” with “terrorists.”
    Unfortunately, like fire, the truth was sometimes difficult to control, and letting it loose could have unpredictable consequences.
    “Roche is dead,” Shah said.
    Something like relief or satisfaction spread across Gabrielle’s countenance. “How?”
    “That’s the problem.” He briefly related what his sources had told him about Rafi Massoud and the brutal murder the young student had committed. “They’re going to try to put this on us,” he continued. “They’ll say that I incited this young man to commit murder.”
    Gabrielle made a cutting gesture with her hand. “Let them.”
    Shah swallowed nervously. Gabrielle may have shared Shah’s mission, but her motives were more complex.
    “This is what we do, Atash,” Gabrielle went on. “Turn their attacks against them. If you distance yourself from this, you’ll appear weak. Apologize and they win. You have to own this.”
    “I don’t think that will work this time. They want to paint us as a religion of violent extremists and terrorists. You would have me admit they’re right?”
    Gabrielle reached out and took his hand again. Shah felt an electric tingle at the touch. “This is how the world works now, Atash. A lunatic shoots a school full of children. What does the gun lobby do? Do they apologize for the behavior of one crazy person and admit that maybe some common sense regulations might be a good idea? Not a chance. They double down and turn the tables, blame the victims for not having guns of their own and paint everyone who says otherwise as the real extremists.”
    Shah stared back dumbfounded. “You can’t be serious. We created the CDL to fight that kind of echo chamber mentality.”
    “We created the CDL to defend Islam. Our enemies will try to use this against this. We have to make it work to our advantage.”
    Her passion radiated through her hand into his, burning through his reflexive opposition. “How exactly do we do that? Do we say it’s Roche’s fault for not being Muslim?”
    He said it half-jokingly but to his astonishment, Gabrielle nodded. “Just like we did after the Charlie Hebdo shootings. We’ll release a statement saying that, while we do not condone what happened, we strongly condemn the sort of blasphemy that prompted a young man to martyr himself.”
    Shah’s forehead creased in a frown. “The cable news outlets will make hay out of rhetoric like that.”
    “It doesn’t matter what they do with it.” She squeezed his hand again. “All that matters is that your people—our people—will recognize your strong and decisive leadership.
    Shah felt his resistance crumbling. “You’re very persuasive.”
    “Only because I’m right about this. Trust me. And don’t worry. We’ll run the statement past legal to make sure it’s airtight.” She paused a beat. “You said this happened in Peru? What was Roche doing down there?”
    “I have no idea. He’s been hiding out ever since…that thing with his publisher.”
    “The shooter, he was a student, right?” Gabrielle pressed. “An archaeologist? We need to know how he came to cross paths with Roche. The old crank might be dead, but he can still hurt us if he told someone what he knows or gave them his book.”
    “I’m not sure there’s much we could do about it if he did.”
    Gabrielle’s expression hardened abruptly, her dark eyes boring into him. “Atash, I don’t think you fully appreciate just how serious this situation is.”
    Shah gaped at her. “How can you say that? I’ve been in damage control mode ever since I heard about the shooting.”
    “I’m not talking about Roche’s death. I’m talking about his secret. It must stay buried. At all costs. If he’s shared this knowledge with anyone