Free Ashes of the Red Heifer by Shannon Baker

the whole time?”
    He nodded.
    Tears fought in the back of her throat. “I trusted you. I thought you were my only friend.”
    He looked about ready to cry. “I am your friend.”
    She gave him the meanest look she could muster and her voice got cold. “What was there to protect me from?”
    He reached for her hand but stopped and settled his hands in his lap. “It is complicated but we knew that sooner or later they would find you and use you. We couldn’t have predicted how or when. So we had to stay close.”
    Nothing made sense. “Why is everyone so intent on protecting me? It’s hard to believe I’m so special I warrant my own bodyguard even though I have no money, no connections, don’t care about anything but curing a bovine disease. And let’s see, when you met me, I didn’t even have that going for me.”
    “You don’t understand. The Jews knew about you before you were even born. They have been directing you toward this moment.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Oh for the love of cheese.”
    “It’s true. The Jews believe prophecy points to your pivotal role in rebuilding the Temple.”
    “You’re full of malarky.” She held out her hand. “I want the samples you took.”
    He shook his head. “I don’t have them.”
    “Really?” she said, her voice dripping sarcasm. “Then who does?”
    “The same people who stole the data from my computer. The Jews, Annie. And David is one of them.”
    She wanted to slap him! No, she really didn’t want to put a hand to his face. It looked so painful. But she wanted him to shut up. “David has nothing to do with any of this.”
    “Please believe me. Your life depends on it.”
    “Why would I believe anything you’ve ever said or ever will say? We’re through.”
    His eyes teared up. “I love you, Annie.” He said it plainly as if he pointed out a common DNA sequence.
    “You don’t lie to people you love.”
    “You do whatever you have to do to protect people you love. Even if it risks your life.”
    She felt her lips turn up in contempt but her heart felt as though a dull scalpel slashed through it. “Cut the crap, Hassan. I want the samples. Now that I know you for what you are, there’s no reason for me to stop the research.”
    He blinked to clear the moisture from his eyes and looked down at his hands. “You have to stop the research. You are in danger.”
    She stood, anything to keep the pain of his betrayal from turning into tears. “And you’re paranoid. You lied to me. You aren’t my friend. You’re probably just what David warned me you were, a murderer and religious freak.”
    He reached up and grabbed her wrist. With surprising force he pulled her down beside him. “Listen to me for a minute.”
    She glared at him. Hassan began in a low voice. “Even though there are different branches of Islam, much like the different churches in the Christian faith, Muslims believe in the oneness of Allah. Islam is not a religion of violence and conquest, as some would like you to believe. It is based on total commitment to the Oneness of God. Islam respects other religions and invites all racial and ethnic groups to accept our tenets. We wish to be at peace with the East and West but will not be dominated by them.”
    She folded her arms as much to protect herself as to reject Hassan. She resisted but as he’d talked she’d heard the devotion in his voice, his gentleness, his care. He sounded like the same Hassan who had been beside her through all the terrible pain and loss in her life. She couldn’t imagine him wishing harm on anyone. And yet, he’d lied to her as long as she’d known him. Her heart and head weren’t in sync. She didn’t know which to believe, the heart that said Hassan was a loyal and dear friend, the family she’d lost? Or the head that said Hassan was a liar with a secret agenda?
    Hassan continued his lecture. “The Silim is sworn to protect the Dome of the Rock. We aren’t trying to convert others because we know