SEPT 26, ‘25 // be complete … But it was too soon. It wasn’t supposed to be pressed until he heard the device start buzzing. Three minutes before, he had been told, the device would make a buzzing sound. That would be his final warning. Then, when the light on the device lit up, it would be his holy duty to press the button. Jamil knew that he still had to wait. The longer you wait, a voice whispered inside of him, the greater chance Rachamim has to escape. Angrily, Jamil pushed the thought away again. He looked again at the device in his hand. Why did it need his intervention? Why didn’t it just go off by itself? Perhaps, he decided, he didn’t really need to press anything. The device simply had to be in the right location for it to work. The detonator had to be here so the bomb would explode when it came within a certain radius of the device. All that really didn’t make a difference, however. The main problem was that Rachamim refused to leave the city. Back to Rachamim! My thoughts keep going around in circles! Jamil kept pacing up and down the dark, empty warehouse. Can I destroy the city if Rachamim and his wife are in it? How? How? Once again, Jamil removed the cell phone from his belt. He had to call. He had to make sure that Rachamim was safe. Before he could turn the phone on, it started to ring. Startled, Jamil nearly dropped the phone. He grabbed it and stared at the tiny screen to see who was calling him, but no name was visible. Jamil pressed the receive button and brought the tiny phone to his ear. “Jamil,” a voice announced, “your time has come.” “I hear,” Jamil responded automatically. “What do you want me to do?” “Go to warehouse number twenty-six, just outside the airport, and wait until the device begins to buzz. The rest, you know …” “Yes, I know,” Jamil answered. “I’m leaving immediately.” Jamil hung up the phone and took a deep breath. His time had come. For twenty years, he had waited for this moment. All thoughts of Rachamim were banished from his mind as he savored the knowledge that he, Jamil, had been chosen to bring this great glory to Islam. The street in front of the warehouse was empty. Jamil carefully slipped out of the warehouse and into his car, parked opposite the doorway. He slowly drove away, stopping every few blocks for a red light. He was extremely careful so there would be no reason for the police to stop him. Jamil drove about twenty minutes before stopping on a deserted corner two miles from the airport. His hand was trembling as he took the cell phone and dialed Rachamim’s number. As Rachamim started sobbing, Jamil felt the tears slide down his own cheeks. “Why are you doing this to us?” Rachamim repeated. Why? Why? Jamil wondered. Why am I harming these wonderful people? “I’m not,” Jamil finally managed to whisper through his tears. “I am not doing this to you. You are doing it to yourself! I’ve warned you, I’ve told you to leave. Why won’t you listen to me?” “Tell me, Jamil. What happens if I listen to you, if I leave the city?” “Then I am free,” Jamil sighed. “I am free to do my duty.” “Your duty?” Rachamim whispered. “Yes. It is the task that I have been waiting to do for twenty years.” Abruptly everything became clear to Rachamim. He realized that he—and he alone—could save the city of Los Angeles. It was only his presence here that was keeping Jamil from taking the final step toward the city’s destruction. If he left, then Jamil was free to perform his deathly task. “Listen to me, Jamil,” Rachamim said urgently. “I am not leaving. Do you hear me? If you destroy the city, you’ve destroyed me as well.” “Rachamim, I’m not about to argue now. I just want to let you know that within the next hour, Los Angeles will disappear off the face of the earth. This is your final opportunity to escape. Goodbye, Rachamim. We will never see each other again. Remember that I always loved you.” “No! No! Jamil, I will not leave Los Angeles. Naomi and I will be here, together with all the other innocent people who live in this city. I promise you, by everything I hold holy, that I will not leave the city.” His only response was a click. Jamil had hung up. Jamil left Interstate 405 shortly before the airport 200
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