1 Phone Rang

It all started on that cold Wednesday night, I was sitting alone in my office watching the rain fall over the distant streets outside, when the phone rang.

Akram's wife was my only friend, and she seemed to be in a panic, she and Akram were having a late dinner alone in their apartment when the front door suddenly smashed and six men in helmets rushed into the room. The men were armed and made Akram and Jihan lie face down on the floor as they rummaged through Akram's pockets for his driver's license.

The commander of the intruders brought out a syringe and injected Akram with something that made him lose consciousness almost immediately. And for some reason, they were satisfied with tying Jihan and camouflaging her. Two men left the room and came back with suspenders and white jackets. They put Akram on a stretcher, put on white jackets, and carried him out of the apartment, leaving Cihan lying on the floor. She tried to turn toward the window to see them in time as they put Akram into an ambulance and drove away.

By the time she called me, Jihan was tearing up with anger and exhaustion. She took several hours to get rid of her shackles, then called the police. To her horror, instead of the officers in uniform, two officers arrived in plain clothes and without even examining the crime scene they kept telling her that they had nothing to do and that if she knew what was in her best interest she should keep her mouth shut and if she made a protest they would spread that she was crazy and that she wouldn't see Her husband never again.