63
BOUND FOR THE BEAST
Port of Sohar, Oman.
As the van came to a halt, Khalid could hear a seagull in the distance. The handcuffs dug into his slight wrists, and the black canvas sack that had been placed over his head allowed no light to penetrate. But the smell of salt water and stale fish was a dead giveaway—they were at the port where Khalid would board a cargo ship. The lack of the slightest vestige of light made him feel like he was in an abyss—a place with no beginning and no end. Without the sounds and smells, Khalid might as well have been on the surface of the moon.
The rear door of the van slung open and two men jumped in. The doors slammed closed behind them.
“Do you know who I am?” Khalid said, though his voice was muffled underneath the shroud. At once, the shroud was re
