ZORAYA MALCOM MYSTERY: I DIED IN THE DESERT

Chapter 5

The sofa was really so inviting, she would have opted to dose in her designated room if she knew where it was located. So when she heard the voice spoke out those words, she became alert right away. Upon hearing those words, she turned around and was surprised to see a young man wearing white robes covered from head to foot. She had recognized the outfit as a "Kandura" worn by the locals or Emiratis, the person looked like a young version of her father, but definitely older than her. She knew she had a half brother so this must be him.

"Hi! I'm Soraya and I am waiting here for Mr. Al Hanief." She said, making her tone of voice perkier since she was really sleepy a while ago. She did not introduce herself because she had not spoken with her father yet and she doesn't know the protocols regarding this kind of situation.

"I know who you are, Sis." Majed said, his eyes twinkling. "I'm very sorry for barking at you a while ago, I was just taken aback with your looks."

"Oh really, I am not sure how to respond to that statement." Soraya said. She was mighty confused and did not know if her brother referred on how she looks at that moment given that she just came from the airport.

"Sorry again, I'm not referring to your physical look right now but on how you really look like Aunt Ameera. Here let me show you her portrait and I believe we also have some pictures here in the study room." He said, while leading the way to the study room to show his sister who he was talking about. "Here she is, look same features just different eye color which is very amazing by the way."

Soraya looked at the portrait of Ameera Al Hanief and she gasped, it was just like looking at a mirror of herself. They were like twins but just born in different timeline and different eye color, hers was green while Ameera's the color of amber. It was the first time that she had seen the portrait; she only had her mother's description of her before and now she had seen her with her own eyes.

"I was wondering where you both are." A deep voice suddenly said.

Both Soraya and Majed was startled out of their reverie when the voice spoke, that the both looked at the direction of the door at the same time and saw Adnan Al Hanief standing by the doorway.

"Father, I was just giving my sister the tour of the house." Majed quickly said.

"Yes, it was nice to get to know Aunt Ameera." Soraya said. 'I just heard the rumors, but to see her personally is a whole different kind of experience."

"I hope my dear that it was a good one, I too also thought I am seeing double, the intensity of both your beauties can make any man blink his eyes more times the normal." Her father said.

"Thank you, but she is more beautiful than I can ever be." Soraya said while blushing.

"Very humble my sister." Majed said while smiling.

"Well enough of that, come let us have lunch and I need to discuss some things with the both of you which is a very important family matter. I also will discuss with Soraya why I had invited her to summer here in the UAE." He said while ushering both brother and sister to the dining hall. The table was full of food, different dishes that is both Arabic and International. As the three of them was comfortably seated and had some food on their plates, their father started to tell them about why Soraya was there.

"Soraya my dear, I am really happy that you have accepted my invitation to come here and be with us. I have heard from your mother that you have taken criminology as your major in university." He said.

"Yes that is correct, I really wanted to be a lawyer like mom and that is one of the majors that I need to get for my pre-law." She answered in between bites of food.

"That is great news indeed, I thought for a minute there you want to become a police officer." Her Father said.

"Well that can also be a fall back if I decide to not pursue law school." She answered.

"Indeed well, to your success my little sister." Majed suddenly said while holding up the class that he was drinking from.

"Uhmm, thank you." She said a little surprised from the gesture.

"Since we are now moving on to dessert, I just want to let both of you know that Ameera's case will be opened up by the Police's Cold Case Department for reinvestigation. They have this like a raffle or lottery that a case number can be picked randomly and they will open it to reinvestigate for a period of three months to make sure that everything was done properly and no stones were left unturned. Family can contest is, but I am choosing not to because something was really off on what happened during that investigation and that I was just a kid that time and I really wanted to know what happened." He said, he had tears on his eyes.

"Are they going to interview again everyone that was here at that time? Are these people still alive?" Majed asked in a curios tone.

"Yes I believe so, most of the staff that was here worked for us at that time and I believe all of them are still alive, some already retired." He said. "Besides enjoying her summer, I also want Soraya to help in the investigation by representing the family and assisting the officers to their investigation."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" She asked and was a bit surprised.

"Yes, as not just because you are a studying crime, you are also not very close to this family so you can be very subjective to whatever you will discover." He said. "With what I learned of what happened, I think I am entitled to be more cautious about this. But to be honest I really miss my sister very much and I believe it is time for her to finally come home."