by Sofia Grey
Louisa’s gaze darted between Sylvie, AJ, and him. “Yes,” she said faintly. “Yes. Let’s find security.”
As they hurried out of the bathroom, Charlie saw the journos still gathered ahead. Aww, fuck. He’d forgotten about them. The TV crew was packing up. Hang on. For once, the press was going to be useful.
While Louisa talked to airport security, Charlie talked to the media. Within ten minutes, they set up an emergency press conference, where AJ would speak in a live news stream. One of the journos helped make a mock-up of Joni’s picture with her new hairstyle, as described by Louisa, and Daisy had plenty of pictures of Callum.
AJ had tried hard to keep Callum out of the news, but that was all about to change.
As soon as the paramedics arrived and Sylvie was okay to be left for a couple of minutes, AJ made his appeal to the media.
“My foster son has been kidnapped. We believe he’s been taken by a woman called Joni Carruthers—although she may be calling herself Joni Dean—and he might be in danger. Joni knocked my wife unconscious before taking Cal and disappearing from Wellington Airport a short while ago. Please take a look at this composite picture of her. We believe she dressed my son in a pink kitten T-shirt, to pretend he’s a girl and make her escape easier. Callum is only twenty months old and speaks very little, but he will be terrified.”
“If you see a woman with a young child fitting this description, please call the police immediately. Joni may be staying locally. She may try to book into a motel or rent a hire car. You may see them eating in a cafe or walking in the town. Please look out for them. Sizzle and I are both desperate for news of him.
“I’m also offering a cash reward of ten thousand dollars to anyone with information that leads to his safe return. Please help us find him.” Alex swallowed hard. “Joni, if you’re watching this, I know you don’t mean him any harm. I give you my personal guarantee. You will not be in trouble with me if you just bring him back. Please.” His voice cracked on the last word, and he stared mutely into the camera until it panned back to the reporter.
*
Juli worked on the plans all afternoon, or at least, made it look as though she did. She’d no intention of trying to recreate Tesla’s Oscillator. She doubted it would work, but she wasn’t prepared to take any chances.
She wanted to get out tonight. She’d been watching the rotations of the guards, to see if there was a pattern. If she spun the night out until late, when most of the guards were either tired or sleeping, there was the best chance of escape.
Yanni invited her upstairs for dinner again. She made a careful note of the open keysafe at the end of the landing. She’d need keys for a vehicle. There was a battered pickup outside, the minibus, and a shiny 4WD. Any would do.
Yanni asked how the plans were coming along, and she stalled him as best she could. They ate, drank more herbal tea, and chatted. Maybe she needed to show more interest in his crazy ideas, to get his guard down.
“So,” she began. “You used the oscillator last year, for the Fiordland quake?”
“Yes.”
“How close did you have to get to it? Your design doesn’t have any kind of remote control or timer. You’d have to set it off manually.”
His face lit up with a smile, and he leaned back on the sofa. “You’re mostly right. I wondered if you’d guess.”
“I have no idea.”
“I had to get close to the epicentre. When I built that prototype, I rigged up a crude cell-phone detonator and a bank of lithium-ion batteries. It looked like a terrorist bomb, but it worked.”
“And using Byzantium to power it would mean you could scale the intensity up, but you’d still have to place it in the epicentre, right?”
“Yes, but I’m working on that.”
Was there any truth in his claims? Surely not.
“Go on, then,” she said. “Tell me how.”
“You know about Tesla’s Standing Wave.”
“He claimed it was his greatest discovery—that the earth itself could be used as a channel for conveying electricity. He created the foundation of wireless technology.”
“Very good,” he said. “Now take it a step further. A giant standing wave would enable a focused beam that could direct the oscillator to a distant aiming point.”
“But how do you generate the standing wave in the first place?”
“Copper carbonate.”
“Huh?”
“Come on, Juli,” he said, a teasing note in his voice. “Put the pieces together. Tesla described the earth as being like a piece of copper wire. Many places have high deposits of copper carbonate in the soil. The hills around here are a good example. That’s why I set up my base here. In simple terms, you can harness the energy from the copper carbonate and use it as a widespread conductor.”
She thought about it. “That’s a bit of a leap.”
Yanni shrugged. “To the layman, most of Tesla’s inventions are a bit of a leap. That’s why they’re so fascinating. Look at his Teleforce system.”
“The Death Ray?”
“Correct. It was a theoretical particle-beam weapon, years ahead of its time. I experimented with his design a while ago, but like with the oscillator, the results were unpredictable. Byzantium will speed up that research too.” He leaned forward. “Tell me honestly—aren’t you curious about seeing the oscillator working? Seeing Tesla’s creations brought to life?”
“You mean setting off earthquakes?”
“I mean the ability to set them off from a vast distance. Imagine having the power to do that. The technology at your fingertips. Which superpower will be able to refuse it?”
*
Charlie spent the next hour with the police, along with AJ and Louisa. They gave descriptions of Callum and Joni, Charlie explained how Joni had never been in rehab, and Louisa helped to recreate an image of Joni as she looked now. AJ supplied pictures of Callum and waited for news about Sylvie, who was at the hospital with Daisy. Then they sat and waited some more.
“For fuck’s sake, there must be something we can do.” AJ paced up and down, anger and tension radiating from him. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“I guess they’re waiting for someone to respond to the livestream appeal.” Louisa placed her hand on his arm, and he paused at her touch. She looked for all the world as though she tamed a grizzly bear in its tracks.
Charlie idly noted how beautiful she was. She could be a model with those looks. Long blonde hair swept onto her head, strands and waves tumbling artlessly onto a sharply defined heart-shaped face.
She turned toward Charlie, a mute appeal in her gaze. “I’ll go ask what’s happening. Will you stay here with him?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, watching as AJ slumped into his seat again.
As they waited, AJ raised his head, a look of determination settling on his face. “I know what we can do.”
“Anything has to be better than this. Go on.”
“When I buggered off to Dublin last year, without telling Sylvie, she phoned all the hotels looking for me. Every single one. She made up some story about tracking down her boss and not being sure where he was staying.” He gazed at Charlie intently. “We’ll do the same, except we don’t need to make up a story. We just tell the truth.”
Charlie caught the idea at once. “We ask if they have a woman matching Joni’s description?”
AJ nodded.
“Isn’t that what the police are probably doing?”
“I’d hope so. But even if they are, we can all pitch in and make the calls. Three extra people to man the phones. What do you say?”
“Fuck, yeah.”
Louisa returned at that moment. “They’re making enquiries, calling hotels and motels, but apparently it will take some time.”
AJ stood, and Charlie followed. “We’re going to help. You too, Lou. With the three of us ringing around as well, we can cover a greater range in a shorter time.”
She smiled, her face lighting
up. “You’re right. Let’s go offer our services.” She led the way to the officer in charge.
Charlie’s mind drifted. Beautiful though Lou was, she didn’t have the same spark as Daisy. There was something about Daisy that called to him in all the best ways.
He sighed. He’d spent most of today trying to ensure Daisy would no longer want him, and he’d probably succeeded.
It didn’t stop him from still wanting her.
*
Daisy waited with Sylvie at the hospital. She refused to leave Sylvie’s side, promising to update her if there was even the faintest hint of news.
Sylvie was beside herself. “I should have stopped her,” she kept saying. “I didn’t think she was a threat. I didn’t fight back, and I should have.”
“If you fought with her, Cal might have got hurt.”
“He may be hurt now.”
Daisy squeezed Sylvie’s hand. “Alex insists Joni won’t do him any harm.”
Sylvie had a lump the size of an egg on her forehead but didn’t need stitches. The battery of tests she undertook confirmed she had a light concussion, but the pregnancy seemed fine. She insisted on leaving as soon as they cleared her, and the limo collected them to return them to Plimmerton.
Of course, Sylvie wanted to go to the police station, to help Alex and the others, but he insisted that she go home.
Kate hugged her when they arrived, and they sat with Lara and Marcus. Daisy didn’t know what to do with herself.
The house felt empty, and she thought about Charlie. After the way he behaved today at the stadium, it was over between them. She couldn’t put up with that again. She wasn’t prepared to share him.
It took a while to get to this decision, but her mind was made up.
It still hurt, though.
What was it that flipped him over the edge? Seeing her at the airport with Tanner wasn’t enough to explain his complete change in attitude.
Charlie was under huge stress from his father’s death. Was he consumed with grief and lashing out at the nearest person? That didn’t match what he told her about his parents.
What about the letter she found?
That was when Charlie yelled at her. Was the letter the key to his behaviour?
She’d hate it, for someone to read her most private documents, if she had any. And judging by how angry he was last night, he’d probably erupt like Mount Vesuvius if she went back to read it. But this letter had to have a bearing on his erratic behaviour.
The others were talking in the lounge, and nobody noticed her slip into his bedroom. The letter lay in a crumpled ball on the floor.
Daisy stared at it for another minute, then picked it up and smoothed out the paper on her knee, before reading.
She sat on the bed, hunched over the single sheet, and gazed, horrified, at the words. Why did she think this was a good idea? Poor Charlie... How must he be feeling, with this new, appalling knowledge laid out in front of him? This was why he didn’t stay for the funeral. Why he sounded so lost and alone when he called her. And why he closed down when he saw her holding Tanner’s hand.
It had confirmed, in Charlie’s eyes, that she couldn’t be trusted.
Would he tell Alex? And how would Alex react?
Her mind whirled.
Hearing a door bang, she leapt to her feet. Shit. What if Charlie came in and found her? She hurriedly stuffed the letter into the side pocket of the bag, where she first found it. Then she opened the bedroom door a crack and peeked out, then snuck along the corridor to her room.
How could she face Charlie?
*
Juli was determined to spin the night out until the latest possible moment before making her move. She still wasn’t sure how to go about it, but incapacitating Yanni was the goal. She’d improvise.
She pretended to be engrossed on one of his laptops, cross-checking details of one component after another, until her eyes were itching with staring at the screen. To her frustration, Yanni was still wide awake, sitting beside her and working on his own laptop.
Her yawn was genuine. It was approaching midnight, she ached with tiredness. She had to act soon, before she either fell asleep or lost her nerve.
“Enough,” said Yanni. “Let’s have a quick nightcap before I take you to your quarters.” He selected glasses and a bottle from a nearby cabinet.
Quarters. He meant cell. She might not be wearing handcuffs at the moment, but she was still every bit his prisoner.
“Here.” Yanni offered her a glass, a small amount of amber liquid resting in the bottom.
It looked viscous when she swirled it, and she sniffed cautiously. The sharp tang of apples hit her nose, and she looked up at him in surprise. “Calvados?”
He sat next to her on the sofa. “I spent time in France. I fell in love with their apple brandy.”
She rolled a few drops around her tongue, relishing the flavour. Sweet and syrupy, yet tart with the apple and strong. Definitely strong. It tasted divine.
“Good, huh?” He reached out and chinked his glass delicately against hers.
“My father has a good selection of Calvados,” she said. “Different ages and strengths, including some really rough stuff. He jokes you can use it as paint stripper.”
Yanni laughed, showing strong white teeth. In other circumstances, she’d find him very attractive. Not only for his dark good looks, but also for his intelligence. He was completely barking mad, of course, and lethally dangerous, but you couldn’t have everything.
Shit. That was a measure of how exhausted she was, both mentally and physically. She had to move soon.
He didn’t seem to notice her wandering focus. “There’s a Yugoslavian plum brandy like that,” he said. “Slivovich. Man, that’s fierce. It feels as though it will take the enamel off your teeth.”
They drank in silence for a minute. Juli weighed the tumbler in her hand. It felt like lead crystal, thick and heavy, with a solid base. In the absence of anything better, it would do.
Yanni finished his drink. Juli sipped hers.
“Another?” He gestured toward the bottle, standing on the coffee table.
“A little, please.”
Yanni leaned forward, his back to her, the vulnerable area of his neck showing.
She had a split second to think about it.
Juli raised her glass high, then smashed it down onto the back of his head.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The police sent Charlie and the others home at eleven o’clock. The calls they made to hotels, motels, and car-hire companies were all going to answering machines. It was beyond frustrating. The police called a taxi for them, and they rode back to Plimmerton in silence.
As they disembarked, Charlie had an idea. “Taxi companies work all night, so let’s call them next. It’s Friday night in the capital city. The night life should be jumping, which means taxis will be busy, right?”
Everyone was still up, even Sylvie, and Charlie outlined the plan. Ask each and every taxi company in Wellington to look out for Joni and Callum, and email them pictures to share with all their drivers. She’d either taken a taxi from the airport or hired a car.
Wellington had a surprisingly large number of cab companies for its size, but Charlie and the others blitzed them all in the next hour. Daisy was kept busy emailing pictures. The final calls were made close to midnight. By now, Kate, Lara, and Sylvie looked exhausted, but they had no intention of going to bed. The activity had served as an effective distraction from the planned rescue of Jordan, Nick, and Juli.
It also stopped Charlie from thinking about Daisy.
She was avoiding him—that much was clear—and only spoke to him when she had to. He hated himself for hurting her, but it was necessary. He clung to that truth. He was bad news, and she was better off without him in her life.
Finally, one of the taxi firms reported a sighting. They’d picked up Joni and Callum at the airport, and driven them into the city centre, to drop them off near the Ibis Hotel
. This was on the edge of the main shopping area.
Alex gave the details to the police, but there was nothing more to be done. The Ibis had already been contacted, with no result. It all seemed hopeless again.
*
The glass impacted the base of Yanni’s skull. He slumped forward, to sprawl across the table, his glass dropping to the floor. The bottle tilted, but then settled again.
Juli was frozen. She had to move. Run away. Find the keys.
Was he dead?
She had to go.
She leapt to her feet, ready to scramble over him, when he grunted and shoved himself upright.
“What the fuck?” He sounded confused, his dark gaze sweeping around the room. He rubbed the back of his head with one hand.
It was too late. Her chance was gone.
“You?” Disbelief rang in his voice. “You hit me?”
She’d never get another opportunity. Frustration welled, and she wanted to kick herself. Why didn’t she run immediately?
“What the hell was that for? I thought we were under attack.” Yanni grabbed her wrists and held them firm. “Talk to me, Juli.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Would you like to explain? Or do I have to draw my own conclusions?”
“I don’t want to sleep with you.” She threw the words out so quickly they ran together.
“You don’t want to sleep with me.” He sounded puzzled, his voice low. “So you decided to bludgeon me with a crystal tumbler?”
Had she made things a thousand times worse? She shrugged.
“Jesus. Just as well there wasn’t anything heavier in your reach.” His gaze searched her face. “I’m going to let you go. No more bludgeoning, okay?”
She nodded, and he released her wrists. He sat way too close. She couldn’t get off the sofa without having to push past him.
“I like you, Juli. A lot. I admire your work and respect your fierce intellect. I want to persuade you to come work for me. But I will not ever force myself upon you or any woman.” He huffed a breath. “Not only are you beautiful and intelligent, but you’ve also got balls of steel.” He chuckled softly. “We could work so well together. Believe me when I say you can trust me. I intend to keep you safe.”
