by Jan Thompson
“Then I’ll quit and go with you.”
“You won’t have a job when you come back though.”
“I’ll find work. I’ll get a teaching certificate and teach foreign language at a school somewhere. Maybe even Jonas’s school.”
“You’ve thought about that, haven’t you?”
“I’ve thought about many things.”
Esperanza smiled. “Go get your family. I’ll wait in the vehicle.”
“Is it safe for you to sit out here?”
“Bulletproof.”
“Seriously? How did you get this SUV on the island?”
“Borrowed it from a friend in Vancouver. He ferried it over this morning. I need to return it by noon. He wants it bleached-cleaned. Can you believe it? Where does he think I’m going to find the time?”
It was ironic to Marie that Esperanza could say that even as her cargo pants still had streaks of blood on them.
Esperanza must have seen what she was staring at.
“It’s Zaid’s blood,” Esperanza assured her. “He’s healthy and has no diseases.”
“How did you—never mind. I don’t need to know.”
“You do know. All the photos and videos you sent from the cruise ship helped us to identify who they are, but not until last night.”
“That explained why you came to get us in person.”
“Well, I wanted to be sure your family is safe. If they’re safe, it will make it easier for me to offer you a job.”
“The same one you tried to offer me three years ago?” Marie asked.
“I’ve fired too many people since then,” Esperanza said. “That position now belongs to you, should you decide to take it.”
“Can I take a raincheck? I need more time to think about it. This has been an interesting week.”
“Sure thing. Fortunately, nothing happened to your family today. I pray that the outcome will be good for the royal family too.”
Marie nodded. “Let me run back to the ship to shower and change?”
“Meanwhile I’ll check how the car chase is going.” Esperanza was already on her phone. “Don’t take too long.”
“I won’t.” Marie walked back to the ship while texting Logan.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Mrs. Ping had taken Jonas to the playroom, which was opened up for the kids after security ushered everyone back to the ship following the incident in the parking lot.
Incident?
Jonas’s friend and his mother had been abducted. It could have been Jonas or anyone—
Well, maybe not.
Those thoughts percolated through Logan’s head as he locked his stateroom door after the steward had dropped off their luggage. There were three pieces, plus Jonas’s backpack.
Logan lay down on the sofa, shoes still on, and rested his free arm over his forehead. His other arm, still in a cast, stuck to his side uncomfortably.
I didn’t ask for this, Lord.
There was nothing for him to do now but wait until the captain informed everyone that they could leave the ship.
The PA system came alive, startling him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. If you saw what happened in the parking lot this morning, would you please make your way to the lounge?”
Logan suspected that the local police would like to speak with eyewitnesses. He had seen something, but it was from a distance. If he talked to the police, he would have to say that Marie ran to offer assistance. Then they would ask him who Marie was, and he’d have to say, “I don’t know.”
And that’s the truth.
I have no idea what she really does to make a living.
All sorts of suspicions peppered Logan’s mind, ranging from Good Samaritan to Really Bad Person and everything in between.
If Marie did not tell him about her other job, they could never reconcile as a couple because they would not be on the same page.
It had gone back three, five, six years now, and she hadn’t come clean about her past or her present. Therefore, there would be no future for them together.
“I’m a simple businessman—well, a fortuitous one—but she knows who I am, what I do, everything,” Logan said aloud to no one. “I’m an open book, but she is a Pandora’s box.”
Somewhere in between disappointment and sadness, Logan feared knowing what was in her Pandora’s box.
Slowly, Logan sat up.
I better go to the lounge.
Before he reached the door, a text message arrived from Marie. She wanted to know where Jonas was and where they had put her suitcase.
Logan decided to wait for Marie to show up because she did not have the key to his stateroom.
The knock on his door made Logan recall the night they had been attacked in Marie’s stateroom. It had been an intense time for him, until the shipboard security personnel knocked, pretending to deliver their sandwich and snacks, which they hadn’t ordered.
Logan’s hands trembled. They had never trembled before, not even in billion-dollar merger meetings. Why were they trembling now?
One word: Marie.
Logan breathed in and out, praying for God to calm his nerves. He made his way across the carpeted floor, looked through the peephole, and opened the door for Marie.
She had streaks of blood on her olive-green blouse—
Olive green.
He hadn’t noticed it all morning. Why hadn’t he noticed the color of her blouse? Shouldn’t details matter when a man loved his woman…
Yes. That’s right. I do love her in spite of everything.
“I need to shower and change my clothes,” Marie said.
Logan invited her in. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“No questions for me?” Marie stepped into the stateroom.
“Later.” Logan pointed to her suitcase on the floor near the door.
“Thanks. Will you go get Jonas? Our flight is waiting.”
“That might have to wait a bit. The captain just announced that eyewitnesses need to go to the lounge. I’m assuming police officers are waiting for us there.”
Marie nodded. “I’ve already given my statement in the parking lot.”
“Your friend too?”
“Yes. She saved Zaid’s life before the paramedics arrived.”
“Good.” And he meant it.
“I’m sorry to run to the scene, leaving you and Jonas—but I know you’ll take care of our son, as you always have.”
Is that a compliment? “God protected us. I hope they find Abdul and his mother.”
“The Victoria Police are on it.”
“Do we know what’s going on?” Logan asked.
“Not entirely. I doubt if they’ll tell us, you know?” Marie rummaged through her suitcase, looking for clothes.
“Some secrets are meant to be kept.”
“What?” Marie walked toward the bathroom.
Logan wondered if she heard him or was just playing ignorant.
“You better run to the lounge,” Marie said. “You saw what happened. You saw Zaid go down. Anything you can tell the police will be helpful.”
“If they ask me about you?”
“No worries. They already know who I am.”
“But I don’t,” Logan said, but Marie had already shut the bathroom door.
Chapter Forty
When they reached the Victoria International Airport, Marie received a message from the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Ottawa that the car chase was over, and the two bodyguards who had abducted Aliyah and Abdul were dead from suicide by police.
Poor Hamza. Why did he do it?
Esperanza then told Marie that Zaid was in surgery for the gunshot wounds in his neck and shoulders, just where his Kevlar vest didn’t cover.
“I’m glad you know CPR,” Logan said upon hearing it.
Marie didn’t reply. She knew that Logan was trying to adjust to all these things that a normal businessman would never have to deal with. She kept watching hi
m, but not once since they had gotten into the SUV at the Victoria Cruise Ship Terminal and drove thirty minutes to the airport had he looked at her.
He seemed upset about something, and his demeanor worsened after he had given his eyewitness statement to the Victoria Police.
As for Marie, she had yet to get to her debriefing with INTERPOL Canada.
“I’ve seen worse,” Esperanza said as they climbed up the stairs into the Gulfstream G280, one of Mendenhall Security’s several jets.
This one would take them to Atlanta and, after that, Marie might have to leave right away with Esperanza to parts unknown. It could cost her job at INTERPOL, but at this point, she knew they had to take down Buchanan if her family were to live in peace henceforth.
Logan didn’t need to know all that.
As soon as they boarded, Logan was looking for a place for Jonas to sit. Marie watched him busy himself checking out the two living areas. She assumed he hoped that Jonas could take a nap or play quietly without adults talking around him.
He’s a good dad.
Mrs. Ping had tried to change her plans after the events of this morning, but neither Marie nor Logan allowed her to do so. Marie still hadn’t told Logan that she might not be able to stay in Atlanta the entire weekend. Marie would make her final decision at Logan’s house.
The situation was fluid anyway. Esperanza had assured her that Mendenhall Security was on it. They might have news today, or they might not have any news until next week.
Marie waited for Logan and Jonas to return before she buckled in because she wanted to sit across from Logan, to look him in the eye, and maybe to assure him that all was well.
Who am I to give anyone assurance?
Only God can assure us of anything.
However, when Logan returned, he sat across from Jonas. The jet only had one seat on each side of the aisle, leaving no room for Marie to sit beside or across her ex-husband.
Marie didn’t want to read too much into it, but was it possible for two people who loved each other to never be together again? She felt like he had died and left her—or rather, that she had died and left him.
Is this how grief really feels?
Marie checked Jonas’s seat belt.
“I fastened it,” Logan said to her.
“I know. I’m finding an excuse to give my son a hug.” Marie kissed Jonas on his forehead. “Mommy loves you very much and will always love you. Do you know that?”
Jonas nodded. “I’m glad you’re coming home with us, Mommy.”
“Me too.” But for how long?
“Do you have go back to work?” Jonas asked.
Did he mean at all? “Yes.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. But now I’m here.”
Without warning, Jonas pinched Marie’s arm nearest him.
“Oww!” Marie pulled her arm away. “What did you do that for?”
“Now you know you’re here.” Jonas nodded, eyes big and innocent.
Marie could hear Logan chuckle.
“Is that how you raised our son?” Marie joked.
Logan shrugged. “He never pinched me.”
Marie had no comeback for that. Her arm was still stinging from that little pinch. Jonas had strong fingers. Maybe it was time for him to take piano lessons.
She had no idea how that popped into her head, but she could see him playing the old piano in her parents’ house in Marseilles—like she used to do when she was about his age. She had taken piano lessons since the age of four, though she stopped playing any musical instruments after college.
Marie wished for her son more innocent days and comfort in life. That was all she wanted for her family. When she married Logan, she thought they’d have happily-ever-after seasons in the sun. But the rain fell, the storms came, and…
And here we are.
Marie sat down in her seat across the aisle from Jonas. She wondered if she should move elsewhere so she wouldn’t be facing Logan, but he had his eye mask on, as if shutting her out.
Maybe I shouldn’t read too much into that.
Marie looked out the window until Esperanza walked past her. She didn’t say a word, but by the duffel bag she was carrying, Marie guessed that she was heading toward the shower at the back of the jet to change out of her clothes.
Marie didn’t like to see Esperanza walking about in front of Jonas, still wearing her outfit that had blood stains on it. However, it was black material, and Jonas probably didn’t notice. Besides, Esperanza said that Zaid was healthy.
So what if it’s healthy blood? Blood is blood.
Chapter Forty-One
By the time they landed at Briscoe Field in Gwinnett County, Georgia, it was nearly midnight. Logan’s chauffeur had been waiting for over an hour to pick them up.
Jonas was asleep on Logan’s shoulder as they climbed down the steps. Logan let his chauffeur handle their suitcases, including Marie’s.
It had been the quietest five-hour flight from Victoria to Atlanta. Logan had tried to nap under his eye mask, but he ended up praying the entire time. For some reason, all the work he had brought with him on the cruise didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered to him on the flight was that his broken family had remained broken.
Had it been too much to ask of Marie to tell him the truth about everything? Were there couples who kept secrets from each other for years—or the rest of their lives? How did that work out?
Logan decided he had to let Marie go.
In fact, he didn’t want her staying with them this weekend. He wanted her to get a hotel room nearby. He’d even pay for it. She could come over to visit with Jonas on Saturday and Sunday before she went back to France on Sunday night. She had visitation rights, but Logan decided it was best not to welcome her back to his house.
His house.
That used to be their home.
Jonas stirred as Logan buckled him into the booster seat.
“Mommy?” Jonas rubbed his eyes. “Mommy?”
“I’m here.” Marie stood outside the SUV door, smiling.
Funny how we want to put on our best faces for our children. Logan stepped aside to let Marie get to Jonas.
“Sit with me, Mommy.” Jonas pointed to the empty seat next to him. “Daddy can sit in front with Mr. Wall Russ.”
“Walrus?” Marie asked.
“It’s Wallace, ma’am,” the chauffeur said from the driver’s seat.
“What I said, Wall Russ!”Jonas frowned. “He has tusks!”
“No, he doesn’t,” Logan said. “Please be polite to Mr. Wallace. He’s going to take you to kindergarten in a couple of months.”
“Why can’t Mommy take me?” Jonas reached for Marie’s arm.
“Because she has to go back to work,” Logan said. He chided himself for speaking for Marie, but wasn’t it the truth? She wouldn’t be around after Sunday.
“Someday, Jonas,” Marie said. “For now, we’re going to get you home and get you to bed. Tomorrow you can show me your new toys in your playroom.”
“Okay.” Jonas smiled. “I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.” Marie’s voice cracked.
Logan’s heart broke.
Logan’s plan for Marie to stay in a nearby hotel didn’t work out when his genetically stubborn five-year-old called the shots even before they reached home. Jonas had pitched a hissy fit in the car when he heard that his mother wasn’t going to stay with them that night.
“But we’re a family!” Jonas cried.
“I’ll come to see you in the morning,” Marie said.
“Noooooo.”
Marie glanced at Logan.
Logan felt so ashamed that he had failed as a father to discipline this brat. At the back of his mind, he wondered if part of it had been Marie’s fault. Wouldn’t an absentee mother be damaging to a child’s life?
“We have so many empty rooms, Daddy,” Jonas tried again. “Why can’t Mommy sleep in one of those rooms?”
&n
bsp; That made Logan feel even worse.
“You don’t have to see her, Daddy. We’ll stay out of your way.”
And there it was.
“You’re not in my way, Jonas,” Logan said.
“But Mommy is?”
Logan glanced back from his front passenger seat. Marie tried not to look at him.
Behind Logan’s seat, he felt a kick.
“Stop that,” Logan said.
“If I stop, will you let Mommy stay with us?” Jonas asked sweetly.
“Held hostage by a kid,” Marie finally said.
“A hos—horse?” Jonas asked. “I want a horse too. And Mommy!”
“Your kingdom for a horse?” Marie laughed.
Logan said nothing. His parenting was a disaster, but his husbandhood was worse. In the middle of it all, he wondered if Jonas needed some help with his hearing. How could anyone morph the word hostage into horse?
Marie patted her son’s knee. “Why don’t we discuss this when we get home, okay? We don’t want to distract Mr. Walrus—I mean Wallace—when he is driving at night.”
Jonas nodded. “Are you wearing your seatbelt, Mr. Wall Russ?”
“Yes, sir.” The chauffeur sounded serious. “We will be home soon, Mr. Horse.”
“I’m not a horse!” And with that, Jonas moved on from his parents’ problems.
Chapter Forty-Two
By the time Esperanza sent Marie a message about Buchanan, it was shortly after her early dinner with Jonas on Saturday. Marie had spent the entire day being a stay-at-home mom for her son, and she cherished every minute of it.
“Best birthday present ever, Mommy!” Hyper Jonas cheered as he pushed another toy car down the track that he and Marie had constructed all around the basement playroom.
“You mean this race track?” Marie asked, as she eyed the wall of windows leading to the terrace and the backyard.
Jonas nodded. “You and me. We put it together.”
“Yes, we did.” Marie closed the blinds. It was dark outside, and someone could be in the yard—
No.
Nobody’s in the yard except Espy’s people.
Esperanza had sent only four people to guard the twenty-acre estate. Logan had an argument with Marie about it that morning after breakfast—which Marie had made.
