by Louise Dawn
Khalid selected a caviar and smoked salmon canapé from a snack display, balancing it delicately on a porcelain plate before going for an avocado shrimp bite. “Like all Western whores, she’s lying.”
“He killed Meg. I saw him break her arm before they dragged her away. She was trying to help me escape after Khalid drugged me.”
Kris spoke carefully before taking a sip of his drink. “Meg was just a bit of crumpet on the side, turned out she was the biggest traitor of all. She worked for the British government. If Khalid hadn’t killed her, I would have, and it would have been a slower death.”
“You’re seriously working with radical terrorists. What happened to the Kris I know, the child who loved Africa and its people? The boy who helped his aunt deliver baby bucks and showed me the beauty of the land.”
“Do you think my life was idyllic on that farm? My uncle and aunt adopted me when my parents died when I was a kid. My uncle taught me everything. How to hunt, how to kill and torture animals, how to lay quiet in the tall grass while he played with me for hours. One fine day, as we lay under a tree, I put the monster out of his misery permanently. My aunt thought he’d drowned, would never have believed her ten-year old nephew grew some balls that day.”
Abby stared in astonishment.
“Don’t look so shocked. Thanks to him, I learned the art of killing. I grew up and also discovered that the only bucks that matter are the green paper ones. I’m repeatedly betrayed by treacherous women who lie to my face. First Meg and then you. I know nothing about you except that you’re a lying bitch who now has the hots for a dirty American soldier. You never even bothered telling me about your son.”
“Hundreds of innocent people have died at Khalid’s hands. Why are you doing this?”
“Hundreds of people have died at America’s hands. Fuck the West and fuck you. Tell Khalid where his son is, and we may let you live.”
“Never.”
Kris leaned against the counter and crossed his ankles. “How’s your blonde friend? Lizzy.”
“Don’t go there!”
“I have been going there…quite often lately. I think you were onto something. I can’t stop thinking about that tight little body, fondling that sweet fig. I might just court her once this is over.”
Court her? He was certifiably insane. Abby said nothing; was he trying to make her jealous with his sick words?
“Why don’t you eat with us before you go back to that American turd? I have a delicacy prepared just for you.” Kris leaned back and lifted a silver lid before shoving the plate under her nose.
The visceral reaction was horror, and it took all of Abby’s willpower not to scream in terror as she gazed at the scorched little bodies. Spiny legs, creepy antennae, and roasted thoraxes decorated the plate.
Kris smirked as he shoved the platter closer. “Many tribes in Africa consider crickets a delicacy. Their crunchy bodies are a convenient snack when you have long distances to travel. I insist that you try some.”
Abby’s pounding heart pumped tingling terror throughout her limbs, blocking out Kris’s taunts. Cold sweat coated her brow as she stared down at her worst nightmare. She refused to give in to a panic attack while she stood vulnerable, in a room with two snakes. Pain lanced through her chest as panic attempted to take hold, and she steadied her breathing.
Tiny dead insects. That was all that they were. Dead and tiny. Another minute passed as the trembling in her limbs slowed. The fear began to diminish when compared to the loss of her son or seeing Max hurt.
Abby grabbed a handful of the critters and shoved them in her mouth, wiping the evil smirk off Kris’s cruel face. She fought the urge to gag as she chewed on the thorny meal and her triumphant swallow was a giant “fuck you.”
Abby grinned manically. “Yummy. Tastes a little nutty, like eating sunflower seeds.”
She’d done it, faced her fear of a harmless insect and for a moment, she was invincible. Screw these two power-hungry dip-shits, playing their stupid games. They might have the ability to kill her, but Josephine Abigail Evans was their siren song, lulling them with the calm before shredding them to tiny pieces.
Kris narrowed his eyes before pulling her in for a bruising kiss. His grinding teeth split her lip as he pulled her up against his length. “And now you taste like cricket. It’s getting me all hard.”
Abby kicked him in the shin and Kris shoved her away.
Khalid placed his plate on the coffee table before delicately wiping his hands on a napkin. “This reunion is riveting, but I have business to attend to and need the location of my son. If you refuse to talk, I’ll spend time getting to know your tough boyfriend, and you’re welcome to watch.”
Abby swiped at her mouth. “He knows nothing, I swear, I’ve kept him in the dark.”
“Debatable, but it doesn’t matter what he knows. He’s just a tool to open that luscious mouth of yours.” Khalid popped a bite into his mouth. “You have a good chef, Muller. I’m half tempted to steal him from you.”
“Wait until you try the stuffed venison. I shot the impala this morning in honor of my valued guest,” Kris said.
“I appreciate your hospitality, I’m looking forward to dinner. First let’s get unsavory business out of the way. Roman, get the equipment.”
Khalid grabbed her arm and marched towards the door. Abby shot Kris a pleading look as he ambled alongside.
At the top of the stairs, Kris spoke up. “Khalid, let me try first. Give me twenty minutes alone with them. I guarantee an answer.”
Khalid paused. “This way is a lot more fun.”
Kris pulled him aside. “I have a relationship with her. If it doesn’t work, then let the games begin.”
“Fine. I’ll have my dinner, but I want answers by the time I’m done.”
Khalid turned to Abby. “Twenty minutes is the difference between having a live male companion or a tortured lump of flesh chained to the floor. It’s your choice.” The Sandpiper took a deep breath of fresh evening air before ambling back inside.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Abby’s swollen bottom lip had Max on his feet.
He pushed a water bottle into her hands. “Drink and eat the bread.”
Two men followed behind. Muller the douche and Roman the prick.
“Who hurt you?”
“I’m okay. It’s you I’m worried about.”
“Who touched her?” Max asked Kris.
“I may have got a little amorous while cuddling up to my cricket, she’s such a hot little pocket.”
“Muller, if it wasn’t personal before, it sure is now. I’m going to rip out your spleen.”
“I’m sure a spook like you could. Try anything and I’ll shove my Alfred Khuzwayo up your arrogant ass, before pulling the trigger.” Kris waved an AK47 around.
Max assumed the term Alfred Khuzwayo was the local slang for an AK47.
“Try it,” Max growled.
The two men faced off. Kris grinned. “I have more important things to deal with than some Yankee dickhead.”
Kris nodded to Roman, who yelled in Arabic for the two guards to leave. Once the four of them were alone, Kris focused his attention on Abby. “We need to talk.”
“I’m not telling you anything, you can go to hell.”
“We’ve been watching you for a long time. By ‘we’ I’m not referring to Khalid.”
Max then figured out Muller’s game and squeezed Abby’s hand. “Kris was the one who slipped you the note on the napkin, back in February.”
Kris bowed. “Guilty as charged. I was trying to warn you. Khalid’s network was closing in on your location, and I’d hoped you’d take the hint and disappear. Instead, you sent away the brat and continued squatting in Johannesburg.”
“But you work for Khalid?” Abby said.
“The man is like a father to me but lacks ambition. I’m expanding my operations, when I heard that Khalid was hunting for you, we needed to find you first. I still love you after all your lies
and deceit, I fucking love you.”
Roman walked up beside Muller, Abby shot him a dark look. “Roman is in on this?”
“He’s my new business partner.”
Max didn’t like this treacherous turn of events. “The business partner who attacked Abby in the strip mall parking lot.”
“We were trying to spook her into leaving the country. Roman had to make it realistic.”
“Realistic, huh? Was a nasty head wound, concussion and sexual assault what you were aiming for?” Max asked.
“He got a little carried away. Joey, why didn’t you leave?”
Abby drank the water, wincing as it hit her split lip. “Because I’m tired of running and my name is Abigail, not Joey and not Cricket.”
“Well. ABIGAIL. You’ve got us in a real tangle, and it’s now up to me to save your lying ass.”
Abby tightened the water cap with shaking hands. “Were you actually drunk when you came to my house or was that just part of your act?”
“I temporarily fell off the wagon. Watching over you—seeing you again—made me feel all nostalgic. You make me weak, and I don’t like it.”
“None of that was guilt, for getting your team killed, or butchering a highly endangered species?”
Kris folded his arms. “The unit got in the way of my business operations and needed to be eliminated. Rhino horn is a lucrative income.”
When Max first assessed Kris, he’d thought he was a sociopath. He was wrong. Muller was so much more. A textbook psychopath. Callous, yet charismatic. Manipulating others with charm and mimicking feelings to present as “normal” to society. Organized in his criminal thinking, displaying little emotion, even under situations that most would find horrifying. He was keenly aware that what he was doing was wrong but didn’t give a damn.
Max tucked an ill-looking Abby in a little closer. “What do you want, Muller? Get to the point.”
Roman glanced at the closed doors. “We don’t have all day, tell them.”
Kris smiled at Abby. “It’s a win-win situation. Small sacrifices will be made but everyone walks away from this alive, and your son will be safe.”
Abby now had a handle on the newly revealed Kris Muller. “I’m guessing that you’ll benefit from this the most.”
“You could benefit equally and have a good life. It’s up to you.”
That statement had Max’s spidey senses tingling. “What do you want with her.”
Kris’s entire focus was on Abby’s reaction to his next words. Max wanted to shut the conversation down. When Muller moved into their space, it took all of Max’s restraint not to smash his pretty face.
“13 Willow Avenue, Somerset West,” Kris said softly.
Abby buckled, a low moan escaping. That had to be the location of Gabe. Fuck.
“After you handed your son off, one of my men followed your friend to the safe house in Cape Town. She was careful and used evasion tactics, but my man was better. If you don’t agree with my terms, I’ll have no choice but to reveal the location to Khalid.”
Abby pulled out of Max’s arms, pummeling Kris in the chest as she sobbed. “You were my friend. I trusted you. Don’t you dare touch my baby. Please, Kris, I beg you, don’t take my child.”
Kris shook her. “Fok! Stop the fucking drama.”
Max launched himself as far as the ankle cuff allowed before yanking Abby back.
Roman aimed the M4 carbine at his head. “Would everyone just calm the fuck down. We have eight minutes left before Khalid requires an answer.”
Muller stepped quickly out of Max’s range. “Here’s my offer, and I’d examine the alternative before turning it down. I’ll give Khalid a different address in Cape Town. Cricket, you’ll accompany us. Once we arrive, a team will be waiting for Khalid and ambush the arrogant prick, removing him from the equation. You and I will then leave the country to start our new life together. I’ve built the perfect ranch, farther up into Africa. You’ll love it. I’ve based the design off my auntie’s farm in Botswana. Do you remember how you loved the wraparound porch and the sunny kitchen?” Kris’s eyes glowed as he spoke.
“You’re fucking crazy,” Max said.
Kris ignored him, outlining details of the plan. “There are conditions attached. I don’t like children, so your bratty kid needs to remain where he is. Permanently. One day you’ll have my babies, and that will be different. It’ll be my seed in your belly.”
Max furiously shoved Abby behind him. “You sick son of a bitch.”
“If you do this, I’ll guarantee that your son will be safe. He can grow up in South Africa, far away from his father’s legacy.”
“You’re insane if you think Abby will fall for that.”
“Both of them will be safe, and Khalid will be dead. Problem solved.”
Abby finally spoke, “What about Max?”
Max twisted around. “This is a sacrificial game that I won’t allow you to be a part of.”
“If you let Max go, I’ll consider your offer.”
Max grabbed her shoulders. “Abs, I won’t allow you to do this.”
“I don’t need your permission.”
“We can’t just let him go,” Roman reasoned. “Khalid won’t allow that.”
“Just give Max the key and allow him to escape,” Abby said.
“We’re not idiots. He’ll come straight for you.”
Max ground his teeth. “Damn fucking right, I will.”
“The best I can do is have a man release him after we’ve left. We’ll tell Khalid that we’re executing him. Hopefully, Khalid won’t want to do the honors himself.”
Max didn’t believe that for a second. Due to the connection Max shared with Abby, Kris would remove him from the equation.
“I need a moment alone with Max before I give you an answer.”
“Two minutes is all you get. If you choose to stand with the American spook, then I’m done with you. I’ll withhold the location of your son until the torture is over. Khalid’s a cruel bastard. I doubt either of you will be recognizable by the end of it.”
The door banged closed behind them. Max knelt down to pull at the leg iron riveted to the floor, working on it whenever possible. His torn ankle showed the effects.
“The shit-holes knew what they were doing. This fucking thing is anchored to hell and goddamn unpickable.”
“Max, talk to me.”
“What do you want me to say? You’ve made your decision, giving yourself over to that slithering dick-wad. Fuck!” Max pulled the manacle, his muscles screaming with strain. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
Abby knelt, laying a hand on his arm. “I won’t let them torture you. Once I’m gone, you’ll find a way to escape without my safety hanging over your head. The team can’t be far off. Please rescue Gabe. Once he’s safe, then search for me.”
“How are you so damn calm?”
“Because for the first time in my life, I trust someone else to have my back and I know you won’t give up on us.”
Letting Abby go wasn’t an option. “Baby, don’t do this, please. We can’t be separated.” Max was now begging and didn’t give a damn.
“I have no choice. They’ll tear you to pieces and Khalid will still find Gabriel. I have to go with him. I can save you.” Abby stroked his neck.
Max shrugged her off and stood up. “Bullshit. You’re not fighting for yourself or for us. You’re taking the easy way out and that’s not the woman I know.”
Abby hugged him. “I trust you to find me.”
Max removed her arms. “The way you’ve always trusted Muller, the brother you’ve never had?”
“You didn’t just say that.”
“If things don’t work out, then at least you’re not alone. You’ll be sitting in Muller’s sunny African kitchen, knowing Khalid has been exterminated and that your son is safe.”
“How can you think that of me? That I’d use others to—”
“Use others to stay safe. Choose the path of least resistance. I
sn’t that what survivors like you do, find that escape?”
“You’re not thinking clearly. I love you.”
Max looked as shocked at the declaration as Abby was, but rage rampaged over the sweet confession with little care to the consequences.
“Keep telling yourself that as Muller’s wife, enjoying the spoils of war.”
◊ ◊ ◊
Abby slapped him. Max swore and turned away. With her world tearing apart, all she could take with her was a last look at Max’s frigid back. Choking down the screaming hurt, she said, “All those flowery words you spouted about fighting by my side meant nothing.”
“Evans, you’re not at my side. You’re at Muller’s side.”
“I won’t be for long. I’ll find a way to escape or to kill him, and I will kill him.”
“Taking a life isn’t easy and he’s your childhood friend.”
Running her fingers down his back caused muscles to freeze, but Abby took no heed. “Be safe, my wolf.”
She pressed a last kiss to those frosty muscles before walking towards the men stepping through the door.
“You have a deal.”
Kris pulled her to his side. “Let’s give Khalid the fake address before heading out.”
◊ ◊ ◊
What did he just do? Fear tore away control as Max threw himself towards their disappearing backs. Rabid threats for Muller’s demise came screaming from his lips. The manacle shredded broken skin but never halted Max’s continued efforts to get to Abigail.
“Kill him,” Roman said.
Abby screamed, launching herself at Roman. “We had a deal! Don’t touch him!”
“Your boyfriend is too dangerous. Shut the hell up before Khalid hears you.”
“Max!”
Roman smothered her screams, dragging her away.
Kris turned at the door. “Guess you lost both your life and the girl. Sorry for you, buddy.”
“Roman will sell you out!” Max yelled at Kris. “Deceit seeps out of his black heart. Whenever he looks your way, he fucking hates you.”
“You’re wrong,” Kris said. “There’s a large bundle of cash coming his way, and more to follow.”
