My voice is tight with tension. “No.” I clear my throat. “Thanks.”
“Coffee with milk, please,” he tells the waiter.
When the waiter scurries off, I get straight to the point. “You’re going to gather your men, get into your van or plane or whatever mode of transport brought you here, and vanish from our lives forever. You’ll never pursue Ian or me again. You won’t attempt to contact us. In fact, you’re going to forget we exist.”
Leaning back, he utters a laugh. “Why would I do that?”
I don’t play my trump card yet. “How did you find me?”
“Informant.”
The waiter delivers his coffee.
He thanks the waiter and says when the man is gone, “Does it matter?”
“Who?”
“I think you know.”
“Danai.”
“Mm.”
“Did you pay her?”
He takes a sip of his coffee. “She got a handsome reward.”
“What did she tell you?”
“I don’t care what happened or how you got here. I don’t want to waste time on how you tricked us or if you’re here out of free will or because Mr. Hart is forcing you. That’s not what matters now.”
“Why are you here?” I want him to admit his intentions.
“Let me make this clear for you. Ian Hart and his gang are going down. There are two ways this can happen. Either you testify against him, and I put you in witness protection, or I arrest you with them and throw your ass in jail. I’m sure there are a few wardens who’ll enjoy your company on more than one level.”
So, this is his plan. He’s bribing me with protection and blackmailing me with the horrors of jail to testify against Ian. With my testimony, Ian will be found guilty without a doubt. Wolfe probably knows Ian will avenge himself by killing me for my betrayal. If Ian can’t do it personally, he’ll get someone else. That way, all the loose ends are neatly tied up, and Wolfe gets his next set of cufflinks for excellent service, not to mention the feather in his cap for nailing the most notorious thief in the history of the continent.
Does he take me for a fool? Does he think I’ll let him use me to serve his purpose? The fact that he thinks I can’t see through him is an insult to my intelligence. Deep down where it matters, in a person’s soul, he’s worse than Ian.
He threatened me with killing us to get me here. Just because of that, I taunt him. “You don’t have jurisdiction here.”
“There are ways of getting Mr. Hart back in South Africa.”
“Such as?”
He raises a brow and waits for me to connect the dots.
Oh, my God. If he thinks he’s going to kidnap me to use as bait, he’s got another think coming.
“Let me tell you how this is going to go down,” I say. “You’re going to get the hell out of here and tell your men it was a false lead. You’re going to use all that energy you invested in your obsession with Ian to reflect on your sins. Maybe go to confession or get psychological treatment. Whatever you do with your miserable life after today, make very sure we never cross paths again.”
His eyes widen with his smile. “You’re quite a number, Miss Joubert. Congratulations. You win the prize. That must be the funniest speech I’ve heard.”
“It’s not a request.” Taking the photocopy from my bag, I slide it across the table. “If anything happens to Ian, me, or anyone that means anything to him, this goes straight to your superior.”
He barely spares the image a glance. “My superior is well acquainted with this photo.”
“I don’t think he is.”
“What makes you so sure?” he asks with a smirk.
“Because, Detective Wolfe, if he was familiar with this photo, your team members would’ve long since discovered what I have.”
He goes rigid. “If this is a ploy to win your boyfriend time to escape—”
“Look closely.”
He narrows his eyes but drops his gaze to the printout. I see the exact moment he spots the cufflink. His smug smile slips. His face goes as white as the foam of the water behind him.
I push to my feet. “I’ve sent copies to various people who’ll release them to the media if anything happens to Ian, his gang members, or me. Goodbye, Detective Wolfe. I look forward to never seeing you again.”
He sits like a statue, letting me walk away.
The man studying me over the rim of his menu shoots a flabbergasted look at Wolfe as I walk past his table.
My insides are coiled into a tight knot as I cross the lobby. The two men throw down the brochures and stare at me with slack jaws, but they don’t follow. They didn’t expect me to leave like this. The picture they envisioned probably entailed me leaving with Wolfe in a police van.
It’s only in the Jeep that I let my mask slip. My hand shakes as I turn the key. The engine roars to life. I nearly faint with relief when I pull out of the parking lot and no vehicles follow. Dragging in a few deep breaths, I try to calm my erratic heartbeat as I drive to the market. I grab a shopping bag from the back and weave through the aisles, paying little attention to the fruit and vegetables I dump into the bag. At each stall, I pay with the cash in my purse.
When the bag is almost too heavy to carry, I throw it into the back of the Jeep and head toward the lodge. How do I break the news to Ian?
The truth gets stuck like a pill in my throat. As long as my knowledge is the trump card that keeps us safe, I can never tell Ian. If he knows Wolfe is Nick’s killer, he’ll want to expose him. If Wolfe is exposed, I have nothing to hold over his head. Even if Wolfe is fired and convicted, he’ll find a way to come after us. I don’t doubt it for a minute. The only way of keeping us safe is making sure the sword I hold over Wolfe’s head remains my secret. I’ll always carry a lie in my heart. Knowing I’ll forever hide a truth from Ian kills me, but this is my sacrifice. This is the burden I’ll carry for the sake our love, for the sake of our child.
It’s only then I think again about the other news I have to tell Ian. Biting my lip, I cup a trembling palm over my stomach.
Chapter 19
Ian
Ruben walks up when I arrive from the airport with Shona. The engine of the Hummer is still idling when he gets my door.
“Ian, we have to talk.”
I step from the vehicle, irritated to be bulldozed before I’ve even entered the building. “It can wait.”
“It can’t,” he says to my back.
He’s testing my patience. I turn slowly, about to put him back in his place, but his words still me.
“It’s about Cas.”
Garai, who’s filling bird feeders, drops the bag of seed and says in a rush, “She went to town for supplies. She told me, Ian. I said it’s okay. If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”
The news catches me off guard. I’m immobile as I let the information settle. She went to town on her own. My first reaction is fear, fear that she’ll run, but the reason I left her the Jeep and a gun is to prove I trust her.
It takes effort to calm myself and focus on that fact. She gave me her trust. It’s time I do the same. Wasn’t that the point of giving her freedom? To prove to myself more than anyone she’s staying out of her own, sweet will?
It takes every ounce of willpower I possess and more to shrug it off. “She’s a big girl. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
Garai sags with visible relief. I’m not sure if he was more worried about the repercussion for him or Cas. My money is on the latter.
Shona touches my arm and says softly, “You trust her, remember?”
I pull my attention back to her. She sounds and looks tired. “Why don’t you take a couple of days to settle in? We’ll manage things in the kitchen.”
She clicks her tongue. “I need to keep busy. I bet the women messed up everything while I was gone.”
I stare after her with a smile as she disappears into the reception hall.
“How’s Banga?” Garai asks.
I pul
l a hand over my brow, feeling the strain from the last few days. “He’ll pull through. They’re keeping him under observation for another few days before he can come home.”
“Good,” he says, wiping a sleeve over his sweaty face. “Do you want me go check on Cas?”
“No.”
Reflexively, I take my phone from my pocket. I’ll give her a call just to reassure myself. This moment had to come sooner or later. I can’t keep her tied to me forever. She’s my girlfriend, the woman by my side, the woman I intend on very soon making my wife, not my prisoner. I remind myself of that as I stalk back to the office to make that call.
Ruben follows, stretching his steps to keep up. When I enter the office, he slips in after me and closes the door.
“I thought we were done,” I say, my jaw tight with irritation.
Lately, I’ve been irritated a lot with his presence. Most of that has to do with his attitude toward Cas. Things are going to have to change, or Ruben will have to go. As I’ve realized before, cutting him lose will be a dangerous complication, but Cas is here to stay, and she comes first.
“Ian…”
The way he rolls on the balls of his feet only agitates me more.
I go around the desk, sit down, and boot up the laptop, sending a not-so-subtle message that I’m busy. “Spit it out or let me get to work.”
“Cas didn’t go to town for supplies. She’s at the Elephant Hills hotel.”
I still. The accusation heats my veins. Something tells me he’s only the messenger, but that makes him a snitch no less.
Deep inside, I know my anger isn’t directed at him but born from premature disappointment. An ugly feeling grows in the pit of my stomach. I pray Cas is having her hair cut or getting waxed at the spa, but I already know differently from the I-told-you-so look on Ruben’s face. I already know I’m going to want to kill him for what he’s going to say.
I’m shaking with a rageful need to know but trying to delay the explosion brewing in my gut by putting off the truth. “How exactly do you happen to know that?”
“I had her followed.”
My rage turns red. “You did what?”
“I never trusted her. I told you that. Just as well, because you’re not going to like it when I tell you who she’s meeting there.”
Who she’s meeting there. My jealousy is the spark that ignites that explosion. It burns white-hot through my insides as I imagine her with another man, but this part of us, of our life, is private. I don’t show Ruben that anger. I don’t want to ask, but I don’t have a choice. He woke a monster in me, and now I need to know.
“Who?” My level voice doesn’t betray how close I am to committing murder for the first time in my life.
“Detective Jim Wolfe.”
I can believe many things, but not this. Not after I’ve been inside her so many times her body feels like home. Not after she’s said my name like a prayer when she comes. As long as there’s no proof, I can pretend he didn’t just say this, but he produces his phone, flicks a finger across the screen, and turns it toward me.
“The guy I put on her tail just sent me this.”
I take the phone and stare at the image of them sharing a table overlooking the falls. They’re facing each other, sitting cozily together like a couple. The wind has caught a whisp of her platinum-blond hair, blowing it across her temple. She looks feminine and hot in a simple tank top and oversized jeans. She looks so beautiful, so mine, as she sits there and talks to him. To him. The camera caught her in the beginning of a smile, her lips tilting in the corner. I can’t begin to imagine how that smile ended for the fear of wiping everything off the desk.
The edges of the phone squeeze painfully into my palm. I make a conscious effort to loosen my grip. The picture burns into my mind. The knowledge shatters me. The pendant she offered me hangs with a heavy weight around my neck, the symbol resting over my heart.
“You have to deal with her,” Ruben says.
I catch his gaze. If he has any idea what’s going on inside me, he’ll run, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he just destroyed me. I keep my voice toneless. “I will.”
He widens his stance. “Will you?”
I shove his phone back at him. “Are you fucking challenging me?”
He gives me half a smile. “Just checking that you still have some brain cells left to think with. That woman pussy-whacked you good.”
This is my limit. I grind my teeth together so hard the sound reverberates in my skull. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get out of my sight.”
He raises his hands, still clutching the phone with the incriminating evidence. “I’m going.” Backtracking to the door, he says, “You better check her phone for whatever she handed over to the cops. Leon and I have a right to know. Our asses are on the line too.”
My thinly stretched self-control snaps. I slam a palm on the desk. “Get out.”
Shaking his head, he saunters through the door, not bothering to close it behind him. In the semi-privacy, I let the knowledge cut me up inside.
She was supposed to trust me.
I wanted to be that man.
Instead, I’ve been a fool.
Chapter 20
Cas
So many things happened today, it’s hard to process everything. The facts are a brain overload.
Wolfe killed Nick to frame Ian for murder.
Danai betrayed us.
I’m pregnant.
Shit.
I’m pregnant.
Danai will have to leave. We can’t trust her. I’m not sure how to orchestrate that without telling Ian the truth. Maybe I’ll blackmail her with her betrayal. If Ian finds out, he’ll expel her from the property anyway. I’m not sure what Ruben will do when he finds out she split on him. I have a feeling he’d rather kill her than exile her. Maybe that’s the angle I’ll use in convincing her to leave.
My head is crammed so full of shocking revelations and uncertain scenarios a headache throbs in my skull by the time I pull up at the lodge. A figure waits in front of the entrance. Already from the top of the road, I make out his build—tall, broad, dangerous, imposing.
Ian.
Despite the facts running through my mind, I focus every bit of my attention on him. Is he angry that I went to town alone? I try to read his reaction when I park, but his expression is neutral.
He steps forward when I cut the engine and opens my door. He locks his hands around my waist and lifts me to the ground. For a moment, he holds me tightly against his chest, his arms warm and comforting around me, and then he pushes away and brings his face down for a kiss. I meet him halfway. The kiss is tender and lingering. It’s soft and undemanding, but it nevertheless wakes the butterflies in my stomach and sends heat to my core.
After setting me carefully aside, he grabs the rifle from the back, throws the sling over his shoulder, and takes the heavy shopping bag. A quiet demeanor hangs around him. He seems so serious. Intense.
“How’s Shona?” I ask, following him inside.
“Resting at her bungalow. I had to kick her out of the kitchen and threaten her with forced leave if she returns before tomorrow.”
“What about Banga? Anything new?”
He stops in the reception hall to face me. “Stable. He’ll be home in a few days.”
I offer him a smile. “That’s great news.”
He returns the gesture tentatively, almost sadly. In contrast, his command is authoritative. “Go put on your bikini.”
I frown. “Why?”
“You’ll see,” he says, already heading toward the kitchen.
“Wait,” I call after him. “Let me first unpack the food.”
He doesn’t look back at me. “I’ll take care of it.”
When Ian orders me like that, I don’t argue. Maybe he’s upset that I left the property alone. Maybe he just needs reassurance that I’m not going anywhere, and his reassurance always involves sex.
As I still have m
y pistol strapped to my ankle, I don’t bother taking a rifle. I make the hike to his room and change into the bikini that was delivered with my new clothes. After applying sunblock and mosquito repellent, I fit a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and take a painkiller for my headache.
When Ian arrives with the Jeep, I’m ready. He comes inside to fetch me, wearing a pair of swimming trunks that exposes his powerful leg muscles. His chest is bare, the ebony Nyaminyami on the leather string his only adornment. The pendant is the embodiment of everything he represents—the god of the underworld, powerful and perfect. The sight of all that flawless, male hardness warms more than just my heart. I want to tell him, but now isn’t the moment. I’ll wait until we’re wherever he’s taking me to share the big news.
Giving me a once-over, he says, “Bring your bag.”
I want to ask why, but he’s already on his way out. I quickly sling the strap across my chest and follow him to the Jeep. I’m not sure what he has planned, but I trust him.
We drive in silence, heading toward the eastern side of the property. He parks at the jetty and helps me from the Jeep. I trudge behind as he makes his way to the jetty and gets into the boat. He offers me a hand to help me inside and makes sure I’m seated before he unties the boat and grabs the oars. Dragging the strap of my handbag over my head, I drop the bag by my feet and settle in more comfortably.
The sun is gloriously warm in the clear blue sky. It makes me regret not taking a cap and sunglasses. Instead, I close my eyes and tilt my face to the warmth as he rows us away from the shore toward the middle of the river.
For a while, all I hear is the distant call of a hadeda and the splashing of the water as he dips the oars. Out here, the violent roar of the waterfall a kilometer or so away is mere pleasant background noise. I open my eyes to take in the scene. He’s a portrait of strength and virility, his arms bulging and his pecs flexing as he steers us deeper into the water. I imagine him wearing nothing but that necklace. I’ll definitely strip him naked when we get to our destination.
A boulder of rocks on the right slows the flow of the water, creating a natural dam. Beyond the boulder, the river speeds up and crashes over rapids. The surface is quiet here, quiet enough for rowing, but strong currents mill below. It’s not safe for swimming. Plus, there could be hippos and crocodiles. We won’t be dipping our toes in the water unless he’s rowing us to a beach on the opposite side with safety nets that make swimming possible, like the ones I’ve seen in Lake Malawi. Even in the boat we’re not one hundred percent safe. Hippos are known to capsize small boats.
Stolen Life Page 20
