by Dale Mayer
Griffin turned to Lorelei, a really worried look on his face.
She frowned. “No. They never asked me or Amelia Rose. … Does that seem odd to you? Or is this normal? Normal for a kidnapping, I mean?”
“Not sure,” Griffin said. “But I’m really glad to hear that Amelia Rose knew not to give out this number to the bad men.”
Amelia Rose perked up and smiled again.
Jax dialed the number and then handed the phone to Griffin. “It’s a safe phone,” Jax explained to Lorelei.
When a man answered, Griffin asked, “Gerard?”
“Yes, who is this?” he snapped. “And how did you get this number?”
Griffin immediately put the phone on speaker and looked at Lorelei and Amelia Rose. “Say hi.”
Amelia Rose piped up. “Poppy?”
There was silence, then the man on the other phone exploded. “Amelia Rose, is that you, honey?”
“Yes,” she said. “We’re safe. Griffin and Jax saved us.” She gave Poppy a rambling and an almost incoherent explanation of everything they’ve been through. Finally the father interrupted her gently to make sure that she was not hurt and that she was okay, and then he asked, “Is Lorelei with you?”
“Yes, I’m here too, Gerard.” Lorelei’s tone was friendly enough but more businesslike. She quickly confirmed what Amelia Rose had been trying to say. “Jax and Griffin are special ops,” she said. “We’re in a safe house, eating right now.”
“Well, thank heavens for that,” Gerard snapped. “Let me talk to the men again.”
She returned the phone to Griffin. Then she gazed at Amelia Rose, who was now plowing through food but still talking with a bright smile on her face. “See? We’re safe now,” Amelia Rose said. “And Daddy knows it too.”
“Exactly,” Lorelei said. “But remember. We’re not out of danger. We’re still not back in England, and we still have men chasing after us.” She tried to keep an ear to the conversation that Griffin was having with Gerard, but it was hard because Amelia Rose kept talking in her other ear. Now that the child had spoken to her father, she was doing much better.
“I understand you were supposed to come to the hotel, sir. Is that plan still happening?”
“No, not now,” Gerard said briskly. “I want the two of them back in England immediately.”
“Well, we’re still in Thailand, but I don’t know for how long,” Griffin said. “I just need to know if we have more people we need to look after.”
“No,” Gerard said. “Your orders are to bring her straight home.”
“I’ll relay that upward,” Griffin said formally. And then he hung up and looked at Amelia Rose. “Good thing you could remember that number.”
“It’s the one thing my poppy made me memorize,” she said. “And I didn’t forget, did I?” She turned to look at Lorelei. “He can’t be mad at you this time.”
“I don’t think he’ll be mad at me for a while,” Lorelei said, “although I could be wrong.”
“Will he blame you for the kidnapping?” Griffin asked in confusion.
“It’s possible,” she said. “I was following instructions, but I wasn’t expecting to be kidnapped at a hotel.”
“And both of you escaped once too, didn’t you?”
Lorelei slid a glance toward her charge, but she nodded. “Yes, but that didn’t work out so well in the end, so it’s not something that we’re worrying about right now.”
“It’s my fault,” Amelia Rose said. “I couldn’t run anymore. And they caught us.” She grabbed the salad and put more veggies on her plate. “Nobody told me veggies would make me run more.”
“Well, now you know,” Jax said in a serious tone. “You always need to keep fit, and you always need to eat the proper food. You never know when you’ll get into a tough spot and need that energy.”
Amelia Rose nodded soberly. “Now that I know, I’ll look after myself better.”
Lorelei was surprised to hear that. She faced Griffin. “Can you get us out of the country?”
“Do you have any documents with you?”
“No,” she said, “everything was stolen when we were kidnapped.”
“What about at your hotel? Is any of that material still there?”
“Possibly,” she said, “but I don’t really want anybody from that location to know that we’re still alive.”
“Meaning, that they’re involved?”
“Or meaning, that they don’t need to lose their jobs over us,” she said. “And, if they are in trouble, we don’t want them to get into more trouble. Not with those men. Not with what they are capable of.”
“One of us will return to your hotel,” Jax said. “See if any of your stuff is there that we can retrieve.”
“I doubt they held the rooms for us,” she said.
“How long were you booked for?”
She stopped, stared, and nodded. “That’s right. We were booked for seven days.”
“So, even if you weren’t physically there, they have no reason to take away your room or to store your belongings elsewhere.” Griffin glanced at Jax. “I’ll go there later tonight.”
“Good,” Jax said. “I’ll stay here on watch.”
And that’s what they did. As soon as the dishes were done. and the table was cleared off, Griffin stood, snagged his laptop and phone, and he turned to Jax. “I’m taking the bug detector, but I’m leaving the car in case you need to move quickly. I’ll pick up a ride for me. Track me via my phone.”
“I’m on it,” Jax said it.
Then Lorelei watched Griffin walk out the door.
Griffin arrived in his stolen vehicle and parked it five zigzagged blocks away, near a commercial district, so, even if the kidnappers tracked him to this car, they would have no idea which business he went into. Yet, if the kidnappers had any brains, they’d know he was too close to this hotel not to be coming here. So Griffin would make this a fast trip in and out.
He approached the hotel with a nonchalance that he was far from feeling. He’d already done a quick check around the perimeter, careful to avoid any cameras. And found neither security nor armed guards. Nobody had shown any signs of extra force. He walked inside with another group, choosing one with a couple tall guys that he could effectively hide behind while facing away from any cameras in the lobby, casually watching the elevators and jumping on with another group of tall visitors, and headed up to the rooms that Lorelei had told him they had for themselves. Amelia Rose’s father was supposed to get the room across from them. It was an interesting choice. They could have had a family suite that would have been a little grander. But maybe the father planned to switch it when he got here. Or he wanted privacy for a female guest traveling with him.
Griffin still wanted confirmation that the father was supposed to come, not just because the father said so. He sent a quick text to Jax to ask the chat window people.
On it.
Because, if the father was involved in something like this, Griffin needed a little more proof of what was going on. And it didn’t make any sense that the father would be involved, but Griffin didn’t want to exclude anybody at this point. That way just led to problems.
Once upstairs, other people stepped off the elevator with him, and the only camera on the floor seemed to be here, so it captured his back at best. Standing at the hotel room door, he stopped, double-checked the room number, and then quickly unlocked it with his tools. He stepped inside; the bedroom appeared to be just as the women had left it. Their clothes were here; their suitcases were here; everything they needed was here. And more—Nurse’s belongings too.
He quickly searched for cameras. Found none. He gave the bug detector a good sweep over the rooms. Again nothing. At least that was good. He surveyed the rooms again, reminding himself to get in and to get out fast.
He frowned, thought about it, and decided he might as well take what he could with him. He quickly packed everything up in the first bedroom, then went through to the second bedroom and foun
d the same thing. Only here, Amelia Rose and all her clothes had been unpacked neatly and placed in the dresser. He quickly packed it all back up and then did a sort through to make sure that all the beddings and clothes were clean of listening devices or cameras, just to make sure the bug detector didn’t miss anything.
He found no messages left here by the girls or the kidnappers as far as Griffin could tell. He found no cell phones. The kidnapper had at least taken them. Yet Griffin found a couple laptops as he packed up their belongings.
He knew that the girls were a little suspicious of everyone else still, and rightfully so, but as long as he could get their gear to them, that would help them feel like they were a little bit safer.
His phone beeped. A text from Jax.
Earlier airline reservations for father confirmed, then canceled after we were alerted of kidnapping event.
Well, it didn’t exonerate Gerard. Maybe he was just good at covering his bases. But it seemed to substantiate his statement.
With four suitcases now making his exit a little bit more awkward, Griffin stepped out of the hotel room and wheeled the two big ones, with the other two thrown over each shoulder, while heading toward the service elevator, where thankfully there were no cameras. He stepped inside and let it take him down to the very bottom, which was the service garage, where he’d have more choices as to which vehicle to steal this time.
Once inside the dim, gloomy area, he found a dark corner, moved the luggage off to the side, and quickly chose his ride. He had just unlocked the passenger side when a vehicle entered the underground parking area on the far side. He quietly loaded up his new vehicle with the girls’ stuff, and, as he hopped into the driver’s side, he watched as four men got out of a van, carrying weapons.
They had his undivided attention now.
They walked over to the door that led directly into the hotel and stood on either side, as if standing guard. He frowned, but then another vehicle showed up with two more men inside. One man hopped out and walked toward the other four, shouting in a rapid-fire way.
Using his camera, Griffin took photos of the man approaching the hotel and of the four gunmen. When somebody glanced in his direction, Griffin turned his head, as he started up the engine and slowly drove past. When he came near the two vehicles that they had driven, he took several photos, including the license plates, but couldn’t get decent shots of the driver, still in the second vehicle. He got several but doubted they’d lead to any facial match. He drove past them, up and out onto the street. He parked around the corner, locked up the vehicle, and rushed back into the garage. There he could see the four armed men standing around the vehicles and discussing something. So the head guy and the driver with him must have entered the hotel, as there was no sign of those two.
Frowning, Griffin sent the photos to Jax, asking him to look up these men. And then Griffin headed to the side of the van so he could hear their conversation. Some words were in English, and some were not. It was a guttural mix of both. But from what he understood, the boss man got immediate word from a hotel staff member that the suite of rooms had been cleaned out.
His heart sank that his visit had been discovered so quickly. Obviously this was a trap to get another chance at kidnapping the girls. Well, at least that part of the kidnappers’ plan didn’t happen. But the last thing Griffin wanted to do was throw any extra eyes in their direction. He needed to get the girls away from this whole area, not bring up more questions. Knowing that these armed men were still looking for the girls, and now him, he headed out of the garage but had every intention of entering Lorelei’s hotel via the front door.
When his phone buzzed in his pocket, he quickly ducked between two other vehicles and pulled out his cell. And the message came back from Jax saying that the person photographed going into the hotel was the same one who had originally kidnapped the girls. He was the organizer behind it all, as far as Lorelei could tell. License plates were stolen from different vehicles. So no leads there.
Griffin walked up the front steps and through the lobby. It was evening, and a few people wandered around, but mostly the lobby sported muted lighting and a more relaxed and romantic atmosphere as only a hotel could offer. Griffin saw no sign of the man he was looking for.
As Griffin sat in the shadows of the lobby and watched, the elevator opened up, and the same man that he had photographed earlier came walking forward, sending rapid-fire questions at the staff at the front desk. From the bewildered look on their faces, they didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. Still, the man kept pointing to the elevator, and then he switched to English and said, “All their stuff is gone. Where did you put it?”
They looked from one to the other and said, “We didn’t touch it. Nobody’s touched the room as per your orders. All of it was left exactly the same, as you told us to. Nobody’s been allowed in.”
The kidnapper was obviously well-respected and came with a lot of power.
“Well, somebody not only got in,” he said, “but everything’s been cleaned out too.” He turned, firing off orders to anybody who would listen. “You go and find out now,” he roared. “Check the cameras, check everywhere. I want to know who took their luggage.”
With everybody focused on the man clearly in charge, Griffin slowly rose to his feet and casually walked out and around the side of the hotel to his new vehicle. There, he hopped into the driver’s seat and turned on the engine, and drove slowly back to the apartment. Interesting. They were after all of the girls’ possessions now. Why hadn’t they taken them in the first place? And why did they want them now?
Unless they planned to recapture the girls—and soon.
Chapter 7
Lorelei, although grateful to have her belongings back, was more than a little worried with Griffin and Jax in the corner, busy, heads bent together, whispering hard and fast. Griffin showed Jax some photos, and both men then separated, sat down at their laptops, and pounded the keys furiously. She crossed her arms, waited for the right time, and then asked, “So what’s happening?”
Griffin didn’t even look up. He kept pounding away.
She walked over to him, reached out a hand, and touched him on the shoulder. When he didn’t respond, she dug her nails into the cords alongside his neck and said, “Don’t ignore me.”
He dropped his hands from the keyboard and glared up at her. “Just because I choose not to answer doesn’t mean I’m ignoring you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You’re not answering me.”
“You don’t have a question that I can answer.”
She brought a chair up and around so she could sit beside him. “Meaning, you don’t know what’s going on, or you don’t want to tell me?”
Jax laughed. “Both.”
“And that’s not good enough. I’ve been to hell and back, and I’m very concerned about Amelia Rose. So somebody should start talking.”
Griffin, instead, picked up his phone, swiped through, and brought up several photos. “Do you know this man?”
She nodded slowly. “We saw him at the very beginning, but I don’t know who he is.”
“I do,” Jax said. “He’s security for a big arms dealer in Thailand. His boss owns the compound you were held at. He’s got business deals with governments on a global scale.”
“What’s that got to do with Gerard’s businesses? He’s in media.”
“I’d say,” Griffin added, “that your kidnapper was more into military privatization than anything.”
“So that sounds like a rebel, a vigilante, a guerrilla, not an enemy of Gerard’s.”
“Probably an enemy. Most likely a competitor. Or possibly hired for this job. But then who in Gerard’s company would know this guy?”
“Gerard and his sons all deal with international business deals. But you’re wasting your time there,” she snapped. “Gerard’s not into military stuff.”
Griffin gave her a flat stare. “How would you know?”
She blinked in co
nfusion, then shook her head. In a low voice, she said, “He’s not that kind of guy.”
“Yes, he is,” Griffin said in a low tone. “The media is a major part of his business, but he’s involved in a lot of military contracts for communications as well.”
At that, Lorelei sat back and stared at him, stunned. Then she muttered, “I never even considered something like that. But I should have. Communications is a big business, and who needs it the most? Well, the military.”
“Exactly. And, quite often, communications companies supply their tech—whether software or hardware—for other countries as well.”
“So, this guy didn’t like the price of Gerard’s services?”
“Or Gerard wouldn’t do business with him is another possibility. So who would know who he does business with and who he doesn’t?” Griffin asked. She winced. “Does any of that sound familiar?”
“I have no clue,” she said. “I have nothing to do with his business, and, no, I haven’t overheard any conversations about military communications for sure. My job is Amelia Rose.”
“Sure,” Jax said, “but you’re an intelligent woman. You must have gotten some impression as to what’s going on.”
“But not about this,” she protested. “Gerard has had lots of business meetings in his home, but we’re always off in a different wing.”
“Have you seen many different nationalities come through the house?”
She nodded slowly. “Sure, but I couldn’t tell you which ones they were.”
“Makes sense,” Jax said. “I hate to say it, but Gerard could be dealing with both sides of a war at the same time.”
“I couldn’t tell you who these people were, not their names,” she said, “and all the black limos look the same. I never really saw anybody get out of them. The limos drive in, and they drive out. I don’t know who was inside those limos.” She motioned at his phone. “Why aren’t you sending that photo to Gerard and asking him?”
“I am,” he said, “but I’ve gotten a little more devious, and I’m checking the cameras at the house.” He pointed to the monitor in front of her, and she gasped to realize it was the front door of Gerard’s biggest family estate that she and Amelia Rose normally lived at.
