“Be ready for us in twenty minutes,” he said calmly into the phone. “And when I say ready, I mean engine on and flight plan filed.”
He put the phone away, then hit the brakes so hard that for a split second, her body felt weightless. She was about to ask what was going on, but when she looked through the windshield she saw the problem. They’d turned into a dead end, nothing but a brick wall in front of them.
Panic was beginning to well inside her. They were trapped, and she was a country away from Lily, might never see her again, and all because she’d been so determined to find out what her father was hiding.
“Hold on,” Farrell said.
She barely had time to comply before they were reversing, the speedometer creeping up over forty kilometers an hour as they zipped backward the way they came. Jenna held on, expecting Farrell to reduce his speed as he approached the opening to the alley.
He didn’t.
Instead he pressed harder on the gas, picking up speed as they closed in on the turn that would take them clear of the alley. She was almost prepared for the crunch of metal on metal that happened when they hit the van, just beginning to turn into the street after them.
Almost.
The van was bigger than the car they were driving, but they had the advantage of speed, and the impact seemed to shock whoever was driving the van. Farrell didn’t even slow down, just shifted from Reverse into Drive and sped away with his eyes on the rearview mirror.
They careened out of the side street onto a main boulevard, lit yellow from the streetlights. Farrell went less than a quarter of a kilometer before he turned left, then right, then right again. She had no idea where they were as he made a series of high speed turns that wound them through the city. She could hardly breath, had her eyes glued to the side mirror as she watched for the appearance of the black van.
Ten minutes later, he pulled onto the highway and the city fell behind them. Neither of them spoke until he pulled through the gates of the charter terminal. He sped across the tarmac, ignoring an airport worker waving a flashing baton, trying to direct them to a parking area away from the planes. He flew down the runway, aiming for a plane with its lights on at the end. When they got there, he reached over, undid her seatbelt.
“Let’s go.”
By the time she got out, he was there, taking her hand and hustling her onto the waiting the plane. The pilot who’d flown them in the day before shut the door behind them and hurried to the front of the plane. They were moving down the runway less than a minute later.
Farrell hurriedly guided her to one of the seats, sat her down, buckled her seat belt.
“Where are we going?” she asked, numbness starting to seep in around her panic.
He touched her face. “We’re going to get our daughter.”
28
They landed at Heathrow a little over two hours later, the sun just beginning to lighten the sky. They didn’t speak about Lily during the flight or about the secret Jenna had kept. They didn’t speak about the men who had chased them in Madrid. In fact, they didn’t speak much at all, both of them lost to their own, private thoughts. Farrell had retreated to the back of the plane to make calls, and when they landed in London, a car was waiting on the tarmac. It wasn’t until they got close to it that Jenna realized Leo was driving.
Farrell opened the back door for her, then slid in behind her.
“Hi, Leo,” she said.
He met her eyes in the rearview mirror, but his voice was cold. “Jenna.”
She sunk into the seat as he started the car and made his way out of the private terminal. She didn’t have a right to be stung by Leo’s attitude. Farrell was his friend. Had been his friend for a long time. He’d been there in the aftermath of Jenna’s disappearance, and she was willing to bet he was the one Farrell had put in charge of digging into her life. Which meant Leo knew about Lily, too. Knew that she’d kept Farrell’s daughter from him.
Guilt clawed at her insides. She looked at Farrell, staring out the window. “I’m sorry,” she said. “For everything.”
He turned to her, opened her hand and kissed her palm. It was tender, but the touch of his lips against her skin sent a shiver of desire up her spine.
Even now.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said.
“I have everything to be sorry for,” she said, shaking her head. “I was just so… scared. I didn’t know what to do.”
“That’s my fault,” he said.
“How is that your fault?” she asked.
“I didn’t make you feel safe,” he said. “Didn’t show you that you were safer with me than with anyone.”
“That wasn’t your responsibility,” she said. “And it doesn’t excuse what I did.”
He took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “You and Lily are my responsibility now. And I’m going to show you what it means to be mine.”
Dread was like a storm cloud on the horizon. She didn’t like the look in his eyes. Didn’t like the coldness in it. The icy rage that made her wonder what he would do in the name of keeping them safe.
“What do you mean?” she asked. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to take you and Lily out of the city, someplace safe. Then I’m going to find whoever came after you, and I’m going to make them very, very sorry.”
“I don’t want that,” she said. “I just want to keep Lily safe. I don’t even care what my father was doing if it means she’s in danger.”
“Lily will be safe,” he said, facing forward. His way of indicating the conversation was over. “And so will you.”
“What about my sister?” she asked. “Is it possible whoever came after us will go after her next? Or my mother?”
“There’s plenty of room where I’m taking you,” he said calmly. “They’re welcome to come. You’ll all be safe until we get this sorted.”
He said it casually, like whisking four people out of the city on a moment’s notice was nothing. She wasn’t even sure Kate would agree to come with them, let alone their mother. And what about her? Was Jenna willing to hand over her safety — Lily’s safety — to the most dangerous man she knew? Was she ready to be secreted in some hideaway while Farrell wreaked havoc on the people responsible for what happened in Madrid?
She didn’t have the answers, but she knew she had to keep Lily safe. Everything else was secondary, and right now she had a feeling their daughter was safer with Farrell than without him.
She was silent the rest of the way home, thinking about Madrid and the papers she’d found, trying to figure out what her father had been doing. What kind of message he’d been sending her by making her signatory on the safe deposit box. And if the men who’d come after them weren’t related to Farrell’s business, if they were after the papers her father had hidden, what did that mean for her? What had she set in motion by following her father’s trail? Was his killing as random as the police would have her believe? Or had his murderer been after something?
She shook the questions from her head as they approached the house. She knew immediately that something was different, but it took her a minute to put her finger on it. When she realized what it was, she turned to Farrell, alarm thrumming through her body.
“Those cars aren’t usually here.” There were three of them, all SUVs, all black, and all with windows tinted so dark she couldn’t make out their occupants.
“They’re mine,” he said. “I called in a detail from Madrid to make sure Lily and your family was safe.”
“Not exactly unobtrusive,” she said.
“It’s not meant to be,” he said. “That would defeat the purpose of having them here.”
She was strangely comforted by the answer. It meant that he wasn’t looking to use Lily as bait to draw out whoever was after them. That he was seeking to deter anyone from trying to harm her in the first place.
Leo slowed down and pulled up next to the curb in front of the house. She put a hand o
n Farrell’s arm as he reached for the door.
“Wait… Can you give me a few minutes? Maybe an hour?”
He stared at her without speaking, and she sighed, trying to find the words to explain.
“I need some time to explain… everything. Lily…”
He nodded. “She won’t know who I am.”
Jenna nodded, feeling like her heart was in a vise. She had done this. Made it so Lily didn’t even know her father. So Farrell didn’t know his daughter.
She’d done it, but she could fix it, too.
“I just don’t want to throw too much at her at once. Making her leave my mother’s house, sweeping her off to someplace unfamiliar, maybe without Kate… I just need to make it seem like no big deal. If you come in with me…”
“Then it’s a big deal.”
She looked at her hands. “I haven’t figured out how to tell her.”
He squeezed her hand. “Do what you have to do. I’ll give you an hour. Then we have to leave before what happened in Madrid follows us to Lily.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I’m going to tell her. I just need to think about how to do it.”
“I’ll be right here.” He removed his weapon, rested it on his knee. “Waiting.”
She slid out of the car and made her way to the front door, taking deep breaths, wanting to seem calm for Lily, and for Kate and her mother, too. She had the vague sense that if she were allowed to really process everything that had happened, she might fall apart. But as long as she was moving, getting things done, taking care of the details, she could hold her panic at bay. Could ignore the fact that she — and by default Lily — was now the target of some very bad people. That there were armed men parked on her mother’s street, all of them watching her at this very moment.
She took a deep breath and opened the door, then stepped into the entry.
“Honey, I’m home,” she called, trying for light-hearted.
She walked into the living room and froze. Alex Petrov sat on the sofa. Lily sat near his feet, flipping through a picture book, her lips moving as she silently sounded out the words.
“Mummy!” Lily leapt to her feet and ran into her arms.
Jenna bent her head to Lily’s hair, inhaling the sugar sweet scent of her. “Hello, my love. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Mummy,” Lily said, looking up at her. “I’m reading.”
“Brilliant,” Jenna said. “You’re the smartest girl in the world.”
“That’s silly,” Lily said. “There are a lot of little girls in the world.” She returned to the coffee table and picked up her book.
Jenna turned her eyes on Alex. “Hello. What a nice surprise.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. She liked Alex. But the timing was terrible. She needed to get Lily packed and out of the house.
He smiled, and it reached all the way to his eyes. “I was in the neighborhood. Took a chance on stopping by.”
Kate walked in from the kitchen. “Jenna! I was just having a visit with Alex. We didn’t expect you back so soon.”
“I see that,” Jenna said. There was something off in Kate’s tone, and her hands shook a little as she handed Alex a cup of tea.
“I finished earlier than expected,” Jenna said. She’d wanted to call from the plane to let Kate know she was on her way home, but Farrell had taken her phone, broken the SIM card in half, told her there was no way to know if it was being bugged.
Alex stood with a smile. “Lucky for me.”
“I’m glad I didn’t miss you,” she said, scrambling for a way to get him out of the house so she could pack for her and Lily, explain everything to Kate. Did Farrell’s men know Alex was here? Or had they arrived after Alex? “How have you been?”
He nodded. “Quite well. I hear you took a holiday.”
She forced a smile. “I did.”
“Wonderful,” he said. “Your sister said Bali?”
“That’s right.” Why had Kate lied about where she was going? “I needed a little sun.”
He laughed. “Don’t we all.”
“Would you like some tea?” Kate asked, looking too long into her eyes.
“Please,” Jenna said. Why was Kate acting so strangely? And why had Alex waited for her when Kate had no way of knowing she would be home so soon?
“Right then,” Kate said, disappearing into the kitchen.
Jenna sat nervously next to Alex. “How are things at the Institute?”
“Oh, you know,” he said. “It’s all rather boring. And we haven’t been able to find a cleaning specialist half as thorough and friendly as your father. Everyone misses him.”
She smiled. “I’m sure you’ll find someone eventually.”
“Jenna!” Kate called from the kitchen. “Can you come here? We’re out of that tea you like. You’ll have to pick something else.”
Jenna stood. “Be right back.”
She found Kate leaning against the counter, her face two shades paler than normal.
“What is the matter with you?” Jenna asked.
Kate withdrew something from her pocket. When she opened her hand, Jenna had to cover her mouth to keep from crying out. It was her father’s football ring. The commemorative Reading ring she and Kate had bought for him all those Christmases ago.
“Where did you get that?” she whispered.
“I think it fell out of his pocket,” Kate said.
It took Jenna a moment to realize who Kate was referring to. “Alex?”
Kate nodded. “He came in, then said he forgot his phone. When he went out to his car, I saw it on the sofa where he’d been sitting.”
Jenna took the ring. “This can’t be…”
“Do you have another explanation?” Kate asked, keeping her voice low.
“No,” Jenna admitted. She thought about the papers she’d found in the safe deposit box. Were they important? Valuable? Confidential? Would someone kill for them? Someone like Alex? She felt a moment’s shame. She’d liked Alex. Had thought they might be friends. “Dad was mixed up in something,” she said to Kate. “I think it had something to do with the lab.”
Kate shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
Her tone was dismissive, and Jenna knew she was shutting down, unwilling or unable to take on any more information.
“I can’t go into it now, but Farrell is waiting outside — ”
“Farrell Black?” Kate interrupted.
Jenna nodded. “Somebody’s after me, Kate, and I think it has something to do with what Dad was mixed up in. We have to get out of here — especially now.”
“Well, if Alex Petrov is involved, we can’t exactly tell him we know he had something to do with Dad’s murder.”
“Right, which is why we’re going to have tea, stay calm, and get him out of here. Then we’re going to take Lily and leave with Farrell. Where’s Mum?”
“At work,” Kate said.
“We’ll have to get her, too.”
“Everything all right in there?” Alex called from the living room.
“Fine,” Jenna said, careful to keep her voice light. “I’m afraid I’ve opened Pandora’s Box with this tea cupboard. Be right there.”
Kate’s eyes were wide with fright. “What is going on, Jenna?”
“I’ll explain later,” Jenna said, faking a confidence she didn’t feel. “Just stay calm and follow my lead.
Jenna grabbed a cup, dropped in a tea bag, and filled it with water. She slipped the ring in her pocket, then returned to the living room with a smile that felt painted onto her face.
“Sorry about that,” she said, sitting on the couch.
“It’s quite all right,” he said. “How was Bali?”
“Lovely,” she said. “Sand, surf, good food… just what the doctor ordered.”
“Sounds perfect,” he said. “I can’t remember the last time I had a holiday.”
“You should take one,” Jenna said, waiting for an opportunity to get him out the door.
“I can only imagine,” Jenna said. “So much money wrapped up in pharmaceuticals now, especially in the States. You wouldn’t believe the prices we pay for medications there.”
He nodded. “It’s a lucrative market. But I’m glad you got a holiday anyway.”
She laughed, then wondered if it sounded as false to his ears as it sounded to hers. “Me, too.”
“Are you feeling rested then?” he asked.
And there was her chance.
“I am.” She stifled a yawn, then laughed. “Although a bit jet lagged, I think.”
There was a split second when she wondered if he would take the bait. Then he slapped his knees and stood. “Look at me, going on and on. Of course, you’re tired. You should rest. We can catch up in a couple of days.” He hesitated. “Unless… will you be leaving before then?”
“I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye,” she said.
“Wonderful. Let me give you my number.”
She reached for her phone, then remembered that Farrell had destroyed it. “I must have left my phone in my carry-on,” she said. “Let me get a piece of paper.”
She flipped through some old mail on the coffee table and handed an envelope to him with one of Lily’s colored pencils.
He wrote his number and gave it back to her with a smile. “I’m going to hold you to that goodbye.”
She nodded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Her heart was thudding in her chest.
Leave, leave, leave…
She half-expected Farrell to bust down the door, come in shooting. She almost held her breath as she walked him to the door, avoided looking at the black SUVs parked near the house. She could almost feel Farrell’s eyes on them, and she willed him to stay put, to let her get rid of Alex peacefully.
He stepped out onto the stoop, then turned back, leaned in, kissed her cheek. “Well, then. I’ll see you soon.”
* * *
Savage Page 16
