I continue the day briefing the security teams, then hand over to Jamie, one of our backup Grade A protection officers, and eventually make my way back to the house on the compound. Nessa’s already back―she’ll have handed off to Matt her backup CPO―but her bedroom door is firmly closed, and I can hear no movement behind it. Packaging in the bin suggests she’s already eaten, so I heat up a meal for one and relax in the sitting room to eat it, a welcome beer within easy reach. My phone pings. Cara’s sent me a picture of Mollie fast asleep in the nursery, and an update that she’s had a good day, eaten well, and apparently had a couple of poos and sufficient wet nappies. Personally, I feel that was information I didn’t need, but fuck it, I’m new to this parenting lark, and maybe there’s some reason for me knowing.
As she’s down for the night, there’s no point in going to see Mollie now. I promise myself I’ll pay her a visit in the morning. Hopefully in time to give her a bottle. Already I’m starting to consider her needs, along with my own.
Leaning my head back on the sofa, I consider how she’ll fit into my life and the changes I’ll need to make. I never expected to be a single parent, but hell, I’ll give it the best shot I can. That kid is not going back to her mother.
“Sean? Didn’t you go to bed last night?”
What? Oh fuck, I must have fallen asleep on the couch. Damn it. Sitting up I roll my head, feeling the stiffness in my shoulders. My hands go up to my neck, and I try to rub the pain away. “What time is it?”
“Seven. I’m taking over from Matt at nine. And we’ve got a catch-up meeting with the others at eight.”
“Shit!” I lean forward, putting my elbows on my knees and resting my chin on the back of my hands, “How did it go yesterday, Nessa?”
She comes over and sits on the chair opposite me, “Fine, I think. I wanted to talk to you about a couple of security issues.”
“Go on.” Tilting my head up, I encourage her. For a few minutes, we discuss her concerns about the access to the harem, and I make some suggestions. All in all, I’m encouraged by her intelligent observations and she’s on the right track with her ideas, she just doesn’t yet have the confidence to trust her own judgement.
I shower, dress, and am just about ready when Hunter, Ryan and Nat join us. Two coffees later and a bite to eat―just cereal and toast this morning as we’ve no time for much else―and I start to feel human again.
Like an extension of the conversation I’ve just had with Nessa, we update each other on the security at our various locations, reporting on any weak points identified, and tossing around ideas of how to strengthen them. Then, in time for the nine o’clock shift change, we go our separate ways, ready to start our day of keeping eyes and ears open and hopefully keeping the tourist hot spots of Amahad safe.
The next couple of days proceed in the same way. When I return from the casino, I spend as much time as I can with Mollie. I’ve taken to bringing her back to the house in the evenings where she sleeps in a cot that the palace has lent me and that I put in my room. I’m lucky, the symptoms of teething have died down again, and now more comfortable, she’s been sleeping the night through. During the day, she seems content enough in the royal nursery, the nanny competent and quite happy to look after an additional child.
Every time I see Mollie I get a pang in my chest as I’m beginning to comprehend at a bone-deep level, she is actually mine. And then I feel the fear, wondering if I’ll be able to do right by her. It’s a huge responsibility, but one I’ll not shy away from. Already I can’t imagine her not being in my life, and have started looking forward to seeing her grow.
My only issue is that when I bring the baby to the house, Nessa makes herself scarce, or if she’s in the same room, ignores the child kicking about on the floor or lying in my arms. I’m not sure how much Mollie’s presence is hurting her, or if she’s trying to prevent another episode like the one when I asked her to hold her. I’m sad and angered for her. As I see her struggling it makes me want to put that bastard in the ground. I’ve suggested she swap accommodation with Ryan or Nat, but for some reason, she prefers to torture herself and stay here.
It’s the third morning, and Mollie’s woken me early. I’ve just fed and changed her when I’m interrupted by a call from Jamie at the casino. Butch has been doing his job and has alerted Frank to a suspicious package. The casino’s been evacuated, and bomb disposal experts are on their way in. Though there’s not a lot I’ll be able to do, I tell him I’m on my way over. The casino’s my responsibility after all.
“Nessa?” I call up the stairs, “I’ve got to run, there’s trouble at the casino.”
It’s only a few seconds before she appears, my shout obviously having roused her, her hair’s all over the place, and she looks startled. But as she tears downstairs, I’m pleased how fast she’s put on her professional hat. “What is it? What’s happened? What do you need me to do?”
“The sniffer dog has found a suspicious package at the casino. Suspected explosives.”
“Shit. Do you want me to come with you?”
I’m grabbing my keys and suddenly remember, fuck! How could I have forgotten? There is something she can do, but I hesitate to ask her. But there’s nothing else for it; I’ve no time to sort anything else out. “Hate to do this to you, but could you get Mollie over to the nursery? They’re expecting her about nine.” Which means I’m leaving her watching the baby for nearly three hours. Seeing her face fall I add, “I’m sorry Nessa. If there was anything else…”
“Go, Sean. Go. I’ll handle it.” Her hands wave as if she’s shooing me out of the door.
“She’s fed and changed. I’ve already prepared her bag for the day. The bottles and everything else is in there, spare nappies…”
“Sean, GO!”
With one last look at Nessa, and after leaning down to give a quick kiss to a happy gurgling Mollie I leave my two girls alone.
My job by its very design is fraught with danger. I look death in the face every time I start my working day. But my mortality has never hit me so hard as it hits me as I go out of that door, with the thought, what if it’s today my luck runs out? If the terrorist attacks on Amahad have started, will I be returning to them?
Fuck. I haven’t given a thought about what would happen to Mollie if I didn’t come back.
But I’m out of time, and I can only trust to luck I’ll see them again. Running to the next house along I bang on the door, then jump into the SUV provided for my use and have the engine running as Ryan, Nat and Hunter emerge, Jamie having rung them after speaking to me. I gun the engine, and we’re out of the palace grounds before we start any conversation.
Chapter 27
Vanessa
Sean’s left me in charge of the baby. Shit!
What do I do? I glance down at Mollie, lying on the floor, seeming happy enough kicking her feet and giggling when she manages to hit a toy hanging from her play gym. Then I look down at myself, realising I’m still wearing the pyjama set I wore to bed. Well, she’s not going anywhere.
Racing back upstairs, I run through the shower clocking up my fastest ever time and throw on some clean clothes for the day. Given the heat here I just put on some Capri trousers, a tank top and, in respect for the country, a loose cotton blouse over the top. Then I’m back down, and thankfully Mollie doesn’t even seem to have noticed she was left alone.
Six-thirty am. Over two hours until I can take her to the palace. I sit on the settee; my legs pulled up under me. Does she need feeding? Changing? No, Sean said he’d already done that. Then the sobering thought comes to me of where her father’s gone and why. God, I hope he’s careful today. If there is a bomb I hope he’s sensible enough to stay well out of the way of any flying debris. If the terrorists have started their attacks, where’s next?
That reminds me, grabbing my phone I send a quick text to Matt telling him I’ll be a bit late as I’ve got to drop Mollie off at the nursery first. I also add that it might be a good idea to have a
look around the harem and check that nothing looks out of place. I wonder whether we should ask for a sniffer dog to check it over and make a mental note to ask Sean once this immediate crisis is over. It’s only a moment before I get a text back acknowledging the contents of mine. I then replace my phone in my handbag, so I don’t forget to take it out with me.
Mollie gurgles happily on the floor.
Maybe I won’t have to do anything?
She’s kicking out furiously, and now she’s rolled onto her stomach. Wow! I’m sure she hasn’t done that before. What a shame Sean missed it!
Now she lifts a wobbly head toward me and is smiling and giggling as though she knows she’s achieved something. It’s Sean’s smile. Every bit of her is Sean.
“Er… Hi…, Mollie? Who’s a clever girl?” It seems strange, alien talking to a baby.
“Ga gah!”
What the hell does that mean?
“Ga, ba ba, GAH!” Having pronounced something, her arms pummel the floor, and her feet kick furiously in the air. She starts to let out a keening wail.
Perhaps she can’t turn herself back?
My hands are shaking, my body is trembling. Dare I pick her up? Remembering what happened last time, I’m terrified. But if I don’t hold her at some point, how will I get her to the nursery? Gingerly I get to my knees, and turn her onto her back, and reaching out my fingers, tickle her tummy. It distracts her, but then her hands reach for me, and her face starts to scrunch up. Taking a couple of deep breaths to steady her, and before I can have second thoughts, I pull her into my arms, bringing her close to me, holding her against my body. It’s safe, I’m at floor level, if I start to go lightheaded, I can put her down. Holding her seems to have settled her for now. I breathe a sigh of relief.
All at once the perfume of baby hits me, the smell of her shampoo and baby lotion. This could have been what holding my baby would have been like.
I smooth my hand over Mollie’s back, and as if some innate instinct comes to me, I reach round to check that she’s dry and doesn’t need changing.
“Ouch!” I extract the handful of hair that she’s got in her tiny hand noticing she’s got a surprisingly strong grip. “Now we don’t pull hair, do we?”
She giggles and goes for my hair again. Flicking it back over my shoulder and, to distract her, I risk standing and start jiggling her in my arms. This she seems to enjoy. I glance at the clock, just over an hour and a half to go now, and I can hand her over to someone who does know what they’re doing.
It’s at that point I hear a knock on the door. Crossing the room, still bouncing Mollie in my arms, I peer through the peephole. A man in the uniform of the palace guards is waiting behind it. In a flash the thought goes through my head that something’s happened at the casino. That something’s happened to Sean. As fast as I can with a baby in one arm, I disable the security system and open it. As soon as the door’s cracked open the palace guard pushes inside, followed by another man. They’re both carrying guns and they’re pointing them straight at me. He spits something at me in Arabic, I shake my head, showing I don’t understand. But whatever he’s said isn’t something pleasant. My eyes open in shock and fear, this wasn’t what I’d expected.
The second man isn’t in uniform. Instead he’s wearing western clothing, but has the olive toned skin of a native. He puts his gun in the holster and reaches out his hands, “Give me baby.”
Mollie? No way.
Stepping back, I place my hand protectively over her head, “No.” My gun is in my bag, on the table. But how can I reach it? And while my scores on the range were good, how could I defend myself against two armed men? I’m not going to put Mollie down, not if they want to take her.
“We take baby,” the man pronounces.
Violently I shake my head, “The baby is going nowhere.”
Who are these men? What do they want with Mollie?
“She come,” he says again.
I stare at him in disbelief, the practicalities racing through my mind. “Why? Where do you want to take her?” My voice is shaking, “What are you going to do with her?” Are they here to kidnap her? To hold her for ransom?
“Not your business. Give baby, or we take.”
The loud scary voices or perhaps the tension in my body gets to Mollie, and she opens her mouth and lets out a loud scream. The men look at each other and wince. I try to calm her, holding her close and rocking her.
There’s a conversation in their language, and then the man who speaks English, and appears to be the leader, makes a decision, “You come. Keep baby quiet.”
Well, I’ve probably no more chance at keeping her quiet than them, but going along has got to be better than them taking her away God knows where on her own, so it only takes a split second for me to decide if they’re taking her, they won’t be leaving me behind. Remembering the bag Sean left, I dip my head toward it. “Have you got stuff ready for her? You can’t just take a baby unprepared.”
As the English speaker shakes his head, I suggest, “Let me get her bag, it’s got her food and nappies for the day already in it.”
He eyes the colourful bag-come-changing mat, apparently unthreatened by its innocuous appearance and gives a sharp nod of permission. “Get bag.”
Thanking several deities, I move across to the table where Mollie’s bag is conveniently lying underneath. As I pick it up, one handed I surreptitiously slide my handbag into it. They don’t seem to notice. Placing it on the table, I start to rummage inside.
“What you do?” The snapped question stills my hand.
“Getting her dummy, her pacifier out. You wanted her to be quiet.” Making a meal of finding what I’m looking for, my hand slides my gun from my bag into a side pocket, and I hide it under some baby wipes, regretting I’m not confident enough to use it, doubting my ability to shoot two men without bullets flying at the baby and me. But if I can take it with me… Extracting the dummy, I put it in Mollie’s mouth. She begins sucking and immediately stops her tears. The man comes over and checks the contents, taking out my handbag and leaving it on the table giving me a look as though he’s outwitted me. Damn, my phone was in there. Then, giving only a cursory look at the baby items inside, he zips up the bag and puts it over his shoulder.
“Move.” His tone shows he’s lost patience, and he gestures to the door with his gun. As I cross the room the men flank me, walking so close, I have no chance of escape. How am I going to get out of this?
Hoping there’ll be someone in the vicinity outside that I can call on for help, I go through the door. Immediately outside the house is a covered military style Jeep. Another wave of the gun and I’m in the back seat, the man in civilian clothes sitting beside me. He pushes my head down and covers Mollie and me with a tarpaulin. The bag’s in the foot well below the front seat; there’s no way I can reach my gun.
Although the sound’s muffled, I hear the man’s voice telling me, “Keep quiet. Don’t move. Shout I shoot you and baby.” He sounds so cold, it’s easy to believe him.
The Jeep starts to move off, and then halts, and it seems we must be at the palace gates as there’s a brief exchange of words and a snort of laughter, and then the vehicle is moving forward again going over some bumps then picking up speed. I huddle with Mollie, holding the dummy to her mouth to keep her quiet.
I’m not sure how long we’ve been travelling, I’ve lost track of time, but at last, we come to a halt. Then, as the canvas is pulled away, I realise our journey hasn’t ended. There’s a helicopter waiting, and Mollie and I are pushed inside.
As Sean discovered on the journey from England and I’m finding out today, Mollie doesn’t like flying. Even the dummy doesn’t keep her quiet. Without earphones, it’s loud and noisy, and all I can do is to cover her ears as best I can and pray for the flight to come to an end. When we at last land, for a brief moment, my relief overwhelms the fear of where the hell we’ve been taken to. Then my curiosity piques when we’re waved out, guns threateningly held
in the men’s hands, and I see squat adobe buildings around us. There are about ten in all and are impossible to age. I’m not allowed to linger long, with one hand on my arm, the non-English speaker drags me toward the nearest building and pushes me inside. With the barrel of the gun against my back, Mollie and I are directed to a room at the rear. The other man throws Mollie’s bag down, and then we’re left alone.
Immediately I try the door, it’s bolted or locked and doesn’t budge. Still holding the baby to me, I study my surroundings. There’s a pile of dirty blankets on the floor, and one small window high up on the wall that’s got iron bars concreted into it. Standing on tiptoe I can just about see out, but my view is of a couple of other similar buildings and then sand. Miles of sand. The sound of an engine starting and rotors whirring tells me the helicopter is flying away.
Why have we been brought here? And who’d dream of bringing a baby somewhere like this? The idea they want to hold her for ransom seems the most likely one, and I thank God I came along with her, else who would be looking after her if she was on her own? The menacing men? It’s a chilling thought.
Going over to the pile of blankets, I sit down on them. As I’d seen on my initial inspection, they’re not particularly clean, but it’s all there is, and we’ll just have to make do for however long we’re held captive here. At least after her terror of the helicopter journey Mollie must have tired herself out, she’s now asleep. Remembering there’s a small baby blanket in her bag, I shake it out and lay Mollie on it, flexing my arms as I’ve been holding her throughout the flight. I stare at her, unable to resist smoothing my hand over her fine hair. Fuck, Molls, what is going to happen to us?
I go to examine the window again. Now my hands are free I try the bars, they won’t budge. The other houses don’t have the same metal fixtures, so why were they put here? To keep someone in, or to keep someone out? Peering out at the buildings I can see they look deserted, and not in as good a state of repair as this one, at least one roof has fallen in. What is this place? It looks like they’ve brought us to the middle of nowhere. Quickly, I think through any possible options. Can I loosen the bars? Even if I could, the window’s so small I’m not sure I’d be able to get myself out, let alone Mollie as well. How long do they plan on keeping us here?
Identity Crisis (Blood Brothers #4) Page 26
