Hiding the Past

by Sofia Grey

“We’re doing nothing. I’m going to dock in Holyhead later and let you out there. I’ll give you back your stuff, and then I want you to go home.”

  Home. There was a tempting thought. “The plan is to stay with you until you find Irina.”

  Yanni turned to face her. “This isn’t a game, Maria. They won’t stop until I’m dead.” His voice was rough, almost savage. “I’m not going to risk your life as well.”

  “But what about Irina?”

  “I’ll still get her.” He returned his focus to steering the boat. “Hopefully.”

  The reason Maria came on this crazy journey was to see for herself if his story was true. By getting out effectively at the next stop, she’d achieve nothing.

  She wasn’t bleeding to death. She’d tripped; that was all. She had the headache from hell, but she wasn’t dying. It was time to think rationally and be objective.

  “Don’t you have a backup plan? A team of guys that work for you? A crew?”

  “Nope. No crew. And no backup plan. Not for this.”

  “I have a suggestion, then,” she said. “Tell me the details of the meeting, and then if you can’t get there—for whatever reason—I’ll call in Jack and the cowboy. They can get her to safety.”

  *

  It was lucky Jack still had the keys to Juli’s house. He carried Sapphire into the kitchen and sat her at the table, before finding a first-aid kit.

  Tanner examined the girl’s hand. “You have at least two broken fingers,” he said. “I can splint it for you, but you really should go to the hospital.”

  “No.” Tears trickled down her face. “I’m scared. I don’t want Gio to find me.”

  Tanner did the best he could, and while he worked, Jack brewed coffee and—with a mental apology to Juli—dug through the closet for something more appropriate for Sapphire. He found a fresh shirt for himself too.

  With Sapphire immobilised, it was a good opportunity to ask her questions. “What do you know about Alain Auberge?” Jack kept his voice gentle.

  She clung to the table with her good hand, wincing as Tanner cleaned the broken skin.

  The damage to her delicate fingers was brutal. Jack hoped he’d done as much damage to the bastard. He tried again. “Sapphire, what can you tell us?”

  Thin trickles of perspiration oozed down her cheeks. Her gaze flicked up to meet his. “Can you protect me?” She sounded like a frightened child.

  “We’ll do our best. We have friends who may be able to help.”

  She looked back at her hand, and moaned at Tanner’s touch. “He came to Gio, asking about Irina, just a few days ago. Monday, I think. But he’d been around before then, talking to Gio.”

  “Gio’s the owner, right?”

  She nodded, her gaze skittering away. “I had to do something for them.” She spoke in a rush, her accent thicker than before.

  Jack tried to untangle her words. “Say, what?”

  “I had to do something for him. For Gio.” She swallowed. “They said nobody would ever know, but I’d go to prison if I told on him.”

  “What did you have to do?”

  “I had to follow him into Starbucks—Alain. This was over a week ago, aye.” She stopped again and bit her lip. Fresh tears welled in her eyes.

  Something clicked into place in Jack’s head. “Did you spill his drink? Replace it with a fresh one?”

  Wide, scared eyes stared back at him. “How did you know?”

  “You had to add something to the new drink—a little powder—without him seeing?”

  She gave a little nod.

  Jack rapidly juggled more pieces of the puzzle in his mind. “That was over a week ago. And then he turned up on Monday night, asking about Irina?”

  Another nod.

  “So, what happened on Monday?”

  “They told him Irina would see him, but it was a trick. She was never there. They attacked him.” Sapphire swiped away more tears. “Holy fuck, I can’t believe he survived. He was bleeding like a stuck pig. I saw him running away from the yard at the back. I had to hide. If Gio saw me watching, I don’t know what he’d do.”

  It was starting to make sense. Jack sat back and waited till Tanner finished work.

  “Okay.” He kept his voice soft and non-threatening. “Do you know why they were trying to kill him?”

  “I don’t really know.” She moved her bandaged hand with care, to hold it against her chest. “I heard Gio talking. He said the boss ordered a hit.” She shrugged. “That was it.”

  Jack glanced at Tanner. “At least we know Yanni was the target, and not Yves, but that’s all.”

  *

  Yanni shook his head. “Nice try. No go. Irina trusts only me, and since I don’t trust Jack O’Donnell in the slightest, I don’t want him involved.”

  His refusal sounded firm, but Maria never liked being told no. “Why don’t you trust Jack? He’s as straight as they come.”

  She saw indecision on Yanni’s face, but he didn’t answer. He flicked switches on the dashboard. The engine sputtered, then died. Silence reigned.

  “We’ll be fine here for a while,” he said. “Let’s get coffee.” He headed for the galley.

  The afternoon’s heat had faded, and a chill descended outside. They sat around the miniscule table in the cabin, fresh drinks in their hands.

  “I had a good working relationship with your brother,” said Yanni. “We traded information. I’m trying to find someone, and Rico gave me some leads. In exchange, amongst other things, I alerted him to the data leak at TM-Tech, when their confidential blueprints were stolen.” He watched Maria intently, his eyes almost black in the dimly lit interior.

  “I know he was close friends with O’Donnell, and that your brother trusted him with his life. I felt a sense of”—he hesitated—“relief, when I heard who Juli had married. She found someone who’d be loyal and faithful to her. Someone she could trust.” His gaze fixed on the drink in his mug.

  Maria waited patiently, unwilling to interrupt.

  “Imagine my surprise—and horror—when I realised her Jack was none other than a mercenary. I knew him as Serenity. I’ve watched him betray his country, to lie and cheat.”

  Maria couldn’t stay silent any longer. “But isn’t that exactly what you do?”

  “I have never pretended to be anything other than I am,” he said, his voice icy. “This is my life.”

  He pushed the drink away and stood, crossing his arms as he stared down at her. “I’ve employed plenty like Jack in my time. I know his type. Do you know what motivates them above anything else?”

  Unease rippled through Maria. She sensed brutality uncoiling beneath the civilised veneer. It was another glimpse of his panther-like self. She shook her head. No words were necessary.

  “Money,” he said. “They’d sell their grandmother if they thought she had any value.”

  This twisted version of Jack bore no resemblance to the lovely man she knew so well, but she managed to hold her tongue as Yanni started talking again.

  “There’s a big fat price on my head at the moment. And since I have no idea who O’Donnell is working for, I have to assume he wants a share of it.” Yanni slapped his palms flat on the surface of the table.

  Maria jumped at the sudden movement, her coffee slopping out of the cup. Was he trying to intimidate her?

  “Can you honestly tell me that he isn’t going to hand me over and claim the kill as his own?” His voice was low and lethal.

  “He wouldn’t do that.” She kept her voice firm.

  The air was charged between them. She thought poking Tanner’s wasp nest was dangerous. Tanner was a pussycat in comparison to Yanni.

  How could she convince Yanni that he was wrong?

  Every sound became amplified in the silence. Gentle waves slapped against the sides of the boat, and gulls shrieked overhead. Their combined breathing was loud and uneven.

  Maria’s pulse drummed in her temples.

  “You’re right.” Yanni’s v
oice was soft now, a caress across her senses. “Because I’ll kill him first.”

  No. She couldn’t let that happen. “What about Juli?” They were the first words Maria could manage. “She’ll be destroyed.” She tried to pull her fractured thoughts together. “You can’t do that. If you care anything for Juli at all, you won’t do that.”

  She tried to hide her fear. Licking dry lips, she sought a sensible argument. “You said Jack’s motivated by money. So, what motivates you? What makes you so different?”

  The glacial fury in his eyes threatened to freeze her in her seat, but she pushed harder. “You lie and cheat too. What makes you better that the people you use? How can you claim the moral high ground?”

  “I could kill you now. In seconds.”

  He was bluffing. He had to be. “If you were going to, you’d have done it by now. Who is it that’s trying to kill you, Yanni? And why is there a price on your head? I’m in the firing line too. It’d be nice to know why.”

  A muscle flicked in his cheek. Apart from that, his face could have been carved from granite.

  Another push. “Tell me. What are you running away from?”

  It was as though she’d slapped him. His head jerked back, his eyes narrowing. “We need to get moving again.” He turned on his heel and moved back on deck.

  Maria let out a shaky breath she didn’t realise she was holding. Holy. Fuck.

  The engine roared to life, and the boat jerked on the water.

  Nope. Maria wasn’t staying put. He was close to telling her something. She just knew. Biting down on every ounce of common sense, she followed him and leaned against the side of the cabin. “I asked you a question. A few questions, actually. Who is trying to kill you? And why?”

  He stared out at the sea. “Why aren’t you afraid of me?” He sounded genuinely curious.

  She crossed her arms and tried to sound confident. “I stared terror in the face when I was eight years old. I survived that. You don’t come close.”

  There was a weighted pause, and then Yanni turned to face her. Interest flickered in his eyes. Or curiosity.

  “When I was eight years old,” he said, “I ran messages and carried drugs for my uncle. My parents were killed before I turned five. On my twelfth birthday, I learned he was responsible for their death. He betrayed his own brother. Drugs, arms, and prostitutes—that was my childhood. My uncle groomed me as the son he never had. He trained me to be his lieutenant and taught me the tools of his trade. He showed me nobody can ever be trusted.” Yanni paused. “He made the mistake of trusting me. I put a bullet in his brain when I was fourteen.”

  He could have been reading a weather forecast, with the lack of emotion in his voice. “My wife showed me there are good things in life.” His voice trailed away. The muscle in his cheek leapt and danced again.

  “Go on,” whispered Maria.

  “I was captured. Tortured. When I refused to comply, she was killed in front of me. Slowly.” He kept his gaze fixed on Maria. “I didn’t have what they wanted. I couldn’t save her. We’d only been married two years. Ana had her whole life ahead of her.” The pain on his face was intense. “I still hear her screams when I sleep.”

  Maria closed the gap and wrapped her arms around him, her need to give comfort instinctive. He flinched at her touch, but she stood firm. It felt an age later that he relaxed and slid one arm around her.

  “We had plans,” he said. “Travelling and studying. A house. It was going to be a new life for us. A normal life. When I lost her, that all changed. I fell back on the only things I knew. I made it my life’s ambition to find the bastard who murdered her and make him pay. I’m close. And he knows that.”

  “Who is it?”

  “I won’t tell you his name, but he’s American. He’s high up in the Intelligence Services, and he wields a lot of power now.”

  “Is that how you traded information with Rico? Was he helping you to find him?”

  “Partly.” Yanni hesitated. “Your brother was also protecting me.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Jack and Tanner needed to get the fuck out of London and head up to Anglesey, to the last sighting of Maria with Yanni.

  Sapphire insisted she go with them, and nothing Jack said would persuade her to stay behind. They didn’t have time to debate the issue. He said okay and tried not to think about Juli’s reaction when he turned up with a hooker in tow.

  Sapphire was getting dressed in the bathroom, when Jack’s phone vibrated. It was Charlie. Again. Jack could tell him they’d finished with his apartment and thank him for his patience.

  He answered the call. “Hey,” he began, but Charlie interrupted.

  “Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been ringing you for the last hour.” His voice vibrated with tension.

  “I’ve been busy. Is there a problem?”

  “Too fucking right. Daisy’s gone, and it’s got something to do with Juli’s fucking terrorist friend.” He sounded as though he was going to break down at any second.

  “Gone where?” To say Jack was baffled would be a giant freaking understatement. “I’m putting you on speaker.” He reset the phone onto the table. “Okay, Charlie. What happened to Daisy?”

  Charlie took a rapid breath. Voices spoke in the background. “There’s this girl, Irina,” said Charlie, “and she’s on the run.”

  “Irina?” Jack and Tanner echoed the name together.

  “She’s hiding here, and waiting for a friend to come get her. She found a picture of him, and it’s Juli’s guy.”

  Tanner leapt in. “Is Irina there? With you?”

  Silence. Charlie’s voice was suspicious when he spoke “Who’s that with you? Is Juli there?”

  “It’s Tanner,” said Jack. “Charlie, where are you? How did Irina come to you?”

  “She didn’t. She ended up at Nathan’s, but that’s not important.”

  Jack glanced at Tanner. He looked as perplexed as Jack felt. Who the fuck was Nathan?

  Charlie carried on, the words pouring out of him. “So she’s supposed to be meeting your Alain, only she calls him something else. Serenity, I think.”

  —the fuck?

  “And Shaz told some heavies that she was hiding here, and now Daisy’s vanished with Nathan. If they’re looking for Irina, that means they’re something to do with Juli’s guy. And these fuckers beat Irina—really fucking battered her. And they’ve got Daisy.”

  Nope. This still didn’t make any sense. Who was Shaz? And why on God’s green earth would Irina be there? The chance of it being a different girl was slim.

  Like a wind-up toy running out of energy, Charlie seemed to have run out of words.

  Tanner broke the heavy silence. “Where are you, Charlie?”

  “Rhosneigr, of course.” Charlie hesitated, sounding close to tears. “Did you hear me? They’ve got Daisy. You have to get her back. All this shit—it’s all fallout from Juli. I can’t lose Daisy.” Another pause. “You’ve got to tell Juli’s guy that they’ve got the wrong girl. Get them to release her. They’ve got to be working for him, yeah?”

  Sapphire’s footsteps pattered down the stairs. She’d be joining them any minute, and Jack had to break the bad news to Charlie.

  “We don’t have him. He escaped. We’re looking for him. Did you see the men who took Daisy?”

  “You’ve fucking lost him? Oh Jesus.”

  “Did you see them?”

  “No. None of us did. Man, it’s all my fault. I didn’t bother going to the yard, and that was why she went without me. She cut Irina’s hair and they looked similar. From a distance, at least. Daisy called me, and I was busy. I didn’t pick up. Is it him? That’s taken Daisy?”

  “I don’t know, but we’re leaving London now. We’ll be with you in a few hours. Did you call the police?”

  “Not yet. I wanted to talk to you first.” He sounded broken and completely unlike his usual cocky self.

  “Aiden,” said Tanner, and Jack nodded.

&n
bsp; “Do you remember Aiden Bradley?” Jack said into the phone. “He’s an associate of ours. He’s no more than half an hour away. I’ll call him now. I promise you, we’ll do everything we can to find her.”

  An already complicated situation had just become more dangerous. It was bad enough that Maria had disappeared with Yanni. Now Daisy’s life was at risk.

  *

  Juli could make no sense of the latest development. Within minutes of Jack’s calling Aiden, she was behind the wheel of her car and they were heading for Rhosneigr. Aiden’s colleagues, Neil and Davey, followed in the comms van.

  It seemed a bizarre coincidence, for Irina to go to this sleepy, little seaside village.

  Juli had never been there. She knew Alex and Sylvie lived there, as did her ex-boss from TM-Tech, Jordan. It was also where Daisy lived, when she wasn’t with Charlie.

  Juli followed the directions to Nathan’s stables, and they arrived twenty minutes later, to be greeted by a crowd of people. Charlie was here, of course, white faced and distant, along with a Polish translator called Andrei. Jon and Anita—friends of Jordan’s—were there, and so was a sullen girl with blonde dreadlocks. And Irina. She wasn’t a figment of Yanni’s imagination after all.

  The stable yard felt decidedly overcrowded.

  When Juli last saw Charlie, a few days ago, he snarled at her for bringing Yanni into his home. Now he took her to one side, his eyes dark with fury. “I wish to God I’d never gotten mixed up in your crazy scheme,” he said. “I wish I’d never picked up the phone. I don’t understand how this has happened, and I don’t care how you do it, but you’re gonna get Daisy back. Understand? She might be fond of Jack, but after today, I never want to see either of you again.”

  Juli’s temper, on a slow-burning simmer all day, finally erupted. “Yanni’s got my friend too. Maria. Someone’s trying to kill him. We saw them being shot at, and I don’t know if she’s been hurt.” Juli took a quick breath. “I’m sorry for involving you, but I didn’t have anyone else to turn to. And I’m sorry about Daisy, but you’re not the only one who’s stressed. Okay?”