by Angel Sefer
By the time Catherine came to tell her breakfast was served, she had already taken a shower and was dressed and ready to go. She had a quick bite and left the apartment around nine-thirty. Mark had told her the night before that even with heavy traffic her company’s headquarters were no farther than half an hour’s drive from the apartment. However, she wanted to take her time to find a taxi and make sure she made it early enough to have time to relax and prepare herself for the meeting.
She took the elevator down and walked outside the building with her briefcase in her hands. It was such a beautiful day, and the thought of walking for a while sounded good to her.
All of a sudden, she saw a limo approaching and stopping on the side of the street right next to her. A driver she hadn’t seen before climbed out and politely held the door open for her. Alexandra hesitated for a moment.
“Miss Stewart, right?” the driver asked politely.
“Yes,” she replied. “I’m Miss Stewart.”
“I’ll take you to your meeting,” the driver said and glanced at her anxiously.
Well, I won’t have to look for a taxi after all, Alexandra thought. She took another look at the driver and approached the limo. Was it her imagination or did he glance around nervously? She suddenly felt tense. No, she didn’t need that. She was in too good of a mood this morning to have anybody make her feel uneasy.
“No, thank you,” she finally said. “I would rather walk for a while.”
“But you’ll be late,” he insisted.
“I have plenty of time,” Alexandra retorted and glanced at her watch. It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet.
“Please, Miss Stewart,” the driver went on. “I’ll be in trouble if I don’t follow orders.”
Well, that’s not my problem, Alexandra thought and smiled at the thought of someone disobeying Mark. He would be furious.
“I’m sorry,” she told the driver. “Just tell your boss I’ve made other arrangements,” she said determined and turned on her heel to leave.
She was shocked to feel the driver’s hand on her arm. She felt her temper rising and turned to put him in his place. All of sudden, he dropped his hand, murmured an excuse, and jumped back into the limo, disappearing down the street.
Alexandra stood there for a minute, puzzled by his behavior. Then, she turned to leave when she noticed the police car parked a little farther down. A warning bell went off inside her head. She turned and stared in the direction the limo had taken. What on earth was he thinking, grabbing me like this? And why would he leave just like that afterwards? Was it because of the police car? I don’t understand. She was puzzled by the driver’s behavior and even more puzzled by the nervousness this whole incident caused her. I have to pull myself together. I need to forget about this and do my best at the meeting. Determined, she walked down the street, looking for a taxi.
***
At ten forty-five, Alexandra entered the main offices of Insurance Guarantee, and a few minutes later, she was waiting outside the president’s office.
Her meeting with Hughes lasted only for a few minutes. He seemed rather pleased with her report and told her to keep up the good work. Before she knew it, she had left the office and was out on the street again.
Boy, that was easy, she breathed out in relief. She was sure the president was in contact with the clients. It seemed they had told him they were satisfied, so he was too. So far, so good, she thought. Now, the only thing left is to meet with the president of Imperial Resorts Corporation and head back home.
Her thoughts went to John, and she prayed he was all right. She hoped everything would be over by the time she arrived back in Atlanta. At this point, she didn’t really care whether he had solved the case or not. All she cared about was his safety. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her father’s murderers to be punished, but she didn’t want to lose John, too.
Her cell phone rang, and Alexandra reached in her briefcase to get it out. This must be Holly, she thought, wanting to see how the meeting went.
“Hello?” she answered and stood still not hearing a response. “Hello?” she repeated louder.
“Alexandra Stewart?” A heavy male voice asked coldly.
“Yes,” Alexandra replied as a chill caressed her spine.
“Now you listen to me carefully,” the man said.
“Who is this?” Alexandra inquired, trying to control the trembling in her voice.
“Shut up and listen!” The man cut her off abruptly.
“There’s a limo parked down the street,” he said, and Alexandra turned and saw the limo she had refused this morning waiting down the street with the same driver leaning against it.
“You walk over there and get in,” the man continued.
“You must be out of you mind,” Alexandra burst out, not being able to control her temper any more.
“I don’t think you have a choice,” the man continued, and she could hear the irony in his voice.
A cold hand grabbed her heart. “Listen…” she started.
“No, you listen!” he yelled over the phone, interrupting her. “You either get in that limo right now or someone very close to you will get hurt!” He abruptly hung up on her.
Alexandra was left speechless... She stared at her phone, as if she was expecting some answers from it. Then, she looked towards the limo and saw that the driver had stood up and was watching her closely. She felt the urge to flee. All she wanted right now was to run as far away from that limo as possible. However, she could still hear the man’s voice in her head—“someone very close to you will get hurt!”And she was almost sure he wasn’t bluffing.
Oh, dear God, she thought. John is in real trouble. They’ve taken him, and they will probably kill him if I don’t do exactly what they tell me. But what did they want from her? She knew nothing that could do them any harm. Then again, how would they know that? They wouldn’t. That’s probably why they wanted her to go with them: to find out one way or the other.
She took a small step towards the limo and could feel her body going numb from fear. I have to do this! she encouraged herself. I can’t let them hurt John.
Glancing around her, she saw a lot of people walking up and down the street. However, no one was paying any attention to her. She felt as if she had suddenly become invisible.
She started walking towards the limo, taking small, unsteady steps. Even though she was trying to buy some time in order to think clearly, fear had paralyzed her mind. The driver kept watching her like a hawk. He glanced around, anxiously. Then his intense gaze turned to her again. He opened the back door of the limo and held it for her to get in.
Alexandra felt as if her heart was about to stop. She was only a few feet away from the limo and whatever danger it had in store for her when someone grabbed her by the arm.
A wild rush of fear washed over her, and she twisted, trying to free herself. The limo driver pulled out a gun and dived for her. The hand holding her shoved her aside. Losing her balance, Alexandra landed on the hard pavement. She gasped as a sharp pain shot through her back. Rolling on her side, she stared at the two men fighting. As if in a dream, she saw Mark grabbing the limo driver and shoving him against the car. Mark’s left hand was on the guy’s throat, choking him, while his right one banged the guy’s gun hand against the car. The driver tried to kick Mark. With a swift move, Mark avoided his leg and made him drop the gun. The guy punched Mark in the stomach. Mark bent over for a second, which gave the driver enough time to jump over the hood of the car, climb inside, and take off.
Alexandra stared breathless as Mark clenched his fists, staring after the limo. As soon as the car disappeared down the street, Mark turned around and rushed towards her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, worried, and helped her to her feet.
“Yes,” Alexandra whispered out of breath, even though she wasn’t all right at all. She was ready to collapse on the pavement, again.
Mark grabbed her by the waist, leading her around the corner.
She felt her knees give in and grabbed his arm for support. In a flash, he swept her up in his arms, carrying her down the street.
“Everything’s okay,” he reassured her. “I’ve got you now.”
Alexandra laid her head against his shoulder, ignoring the questioning stares people gave them.
“My car is just down the street,” he said and took her to a parking deck one block away. He led her to a silver Mercedes and helped her climb inside.
Alexandra sunk into the black leather seat while he rushed around the car and slid in on the driver’s side. He locked the doors and turned the engine. The car took off, and Mark sped towards his office.
“I would like to go home if you don’t mind,” she whispered, and realized only after she said it that she had used the word home for the company’s apartment. Then again, right now she was too upset to analyze her thoughts and feelings.
He glanced at her for a second. Realizing the condition she was in, he turned the car around and headed for the apartment. Driving with one hand, which made Alexandra nervous, he grabbed his cell with the other. He called somebody and started talking fast in Greek—too fast for Alexandra to understand what he was saying.
They reached the apartment building in less than fifteen minutes. Alexandra was still shaking when Mark pulled to the side of the road and stopped the car. Two guys in black suits rushed from the entrance of the building towards their car. Letting out a scream, Alexandra reached over and grabbed Mark’s arm.
“It’s okay,” he reassured her. “They’re security guards.”
He unlocked the doors and jumped out of the car while one of the guards opened Alexandra’s door. The other guard walked around the car and climbed in on the driver’s side. Mark took Alexandra by the arm and pulled her inside the building with the guard following them. The second guard started the engine of Mark’s car and drove away.
Mark and Alexandra rushed to the elevators. They went up and inside the apartment, leaving the guard standing outside the front door.
Mark helped Alexandra to the sofa and kneeled down in front of her, his eyes filled with anxiety and worry.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked, and she could tell how upset he was.
“I’ll be all right,” she reassured him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he replied abruptly.
“But he had a gun,” she continued. “You could have been killed.”
“I’m fine,” he insisted. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. I’m just so mad that he got away.”
Alexandra reached over and caressed his hair with her hand. “I was so scared,” she admitted.
“I know,” he said and, grabbing her hand, he brought it to his lips. “I’m here now. Nobody is going to hurt you anymore.”
“I know,” she said simply and fell in his arms.
He held her close as she burst into tears.
Lost in his arms, Alexandra released all the anguish and fear she had experienced.
A few moments later, she pulled back and stared at him.
Mark stood up and went to bring her a box of tissues from behind the bar. “Here,” he said softly. “I hope you feel a little better.”
“Yes, thank you,” she said and felt really embarrassed, realizing how terrible she probably looked.
“I have to make a phone call,” Mark said. He walked towards the study, and Alexandra heard him speaking loudly on the phone, half Greek and half English.
She made an effort to stand up and walk towards her bedroom. Going by the study, she overheard some bits and pieces of his conversation, but she was too tired and too upset to understand anything. She went inside her room and collapsed on her bed.
A few minutes later, Mark came in, followed by Catherine.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he reassured her. “Catherine is going to take care of you.”
“Where are you going?” Alexandra asked, panicking.
“Relax,” he said in a soft tone of voice. “I’ll be back before you know it. In the meantime, you’ll be safe here,” he said and left the room.
Catherine helped Alexandra take a bath, gave her a pill to relax, and helped her to bed. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
***
The phone in the study rang, and Mark rushed to answer it. He recognized the voice and filled in his boss quickly on what had just happened.
“I don’t know how I could be so careless,” he said and ran his fingers through his hair. “They almost grabbed her right out of our hands.”
He listened for a while, trying to swallow his anger.
“I know,” he said, finally. “This means that we have to speed things up. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”
***
In the lavish suite of Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C., Alexandros Vassiliou slammed the phone down. He was furious. He was used to everything going according to his orders, and now this… I’m not going to sit back and watch, he thought, gritting his teeth. Determined to take matters into his own hands, he picked up the phone again and called his attorney. He had to move fast.
Chapter Ten
ALEXANDRA OPENED HER EYES and stared around, puzzled. It was daytime, but she couldn’t figure out if it was morning or afternoon. She glanced at the clock on the dresser and saw that it was almost seven-thirty in the evening.
All of a sudden, this morning’s events came crushing down on her. She jumped out of bed, anxiously. A little dizzy, she rushed to the bathroom to throw some water on her face. She dressed in a hurry, feeling the urge to talk to Mark. She couldn’t believe someone had tried to kidnap her and Mark was nearly shot trying to help her.
“I hope he’s all right,” she whispered and rushed to the living room. Seeing nobody there, she turned and rushed to his bedroom, knocking on the door. When no one answered, she went back to the living room and down the other hallway towards the kitchen. She pushed the door open and walked inside to find Catherine and the other maid chopping up some vegetables for dinner.
As soon as the two maids saw Alexandra walking in, they both stared at her, concerned.
“Miss Stewart, are you feeling any better?” the older maid asked.
“Yes, thank you,” Alexandra replied.
“Let me get you something to drink,” Catherine said and went to the refrigerator to pour some lemonade for Alexandra.
“Thank you,” Alexandra repeated and sat on one of the chairs, taking the glass of lemonade in her hands.
“Is Mr. Taylor here?” Alexandra asked, trying to hide the anxiety in her voice.
“Mr. Taylor had to leave for a while,” Catherine said. “But he said he’ll be back soon.”
“I see,” Alexandra said and shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Somehow, having Mark around made her feel safe.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Catherine asked concerned. “Mr. Taylor told us about your ordeal this morning.”
“Yes, I’m okay,” Alexandra said, trying to sound reassuring.
“Anna has made some delicious chicken soup,” Catherine continued, pointing at the other maid. “Would you like some? It’ll help you feel better until Mr. Taylor comes back.”
“Yes, please,” Alexandra replied, after a moment’s hesitation. Her stomach was upset, and some chicken soup would probably make her feel better.
“Don’t worry, Miss Stewart,” Anna said while she was serving some soup into a porcelain bowl. “Michael is here to protect you,” she continued and placed the bowl in front of Alexandra.
“Michael?” Alexandra asked puzzled and immediately realized they were probably talking about the guard who had escorted her from the car and stood outside the apartment.
“Yes,” Anna said. “He’s really good. He used to be in the Special Forces with Mr. Taylor. They served together.”
“In the Special Forces?” Alexandra asked confused. “I didn’t know Mr. Taylor served in the Special Forces.”
“Oh yes,
Miss Stewart,” Catherine reassured her proudly. “Mr. Taylor served for two years in the Special Forces of the Greek Army right after he finished school. He was even awarded with a medal of honor.”
“I don’t think Mr. Taylor would appreciate…” Anna interrupted her.
“Mr. Taylor wouldn’t appreciate what?” Mark cut in, and everybody turned, surprised to see him standing at the kitchen door.
“I’m sorry,” Catherine mumbled embarrassed and lower her eyes, staring at her feet.
“It’s my fault,” Alexandra said and stood up, leaving her soup untouched. “I guess Catherine sensed how vulnerable I feel right now, and she was trying to make me feel better,” she continued and strode right by him, heading for the living room.
Mark hesitated for a minute and then followed her.
“I didn’t mean to get anyone in trouble,” Alexandra said, clenching her hands together.
“It’s okay,” he said and put his arms around her shoulders, reassuringly.
“I don’t want you to be mad at Catherine,” she insisted. “All she was trying to do is help me feel better.”
“I know,” Mark said softly. “Don’t worry about that. Try to relax.”
“Relax? How can I relax?” Alexandra burst out. “Someone just tried to kidnap me, John has vanished from the face of the earth, and someone is threatening to kill him, and you… you almost got shot because of me,” she continued and started shaking uncontrollably.
Mark pulled her in his arms and tried to comfort her.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You’re safe now. Everything’s going to be all right.”
“Nothing is going to be all right,” she insisted stubbornly. “These people will never give up, not until they kill John and me.”
Mark pulled her back and stared at her intensely. “What are you talking about?”
Alexandra hesitated for a moment and swallowed hard. She realized she had already said enough. The fact that she was scared made her talk like this. She never meant to mention her problems to Mark.
“Alexandra, talk to me,” Mark insisted and shook her slightly.
