Chapter Five
When Alex got back to the chateau it was dark outside, and Jane was waiting for him in the lounge.
She stood as he came in the door. “What happened? Did you see her?”
He kept walking toward her, and she started backing up until she hit the wall. She closed her eyes, clearly bracing for a blow.
Alex stilled as he realized the truth behind Jane’s coldness.
“Jane,” he said softly, gently.
Her face crumpled as if she knew she’d revealed her secret.
It cracked something inside him to think someone had abused this woman. Her icy exterior wasn’t superiority the way he’d always supposed. It was a means of keeping the world at bay. Of keeping her pain hidden and her body safe.
“Sorry,” she gasped in a deep, shuddering breath and then whispered, “most of the time I can pretend it never happened.” She crossed her arms over her chest and met his gaze. “You always scare me to my bones. I guess you brought it all back.”
It was his turn to flinch. He knew she thought he was a monster. That’s why she’d come to him for help in the first place.
“What business was Masook in?” Alex asked.
Blue eyes were confused as she frowned at him. She was so brittle and composed he wondered she didn’t break. But she held his gaze so they were making progress.
“When I met him he said his family was in construction.” Her mouth pinched. “I never actually saw him do any work.”
“One of the idle rich?” Alex mused. He didn’t think Masook was idle, though. He’d bet money the man was just furtive about conducting business that was both lucrative and highly illegal.
Jane moved away from him and picked up a bottle of wine and poured out a large glass. She held up the bottle. “Would you like one?”
Alex shook his head. “Tell me about him. How did you two meet?”
“In Florida at some charity function.” She took a big gulp of wine and put the glass down on the coffee table. She sat abruptly. Condensation gathered on the outside of the glass, and she stroked her finger along the stem. “I can’t lie. His being rich was one of the main things that first attracted me to him. So, it’s my own fault. Don’t they say people who marry for money earn every penny?”
She gave another cynical laugh, and Alex felt his mouth go dry. He’d only ever guessed at half of her source of pain.
“I come from a family with deep roots in the south. We knew how to spend money, we just didn’t know how to work for it.” Something changed in her eyes. “At first Ahmed was kind and attentive and showered me in diamonds. I thought I’d hit the jackpot. I fell in love. We got married and I became pregnant straight away, which hadn’t been part of the plan for either of us.” Her lips wobbled. “Then I had Taylor and I fell madly in love with my little girl. My mom and I were never close, so it was unexpected.” She wiped beneath her eyes, pretending she wasn’t crying. “Wait until your child arrives.”
“I already know.” The love he felt for his and Mallory’s unborn baby was equaled only by the love he felt for Mallory.
She shook her head. “No. You think you know. You’ve had a glimpse of it, but it’s the tip of the iceberg compared to what’s coming. When you hold them, when you smell the scent of their skin and look into their trusting eyes. They smile at you, and it’s like another universe opens up.” Her eyes met his. Tragic. Anguished. “They own you.”
He wasn’t sure he’d survive feeling even more for the woman he loved or the child she carried.
“Ahmed didn’t like me spending more time with Taylor than with him. He became jealous of his own daughter.” She picked up her wine again with a shaking hand and took another big gulp. It was a dangerous way to numb reality but there were worse methods. “That’s why he stole her when I left him. Because he knew that would cause me the most pain.”
Alex forced the pity from his heart. Pity wasn’t what she wanted from him. “Come with me. I want you to look at a photograph of a man.” He went to his bedroom, and she followed cautiously as he unlocked his suitcase. Alex removed his laptop and started it up.
He searched the internet for a photograph of Vladimir Ranich without any accompanying details. It wasn’t easy to find, but Alex knew where to look.
He turned the screen toward Jane. “Did Masook ever do business with this man?”
She had her hands crossed over her chest and leaned forward from the waist rather than stepping closer to him. Her mouth prepared to form the word “no” until she actually looked at the image.
“Oh. Yes. I remember him coming to Ahmed’s house in Saudi Arabia once.” She shook her head. “I didn’t actually meet him, and I don’t know if he was there for business or pleasure. I was chasing Taylor around the foyer when he arrived.” Her gaze drifted as she lost herself in memories. “We weren’t introduced. It was just before Ahmed let me take Taylor back to the States to visit my parents. I was busy pretending to be crazy in love with him even though he liked to beat me unconscious at least once a month.” She touched her rib as if a ghost pain still lingered. Alex had that, too. Phantom symptoms of times he’d rather forget.
“Taylor was two. I knew I had to make him believe I’d never leave him. I told him I didn’t want to go back to the US, that I needed stay with him. He slapped me and ordered the servants to pack.” She smiled a cold, brittle smile of triumph that immediately slid into despair. “He got his revenge when he stole Taylor and ran.” She huddled into herself. “The only positive thing was I got away from him. He would have killed me if I’d stayed. He’ll still kill me if he catches me now.”
Not on Alex’s watch.
Masook hadn’t been on the CIA’s radar. Maybe that had changed since Alex had left the agency. Maybe Masook was the real reason The Gateway Project had targeted Jane Sanders in the first place.
“Looking back, he arranged the trip for me very quickly and never imagined I’d bolt from such a loving husband.” Her eyes sharpened. “Who is the guy in the photograph and why are you asking? Is he involved with Ahmed? Did you see Taylor? Is she okay?” The words ran together as panic overtook her.
“I saw Taylor.”
Jane stopped talking, and her eyes got huge. Her hand clenched and unclenched. “How did she look? Did she look happy? How tall is she?”
Alex pressed his lips together and gave her an approximation of the girl’s height. Jane’s face turned anguished at all the years that represented.
“Her father was telling her off for sneaking off the boat and playing with the local kids without permission.”
Jane blanched. “Did he hit her?”
Alex shook his head. “I didn’t see him raise his hand to her. I did see him shake her. I don’t know for sure what happened when they went inside.”
Her eyes darted around the room without seeing it. “I never saw him hit anyone else. Only me. I have held onto that hope ever since the day he took her.” She stared off into space for a moment, then her mind seemed to snap back into place and she pointed at the image of Vladimir Ranch on the screen. “Who is this man? What does he have to do with Ahmed?” she asked again.
Alex pressed his lips together. “I don’t know yet.”
She eyed him like she knew he was lying. “What was security like?”
“Minimal.”
“Are you going back tonight?” She looked so hopeful Alex wanted to lie to her.
“No. Not tonight. I want to do more recon. First, I need some sleep.” He needed to talk to Frazer.
She blinked and seemed to become aware she was in his bedroom. She backed away. “Sorry. I’ll leave you alone.”
All the years they’d worked together and they’d never really trusted one another. They’d both been trapped doing something they hated and had hoarded their secret pain. He was no longer that person. He didn’t want to dislike her anymore.
“What made you do it? Work for The Gateway Project?” he asked quietly, so Reilly wouldn’t accidentally overhear them.
She gave a shuddering breath and whispered back. “They told me they’d bring her home to me. Taylor. They said that if I gave them three years of my life they’d make sure Taylor came home and Ahmed wouldn’t be able to find me. Ever. I was three months away from that when…”
When it had all crashed down around their heads.
“There was no guarantee they’d have kept their promise,” Alex said gently. “You know that, right?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes. But some hope was better than none.”
There was always hope. Always. Even when things looked horrifically bleak. He gave her a soft smile. “We’ll get her back.”
She swallowed hard as if choking down a sob and walked swiftly away.
Reilly appeared in the doorway.
“Any problems today?” Alex asked.
Reilly shook his head. “You really gonna get the kid back?”
“I’m gonna try. Just keep Jane occupied, okay? It’s not going to be as straightforward as I’d hoped. Certain unforeseen things have come up.”
Reilly cocked a brow. “Things?”
“Individuals. Dangerous individuals.”
“Is the child in danger?” Reilly asked quietly.
“I don’t believe so, but I can’t afford for Jane to get involved in this. She’s a wildcard. Keep her contained, even if you have to chain her to the bed.”
Something flickered across Reilly’s features and then was gone. “Roger that. I’ll keep her out of trouble.”
Alex just hoped he could do the same.