Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
T wenty minutes earlier
Willow
“Answer the phone,” I said out loud. As if commanding my brother to answer his goddamn phone was going to work. I was pacing the garden, trying to keep my wits. The rings continued and I sensed his voicemail would come on. At least hearing his voice would provide some sense of false comfort.
I was right, yet his voice and message were different than before. Guarded. Or fearful.
“Leave a message.”
At first, I almost thought I’d dialed the wrong number but after a quick glance at the screen, I knew better. Did that mean he was still alive? Now I had to perform the best acting I’d ever done.
“Shane. It’s Willow. I need you. I must talk with you. Only you can help me. I was abducted by Dimitrios Nomikos. He’s holding me against my will. He’s going to force me to marry him. I can’t do it. I can’t spend the rest of my life with a killer. Please help me. I’ve found a way to escape his clutches. Please call me back. I have a friend here who’s going to help me. She’s coming to get me. She knows a safe place. Please. Mommy and Daddy are dead. Dead! You’re the only one I trust. Just… please.” I was sobbing at the end, my heart racing.
Exhaling, I held the phone against my chest, constantly scanning the landscape. The noise from the gathering filtered toward me adding to my anxiousness. I adored Dimitrios’ parents, but a party? There was music playing, food and liquor. It just didn’t seem right.
It was time to leave whether or not Shane returned my call. What if he was watching? What if he’d been spying on me the entire time?
What if he didn’t care what happened to me?
I was terrified, my heart aching as much as the night I’d returned to the villa. Nothing made sense any longer.
Think clearly. Breathe. You can do this. You can escape.
The lingering little voice inside my head wasn’t helping as much as I’d hoped. Everything felt out of hand. But this was required. I wanted to live my life as I determined.
After taking several scattered breaths, I shifted to the edge of the property. I’d found another way of getting past the guards. I could do this. All I had to do was to take one step in front of the other.
Guests were outside, enjoying the deck surrounding the pool. I kept close to the trees, doing my best not to make a single sound. With every step closer to the outskirts of the estate, I said a silent mantra. It managed to give a boost to my resolve.
Hearing laughter, I eased into the shadows, the early evening sun providing enough cover.
Or so I hoped.
Everything was a blur as I continued trekking toward the front. A guard suddenly appeared only fifty feet in front of me. Shit. Shit. Hunkering down, I waited as he walked the perimeter, finally moving off in another direction. I made a run for it, racing toward freedom.
I could see the road and continued rushing without looking back. Every muscle in my body ached, my head throbbing. Yet I couldn’t stop. I had to do this. I had to escape.
Once cleared of the trees and on the road, I took a deep breath. I’d told Athena where to meet me after begging her for help. She’d been terrified, threatening to contact the Greek police. I only prayed to God she’d heeded my plea to allow me to handle this.
Keeping my head down, I yanked out the hat I’d snagged, shoving my long hair underneath. I’d changed into a sweatshirt and jeans, hoping to hide my identity. I used the same caution as I headed around the side of another massive estate, reaching another road. At that point, I took another series of deep breaths.
I remained on the outskirts, keeping close to a line of trees. There was no car, no indication she’d followed through with her promise to come get me.
When a set of headlights flashed, relief flooded through my system. After tossing a quick look over my shoulder, I raced toward the awaiting vehicle.
The moment I threw open the door, jumping inside, Athena huffed.
“Are you nuts?” she asked.
That remained to be seen.
“Just drive. Okay?”
“Are you going to tell me what’s really going on?” She hesitated before pressing her foot down on the accelerator.
Those few seconds felt like hours, my stomach in knots.
“It’s complicated.”
“You’re scaring me to death. What about your parents? I heard about them. I’m so sorry.” Athena rolled down the road while I slunk down in the seat. “Do you know who killed them?”
Yes. No. Maybe.
“I’m scared to death. I just need to talk to my brother.”
“Has he contacted you?”
“No.” I yanked my phone into my hand, staring at the blank screen. I had a terrible feeling he wasn’t going to return my call. “Where are we going?”
She threw a glance in my direction. “A friend of mine you haven’t met is out of the country for a week. I’m taking care of her plants and have access to a key. I don’t like this, Willow. You’re going to get yourself into some serious trouble. Let alone the danger I think you’re in. We should go to the police.”
I’d only told her limited information about Dimitrios. Allowing another party into the mix wasn’t a good idea. That much I’d gathered myself. “No police. I’ll be fine. I just need to do this. What’s the address?”
She spouted it off and I texted it to Shane, begging him once again to come meet me there. I kept the phone in my hand just in case he tried to call. Hundreds of thoughts were racing through my mind, none of them allowing for a positive conclusion.
Neither one of us talked as she drove, but I sensed she had as many questions as I did. Less than twenty minutes later, she pulled up in front of a group of white buildings, all poised on a rocky cliff overlooking the city.
“I really don’t want to leave you alone like this. Let me come inside with you,” Athena pleaded.
“No! No, it’s fine. I’ll be okay. Where’s the key?” God. Why was she hesitating? “Athena. Please. You’re a good friend. I know what I’m doing. Okay?”
“Okay, but call me if you need a ride or a way out of the country. My father can help.”
“I appreciate that.”
“The key is under the planter on the front stairs. Just do me a favor and be careful. Whatever you’re involved in might be extremely dangerous.”
Might be? It was.
“You’re a good friend. Thank you.” After unfastening my seatbelt, I leaned over, pulling her into a hug. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
As I climbed out, staring up at the buildings, I had a sick sense that nothing would be okay. There were no other options. None. I raced up the stairs, hurriedly searching for and finding the key. My hands were shaking as I unlocked the door, so much so I almost dropped the key twice.
Once inside and safely behind a locked door, I leaned against it. Now it was time to wait.
If I could stand doing so.
I peeked out the front window through the blinds, unable to see anything but vehicles driving back and forth on the street. My nerves were already shot. I guess I wouldn’t make a good double agent.
A nervous laughed erupted from my throat. The ragged sound was a bitter reminder I was in over my head.
Twenty minutes passed and all I could to was pace and wring my hands. I’d turned on a single light, constantly rubbing my fingers on the necklace Dimitrios had given me.
Another ten minutes and I was close to sobbing. I’d never felt so utterly helpless in my life.
When another fifteen came and went, I had to face the possibility Shane was no longer alive.
A quick blipping noise caught my attention. A text.
I yanked the phone from my back pocket, holding my breath as I prayed my brother was alive and still cared about me.
Shane: I’m here.
Me: Come to the front door.
Excitement tore through me and I hesitated before pressing another button on my phone and placing it on the small dining room table.
Oh, fuck. Oh, holy fuck. With fumbling fingers, I opened the door. Shane rushed inside, closing and locking immediately before moving toward the front blinds. He closed the slats and backed away from the window.
I almost didn’t recognize my brother. He was at least twenty pounds heavier, his hair cut extremely short. He was cautious but not nearly as nervous as I was. There was an air of confidence about him. He studied me for a few seconds before taking long strides in my direction, pulling me into a tight hug.
“Oh, baby sister. I’m so sorry. So very sorry.”
“What is going on? Our parents are dead. You were at the villa. I know you were. They think you’re the Stalker, some crazy assassin. Did you kill our parents? Did you kill Leandro Nomikos? Did you?”
“Whoa. Calm down. Take a deep breath. Things aren’t what you’ve heard.”
“Are you the goddamn Stalker?” I pushed myself away, finding a need to search his eyes. My brother could never lie to me. He sucked at it just like…
Dimitrios.
Thinking the handsome Greek’s name only brought another wave of sadness, despair so intense I was faltering with finding the right words.
“No, Willow. I’m not the Stalker. Why would you think that?”
“Your name was mentioned. People are talking.”
“What people?” Shane demanded.
I refused to answer. He didn’t deserve any information from me. It was the other way around.
“Dimitrios Nomikos. Your fiancé.” He huffed. “What the fuck did you do?”
“What did I do? Are you kidding me right now? You disappeared and the single time you took my call, you told me to run. From what? Bad men. Which bad men? There are a hell of a lot of them. Including you.”
“We need to get you out of the country.”
I took a step away. “I’m not going anywhere until I learn the truth. Why were our parents murdered in cold blood?” The sadness in my voice had switched to pure rage.
My brother dared to take two steps in my direction and my instincts kicked in. Reaching behind my back, I yanked the weapon Dimitrios had provided into my hand. The moment I pointed the barrel at my brother, a sob escaped.
“Willow. What are you doing?” He threw out his hands, his face clearly showing the shock he felt.
“Tell me the truth or so help me God, Shane. What are you in the middle of?”
“You’re not going to shoot me.” He was foolish enough to take another step closer.
“Don’t push me. You have no idea what I’ve been through. I’m not the same little girl who thought you were a fucking hero. You’re not. I won’t take any crap from anyone any longer. I will shoot you if necessary.”
The front door was kicked in and Shane jerked around, immediately pulling out a weapon of his own. His eyes opened wide as he watched several men piling into the room.
My uncle included.
“Don’t do it, Shane,” I told him as I moved to his side, keeping the weapon in both hands and directly in front of me.
“Let me have the weapon, little dove,” Dimitrios told me.
“I won’t allow him to shoot you.” I shifted from foot to foot.
Shane shook his head. “You lured me here.”
“You bet I did.”
“What are you doing with him?”
I laughed. “You have no right to demand any answers from me. Dimitrios is the single person who helped me. He protected me. What the fuck were you doing?”
Dimitrios moved to my side, slowly lifting his arm and placing it on my hands. “Don’t do this, Willow. It’s not what you want. It’s what I want. We’re going to talk. All of us.”
At least my brother was nervous, maybe even fearful of what I’d do. After a few seconds, I slowly started to lower my arms, allowing Dimitrios to take and pocket the weapon.
“Jesus Christ, Shane,” Uncle Gregory said under his breath. “What the fuck happened to you?”
“Uncle Greg,” Shane said. I noticed he didn’t lower his weapon, shifting his angry gaze from our uncle to Dimitrios.
Dimitrios winked as he walked closer, Havros closing the door behind him. I wanted to remind the man I adored he’d need to replace the door or Athena would kick my ass.
I’d do that later.
“You’re going to tell us everything,” I barked, barely recognizing my voice any longer.
“I’d listen to your sister, Shane. She’s one tough lady. You did good, little dove.”
It finally fully settled into my brother’s mind that I’d lured him into a web. His baby sister, the one who’d never done anything wrong in her life. As he turned his head, I sensed both rage and sadness.
“Why?” he asked me. “You didn’t trust me.”
“How could I? I brought you here because someone is trying to frame you.” I made the choice to share that with him. If I got into trouble with Dimitrios, so be it. “That is, unless you’re guilty and actually the Stalker.”
Dimitrios had a weapon in both hands, but his arms were lowered in front of him. “Nico, take our guest’s weapon from him.”
“Frame me. That figures,” Shane said, his laugh indicating it wasn’t a huge surprise.
“You got it, boss.” Nico did as he was asked, Shane smartly not attempting to keep it.
Dimitrios walked slowly toward the dining room table, pulling out a chair. He glanced at my phone, hitting the screen and smiling. “My little dove recorded the session. You’ve learned a lot from me about sleuthing.”
“You learned more from me,” I countered.
He laughed and sat back in the chair. “We need to have a long talk, Shane.” I moved beside the man, folding my arms and studying my brother as if he’d been encased in a glass Petri dish. I felt as if I didn’t know him any longer. He was wearing a dark suit, a classic example of Armani. Nicely tailored and costing more than his meager paycheck should allow.
Another indication that my brother had jumped to the dark side. Not just morally gray but pitch black. I hated him for it, but I needed him at the same time.
Shane had never been the kind of person to show his emotions. He had the best bland expression of anyone I’d ever known.
“You’re going to confess, Shane. My brother is dead. Your father and mother. Your sister’s life was placed in jeopardy. Don’t you give a damn?” Greg threw out.
Shane sighed and looked away.
“You fucking ungrateful kid. My brother knew you were into something illegal. Didn’t he?”
“Think again, Uncle Greg. It was my father who was in trouble, your brother.” Shane spit out the information as if longing to hurt his flesh and blood.
Gregory acted as if he was going to beat the shit out of his own nephew, but Havros stopped him. Uncle Gregory jerked away.
“Just let me go,” he huffed.
“We’re not doing that yet,” Dimitrios said. “What do you mean, Shane? What was Winslow into?”
Shane acted as if he wasn’t going to tell him. “Shane. Please.”
My brother studied me for a long time, which made my skin crawl. I suddenly felt almost as close to him as I’d been years before. He didn’t want to hurt me. “I’m not who you think I am, Willow. Nor am I the Stalker.”
“Why should we believe you?” Dimitrios asked. The man was calm, completely in control.
The way Shane laughed was as if this was all one big joke. I moved toward him, able to crack my hand across his face before anyone could stop me. “You think this is funny? Our parents are dead. Dead. Is that because of you or in spite of you?”
Shane turned his head, opening and closing his mouth because of the force I used. He made no attempt to retaliate. Maybe because he knew he was outnumbered.
“You’re useless. You’re not my nephew.” Uncle Gregory’s face was beet red.
“Check my right-hand pocket. Then you’ll learn what I’ve been doing with my life.” Shane nodded toward Dimitrios, even lifting his arms to allow easy access.
Dimitrios gave a nod to Nico once again. He reached into Shane’s pocket, pulling out a black slender billfold. Nico snorted and handed it to Havros.
“Interpol?” Havros asked, narrowing his eyes as he glanced toward Dimitrios.
“Really?” Dimitrios asked.
Shane nodded. “They recruited me a few years ago. They knew my work as a diplomat.”
“What does that have to do with your parents’ death or the Stalker?” Dimitrios beckoned me back toward him with his eyes.
“Everything,” Shane admitted. “I’ve been working undercover to catch the assassin hired to eliminate various powerful leaders. Unfortunately to date, the Stalker has been responsible for nine deaths that we can pin on him.”
“Him.” Dimitrios smiled. “You’re certain of that.”
“Pretty much so,” Shane answered. “After my father accused me of some heinous criminal activities, I had a sense someone had gotten to him as a way of finding me.”
“Why go to all that trouble?” I asked this time, remaining as tense if not more so than before. My stomach was doing flips and I felt as if I was headed into the twilight zone.
“Because the people who hired the Stalker to handle the assassinations couldn’t locate my whereabouts. Sadly, they’d gotten a pretty good idea of my identity and decided to use my father against me. It almost worked. When it didn’t, they used their influence to wipe out half my father’s customers. Our father,” Shane said directly to me. “That’s why he had money problems.”
Gregory inhaled and the sound echoed in my ears. “You returned his money.”
“Let’s just say I had the resources to do so. I encouraged him to find somewhere to hole up safe until the Stalker was found, but he refused. I had no idea about the trip to Greece until the last moment. I was on assignment. When I arrived at the villa…”
Shane didn’t finish his sentence. “They were already dead.” I made the statement with less emotion than I thought possible.
“Yes. I’m sorry, Willow. I had no idea where you were. I couldn’t call because I wasn’t certain they didn’t have your phone bugged. These bastards can do that remotely. They got wind I was in town and almost caught me just outside the villa.”
I kept my eyes locked on his for a full minute. “If you’re lying to me, I will kill you. Do you understand me? Do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered? Do you have any concept of the worry I had when I thought you were dead?”
Shane walked closer, constantly eyeing Dimitrios. “You have every right to be angry with me.”
“Who killed your parents, Shane, and who decided to use my brother for target practice?”
“It’s my belief the Stalker was responsible for both. As for why your brother was involved, that I don’t know.”
Dimitrios finally stood. As soon as he was close to his brother, he grabbed and studied my brother’s credentials.
“Those could be forged, boss,” Nico told him.
“Difficult with Interpol identification. They holograph them to ensure copies don’t occur. Do you know who hired this Stalker?”
“My colleagues and I have narrowed it down, but it’s still not certain. I also don’t know why your family popped up on the list.” Shane seemed adamant. I sensed he was telling the truth.
Dimitrios studied him. “There’s a list?”
Shane nodded. “Yeah, heard about it from a credible source. It took a million bucks to get our hands on it, but we did. That’s how we were able to protect some on the list.”
There was something about the way Dimitrios was studying my brother that disturbed me. He wasn’t entirely satisfied with the answers. I wasn’t either, but I knew Shane well enough to know he wasn’t lying.
Dimitrios closed the distance until he was barely two inches from my brother. The man was taller than Shane, but even without the added inches, his powerful stance should be intimidating.
“One last question. Do you know the real name of the man you believe to be the Stalker?”
Shane took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. I’m ninety-five percent certain I’m right.”
“Whew,” Havros said. “Good enough for me.”
“Me as well,” Dimitrios told him. “Here’s what is going to happen, Shane. You’re going to work with us providing everything you know about the Stalker and the people who hired him. You’re not going to contact your buddies at Interpol and you’re not going to try and disappear again. If you do, you will face the kind of consequences you won’t like and may not survive. Are we clear on what I’m requiring of you?”
Shane shifted his gaze briefly toward me. He was searching for his own answers and to see if I’d stand by and watch him being placed in the crosshairs. The question had been a tough one for my mind to process. How could it be something that the good girl I’d been what seemed like so long ago could tolerate? Blood was thicker than water, but while I couldn’t stand by and watch my brother being tortured or killed, I would remain by Dimitrios’ side.
After all, he was going to become my husband.