Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Ginger
Ginger paced on the verandah, fanning herself despite the relatively mild heat in Cairo. Being here should have been a relief—she and Victoria had just arrived from Alexandria that afternoon—but coming to her parents’ old estate in Anglo Cairo always unsettled her in more ways than one.
This was the last place her family had been a family before her father’s and brother’s brutal deaths during the war.
She tried to hold on to the good memories. She’d shared laughter and happiness with her parents and siblings here. And other, special moments had happened here too—she’d made love with Noah in her room on their wedding night.
But now, despite her attempts in years past to reclaim the place for her own family when they came to Egypt during the winter season, the ghosts of her past seemed to be lurking in every corner this morning.
With that horrible man making threats against Ivy, and with Alex’s whereabouts completely unknown, old fears seemed to crowd Ginger’s mind.
There hadn’t been time to have any of their loyal Egyptian servants prepare the house for Victoria and Ginger’s arrival.
All the furniture was still shrouded with sheets, a layer of undisturbed dust on all the surfaces inside.
The sound of an approaching motorcar made Ginger pause mid-step, then she turned toward the street.
Alastair and Lucy pulled up to the gate of the house, and Ginger left the verandah and hurried down the short driveway toward it.
Alastair had already left the driver’s seat, and, despite everything, Ginger’s heart warmed when she saw him.
However terrible it sounded, she had more affection for her brother-in-law than her sister, even though her relationship with Lucy had become much more pleasant over the past decade.
Alastair met her at the gate, which she hadn’t bothered to lock. “Ginger, dearest,” he said with a broad smile.
She opened the gate and embraced Alastair tightly, unexpected tears springing to her eyes. His presence was calming—safe—in a way that only Noah and Jack had offered her in the past. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” she said, her voice hitching.
Alastair pressed a kiss to her cheek, then held her by the shoulders. “How’s my favorite sister? Why didn’t you warn us you were coming? We would have met you at the station.”
“Oh, you know Ginny,” Lucy said from the car with a shake of her head. “She likes to keep those of us who like to plan on our toes.”
Ginger pulled away from Alastair and attempted a smile, her eyes brimming with tears. “If you knew what I’ve been living through, you might forgive me. I’m so glad you’re here.”
He clucked and gave a slight wink. “I abandoned everything and drove straight here when Victoria called. Is she here?”
“She’s inside,” Ginger said. She pushed the gate open, stepping to the side as Alastair climbed back into the driver’s seat. He drove through the gate and she closed it, the hinges giving an awful squeak.
At least we’ll have some forewarning when Mr. Federline’s messenger arrives and comes through the gate.
Her heart squeezed at the memory. When Mr. Federline had found them in London, he’d been the picture of a gentleman. It wasn’t until later—when he’d told them that he “regretted the inconvenience” but was keeping Ivy “safe” in Cairo—that he’d revealed his true villainy.
Victoria and Ginger had left for Cairo as soon as possible, leaving Clara under Ginger’s mother’s careful supervision.
Ginger followed at a distance from the car, waiting for the dust kicked up from the tires to settle.
Perhaps the only good thing about being here was that the weather in Cairo was so much nicer this time of year.
She’d never really realized how much she loved Egyptian weather until she’d left after the war.
Yes, the heat was a struggle, but she preferred it to the rain in England.
Alastair parked and went around to the passenger seat, then opened the door for Lucy.
Lucy stood, her dark hair coiled elegantly under a rather expensive-looking hat.
Alastair spoiled her, and it was just one more thing Ginger had to be grateful to him for.
Maybe they weren’t a love match, but he treated her well.
“You’ll have to tell us what’s happened,” Lucy said with a wide-eyed look of concern. “You look pale, Ginny. We’ve been so worried about you since Alastair received that message to have Noah contact you.”
Before Ginger could respond, Victoria opened the door to the home and rushed down the front steps.
Her face was drawn, and she focused her dark-eyed gaze on Ginger rather than greeting Lucy or Alastair.
“I just heard back from Shepheard’s,” Victoria said, her agitation making Ginger’s heart flutter.
“Jack checked out this morning. We’ve just missed him. ”
Alastair looked from Ginger to Victoria. “Jack was in Cairo?”
Ginger frowned. “You didn’t hear from him or Noah?”
Alastair shook his head. “No—which, I’ll admit, if they were here, is surprising. I just assumed they skipped Cairo altogether.” He took Victoria by the elbow gently. “Why don’t we go inside and chat? You can tell me all the details.”
Thank goodness for Alastair. Of Noah’s friends, there might not be anyone better to go to for help—including Jack. Noah had often relied on Alastair during the war to get him out of serious scrapes. And there was no one Noah trusted more than Alastair, other than Jack.
They went inside to the parlor, the only room where Victoria and Ginger had taken the time to strip the furniture coverings.
Victoria settled in a lounge chair beside Alastair, rubbing her knuckles in a nervous gesture that Ginger had become familiar with over the years.
In many ways, Victoria had never fully recovered from the traumas she’d experienced during the war at the hands of her father and Stephen Fisher.
Truthfully, Ginger admired Victoria more than anyone else she knew. Seeing her so agitated, so close to breaking, hurt deeply.
Victoria waited until they were all settled before she said, “I won’t bore you with the details of what heralded this—I’m sure Jack already involved you to some extent, Alastair—but after Jack visited at Penmore and left with Noah, we noticed that Alex and Ivy had gone missing.”
Lucy gasped. “Oh my goodness.”
Acknowledging Lucy’s response with a nod, Victoria went on, her voice growing more emotional.
“We searched for several days without success until we at last went to London. And there—” Victoria’s voice broke.
She gulped a breath, but then shook her head, pressing her fingertips to her lips with an urgent plea in her eyes for Ginger to continue.
Ginger turned toward Alastair. “A man came to see us. He made it clear we weren’t to repeat his name to anyone but gave it to us saying that Jack would know who he was.
And then he informed us that he had taken Ivy for ‘safekeeping.’ That we were to tell Jack that he was to turn over what he was looking for to him directly, and Ivy would be safely returned. Unharmed.”
“So you came to find Jack,” Alastair said, a somber expression in his eyes.
Ginger nodded. “Yes—and to receive confirmation that he has Ivy and she’s unharmed. He told us he had sent her to Cairo. Victoria paid a fortune to get us here as soon as possible on Imperial Airways.”
Alastair frowned, absorbing the information as he sat back in the chair.
He said nothing for a few beats, then turned toward his wife.
“Lucy, why don’t you take the car and go fetch Bahiti?
I’m certain Ginger and Victoria could use a servant or two to help them around here with everything they have going on. ”
Raising a brow, Lucy tilted her head, clearly annoyed at being dismissed. “Well, I will. But, first—what about Alex? You said nothing at all about Alex. I’d like to know what happened to my nephew.”
A roiling feeling tumbled in Ginger’s gut.
“I wish I knew,” she said softly. “The man said nothing about Alex, and I didn’t dare mention him.
But it can’t be coincidental. And if the man had taken both Ivy and Alex, I doubt he would have only used Ivy to threaten us with.
” She gulped a breath. “If I know Alex, though, and he witnessed something happen to Ivy, he would have gone after her.”
Either that or he interfered and they’ve killed him.
She shuddered, unable to voice the horrific thought.
Yet it pressed in on her anyway, with the same cold fear that came every night when the darkness brought nightmarish possibilities.
Lucy paled and she nodded. “I’ll go fetch Bahiti,” she said. She rose to leave but paused briefly by Ginger. Wordlessly, she gave Ginger a quick, unusually affectionate hug, then hurried out of the parlor.
When she was gone, Alastair gave Victoria and Ginger a close look. “I’ll need the name of the brigand who did this to Ivy, but I have a feeling I already know it.”
“I don’t want to endanger you, Alastair,” Ginger said, biting her lip.
He smiled gently. “My dear woman, have I ever run away from danger when it means failing the people I love? Let me venture a guess then. Prescott Federline? The fellow has been a thorn in Jack’s side for most of his life. I’ll do everything I can to help.”
His words stabbed Ginger deeper in the chest. If Alastair knew about Prescott Federline, there wasn’t any way that Jack hadn’t told Noah about him too.
And while she knew Noah kept his secrets when he felt they were too treacherous to share, she wished Noah had shared more about what he and Jack were dealing with when they’d left Penmore.
“Oh, Alastair,” Victoria said, dabbing her eyes. “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”