Chapter Eight
Caroline
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TURNING THE KEY, I pushed the door open and stepped inside.
An avalanche of traumatic memories smacked me in the face as I took in the familiar sight and smell of the small entry hall.
Harper and I had enjoyed happy moments there, but the last time either of us had stood in that spot, Harper was being arrested, and the sliver of hope he and I had forged from the ashes of Fortorus had been extinguished.
“Shall I take the key?” Her sardonic tone conveyed that the inquiry was less of a question and more of a command.
“Help yourself.” I signaled to the lock. “Feel free to take a look around. What I need is upstairs.”
“Okay. I shall be up to join you shortly.”
I was halfway up the stairs when the front door slammed closed, my heart hammering as I sprinted for the master bedroom.
There, in the corner of the room where he’d spanked and worshipped me, was the bag he’d dragged across multiple borders.
Rushing to it, I fell to one knee and checked the contents inside.
Relief settled over me as I realized the cash, documents, and gun were accounted for, but the emotion was short-lived when Kaspar called up from downstairs.
“Have you found the phone?”
“I’m just looking now!” I shouted back, my head rising to look around the room.
I pushed the frenzy of competing feelings away as I eyed the end of the bed and the disturbed bedsheets.
The love we’d made there, though intense and necessary, wasn’t going to pull me out of the latest mire.
I had to think fast. Concentrating on the last place I’d seen Harper with the phone in his hand, my attention flitted to the bedside table on the half he’d slept on.
There, beside a glass of water, was the black device.
Hoping it would placate Kaspar, I turned to the wardrobe and rose to yank its doors open. Hanging inside was the small number of outfits Harper had bought me, but my gaze fell to the closet’s floor, looking for the sophisticated leather travel bag I’d spotted there a few days before.
Technically, the duffle bag wasn’t mine, but it looked in much better shape than the old bag Harper had lugged across Europe and, I hoped, would be far less conspicuous to the likes of Kaspar.
Grabbing it from its hiding place, I tugged it toward our bag and removed the base that lined the bottom.
Acting on instinct, I shoved the wads of cash inside the new bag, lining the money up as best I could to create a new base for the container.
My heart was working overtime, my senses primed to listen out for any sign of Kaspar on the stairs.
It wasn’t a big house, and it wouldn’t take her long to look over the limited rooms. Trepidation gripped me as I added Harper’s fake passport and finally tugged his weapon inside before pushing the original base back into position.
Rising to my feet, I threw the old bag to the back of the closet and casually dropped the leather duffle on the floor by the open wardrobe.
I pulled in a few steadying breaths as I tugged outfits from the hangers and folded them before sliding them into the open duffle bag.
Footsteps on the stairs told me the officer was close, but those remaining few seconds gave me time to quell my labored breathing.
By the time Kaspar appeared in the doorway, I was kneeling over the bag, having collected my limited clothing and the one pair of shoes he’d brought, and adding a few shirts and pairs of trousers for him.
Whatever happened next, he would need a change of clothes, too.
“Adam’s phone is on the bedside over there.” Glancing up to greet her, I gestured to the device.
“Ah, excellent.” She strode past me, permitting me a few lingering moments to seal the zip on Fabian’s bag and tug the strap over my shoulder. “Is there a security code?”
“I don’t think so,” I replied as I climbed to my feet. “We only purchased the phone recently.”
Nodding, she reached the phone and tapped at the screen. “It seems it’s out of power.” She scowled as she met my eyes as though I’d intentionally drained the device in her absence.
“The charger is in the socket on the wall over there.” I waved a hand in the general vicinity I meant. “Why don’t you take it with us?”
“Ja.” She slipped the phone into her pocket before ducking to retrieve the wire. Winding it around her fingers, her gaze landed on me. “That is a smart travel bag.”
“Yeah.” My expression was intentionally sheepish. “I borrowed it from Fabian. Do you think he’ll mind?”
She laughed at my thinly-veiled admission. “I should think he will have bigger things on his mind.”
“And you?” I prompted as she walked toward me. “You’re the officer of the law. Do you mind if I take it?”
She dismissed the inquiry with a flick of her wrist. “Take the bag. I shall say I knew nothing of it.”
“Thanks.” I forced a smile as she stepped past me.
It seemed such an unlikely thing for a police officer to say, particularly one who’d been such a stickler for the law on the journey over there, but I wasn’t complaining. The more I normalized the fancy leather bag, the less interest I hoped she would show in it.
“I want to check the upstairs over,” she told me, yanking open the drawers of the cabinet that had once been at my bedside. “Why don’t you wait downstairs?”
“Fine.” I was in no hurry to hang around and make small talk. “I’ll grab a glass of water and tidy up. Do you want one?”
I made my way to Harper’s bedside and collected the half-empty drink, trying not to dwell too heavily on the fact that his lips had drunk from the vessel or how much our world had collapsed since then.
“No, thank you. I—” Kaspar’s refusal was disrupted by the ringing of another device. “Ah, excuse me.”
Pulling her phone from her pocket, she held a finger aloft. “It’s Michel.”
“Is it Adam?” A dozen worst-case scenarios flooded my mind. “Is he okay?”
“Michel?” Ignoring my questions, she stared in my direction as she answered. “Was ist das?”
Her furrowing brow as she listened to her colleague only ratcheted my concerns. “Was?”
I didn’t have to speak fluent German to know she’d just received unexpected news.
“Wie meinst du das?” She turned toward the window as though the weight of my stare was compromising her somehow. “Schei?e!”
Even I knew enough German to know swearing wasn’t good news.
“What is it?” My throat dried as I moved toward her. “Is it Adam?”
She spun on her heel to face me as she ended the call, bewilderment glinting in her eyes as she started to speak.
“There have been developments.” Her hesitation conveyed how carefully she was choosing her words.
“What’s happened to him?” I demanded, no longer caring how she dealt with Fabian, or even me. None of that mattered if Harper’s health was at stake.
“Nothing. Yet.”
“What does that mean?” I grasped the shoulder strap for moral support, as being nearer to Harper’s possessions meant I was somehow closer to him.
“Michel has just told me about a press conference the President of Britain has recorded.” Her brow rose. “Apparently, he is appealing to his commander general directly.”
“Wait, what?” My knees buckled at the mention of the sniveling worm who ruled over my home country. “What does that asshole want?”
“I do not know yet, but I think it is important we discover the answer.” She glanced around the room. “Do you have what you came for?”
“Yes.” I patted the side of the bag gently. “This is everything we have.”
“Then, let’s visit Mr. Harper again and see this broadcast for ourselves.” She stalked past me, slamming the wardrobe closed as she went.
I watched her start down the stairs, my mind struggling to keep up with the recent developments as I followed her. If Jackson was involved in the latest plot twist, I had a sinking feeling about what it would mean for Harper and me.