Chapter Thirteen
Adam
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“WELCOME.” THE WOMAN sitting in the middle of the panel eyed me as I strode inside and offered her my palm. Her accent conveyed a heritage of Asian descent, as did her dark, exotic countenance, although her English was excellent. “You must be Mr. Harper.”
“Yes, I’m Adam Harper.”
My gaze scanned the line of officials, trying to decipher their well-disguised expressions.
They had been sent by the ICC to get some type of concession out of me, and while I was prepared to listen to their proposals, and potentially, to help, I wasn’t the kind of man who would roll over on their every request.
No doubt they knew that much about me already. Commander General Harper was preceded by quite the fierce reputation, whereas I knew nothing about the three strangers lined up behind the long table.
“Thank you for meeting with us.” She stood, grasping my palm and offering a firm handshake.
“We have been sent by the International Criminal Court’s pretrial division to meet with you and gather evidence.
I am Judge Akari, and these are my colleagues, Judges Meyer and Laurent.
” She motioned to the man and woman sitting at either side of her, who both nodded to acknowledge their names.
“Thank you for coming all of this way.” I gestured to Caroline, who was still hovering behind me. “This is Miss Caroline Craness. I believe you are all informed about her and my relationship.”
Laurent glanced up from his paperwork. “So, this is the woman you rescued from the UK?”
His accent revealed precisely where he was from, and I relaxed at the thought. Thanks to Mum, French was one language I was acutely familiar with.
“Oui, c’est correct.” I smiled, taking a seat in front of them at the same time Caroline did.
“In English, please,” Akari corrected. “We are all from different countries, Mr. Harper, but the ICC asks that we come together and use a common tongue for the purposes of justice.”
“Of course.” Disgruntled at her chiding tone, I tried not to let the emotion show, focusing instead on the reason I was talking to them at all.
Caroline. Yes, I wanted freedom, but my main driver for that liberty was the woman standing at my side.
There was no point in freedom if she wasn’t going to share it with me.
“Ensuring Caroline’s safety and wellbeing is my utmost priority. I assume it is yours, as well.”
All three judges shifted to take in the look of the woman I loved.
“It is,” Akari concurred as she settled on her seat. “That and the safety of as many other people as possible.”
“Indeed.”
Perhaps saving those people would help to equalize the scales of my past bad behavior. I could only hope.
For what it was worth, I was ready for redemption.
“And your health, Mr. Harper?” Akari peered over at Kaspar, who’d insisted on joining for the meeting. “Officer Kaspar’s accompanying notes said you were suffering from amnesia after your recent collapse.”
“My memory is returning little by little.” I bit back on my smile at the excellent human aide-memoire Caroline had been.
Every time she touched me, I seemed to reclaim more of the lost time.
“It shouldn’t impact on my ability to answer your questions, but if there are any gaps, I have Caroline here to help me. ”
“And do you concur with what Mr. Harper has said, Miss Craness?” Meyer asked, her voice even more Germanic than Kaspar’s was.
There were subtle differences between Swiss German and the language spoken in Germany, and while I recognized some, my grasp of the language wasn’t strong enough to honor them all.
“That he has your welfare at heart, you think?”
“Definitely, Judge.” Caroline straightened, and I sensed how hard she was working not to look overly embarrassed at their attention.
I wondered to what extent all those hours of my close attention had helped to prepare her for that moment.
“Mr. Harper got me out of Britain, and he has been looking after me ever since.” Her gaze slid to mine.
“Without him, I’d either already be dead, or I’d be staring down the barrel of that fate. ”
A stark silence ballooned at Caroline’s crude illustration of her plight, and nodding, Meyer glanced back at the pile of her notes on the table between us.
Addressing Akari, who appeared to be the person in charge, I took the proverbial bull by the horns.
“The Swiss police have told me that my plea deal is off the table until I agree to your specific terms.” I waited until her head rose, her gaze meeting mine. “Is this correct?”
In the corner of the small, corporate room the hospital had allocated to us, Kaspar cleared her throat.
“It is true we wished to meet with you and talk.” Akari’s expression was serious. “The information you provided, combined with the message from President Jackson yesterday, have given us additional causes for concern.”
“Something I can help you with?”
My focus traveled along their faces again, wondering who would be the first to break rank and actually get to the point. They hadn’t come all that way for the poor hospital coffee, even if the caliber offered in the corporate rooms had been elevated from the beverages served on the wards.
“We hope so,” Laurent answered. “It is this concept President Jackson mentioned of holding more women to account that we find the most troubling.”
“Yes.” I glanced over at Caroline, whose gaze fell at my attention. We both knew only too well what Ian had in mind when he made those threats. “I quite agree.”
“Yet, you were the president’s second in command until recently.” Meyer interrupted. “A man also responsible for overseeing such plans. Is that not correct?”
“I was not officially his deputy, no,” I countered, well aware that I was arguing semantics. “But yes, I have good reasons to believe that Ian trusted me implicitly until the day I fled. All of this was detailed in the information I gave to Officer Kaspar.”
“Yes, we have it.” Laurent waved the wad of papers in front of me. “Tell us how you think the president plans to hold these women to ‘account’.”
Pulling in a breath, I met the other man’s eyes. “Most likely, he will seek to kill them. Jackson has been hellbent on the idea of murdering those he deems ‘unworthy’ for years, but the projects I managed kept the outcome at bay until now.”
“You assume your departure has accelerated the president’s plans?” It was Akari who asked.
“It would seem so, although I can assure you that was not my intention. I only wanted Caroline to be safe.” I reached for her hand, entwining her delicate fingers with mine.
“You may not be aware, Mr. Harper, but the ICC has issued a new arrest warrant for Ian Jackson, and a number of European governments have agreed to action it,” Akari continued.
“I was not aware,” I admitted. “And to be honest, Ian spent precious little time concerning himself with either the demands of other countries or the international court.”
“We have it on good authority that if he steps foot onto French or German territory, for example, those governments will move to arrest him.” Akari reached for her cup and drew the china closer.
“But surely, he would never go to those places?” Caroline’s question appeared to be more aimed at me than the assembled judges.
“He rarely takes international trips,” I agreed. “But that’s less about the fear of reprisals and more about his arrogance. He just enjoys lording himself in Britain too much to leave.”
“So, we need a way to lure him out?” Caroline’s brow rose as though she was imagining what kind of honey trap would be required to achieve the feat.
Ian wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was also no one’s fool. There would have to be an almighty incentive for him to leave the utopia of his presidential palace, let alone the borders of Britain.
“We would like more information about the president’s plan.” Laurent’s pale stare pierced me.
“I have not been privy to his most recent strategies, as you know,” I replied.
“But he had long been keen on the idea of clearing out those he deemed ‘unworthy’ to make space for more women at Fortorus.” Not wanting to upset my little girl, I chose my words carefully.
“Some women were to be moved to permanent homes elsewhere, while others were to be removed.”
“And how would he intend to remove them?” Meyer demanded. “What had he discussed with you previously?”
My fingers clasped Caroline’s a little tighter, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate what I had to say next. “Ian has always enjoyed guns. I suspect he would favor some sort of mass firing squad, but he has been known to hang prisoners, as well.”
Knowing the man I’d befriended all those years before, he’d have enjoyed the spectacle of either.
“Oh, God.” Caroline closed her eyes as she drew in a sharp breath. No doubt after months on the site, she could only too easily envision such a brutal massacre, as well as the men who might have happily enacted it for their glorious leader. “We can’t let him do that to all those poor women.”
“I know.” I hadn’t allowed myself too much time to think through the grim outcome, but there was no doubt Ian had both the means and the intent.
“Jackson’s video message suggested that you are still important to him, Mr. Harper.” Akari brought the meeting back to order. “Would you say that was true?”
“His message was full of misinformation,” I assured her. “I’m sure you’re aware, but I was clearly not snatched away from Britain. I chose to leave with Miss Craness, and anything to the contrary is intentionally misleading.”
“We are aware,” Akari answered. “But as far as your importance to Jackson goes. How would you describe your relationship?”
Sitting there, the truth was I would rather have not described my relationship with him, but glancing at the large window behind her, I recognized the point was already established.
The world knew we went back as far as undergrads.
Aside from the sycophants still sitting in London with him, I was the man who knew him the best.
“We were close once,” I started. “But his video overstates the extent of our current friendship.”
“Do you think we could inspire his attention if we used you as some sort of enticement?” Meyer smiled as she asked, her blonde hair falling past her eyes as she tilted her head.
“Enticement?” I repeated. “Are you suggesting I should be bait, Judge?”
“Perhaps,” Laurent responded.
“Absolutely not.” Caroline’s gaze flitted from Laurent to me. “You’re not using Adam as bait!”
“But do you think it would work?” Laurent pressed.
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “You’d have to tell me what you were considering in order for me to say anything more with any authority.”
“There is a plan.” Akari sounded hesitant. “That we’d like your view on.”
“Go on.” After ten minutes of batting concepts around the room, I sensed that whatever came next was the reason the three of them had flown in from The Hague.
“It might be possible to lure Jackson to international waters under the premise of your return,” Akari explained. “Call it the ‘Commander General’s homecoming’, ask the Swiss to arrange your extradition under the guise of their historic neutrality, and then, have you meet on the water.”
“On water?” Skepticism echoed in my voice. “Why water? Switzerland is landlocked.”
Ian wasn’t going to fall for anything that seemed out of the ordinary unless there was a bloody good motivation.
But perhaps his commander general arriving in a fanfare of jingoistic contrition would qualify as such.
My return alone might not be enough to persuade him, but the pomp and ceremony might stroke his ego enough to sneak me through the door of reasonable doubt.
“Water enables the second part of the plan,” Meyer prompted. “The Swiss can escort you to the Netherlands, where you’d leave by boat.”
“We would need Jackson out on the water to greet you,” Akari went on. “And once his ship drifts into French waters, the French authorities would be able to expedite the ICC’s warrant.”
“You want him to take a boat out to meet and greet me?” I laughed out loud at the idea.
If that was the best strategy the ICC had come up with, then it looked as though I was looking down the barrel of a long stretch in a European prison.
“No offense, but why would he bother? I was the one who left him, remember?”
“Because of what you have already told us.” Meyer’s grin was close to predatory as she collected the papers before her and waved them at me. “Jackson’s arrogance is so well-developed. We can hold it against him.”
“How?” Caroline urged, her voice laced with exasperation.
“By giving him enough of the one thing he loves the most in the whole world,” I answered, suddenly understanding Meyer’s meaning.
The solution was so fucking simple; I didn’t know why I hadn’t come up with it myself.
“Women?” Caroline frowned.
“No.” I chuckled sadly. “There’s something he loves a lot more than women.”
“What?” Caroline insisted, apparently bewildered by the riddle, although I couldn’t understand why. She’d had the misfortune to meet the buffoon. She knew the devil well enough.
“Himself.” My brow rose, as, straightening in my chair, I gave the answer. “Blow enough smoke up his ass, tell him how marvelous he is, and then lay it on thick enough, and watch his guard slip.”
Meyer’s lips twisted. “That, Mr. Harper, is exactly what we’re counting on.”