Chapter Sixteen
A COUPLE HOURS after their walk on the Promenade, Nat lay on her back with a naked Ford keeping the left side of her body warm.
Part of her never wanted to leave Nice if it meant no longer making love to this man or falling asleep next to him.
The other part hated herself for managing to find any joy at a time when her family had so little.
Now that she’d laid down an ultimatum, she could almost hear the clock ticking in the back of her mind, counting down the minutes until she’d leave this little cocoon of safety and stolen happiness. But also, join the world again. See her family and friends.
Face down her enemy.
Fuck. She couldn’t do this without some kind of plan or approach. Some way to draw out the person who’d forced her into hiding. Not as detailed as Ford would make, but something.
Normally, she’d talk things through with someone. She worked better that way, often not sure what she was thinking until it came out of her mouth. Ford would happily play sounding board, but she didn’t want to wake him. And she feared he’d try to talk her out of her decision to leave instead.
So, she had an imaginary conversation in her head with Gretchen.
“If you were the man looking for you,” Pretend Gretchen asked, “where would you go next?”
Virtual Natalie nodded. “Given a cold trail, I’d get a little more aggressive with the target’s friends and family, try to determine if any of them knew she was still alive.
Maybe a few “chance” encounters to gauge the veracity of their grief, or find a way to get closer to the family and look for clues.
I’d send a good-looking man or woman to chat up her brother at a bar or the grocery store… ”
The thought made her stomach roll. What if someone had her family under surveillance right now? Could she afford to wait even two more days?
“In order to ‘come back to life’ and return to the US, you’re going to have to visit a consulate at some point. Why not use that to draw out the investigator on your tail and see what you can learn from him?” Imaginary Gretchen asked.
“Because that’ll put a fresh target on my back?” Revealing herself might trigger a deadly response. “But, you’re right. What other option do I have, really?” She’d just have to be ready. Be one step ahead.
“You could stay in hiding. Let Ford help you figure this out.”
“No. If anything, I need to keep him far away from it all. He’s suffered enough, some of it on my behalf.
He puts himself in harm’s way for a living, but I don’t want him endangering his life for me anymore.
Besides, I’m healing well. I can take care of myself again.
” Mostly. “Whether he ultimately chooses to stay in hiding to protect himself and Henri, or go back to his life in Geneva, I’m not part of the equation.
What’s the point of prolonging the inevitable?
” Her heart flattened at the thought of leaving him.
Dream Gretchen gave her a twisted smile. “More time with the man you love?”
Natalie’s breath caught. Her eyes popped open. Rolling onto her side, she stared at Ford’s handsome profile. His face glowed under the moonlight sneaking in through the window, and she greedily let her gaze trace his freckled nose, his soft lips, the strong curve of his chin.
A sense of awe stole over her. She’d been infatuated plenty of times—case in point, Jason Chin—but love? She’d never felt this. Four years ago Ford had been more of a crush, an unattainable challenge, a distraction. Now though…
She rolled to her back and squeezed her eyes shut.
Could her timing suck more? Or her sense of self-preservation? Jesus.
Slowly, she sat up. Now she had to leave by Friday.
She couldn’t let Ford continue risking his life and livelihood for her.
Not for a woman he’d never love, who’d already endangered him too many times.
Once she revealed her not-dead status to the world, he’d be even more at risk if he tagged along.
Besides, Henri still needed him. More than she did.
She wasn’t above asking for help, but going forward, she’d find it elsewhere.
Ford wouldn’t like that. At all. He’d insist that she was being reckless, that she needed him at her side. Somehow, she had to convince him to let her go.
Dammit. Heart sagging, she took a deep breath against the prickling sensation behind her eyes.
Ideally, she’d leave immediately, sneak out while he slept, not give him a chance to protest. But eleven p.m. was too late to put anything in motion, and this wasn’t a situation where she could simply wing it.
Instead, taking advantage of his slumber, she grabbed her burner phone, slipped out of bed, and carefully descended the creaky spiral staircase.
Once on her computer, seeing that there were no messages from Dallas, she looked up information about the consulate in Marseille, and what she’d need to do to get her identity back. The whole process sounded exhausting. Or maybe her body had finally given in to the need for sleep.
A soft chime drew her attention to the burner phone she carried everywhere now, just in case. She didn’t recognize the number, but that was to be expected.
“Oui.”
“It’s me,” Dallas said.
Her stomach clenched, and she stood, bracing herself. “What’s wrong?” He wouldn’t risk waking her for good news.
“Shit, I’m sorry, but someone’s taken your brother.”
“What?” That couldn’t be right. “Didn’t he have security?”
Dallas sighed heavily. “Yes, but someone created a distraction at his gym and hustled him out a back door. By the time the guard got through the crowd Erik was gone.”
Noooo. She doubled over, feeling as if someone had socked her in the gut. Nonononono. Oh, God, she couldn’t breathe. Shit shit shit. This was her worst fear come true, and exactly what she’d hoped to prevent by taking the first train to Marseille tomorrow. Goddammit.
She punched her thigh several times, and then forced herself to stop and take several deep breaths. You’re no good to him like this. Pull it together. Swiping away tears, she asked, “You’re sure he was taken?”
“Your partner received an email. I’m working with my hacker friend to trace it, but it says to tell you they have your brother and that you have forty-eight hours to come out of hiding.”
She swallowed hard. “Is there a picture?”
“Video, actually. No deep-fake markers. He’s holding this morning’s newspaper.”
“Is…” Nat took a shaky breath and swiped at her wet cheeks. “Does—”
“He looks okay. No serious injuries that I could see. Appeared to be standing on his own.”
She nodded even though Dallas couldn’t see her. “Thank God.” Hand trembling where she gripped the edge of the table, she lowered herself onto the dining chair, no longer sure her legs were trustworthy. “What about my parents?”
“Upset, obviously, but secure. Mama Bird talked them into moving to a safe house.”
“Thank you.” That last bit only slightly calmed her overactive pulse, but seriously ramped up the waterworks. “I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.”
“The feeling is mutual, you know. We recently learned what life would look like without you, and it sucked. Hard. I’ve never seen Money Guy so grim. We love you—” Dallas cut himself off before saying her name.
She swiped at her eyes and cheeks with the edge of her shirt and sniffled. “Love you.”
“I didn’t want to drop this news through a message, but I think we should move to a more secure comms channel to discuss next steps.”
“See you there in a few minutes. I need a short break.”
Feeling woozy, Nat went to the bathroom to relieve herself and splash cool water on her face.
Someone had taken Erik. The brother who’d literally swum circles around her in the ocean and become annoyingly infatuated with half her friends in high school. Who’d helped sneak her into the house two hours past curfew after a date left her stranded.
Who’d been kidnapped by some asshole, because of her.
Ford hadn’t shared why he blamed himself for his brother’s death, but she had some inkling of what he’d gone through. Was still going through.
God, Ford.
She’d expected to have two more days with him, but she could no longer wait that long. She had to act now. Or, first thing in the morning, at least. There was little she could do right this moment other than come up with a plan.
Wide awake on adrenaline, anger, and fear, she hopped onto her computer to meet up with Dallas and got to work. Anything to feel like she was helping her brother, while distracting herself from thoughts of everything that could go wrong.
Two hours later, she glanced up, a faint squeak alerting her to Ford’s descent on the staircase.
Moving slowly, as if she had nothing to hide, she closed her anonymous browsing app and shut the lid on her laptop, turning to him with a rueful smile as he entered the room from the hallway. “You caught me.”
It was becoming a habit.
He blinked against the lamplight, looking sexy as sin in nothing but striped boxers. “I thought maybe you’d already left.”
Regret pinched her heart. She wanted to be able to say she wouldn’t do that. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Do you do this every night?” His sandpaper voice made her shiver.
“No. My brain was spinning.” Not a lie.
Shuffling into the kitchen while rubbing his face, he poured himself a glass of water and took a long drink. “Find anything new?”
“No.” One hundred percent a lie, but she’d already made up her mind to keep him in the dark about Erik. She stood and walked into the kitchen. “I wasn’t going to be able to sleep until I tried a few of the searches that had popped into my head.”
The look of concern Ford gave her melted her resolve a little. “I understand.” He set down his glass and opened his arms.