Chapter Thirteen
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
J ack watched Salem and Chloe until the stairwell door closed behind them. The pervading smell of gasoline clung to the air, as flames ate away at the walls surrounding the apartment’s front door. Holding his arm across his face to block the smoke, he began pounding on every door lining the hall. He couldn’t leave without making sure everyone else knew their floor was on fire, and they needed to get out.
Startled residents began scrambling toward the exits, and Jack shouted not to take the elevator at their departing backs. Once he was as sure as he could be that he’d banged on every door, he yanked his cellphone from his back pocket and dialed nine-one-one. By now, they probably already knew about the fire, but he needed to make sure.
Taking the stairs two and three at a time, he reached the lobby, where a couple of police officers were helping people get outside. Jack’s eyes scanned the groups of people, searching for Salem and Chloe. He didn’t see them anywhere and his heartbeat ratcheted up, anxious to find them. Having smelled the gasoline soaking the hallway, especially in front of Salem’s apartment, he knew the fire was no accident.
Had it been set to deliberately block Salem and Chloe inside? Had it been an attempt to kill them? It didn’t make sense. Eliminating Salem would clear a path for the Amirs to get custody of Chloe, but something like this? They couldn’t be sure that Chloe would survive if her mother didn’t. None of it made sense, but he’d think about that later. Right now, all he needed was to find Salem.
Bursting through the lobby doors, he scanned the sidewalk and street outside. A couple of police cars blocked the street in front of the building, and throngs of people bustled around, with a couple of officers trying to usher them across the street and away from the building. Unfortunately, as with most larger groups, chaos reigned, and nobody paid attention to the cops. The sound of sirens heralded the arrival of two fire trucks along with at least a dozen firefighters, ready to handle the blaze.
An explosion of glass rained down, accompanied by screams from the people below, as windows blew out on an upper floor, and flames billowed out along with clouds of dark black and gray smoke, choking the air. Luckily, the fire trucks blocked street traffic, making the way clear for people to move away from the building, finally paying attention to what was happening and realizing the danger.
But where was Salem? He scanned the growing crowd, not spotting her auburn hair among the women. No cries from a baby. Nothing. Dammit, she couldn’t have gone far. Yet knowing the fire was deliberately set, had somebody been waiting to snatch her and Chloe as they exited the apartment building? None of them had anticipated kidnapping, if that was the case. His hands clenched into fists as he called her name, a feeling of desperation filling him. The thought of losing her made him want to fall to his knees, pound his fists against the pavement until they bled.
At the touch of a hand on his shoulder, he spun around, praying it was Salem. Instead, he faced a man he’d never seen before. Tall and dark-haired, he held a makeshift bandage pressed to the back of his head. He winced at the piercing whine of the fire trucks sirens.
“You Jack Sutton?”
“Yeah. Who’s asking?”
“Nate Blackwell. I work with C.S.S. I relieved Gunner a couple hours ago, keeping watch over Salem. Stepped down the hall to help a little old lady with her grocery bags and somebody coldcocked me. Dragged me to the alley out back.”
“Have you seen Salem or Chloe? Haven’t been able to find them in all the commotion.”
“I haven’t, but I just came to a couple minutes ago. Care to catch me up, what’s happened?”
“Fire. Salem and I were having dinner, and she smelled smoke. By the time I got the front door open, the hallway was ablaze. Overwhelming smell of gasoline, especially in front of Salem’s apartment. It’s my fault. I sent her down alone, while I tried to get the other residents on the floor out.”
“Don’t panic, dude. We’ll find her. I’m going to call for reinforcements, and we’ll get everybody looking for her. She can’t have gone far.”
But Jack’s gut told him they wouldn’t find her. She’d been taken and he felt helpless. In a city he didn’t know squat about, he’d be practically blind trying to find her. That was inconsequential because he wouldn’t give up. He couldn’t because she was his life, his everything.
Nate had his phone out, but Jack couldn’t wait. He climbed up on the side of one of the nearby fire trucks, which gave him a height advantage to look over the huddled groups of people, even while the firefighters did their job, shooting geysers of water into the burning building. Still no sign of Salem.
Nate waved at him, and he jumped down, sprinting over to him. He held his phone in his hand, and extended it to Jack.
“Samuel. Wants to ask you a couple questions.”
“It’s Jack.” He held his breath, a building sense of anticipation, almost like a premonition spreading through him.
“Salem’s fine. She and Chloe are on their way here as we speak. Stephanie spotted her as she was driving past and picked her up. The cops cleared the street, wouldn’t let them stay, so she’s bringing them here.”
“That’s good. Great. For a minute, I thought the Amirs might have taken them.”
“Understandable. Any idea what happened?”
“Nate told you he got ambushed?”
“Yeah. Bleeding heart, always has to help others.” Jack could hear the smile in Samuel’s voice, knew he liked the other man. He had a feeling he would, too, once he got to know him better.
“Salem smelled smoke. By the time I got the fire extinguisher, it had spread up the front door. I got the door open, had them take the stairs down. I stayed long enough to let the rest of the residents on her floor know the building was on fire, and came down looking for them. Samuel, there was obviously gasoline poured all over the hall in front of Salem’s apartment. This fire was no accident.”
There was a long sigh on the other end. “I was afraid of that. Did you talk to Salem about moving into an apartment here?”
“Yes. I planned to talk to you tomorrow about taking a look. I want her to be happy with wherever we move to.”
“How about you and Nate try to figure out what the fire department has to say, then head over here. I’ll have Stephanie take Salem and Chloe upstairs and look at the apartment and you can meet them there. If you like it, you can move in tonight. The place comes fully furnished, although you’re more than welcome to change anything you don’t like. We’ve got a warehouse stuffed full of things from the past few years. People buy new stuff, and we store the old furniture. Plus, Andrea likes to change things out, so there’s quite a variety of styles and colors.”
“Sounds great, if Salem is amenable. We’ll try to wrap up here and head to the office. Thanks.”
Handing the phone back to Nate, Jack finally took the first deep breath since coming downstairs.
“Everything settled?”
Jack nodded. “For now. Appreciate your watching over my wife, and for that,” he gestured toward Nate’s head.
Nate grinned. “Occupational hazard. Isn’t the first time, won’t be the last. Luckily, I have a hard head.” He chuckled, adding, “Ask anybody at the office, they’ll tell you it’s the truth.”
“Samuel wants us to talk to the firefighters, see if they can give us any information about what happened.”
“Good idea. Looks like they’ve got it pretty well controlled. I’m not seeing any new smoke or flames.” Nate glanced back toward the building as he spoke, watching the spray of water from the firehoses.
“Let’s do this. I need to get back to Salem.”
Rashid slammed his hand against the desktop, anger boiling up inside. The Americans he’d hired were beyond useless. That disloyal whore had slipped through their fingers again. For the amount of money he was paying these fools, you’d think they would pull their heads out of their backsides long enough to get the job done.
“What happened, my darling son?”
“She managed to escape the fire.”
“How is this possible? Didn’t we have someone there to eliminate her if she escaped the building?”
Rashid sighed and leaned back in his leather office chair. “Yes, Mother, we did. However, some stupid woman picked her up in an automobile before they could grab her. It’s like she has the luck of the devil on her shoulder.”
“Not for much longer. She murdered my son, your brother. I will have justice for her betrayal. It still seems impossible my Tarik would betroth himself to that dirty American infidel whore. I allowed her into our home, made her a welcome guest, and what did she do?”
Sayifa paced in front of his desk, her long black abaya flowing behind her. A dark shayla covered her graying hair. While his baby sister had adapted to wearing westernized clothing, even at home, his mother refused to conform to fashion’s dictates, eschewing them as being the clothing of prostitutes and loose women, and instead remaining true to her roots.
“Wouldn’t her suffering be best served by taking her child? An unending torment of never seeing her, knowing she is with Tarik’s family.” Rashid’s lips curved in a vicious smile. “Surely this is a fate most deserved.”
“No! I want to see her lifeless corpse. Know that her family mourns the faithless female the way I mourn my son, the child of my heart.”
Rashid winced at his mother’s words, though they didn’t surprise him. He’d always known Tarik not only found favor in her eyes because he was the oldest son, he was also her favorite. The golden child. The one who could do no wrong in his mother’s eyes. Abdullah and Rashid would always be lesser, second best.
“I have made arrangements to travel to the United States in a few days, Mother. Their State Department has granted my request to meet with our stateside attorneys in preparation of our case against Salem.”
“This is excellent news, my son. What about me? I want to be there, to see her face when she realizes we have everything in place to bring my granddaughter home where she belongs.”
“I’m sorry, Mother. They turned down your request. They feel, at this time, that only one member of the family needs to be present. I have been assured when the actual court date has been confirmed you will be permitted in the country.” At his mother’s frustrated scream, he was glad for the lie. If his mother ever found out she could have traveled to the United States at any time, that their restrictions had been lifted, she’d make sure he paid in a most painful way.
“This is not right. I have done nothing to keep me from traveling to this place called Louisiana. You must fix this, Rashid. Give however much money is needed to make it happen.” The look she shot his way chilled his blood. “Or I will, and we both know you won’t like the methods I’d use.”
True. His mother was impetuous and never fully thought out her actions or their consequences.
“I’ll try, Mother.”
Sayifa stood and the smile she gave him sent chills through his body. Everyone believed his mother to be kind, that she’d been a dutiful wife and loving caregiver. The thought made him want to puke. There’d never been a woman less maternal he’d ever met. Except to Tarik. Toward his brother, the oldest and heir, she’d doted on him. Treated him like he’d one day rule the world.
“Do more than try, my son. Fix the problem of Salem, or I will take matters into my own hands, and you will not like the outcome—or the consequences.”
He sat in his chair, staring at the door long after she’d left. Making another mistake at this juncture could spell disaster for his plans. While he loved his mother in his own way, she was becoming a liability. One he couldn’t afford, not if he was to become the kind of head of the Amir household they needed, now that his father and Tarik were both dead.
He had ambitions no one within their family knew, ones that would bring the Amir family back into the power they’d once held. But first, he needed to take care of one of the biggest hurdles standing in his way.
Salem Hudson.