Chapter 32
On the other side of the world, Jadwat’s day wasn’t as pleasurable. They’d finally landed and the flight attendant opened the jet’s doors, then disappeared. Jadwat needed to check in with his team. He was ninety-five percent certain that the princess-bitch was well ensconced in her makeshift prison, but until he heard from his team, Jadwat couldn’t feel confident.
Unfortunately, the guards wouldn’t leave the plane without him! They stood in formation, surrounding him, silently waiting for him to exit the plane.
He wanted to tell the guards to go to hell. But, they made him look important, which stroked his ego. But, the overly attentive bastards didn’t give him enough space to make calls! And he needed to check in with the team he’d hired to capture that bitch. He still hadn’t received word from the team leader and Jadwat was becoming worried.
“Why the hell won’t you give me some breathing space?” he snarled at the bodyguard walking beside him. “I have to make a call! I have many business issues to deal with!” Jadwat commanded.
The guard remained resolute – and close. The guard even looked around warily, as if he needed to ensure that his words wouldn’t be overheard. He leaned forward, conspiratorially whispering, “His Highness expressed his concern about your safety should anyone learn of your mission before it is completed.” The guard shifted back to his bland and unconcerned expression, impervious to Jadwat’s impatience. “The trip is scheduled to be only two days,” he continued. “If you need to attend to your business duties during that time, then we have a backup person for this mission.”
Jadwat’s temper fired. “A backup?” he hissed, wondering who could possibly take his place. “I’m the only person that my cousin trusted for this mission!”
The guard nodded. “Yes, that’s true. But he knows you’re very busy. So, he had a backup ready to take your place, should the need arise.” He gestured towards the plane’s still-open door. “This mission is a top priority, but if you have any concerns, His Highness understands.”
Jadwat silently debated for several moments, chewing on his lower lip. Maybe he should just abandon this trip.
And yet…if this berry was so powerful, and this godforsaken island was trying to keep the berry a freaking secret, and the Lativa government was trying to establish a foothold in the industry, then it must be lucrative. Jadwat hadn’t ever met Sheik Khal, but the bastard had a reputation for being incredibly clever.
So was Amit, Jadwat thought. His cousin was always ten steps ahead of his competitors.
And that last thought gave him pause.
Was this trip a conniving, manipulative way to get Jadwat out of the country for some reason? The timing was suspicious. So far, the goons he’d hired had been able to keep the kidnapping out of the press. No one knew that Princess Marianna had been stolen. As long as she was out of the way, then Amit was under Jadwat’s control.
Or he would be as soon as he had confirmation that the bitch was in the prison he’d designed! It was difficult to use a person’s kryptonite against him when one didn’t know if the kryptonite was in his possession! Was Princess Marianna tucked away in the abandoned warehouse? Jadwat needed confirmation! However, he couldn’t get confirmation if he couldn’t use his phone privately!
He looked around the airfield. There was only a small, one room building off to the side with three people waiting on the wooden deck. The building looked more like someone’s home or…actually, it looked like someone’s fishing cabin! Besides that one building, there were only trees. Lovely trees! Lush vegetation dappled with flowers in various colors, but nothing else as far as he could see.
Was this a setup? Had he been sent here as a joke? As he took in all of the details, Jadwat was becoming skeptical. Was there really a mission in some Podunk little island country?
Was this trip legitimate? Perhaps Amit thought to use Jadwat as a pawn in a larger game? Maybe Amit was telling the truth and he simply needed someone to hurry over to this pathetic little country so that Lativa’s plan could be thwarted. Jadwat knew Amit had put obstacles in the pathway of corporate plans many times before. It was one of the reasons that Uftar had grown so quickly over the past several years. Nothing illegal, Jadwat mentally snorted. No, his ridiculous cousin wouldn’t dirty his pretty hands with anything that could get the bastard into trouble. But he couldn’t seem to keep his thoughts from wondering.
In the end, Jadwat accepted that either scenario was possible. Either Jadwat was being played, or Sheik Khal was about to lose in a tricky race to get a potentially lucrative commercial product out to the world in a devious game of one-upmanship.
Either way, Jadwat would be out of the loop for less than two days. Forty-eight hours. No cell phone usage for two days wasn’t such a hardship, especially if he could smuggle some of those stupid berry plants onto the plane.
If there were commercial benefits to the berry, Jadwat wanted to get in on the ground floor. If he could get one of those berry bushes back to Uftar, he could hire a scientist to propagate thousands of the plant. Even if there was no real benefit to the berry, Jadwat didn’t mind lying to the public. Hell, he could make up health benefits and sell the damn berries all over the world. By the time the health gurus figured out that the berries were just berries, he’d already have made millions in profit.
So, this was a win-win for him.
“I will do this. For my cousin,” Jadwat finally replied. Then he walked down the stairs of the plane. Thankfully, there was a car and driver waiting on the tarmac, so he didn’t need to stay out in the humid heat. Jadwat much preferred the dry heat of his beloved Uftar. Yes, it was a desert country but it was a beautiful place to live. Plus, one didn’t sweat in the desert!
As he slipped into the waiting limousine, he sighed with relief. The chauffeur had turned up the air conditioner so the vehicle was pleasantly cool. Jadwat didn’t like the fact that the infernal bodyguards followed him in, sitting next to and across from him, but he simply huffed and looked out the window.
As soon as the driver pulled away from the airport, the issue of Princess Marianna resurfaced in his thoughts. He had only received a brief text message from the individual he'd hired to orchestrate the princess's abduction on the initial day of the operation. Since then, there had been only silence. While silence was sometimes preferable, Jadwat couldn't shake the gnawing worry until he received confirmation that the princess was alive and in custody. It was one thing to carry out the kidnapping, but if anything happened to her, if she was hurt in any way during this endeavor, there would be dire consequences.
Still, Jadwat was comfortable with the plan. He could provide evidence that Amit had been behind the kidnapping, should there be problems later.