Episode 78
Episode 78
Safe
MAIA
“We’re so close now,” Rhodes barked at our driver.
We were following the dot on Emily’s phone tracker. It hadn’t moved in the last ten minutes, leaving us to believe that the attackers were holding them somewhere not far from where we’d been when we found out they were missing.
“It says we’re here. Stop the car!” Rhodes hollered and shoved the passenger door of the SUV open before the vehicle even came to a complete stop.
Rhodes alighted from the car in a blur of movement. I scrambled after him and found that we were in what could only be described as a business area next to a busy street, one that included a roundabout where cars were zooming through at high speeds. There were cars and people everywhere. I scanned the roads, and the park across the street from where we’d stopped, looking for anything that might be familiar or look out of place.
“Where is she?” He pointed to his phone. “It says she should be right fucking here.” He smashed his finger on the cell’s display screen, his voice harried and gruff. Each moment that passed without him finding his daughter was shaving off another layer of his patience.
“Let me see, Rhodes,” I asked, coming closer. He shoved the phone into my hand.
“Emmmmiiiilllyyyyy!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Aaaallllaaaaannnaaaa!” He continued as I followed the blinking dot, moving super slow until I saw something white in the gutter, standing up against the edge of the curb. I ran over to it and found not only one phone but an obliterated sleek black one.
“Over here!” I called out to Rhodes and the guards that were scanning the area. The three of them ran toward me.
“It’s both of their phones,” I gulped, the initial excitement of finding the phone completely lost when I realized that whoever had taken them must have tossed their phones out of the car window.
They could be anywhere.
Rhodes saw the phones, closed his eyes, and fell to his knees right there on the side of a busy road in the heart of Paris.
He cupped the top of his head as he curled in on himself.
“Rhodes.” I went to my knees and wrapped my arms around him the best I could.
“She’s gone! They’re fucking gone. Our one lead…” He finally let out a torn sob. “My God…” He shook his head as his shoulders convulsed. “They could be hurting her.”
“Don’t think like that. She wasn’t the intended target. We’re going to find her. Hope is not lost.” I knew better than most that the second you lost hope, it was a deep dive into heartache and fear.
Suddenly, Rhodes’ phone pinged with a new message. I still held it in my hand as the display lit up with Emily’s name.
“Rhodes!” I shoved the phone in front of his face. “It’s Emily!”
He scanned the message.
“What does it say?” I blurted, my heart pounding a mile a minute as anticipation flooded my system.
“4th floor, the Ritz. Call 112,” he stated as he read.
“What’s 112?”
“That’s like calling 911 in France. Oh, good God.” He stood. “It’s from her Apple watch. Holy shit, we know where she is. The Ritz, 4th floor. Call the cops!” he called out to one of our guards.
They both instantly went into action, making calls.
“Let’s go! Now!” Rhodes grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the car. We climbed into the back as our two guards jumped into the front and we shot off into traffic.
Rhodes pressed some buttons on his phone and then lifted it to his ear.
“We know where they are!” he spoke without offering a greeting. “The Ritz. What?” he barked. “You’re supposed to be getting medical treatment, Christophe! Fuck, okay, I get it. We’ll meet you there. We’ve already notified the authorities. We’re going to get them back!” he said with a smile on his face. He hung up the phone, lifted my hand, and kissed the top. “We’re going to get them back,” he murmured against my skin as though repeating it would somehow make it true.
* * * *
The car ride to the Ritz Paris was a hazy blur as the four of us raced through traffic at a much higher speed than everyone else. The driver laid on the horn almost the entire way until we pulled to a screeching stop behind a slew of police cars.
Once again, Rhodes jumped out of the vehicle. This time, I was hot on his heels, scanning the authorities for a little blonde head. Rhodes wasn’t so subtle. He ran at full speed through a bunch of officers standing around and straight toward the entrance of the Ritz. He was bodily stopped by a pair of officers.
The officer spoke in French but switched to English once Rhodes started talking.
“No one gets in or out. Building is locked down.”
“My daughter was kidnapped! She is in there right now. It’s my kid and her aunt. You cannot hold me back!” he roared and pushed at the officers, who did, in fact, hold him back.
“ Monsieur, monsieur !” They tried to calm him as he pushed and hollered in their faces. If he didn’t lay off, they were going to arrest him.
“Rhodes!” I heard and turned around to find Christophe running in our direction. “Where are they?” he cried out as he approached at a full run. One of his arms was wrapped in a soiled bloody bandage, the rest of his sleeve soaked with crusty brown-red blood. “Where’s my wife and niece?” he added to the explosive situation.
The authorities spoke in English and French, telling Rhodes and now Christophe once again that no one was getting in or out of the building until they’d contained the scene.
“The scene? Was my daughter hurt?” Rhodes gasped, his face turning ghost white.
“ Et ma femme ?” Christophe roared in one of the officers faces.
I tried to grab both of their shoulders and haul them back, but they wouldn’t budge.
Out of nowhere, we heard, “Daddy!”
The three of us and the cops turned to see who was screaming, and my entire heart practically exploded with joy when I saw Emily and Alana rounding the building’s corner, several officers guarding them with guns at their sides.
“Daddy!” Emily broke away from the group, her arms out, legs moving fast as she ran toward us. Her hair was flying in the breeze, and tears were falling down her cheeks, but she was alive.
“Alana!” Christophe called out and bolted toward his wife.
Emily reached her dad, and he scooped her up and into the air, tucking his face against her neck. He trembled and shook so violently I worried they’d fall over, but he held strong. He wasn’t letting his girl go anytime soon.
“My girl, my baby girl. I was so scared. Thank you, God! Thank you!” He held her as they both cried.
Tears tracked down my face, and I just stood and watched it all unfold, relief and happiness flooding my heart and soul.
Just behind Rhodes was Christophe who was kissing every inch of Alana’s face before, finally, her mouth. He whispered words of comfort and love in French as she nodded and smiled, tears coating his fingers as he cupped her cheeks.
“Let me look at you.” Rhodes finally sniffed and wiped his runny nose and tears against his forearm. “Are you hurt?” he asked while he ran his hands down her arms and over her back.
“No, Daddy, I’m not hurt. I’m okay. Alana kept me safe.”
“Thank God,” he croaked and pulled her back against his chest. “Maia, get over here.” He waved me over and once again, I actually felt like part of the family. I bolted into their huddle, and he hugged us together.
I kissed the top of Emily’s head. “We were so worried. Your Dad was a mess as we looked for you. We’re so, so happy to have you back,” I whispered through my own overwhelming emotions.
Emily reached her hand between us and grabbed mine, keeping me close to her and her dad. She shivered as the realization that she was safe swept through all of us.
“You’re safe,” I whispered to her. “Safe, honey.”
She nodded and then snuggled deeper against us both, clinging so hard to my hand I could feel her nails digging into my palm, but I didn’t care. Whatever she needed to feel safe she’d get.
After a few long minutes, Rhodes released the hug huddle. “I need to see Alana,” he rumbled.
The ravaged, gritty tone he used made me instantly nervous.
“I’ve got Em,” I said. Emily burrowed against me, her arms fully wrapped around my body as she put her ear to my chest and looked out at the chaos surrounding us.
I watched as Rhodes approached Christophe and Alana.
Was he going to be angry that they were kidnapped on her watch? They did leave their guards in the car, which was the exact opposite of what we’d all agreed to.
Worry buzzed at my temples as I held my breath.
“Alana…” Rhodes started.
She turned his way, tears falling down her pretty cheeks. I’d never seen her cry before. As expected, she was a beautiful crier.
“I’m so sorry,” she murmured, her body language stiff and strung so tight I thought she might snap in half.
He reached for her arm and pulled her against his chest. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he chanted and ducked his head. Then my big man broke down in the arms of a woman he loved like his very own sister. Alana wrapped one arm around his shoulders, the other cupped to the back of his head.
“It’s okay. We’re okay. Everyone is okay,” she repeated.
Christophe lifted his uninjured arm and clapped Rhodes on the back in what could only be seen as solidarity.
I watched as Rhodes nodded but clung to the woman’s embrace. “Thank you for keeping my baby safe. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost either of you,” he admitted.
She eased back and cupped his cheeks. “Nonsense. You were always going to find us, mon chéri . I had no doubt. It was only a matter of time after Emily’s smart thinking.”
“That was your idea?” I asked Emily, and everyone looked at her.
She nodded excitedly. “At first, I was so scared that I passed out.”
“What?” Rhodes barked.
Emily waved her hand. “I was fine, Daddy. Auntie made sure of it. Then I remembered that even though they took our phones, I had my Apple watch on. So I told them I needed to use the restroom before the scary boss guy got there and we texted you from the watch!”
“That was so very brave of you,” Rhodes praised, letting Alana go and coming back to stand before his daughter. “So brave, Emily.”
She smiled so wide her cheeks turned pink. “I saved the day, huh?”
“You certainly did!” He hugged her again. “Now, let’s get out of here.”
“We have to go to the hospital. Apparently, Christo felt it prudent to leave in the middle of getting his arm stitched,” Alana glared at her husband.
Christophe smirked. “Nothing was keeping me from seeing you immediately.”
“Your health and well-being matter just as much as mine, mon coeur ,” she scolded.
“If the situations were reversed, you’d wait to be stitched before meeting your husband who’d been abducted right before your very eyes?”
“Hmmmmmm,” she hummed noncommittally.
“That is what I thought, mon amour .” He took her hand and kept her close. “Why don’t you three go on ahead to the house, and we’ll be there soon.”
Alana and Emily were both unharmed. Still, even though Emily seemed fine, I knew we’d need to work through this terrifying experience. And I’d be there to help her with processing everything. The one thing I was good at was dealing with trauma.
As we started to head for the SUV, a man in a suit approached. “ Excusez-moi , Mr. Davenport, Mrs. Toussaint? I’m Antoine Moreau, lead inspector assigned to this case. I understand this is a trying time,” he said in an extremely thick French accent. “However, we need information immediately about the men that held you. Particularly a man named Angus Sokolov. He’s wanted in several countries. And no one has laid eyes on him in years…except for you two.”
“Are you saying he got away?” Alana gasped, a hand going to the center of her chest. Christo tucked her close in response.
“ Oui . He disappeared out of thin air it seems. We were able to capture many of the men that were here, including his top henchmen, Dimitri Volkov. He was the one that was leading you out the back. Though I know the type. He’d rather die than rat out his boss. A man like Angus always has leverage against the members of his team.”
“Dimitri did mention something about a wife. Angus responded that she hadn’t arrived in Paris yet. They had a few harsh words about it before we went out the back. He also mentioned readying a helicopter.”
The inspector wrote that information down in a notepad. “That’s excellent information. I need to interview you and the girl.”
Rhodes lifted up a hand, stopping the detective from getting any closer to us. “Look, Inspector Moreau, my 13-year-old daughter was kidnapped and held by these criminals. She’s been terrified for hours. I’d like to get her fed, rested, and in bed so she can feel safe,” Rhodes stated in a tone that brooked absolutely no argument.
“And my husband needs to go back to the hospital. He was shot by one of Angus’s men and was receiving treatment when he was informed we’d been located. If you’d like to escort us, I’d be happy to tell you every detail I can recall. Emily was passed out for much of the experience and likely won’t be able to add anything more than what I can share.”
“ Oui, madame , I shall follow you. Merci . Mr. Davenport, I still need to interview your daughter. May I come to your home tomorrow?”
Rhodes nodded. “If you must, yes, you can come to the Toussaint’s home tomorrow. We’re staying with them while on holiday. I hope you catch this motherfucker. He deserves to be put away for life,” he sneered.
“Oh, we’d love nothing more than to lay our hands on him. I’ll be in touch,” inspector Moreau confirmed.
“We’ll see you back at the house,” Rhodes rumbled and then took Emily’s hand and gestured for me to take her other one, putting his daughter between us as we walked to the car, our two guards leading the way.
“Do you think Aurelie will make us some crepes? I’m starving,” Emily said on a yawn.
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Rhodes smiled and seeing it made me smile.
Emily was fine. Alana was fine. Christophe would be fine.
We were going to be okay.
As long as the cops could find this Angus guy, all of this should go away.
I had no idea how wrong I’d be.