Chapter 3 #2
“He just admitted they were eyeballing each other,” Dante countered, slicing a hand toward Owen.
Traitor.
“But come on,” Crow said, “do you remember every chick you hit on?”
“It is too risky,” Navas decided gravely. “If she recognizes him, she will react and give him away. Faruq will kill them both.”
As they continued debating the efficacy of going ahead with the mission, of cutting him from the op, Owen stared at the face that had distracted him that night.
Recalled the undeniable fear haunting her brown eyes.
That made him wonder how long she had been captive—hadn’t Navas said something like months?
What would happen to her if they didn’t go through with this?
Owen wasn’t going to let that happen. “You said your enemy is or was at the palace where she’s being held.” Amid his interruption, he realized he’d missed some conversation that died, the cabin falling quiet as eyes turned to him. “You said Bruzon knew who Leighton is. Right?”
The mercenary stared at him, and his dark eyes held little distinction between appreciation and hatred.
“Look, we’re already in the air,” Owen pushed forward. “There’s no time to find another monkey for this mission. And from the distress I heard in your voice last night while talking with my dad, she might not have time for further delays.”
Navas’s gaze darkened.
Owen looked at her picture again. Recalled her deftly avoiding him.
“Look, I doubt she’d remember me.” Did that sound as desperate to them as it did to him?
“There’s an active threat against her life if Bruzon is near that palace or able to gain access.
I don’t know if this guy is holding back because he wants to draw you out or what, but we can’t risk assuming that.
Because if we’re wrong—she pays.” He gave a cockeyed nod. “So, I’m still in. Let me do this.”
“Chief.” Luther sounded distracted as he eyed the laptop. “Incoming video call from London.”
“That will be Yasmina,” Navas said, nerves radiating off him like a solar flare.
Who was Yasmina?
“We’ll table the convo about Apollo till after.” Pike indicated to a screen. “Put her on the wall.”
An attractive older woman in a coral kaftan and soft brown hair appeared, her dark eyes searching the screen. “Hello?” Her finely drawn brows tugged together as she leaned in.
Navas stood and moved to the middle of the room so his face was front and center where the camera hit. “Princess.”
Yasmina drew back as recognition slid through her olive skin. “Juan,” she breathed, her entire visage relaxing beneath a smile.
“Yasmina,” Navas said, his tone tender, sweet—entirely contradictory to the known and wanted mercenary. How had a guy like that ever leveled up enough to rate a princess? “Good to see you.”
“And you.” She brushed a wavy strand from her temple. “Does this mean you are going to find Nouri?”
“We will get her back, Yasmina.” Conviction coated his words as Navas bobbed his head toward the team. “I pulled in some favors.”
Pike adjusted to the merc’s right and folded his arms over his chest. “Ma’am. Pike Auberon, CEO of Omen Tactical Group. Can you tell us exactly what happened the day she was taken and what you know so far?”
“Of course,” she said quietly.
Owen definitely saw the likeness between Leighton and her mom. Still kinda jacked with his brain that they were both legit princesses. A princess had been in Soph’s barn, a few meters from him. Whack.
“We were out shopping,” the princess began, “Nouri—Leighton—went to try something on and never came back. Nobody saw her leave. We searched everywhere for her, but could not find her in the shopping center. We had security footage pulled, but the cameras in the storage area and back alleys were not working.”
“That right there is what I call convenient,” muttered Brick.
“It is proof of who did this,” she said gravely.
“The al-Zahranis are the second richest royal family in the world—trillion-dollar worth. Unlike the Northern and Southern kingdoms, the Central Kingdom is notorious for throwing money around and controlling industries. They think they can buy anything—even people.”
“They sort of can,” Brick said under his breath, earning dark looks from Pike and Navas.
“I still have connections at Omnia Palace,” Yasmina went on, “and they confirmed Nouri is being held there. Like a prisoner in a cell.”
“You have connections?” Pike unfolded his arms. “Think they could—”
“No,” the princess said emphatically, then softened.
“Sorry. My title afforded me a modicum of respect, however, asking anything more than a simple question—like is Nouri there—puts them at risk. If they are discovered doing anything for me, not only will they die, but their families will be slaughtered for betraying Faruq. It is a price I will not ask of them.”
Pike didn’t like that but seemed to process and proceed. “How long has she been gone?”
“Eight months,” Yasmina said.
Pike frowned at Navas, and even Owen could read the disappointed inference—how had a man let his daughter go missing for eight months before trying to get her back?
“Do not blame him,” the princess said. “It was several months before I could even confirm she was there. Of course, I asked immediately, but at first, they could not find her.”
“And then, I wanted to confirm for myself,” Navas explained. “Took weeks to work myself into a position to get actionable intel. When I saw Nesto Bruzon leaving the palace, I knew help was needed.”
Staring at the man, Pike rubbed his jaw. “What’s their endgame?” Next to the table, he hiked a leg and perched on the edge. “Why are they even interested in her? I get Bruzon has a vendetta against Navas, but…a young college student?”
Yasmina exhaled heavily and looked aside—at someone offscreen, it seemed. “Me. Faruq would punish me for fleeing him and Omnia Palace.”
“Why’d you flee?”
“It is a long story,” Yasmina said somberly, then took a sip from a teacup.
“My mother, Queen Saffiyah, had given birth to three girls and was quickly losing the favor of then-king Nasir, despite modern science proving it is the man who determines a baby’s gender.
But they are cruel and relentless at Omnia.
Too stressful. My mother feared for her life.
So she took all three of us girls to Tahiti for a year, hoping distance would cool his temper. ”
“And it did not…” Pike supplied.
“No,” she said with a sigh. “For all four of us girls, that time in Tahiti was life-altering. One night while there, some missionaries invited us to a tent revival. We went, more out of curiosity or to mock than to hear about their faith—which shames me to admit—but as I listened…what they said made sense. I felt something deep in me burning. My mother said she heard Jesus calling her.” She motioned to her ear.
“We were at the revival every night, and they gave my mother a Bible when she asked Jesus to forgive her sins. At our condo, we read from it every night.”
“Bet Nasir loved that.”
She laughed, giving the same tilt of head that Leighton had done that night in the Neeley barn.
“I do not know how he learned about it all, but he was furious. What we had done was unforgivable,” she said with an airy laugh.
“He ordered us to return to Omnia and even sent guards to bring us back. There in the receiving room, him on his throne, we were forced to our knees. Ordered to renounce Isa or he would kill us.”
Disappointment lurked at the back of Owen’s mind. The woman was alive, so…she had denied Jesus?
“Something else happened while we were in Tahiti. I met and fell in love with a man. We were going to run away together, but Nasir’s guards showed up to take us back before I could.
When I was returned to Omnia, I was already pregnant,” she confessed quietly.
“I had always been the king’s favorite, so there on my knees, when I faltered, still new in my faith but also keenly aware of the life I harbored in my womb, the king assumed that I, his youngest, had been coerced by his errant wife.
To protect my child, I let him believe that.
So while he let me live, he did not forgive me.
Imprisoned in the palace, I was not allowed to leave.
Allowed no visitors. And I endured it for the sake of my baby.
I hid my pregnancy, gave birth in secret, and with the help of my maid, arranged for an American family to take my daughter.
A year after she was safely out of Omnia, I escaped and fled to London. ”
That was an incredible, daunting story. Yet… “Am I missing something?” Owen cursed himself for drawing Pike’s gaze again. “If you spirited her out of the palace and fled, why would they come after Nouri? They don’t know she exists. Or again, did I miss something?”
“No, you are correct. I…I was trying to protect myself by only telling certain parts of this story, but that will not work,” Yasmina said gravely.
With her head down, she continued. “Shortly after our return from Tahiti and being granted mercy by King Nasir, I was raped by my stepbrother—the king’s eldest son. ”
“Faruq,” Luther Landry said, rapping his knuckles on the table. “As in the current ruler of the Central Kingdom: King Faruq.”
Yasmina inclined her head. “After my escape, they tortured my maid. Learned about Nouri, but she had been very clever and refused to know where Nouri or I ended up. But they still knew I had given birth to a daughter.”
“King Faruq thinks Nouri is his daughter?” Disbelief colored with dread filled Brick’s words.
“So that’s why he’s keeping her,” Owen muttered.
Yasmina shuddered a breath. “If they discover she is not his daughter, that I was already with child when I returned from Tahiti—”
“She’s as good as dead,” Owen said quietly. What Navas had told Dad confirmed all this.
“Faruq believes he has his daughter, that holding her will force my return—he wants to punish me for stealing his father’s affection, for supposedly bearing his child and giving her away.
But he is…evil. And if he discovers any of this, Nouri will die.
Please,” she pleaded, despair pushing tears down her face, “you must get her out of there before they uncover the truth. Even Juan mentioned that his enemies have discovered her existence as well. It is clear, is it not, the danger she is in? I have only just gotten her back. I cannot lose her.”
“Nobody will lose her, Yasmina,” Navas vowed. “She will be back in your arms soon. I swear it.”
Dabbing a tissue at her eyes, she managed a small smile. “I am surprised you are not breaking down doors yourself.”
Navas swiped a hand over his mouth. “If I had a few less gray hairs…” Then he indicated to Pike.
“He will need as much information from you about the palace and family as you can remember. We are even now en route, and our timeline is short.” Then he motioned to Owen. “This is the young man we will insert.”
Craning her neck, she seemed to be straining to see him. “What is your name?”
Owen eased into full view beside Navas. “I am—”
“Apollo,” Pike interrupted, inclining his head to the screen. “For operational security, we won’t use his given name.”
“Of course,” Yasmina said, her gaze shifting. “Apollo, Nouri has it ingrained into her to be wary of strangers. She will not trust you. To gain her confidence, say this: ‘religieuse may be your favorite, but it is not the best pastry.’”
Owen faltered, no idea what that meant. “Religious…”
“Religieuse.” Yasmina gave a triumphant nod.
“It’s a French pastry,” Luther said, and when the rest of the team gaped at him, he held up his hands. “Just because you heathens are uncouth doesn’t mean I am too.”
“By that, she will know you are there with my blessing,” Yasmina continued. “And once you say that, she will trust you.”
Owen wasn’t sure what to say to the princess’s instruction. A pastry was supposed to save him?