Chapter 17
Jadwat giggled as he hung up the phone. Very soon now, he would be in charge of the whole, damn country! He would dump his cousin in prison and throw away the key. That would be the perfect punishment. Jadwat had been banished from the political world and, more importantly, all of the delicious, royal money! He’d had to scramble to make a living by begging and plotting, finding his cousin’s enemies and convincing them that it was time to get rid of the ass!
Things were finally falling into place!
“Ashwam!” he called out.
His personal assistant immediately stepped into Jadwat’s office. “Yes, Your Highness?”
Jadwat loved hearing that title. “Call the team and tell them not to torture Princess Marianna. I don’t want a single mark on her.” Yet , he silently added. The woman was lovely. Perhaps he would marry her to force an alliance with Lativa. He leaned back in his leather chair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he contemplated that angle. He hadn’t considered how best to shore up his power. But having Sheik Khal at his beck and call, threatening to hurt his precious sister if he didn’t do his bidding might be a layer of power that could force the other countries around Uftar to behave.
Jadwat looked up to find Ashwam still standing in the doorway, looking uncomfortable.
“What?” he snapped.
Ashwam opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. “I haven’t been able to contact the team, Your Highness.”
Not able to contact…? “What the hell are you saying? We heard yesterday that they were successful! The bitch was snatched right off her horse yesterday.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Ashwam agreed, adding a slight bow. “They confirmed the capture. They even checked in yesterday afternoon, once they’d crossed over the border from Lativa. But about ten kilometers from the warehouse that had been set up to hold Princess Marianna, the team lost contact. They were supposed to check in at regular intervals, but no one has heard from them.”
Jadwat stared at his assistant, his thoughts slowing to a crawl as he tried to make sense of what this meant. “But…they weren’t supposed to check in again for another few hours.”
Ashwam bowed again, which was starting to annoy him. “Yes, Your Highness. But they were supposed to check in when they reached the warehouse. That hasn’t happened.”
Jadwat thought about that for a moment, then shrugged dismissively. “Perhaps they are just keeping quiet,” he replied, refusing to consider that his plan wasn’t going to work. It had taken too long to get to this point. Hell, even if the bitch wasn’t still in custody, his plan could still work. Things were already in motion. The eviction notices would end up in his tenants’ mailboxes in a day or two and then the grumbling would begin. All he had to do then was use his connections within the media to stoke the anger to a fever pitch and, voila! The people would turn against their leader!
It was all too easy, he thought.