Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Saskia woke to the fragrant scent of flowers.
She wrinkled her nose, resisting the urge to sneeze as she opened her eyes, smiling as she was greeted by a colourful display of flowers in a vase on her bedside table.
Her smile melted as her gaze drifted beyond the flowers to the rest of the room and she remembered where she was.
She sat up, arching her back and thrusting her arms in the air in a lengthy stretch. The bed was incredible. Downright decadent with a mattress that embraced her perfectly, carrying her swiftly into sleep.
She made her way to the washroom where she indulged in a leisurely shower, soaping herself with the brand-new luffa set out for her.
Was she a kidnap victim? Yes, she was. Should she enjoy the facilities provided for her while also resisting her kidnap status?
Yes, she absolutely should. Was it her fault her kidnapper provided only the best?
When she reentered the bedroom, she discovered the balcony doors had been opened, allowing a warm humid breeze through. “Nikka?” she called, but there was no response. Saskia was beginning to think the other woman was a cat-human hybrid.
The smell of coffee teased her and she drifted through the French doors onto the balcony patio where a small round table contained a spread of coffee with cream and sugar dishes, a fruit platter, and a pastry platter.
“Okay, another point to the stalking kidnapper on the details,” Saskia murmured, pouring herself a coffee, bypassing the cream and sugar. “Hmm, maybe not. He should know I take my coffee black.”
“He does know.” The deep rumble came from behind her and she looked up to find Radik striding toward her, the patio door to his room open behind him.
“I take my coffee white with three sugars. Sweet, the way I prefer my pastries.” He picked up a jam tart and ate half in one bite, crumbs dusting the front of his blue polo shirt.
“Seems decadent for a man of your background.”
He shoved the rest of the tart in his mouth, chewing and swallowing before asking, “What do you know of my background?”
She waited until he fixed his coffee, then said, “I know you’re 45 and most likely susceptible to diabetes if you keep ingesting sugar with such disregard to your health.”
He laughed, the sound beginning as a deep rumble in his chest before spilling out in warm chuckles. “So you’re aware of my sugar addiction and my age. What else do you know about me?”
“Not much.” She joined him at the balcony railing where they looked out across the compound, which was buzzing with people talking and laughing, and children playing.
The sight made her want to join in. She continued, “You’ve done your due diligence, scrubbing yourself from the internet.
I tried to pump your sister for information, but she isn’t very forthcoming. ”
He grinned, his teeth flashing. “Like me, she was raised with the understanding that holding your tongue can save your life.”
“Maybe, but it was frustrating when I wanted to know more about you.” She pouted. “It wasn’t fair. You knew everything about me and I couldn’t find out anything about you. There was no sense of fair pay.”
“Was?” he queried. “You have since learned more about me?”
She grinned at him. “I’m nothing if not an advocate for fair play, so when my searches kept coming up with nothing, I turned to a hacker I met through a friend.
She has access to parts of the internet no one else can get to.
” She interpreted the look he gave her and shook her head.
“Trust me, she’s better than anyone you have. Jozef too.”
“And what did she find?” He sounded only mildly curious.
“You were born in a small village in the Northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo to a single mother, Mariam. Regional warring drove her across the border into South Sudan. Though you did what you could to help her, survival was difficult. At nine years old, you drew the attention of a group of militants recruiting in your area. Your large size at such a young age made you an asset to them and you were taken against your mother’s wishes.
You used the opportunity to earn money, which you sent home to Mariam.
” Saskia paused, taking in Radik’s stillness.
Though he gave no outward sign, she was certain he was surprised by her revelations.
Not the information itself. He knew all of it, of course, but that it was available for others to discover. “I told you, my hacker friend is good.”
Radik nodded, his eyes moving to the walls of his compound. “What else did she tell you?”
“When you were twelve you left the militia group to join another, this one intent on overthrowing a corrupt government.” Which told her he cared about his home from a young age.
He had ideals, ones he was willing to fight for.
“The militia lost the war and you were imprisoned in an adult prison.
Luckily you were well on your way to achieving your full size and you were mostly left alone.
While you were incarcerated, you were recruited once again, but this time by a mercenary group.
“By the time you left the prison, your sister had been born, and you had even more reason to fight for money and the safety of your family. From the age of sixteen, you worked your way up the mercenary hierarchy into a position of leadership, eventually taking over the group when you were twenty-two and making it your own. From there, you expanded to recruit thousands of other mercenaries. You operated all over the world until six years ago when you stopped taking contracts, all but disappearing from the world of black-market operators.” She watched his face, trying to read his expression.
It didn’t change. “I will require this hacker’s name and location.”
“She lives in Indonesia with her arms dealer husband, but you won’t be able to touch her. Her husband keeps her in constant lockdown.”
Should she tell him what she did? He was a kidnapper who took away her freedom, but she hated knowing he might be upset by what she was telling him. “I asked her to erase everything she could find about you after giving me the information. There’s nothing left of you anywhere on the web.”
“Why would you do that?” His shoulders were stiff.
“Because I knew it was what you would want.”
He looked at her, his face softening. He touched her, brushing her curls back from her face.
“You are a resourceful woman, Saskia Koba.” He smiled, though it was tight.
“Thank you for asking your hacker to erase my information. I am uncomfortable with the idea that my enemies can find out about me.”
Saskia nodded. “Yeah, I gathered as much from your sister. Ayaan might be tight-lipped, but she’s protective of you. She knows how much your privacy means to you. You don’t have to worry that I would expose you.”
“I know you won’t.”
“Because you know me,” she said, admitting to herself that it was true. He did know her. He’d been watching her every move for years. It should freak her out, but it didn’t. She found his benevolent attention comforting.
He finished his coffee and set the cup on the table. “Come, let me show you around Marifiya. You only got a glimpse when we drove in yesterday.”
It was what Saskia was hoping for.
She went back into her room and changed quickly into a pair of jean shorts and a blue and white striped shirt.
When she was ready, she reached for her purse, then stopped.
Would she need anything in it? Even if there were shops in Marifiya, she didn’t have any cash in the local currency, and the internet didn’t work for anyone within the village walls so her credit cards were useless.
She grabbed her phone, tucking it in her pocket before leaving her room to meet Radik in the hallway.
He took her hand and led her down the stairs to the front door where Nikka stood waiting. “We’ll be out for several hours.”
Nikka replied, “Ms. Koba should take her hat.” She rushed upstairs, presumably to Saskia’s bedroom and rushed back toward them moments later with Saskia’s ballcap.
Bemused Saskia took it from her, saying drily, “Thanks for unpacking my things.”
Nikka beamed at her and walked away.
“Do I really need a maid?” Saskia asked Radik, watching Nikka leave. “At home, I use the services of a housecleaner. The rest, like laundry, I prefer to do myself.”
“I know,” Radik said, leading her out the front door. “Nikka isn’t a maid. She runs the house with her grandmother, and she chooses her own duties. If you don’t want her touching your laundry, you need only tell her. But if you give her a chance, you may find she’s an excellent companion.”
Saskia tipped her face up to the sun, which was shining down brightly, warming her.
Nikka was right, Saskia did need her hat.
Pulling it over her curls, she said, “You may have noticed through your years of stalking me that I’m kind of a loner.
I prefer my own company most of the time, so why would you get the impression I need a companion? ”
“Come, this way.” Radik waved his arm indicating they should set off down a dirt road with buildings lining either side.
As they walked, Radik explained, “You may prefer your own company most of the time, but there are other times when you lean into and appear to benefit from close female friendships. I have seen you spend many hours in conversation with Ayaan, Leeza, and even your cousin-in-law, Shaun. I believe you crave these close moments the same as you do food.”
Saskia thought of a fourth, budding friendship that had been cut off too soon.
She rubbed her chest at the thought of Aurelia.
“You can’t force friendship, Muhammed. It has to come naturally.
I’m selective with my friendships. I’m friends with my sister because we’ve known each other my entire life and we share similar experiences.
I’m friends with Shaun because she’s smart and interesting.
And I’m friends with your sister because…
.” Because Ayaan was very like Radik and being around her made Saskia feel closer to him.
“She’s tough, loyal and protective. All qualities I admire.
Nikka seems like a nice person, but that doesn’t mean we’ll become friends. ”
Leaving the topic of conversation behind, Radik pointed at a brightly painted building, with sections in red, blue, green and yellow. It looked like a group of well-organized children took crayons to it. “That’s our schoolhouse. We currently have seventeen children attending.”
Saskia didn’t know if she was more impressed that there was a school in the compound or that Radik knew exactly how many children attended. “You seem to really care about the families living here.”
He continued walking. “I suppose after pursuing a lifetime of destruction something changed in me. When I claimed this territory, I did it with a mind to build rather than destroy.”
Saskia thought she was beginning to understand. What she had first seen upon coming to the compound was a secure prison surrounded by concrete walls, an army in the process of being organized, but it might actually be something else. Something better.
Most of the streets were lines with traditional Congan houses.
They were made of wood and corrugated metal, and had thatched roofs, like the main house.
As they neared the core of Marifiya, they walked past a couple of buildings that looked like apartment complexes, which surprised Saskia.
“From the reading I’ve done, I learned there are almost no buildings like this in rural Congo, especially in a place as remote as this. ”
Radik nodded at the building she was looking at. “I flew in a construction crew to build these, the walls surrounding the compound and the tunnels. Supplies were brought in by boat using the river. It wasn’t easy but I had time and patience on my side.”
“And unlimited funds,” she added drily. Then asked, “There are tunnels?” His lip lifted in that smile of his she was starting to recognize as somewhat condescending.
Like he thought she was being naive. Damn it, she was a mafia princess, not some normie.
“Of course, you have tunnels. And I’m sure they lead out to the airfield, don’t they? ”
“Yes, as well as to the river where there are boats that can be used for escape in case of emergency.”
“You are a well-prepared man.”
“Always,” he said, his tone serious.
As they approached the centre of Marifiya, Saskia was delighted to discover the existence of open-air shops and carts. “This is incredible!” She ran her hand over a crocheted blanket displayed on a cart. “There’s commerce here.”
Radik smiled. “The merchants sell to people within the compound as well as to people from the surrounding villages.”
“How do people get inside?”
“We leave the gates open during the day.”
Saskia frowned, looking in the direction of the gates. They were so massive, she could see them clearly from her vantage point. They hadn’t been open since she arrived. She said as much.
“There are new security complications that must be handled before we can welcome guests into the compound again.”
It was because of her. She was the security complication.
Saskia thought of the merchants losing out on sales. She grabbed Radik’s arm, stopping him. “Please open the gates again. These shops can’t thrive while on lockdown.”
Radik’s lips curved as he looked down at her, covering her hand with his. “You care.”
“Of course I care, I was cursed with a beating heart,” Saskia snapped. “My coming here shouldn’t make a difference to how you operate this place. From what you’ve shown me so far, I see a vibrant community filled with families. I refuse to negatively impact such a wonderful place.”
Radik showed her into what looked like a small open-air eatery, which was confirmed by a half dozen tables with chairs, soft music playing in the background and mouth-watering smells coming from the kitchen. He pulled a chair out for Saskia and she slid onto the smooth wooden surface.
Radik sat opposite her. “The stricter security measures will remain in place until I’m satisfied they’re no longer necessary.”
Feeling guilty at her impact on the compound, Saskia asked, “How long will that be?”
“Until I catch the people who tried to kill you and make sure there are no other threats to your well-being.”