Sweet Reward (34 page)

“Yes.”

“I underwent specialized endurance training. I can withstand tactics a normal person can’t.”

She blew out a shaky breath. “They’ll use you against me, won’t they?”

“They’ll do their damnedest. And vice versa. We need to make sure they concentrate on me. And whatever they do, no matter what they do, I can handle it. Okay?”

“And if we give in?”

“They’ll kill us. We’ll find a way out before then.”

“Does Noah know anything about this?”

“He knows you were taken. Since I didn’t check back in, he’ll track me to where I left my stuff.”

“How far are we from Philippe’s estate?”

“No more than five or ten miles.”

She shivered. Jared knew that the cold was finally seeping into her bones. How long Ricard planned to leave them here like this was anyone’s guess. However, he figured the bastard would want to learn as soon as possible who else might know about him. Jared hoped the worry of being found out would make him come sooner rather than later. The temperature would probably get into the
low thirties tonight. He could withstand it, but Mia hadn’t been trained for this. Her body would succumb to the frigid cold.

“Are your hands tied with ropes?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He tugged on the ropes, pleased to feel a slight loosening. “One nice thing about the cold is, it’ll make your skin shrink a little.”

The light was dimming, but he saw her grimace as she squirmed, testing the tightness of the ropes.

“I think you’re right. They’re loosening. We’ll work on them until we can—”

The squeak of the door was their only warning before Ricard said, “How nice to see my guests are awake and getting to know each other better. Or are you ready to do away with the pretense?”

Mia glared coldly at Philippe. She wanted to scream, shout, curse, and castigate the son of a bitch. A verbal attack was a good start. She snarled, “You stupid idiot, Philippe. Do you honestly think you can kidnap the daughter of an American diplomat and get away with it? Your ass is going to be fried.”

For a second, Philippe looked gratifyingly startled by her words. Arrogance quickly erased the astonishment. “How will anyone ever know about this, Mia?”

“My mother and father knew I was spending the weekend with you. That’s how, asshole.”

Again his expression flickered with uncertainty. She was pleased that Jared was allowing her this small victory without jumping on board. Maybe her words would rattle Philippe enough to cause him to make a mistake. She continued her tirade: “The best thing for you to do is to let us go. We’ll testify that you realized your mistakes and felt bad.”

Dammit, she’d gone too far. The smirk was back. “Do
you honestly think I’ll let you go? Kidnapping and torturing Quinton Maxwell’s daughter would be considered a petty crime compared to other, even less savory things.”

The door squeaked open again. A large tattooed man entered with a folding chair under one arm, a folding table under the other arm, and a blanket draped over his shoulders. Two more men entered. They were both carrying what looked like space heaters.

Philippe sat in the chair provided for him and then covered himself with the blanket. He waited while the table was unfolded and put in front of him. “It’s quite chilly this evening, don’t you think? Since we’re going to be chatting awhile, I thought it best to be as comfortable as possible.”

His eyes slid down Mia’s nearly nude body with a sexually insolent once-over. “I’m sure you must be feeling the chill, too. Even from here I can see goose bumps on your soft skin and those lovely nipples peaking beneath your bra. As much as I’d like to heat them up for you, I’m afraid I’ll just have to let the heaters take care of the problem.”

Mia pulled and tugged as unobtrusively as possible on the ropes. She needed to get them loose. The heat might be a welcome relief on her freezing flesh, but the ropes would tighten once her skin warmed.

Before she could come up with an additional appropriate threat, another man entered with a tray. On it were sandwiches, a cup, and a teapot. The man placed the tray on the table in front of Philippe and poured steaming liquid into the cup. If they weren’t in such dire straits, she would have rolled her eyes. Could the creep get any more pretentious?

“I missed lunch and am quite famished. And though
it’s rude to eat in front of others without offering to share, I’m afraid my generosity doesn’t extend to sharing a meal with you.”

“Since the last time I shared a meal with you, you drugged me, that’s fucking fine with me.”

“Mia, I’m shocked. Do your parents realize what a gutter mouth you have?”

“Did your mother know you kidnapped and sold babies?”

Instead of anger or denial, there was delight in his expression. “Ah yes, now we have it out in the open, at last.” He took a sip of his tea and moved his gaze over to Jared. “Wouldn’t you like to get involved in the conversation? Share some insight? Maybe add some threatening comments? I assure you, I have very thick skin, so don’t worry about hurting my feelings.”

Jared’s cold, insolent, and unmoving stare made even Mia shudder. She had never seen a look that held such contempt and deadly threat at the same time.

Philippe’s hand wobbled slightly as he set his teacup back on the table. Aw, not so tough after all. Mia couldn’t resist a smile.

“Apparently, your gorilla friend isn’t going to join us in our discussion.”

“So we’re going to have a discussion?”

The blanket wrapped tighter around Philippe as he leaned forward. “Yes, we are, my dear. Even though this won’t end well for you or your friend, I feel the need to explain myself.”

“Explain yourself? You really think you can successfully explain why you abduct and sell children so that I won’t still be disgusted and appalled?”

His superior smile was both condescending and slightly sad. “You believe I’m a bad person, don’t you? That what
I’ve done is wrong. It’s silly, really, but I’d like you to understand that what I’ve done is actually a very noble thing.”

“Noble?” She shook her head. “Philippe, you sell children. And you call that noble?”

“Every one of those children has been given a better opportunity. They’ve gone to parents who love them and want them. They were taken from hell and put in heaven. How is that not a good thing?”

“That’s not your decision to make. And the Dennisons’ child … how did selling her to the highest bidder improve Mandy Dennison’s circumstances? Her parents were certainly not destitute or on drugs.”

“They’re not sold to the highest bidder,” he snapped, seeming genuinely insulted by her accusation. “I screen each couple carefully. The people who received the Dennison child truly wanted her.” He gave an abrupt wave of his hand as he explained, “Besides, that was an unusual case. I overheard the woman complaining. For almost twenty minutes she could do nothing but whine about how the child was keeping her up at night and she was getting no sleep. She was clearly unhappy being a mother. I did both of them a favor and removed what was making her so miserable.”

“Those aren’t your decisions to make.”

“But of course they are, Mia.” He gestured widely with his hands. “It’s what I was born to do.”

“What?”

As if he were explaining this to a somewhat dim-witted person, Philippe spoke slowly and patiently: “The Ricard Foundation has helped millions. We feed the poor and provide homes, schools, and hospitals to needy people all over the world. Providing children to people who can’t have them and taking them from people who don’t
want them is just another service we specialize in. Yes, I’m aware that the law would look down on us, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do.”

“And the money you make off these transactions?”

“Goes right back to the foundation. I don’t need the wealth. I have plenty.” He gave her a pitying smile. “So you see, my dear, all of this was for nothing.”

Mia was so stunned by his rationalization, she couldn’t find the words to tell him how insane she thought he was. Jared didn’t have the same problem.

“That’s the biggest piece of horseshit I’ve ever heard.”

“So you do have a tongue. Pity that it’s as foul as Mia’s. Apparently, you’re a bad influence on her.”

“So murder is just the cost of doing business.”

Philippe sighed. “There have been some unfortunate consequences. But they were garbage … slime.”

“Including the three Ricard employees?” Jared asked softly.

For the first time, Mia saw guilt on Philippe’s face. “How did you know about those?”

“Do you think everyone is as stupid as you are?”

A twisted smile was Philippe’s only indication that the insult stung. “It was an unfortunate event. I couldn’t allow them to tell anyone.”

“And what about the other people who died with them? What was their supposed sin?”

“Sad also, but again, just collateral damage. We had to make it look like a real fire. And despite your insult, no one has linked those deaths to me. So, who are the real imbeciles here?”

“I’d say that’s pretty clear, Philippe,” Mia said. “Do you really think you can keep on getting away with this shit?”

“But of course I can. I already have. Do you know what would happen to the foundation, my family’s legacy, if
anyone found out? Everyone who died did so for a greater cause.”

Mia shook her head, unsure if his ego was allowing his delusions or if he was just insane. “Philippe, do you really believe that?”

He sighed heavily and stood. “Mia, if you weren’t so intent on hurling insults at me, you would see that. However, all of that’s in the past. It’s getting late, and I need to rest. Tomorrow is going to be an eventful day.”

He spoke to the men who’d been silently standing behind him. “Turn the heaters on, at the highest setting. We don’t want our guests catching a chill, do we?”

Turning back to them, he gave them an idea of what tomorrow held. “We’ll chat again in the morning. If you’ll tell me what I want to know, I promise I’ll make your passing easy and painless. If you don’t cooperate, then I’m afraid it’s going to get quite painful.”

The men silently plugged the heaters into outlets, turned off the lights, and closed the door. Blessed warmth soon invaded the small space, but Mia knew it was only a temporary relief. Soon they’d both be hot and close to suffocating from the heat.

Jared’s deep voice emerged from the darkness: “There’s never a marshmallow around when you need it most.”

Despite herself, Mia snickered. “I think we’re the marshmallows in this scenario.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

“Have you ever been through heat torture?”

Jared knew she was trying to stay positive, but he heard the nervousness in her voice. As he tried once more to loosen the ropes around his wrists, he reassured her. “I’ve been through it all. Never broke me once. It won’t break you, either. I promise.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“How are you coming on the ropes on your wrists?”

“They’re a little looser, but just enough that my circulation isn’t impaired. What about you?”

“Yeah, about the same.”

“So, do you have any funny stories to keep us entertained?”

Funny? No, he didn’t do funny. He had plenty of fucked-up stories, where shit happened to good people and evil won all too often. That sure as hell wouldn’t reassure her. Best he could do were the times when the good guys did win.

“A few years ago, I was in Egypt, undercover with a small group of terrorists. Had been with them for a few weeks. They were a bunch of disorganized lunatics following this one man around like he was some sort of savior. They mostly raided camps and stole things. Our people had picked up some chatter, though; we knew they were building up to something bigger. Just didn’t know what.

“Then one day, the lunatic leader and his band of merry terrorists went to a small, private school in Cairo. The plan was to hold the school hostage and ransom each child. I didn’t figure on getting involved other than making sure none of the kids got hurt. But then I overheard some of the men. They wanted to take the kids and sell them to a group of human traffickers who specialized in selling children to pedophiles.”

“Oh God,” she whispered.

“Since I was fairly new, I got the grunt jobs.”

He heard the smile in her voice as she said, “You got to watch the kids.”

“Yeah. So while they were in another room, making their plans, I knocked the hell out of the two guys guarding with me and led the kids out of the classroom.”

“Now, that’s a funny story.”

He didn’t add that he’d gone back inside and killed the leader. Some stories were best left unfinished.

“How long were you with the agency?”

“Twelve years.”

“Has anyone ever told you how wonderful you are?”

He snorted. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t know everything you did or even who you really worked for, but I do know that you’ve saved lives. I just wondered if anyone had ever taken the time to thank you and tell you how brave and heroic you are.”

“I’m nothing special, Mia. Don’t get it into your head that I’m a hero.”

“We’ll just have to agree to disagree, won’t we?” She paused for a second, then said, “It’s getting toasty, isn’t it?”

He’d hoped she wouldn’t notice that. By now, the temperature was in the mid-eighties at least. And it was only going to get worse.

“Why don’t you try to get some sleep?”

“Probably a good idea. As Philippe said, we have an eventful day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“We’ll make it, Mia. I promise.”

“I know.” There was silence for several seconds, and he assumed she had fallen asleep quickly. Then, out of the darkness, she whispered, “I know this sounds incredibly selfish, but I’m glad you’re here with me.”

“I am, too.” And he meant it.

A few minutes later, he heard her shallow breaths and knew she had succumbed to exhaustion. He wished she were close enough that he could at least touch her. He wanted to hold her, reassure her. He wanted to tell her how incredibly special he thought she was.

She thought he was a hero. He wasn’t. He was just a man who’d fallen into a job that he happened to be
good at. Lying had come as easy to him as breathing, and fortunately, he’d found a way to incorporate that into a career and had prevented bad things from happening.