Taken (10 page)

TEN

M
arcus breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped into the safe house behind Kate. They needed to track down the man they’d encountered on the subway, but not at the risk of Kate’s life. In the meantime, a BOLO was out on the man, ensuring Interpol, Homeland Security and the FBI were all on the lookout for him. All Marcus could do now was pray that would be enough to find him quickly.

Which left him coming back to the same question again. How was he supposed to keep Kate safe and do his job at the same time? The only answer he’d come up with so far was to keep her in the safe house until all of this was over. And while he had a feeling she wasn’t going to like it, as far as he was concerned, it was their only option. Because if it weren’t for the fact he needed her help, he’d already have sent her home.

With Rachel still in ICU and Chad dead, Kate was the closest thing he had to a source. And at least here, he could keep an eye on her instead of relying on someone else for her safety. His jaw tensed. Which shouldn’t matter on a personal level. But it did. He didn’t need to be the one protecting her, but neither could he shake the worry over something else happening to her. And him not being there to save her.

He watched her set her bag onto the small dining room table, before she moved to stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the busy street below. She folded her arms across her chest, the tension in her posture clear as she continued the silence that had settled between them on their way back to the safe house.

“Pierre and Jocelyn will be here about seven with dinner,” he said. “That will give us time to go over what we have and make a plan of action for finding the diamonds and making the exchange.”

A plan that ensured she stayed out of danger.

Kate nodded.

“I’d still like your help in going through your sister’s photos and journal, so hopefully we can find a clue as to where she might have sent them.”

He waited for her earlier anger to return over the reminder that he’d read through Rachel’s journal, but instead, she simply nodded.

“Do you know Jocelyn’s story?” she asked after another long pause had settled between them. “She told me she volunteered for this case. Told me it was personal, but she didn’t tell me why.”

Marcus raised his brow slightly at the question. “I’ve seen photos of her family she left behind in the Central African Republic. For years, rebels controlled much of the diamond-producing areas. Most of her family was murdered in the conflict that was funded primarily by those diamonds. She escaped with her mother to France when she was thirteen.”

“And her father?”

“I believe he died in the mines a few years later.” Marcus stepped next to her in front of the window, where the early-evening sun cast long shadows across the hardwood floors of the apartment. “Why all the questions about Jocelyn? I trust her and Pierre completely if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No. I trust her, too.” Kate continued staring out the window. “I’m just trying to put together all the pieces of the puzzle. Tell me what you know about the diamond smuggling Chad was involved in.”

“We call it Operation Solitaire. Diamonds are being smuggled into the US in exchange for military-grade weapons in a number of third-world African and Middle Eastern countries.”

“So the diamonds play a role in the succession of rebels as they use the gems to fund the conflict.”

Marcus nodded. “That’s a pretty good summary. We found compelling evidence during our investigation that Chad was working as one of the buyers. He bought the diamonds off the books from countries like the CAR, where Jocelyn is from, then sold them after they were cut and polished.”

“What about the embargoes on blood diamonds? Isn’t that supposed to stop things like this from happening?”

“There are embargoes in place, but people still manage to smuggle them from one country to another.”

“How?”

He studied her expression. She was processing everything he was telling her. Trying to make sense of a situation that wasn’t adding up. He’d seen the same reaction from people whose lives had suddenly been turned upside-down because of a tragedy. Being innocent didn’t mean you stayed immune to the consequences of other people’s actions.

“Diamonds are easier to smuggle than drugs and weapons,” he explained. “Metal detectors don’t pick them up. There is nothing for the drug-sniffing dogs to smell. I’ve heard of people swallowing them, or simply putting them in their wallet.”

“Can’t they be traced?” she asked.

“Once they’re cut and polished, it’s almost impossible to determine the origin of a stone. Even with the Kimberley Process and its regulations, some estimate that as high as 15 percent of diamonds sold are actually conflict diamonds.”

“And the Kimberley Process? What’s its role?”

“They are the world’s diamond watchdog whose goal it is to stem the flow of rough diamonds to rebel movements. But even with their regulations in place, there are still countries like the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo where much of the fighting can be linked to the control of minerals.”

Marcus answered her questions, knowing those answers were an important step for her in trying to make sense of her niece’s disappearance. If situations like this could ever be made sense of.

“So Chad skimmed diamonds that should have gone to his buyer, and in turn made some people up the ladder very angry when they realized he was skimming his own share off the top,” she said.

“Yes.”

Angry enough to shoot Rachel and kidnap Sophie.

She turned to face him. Her eyes were rimmed with tears, but despite everything that had happened, they hadn’t lost their look of determination. Which was good. She was going to need that determination to get through the days to come.

“I’ve been thinking about Sophie and the exchange,” she began.

He cocked his head and frowned. “What exactly have you been thinking about?”

“I need to be the one who makes the exchange for Sophie.”

“Kate—”

“Hear me out, Marcus, because I know what you’re going to say. They told
me
to show up at the Eiffel Tower. That I was to be the one who makes the exchange. I need to do this, Marcus. I
have
to do this.”

“Forget it.” As far as he was concerned, her staying out of the exchange was nonnegotiable. “It’s too dangerous, Kate. You have no experience in a situation like this, where even a well-executed plan can go wrong. I’m not prepared to risk your life unnecessarily. We can still get Sophie back—”

“I’m willing to take a risk, because they told me to be there.”

“Trust me, they’re more interested in the diamonds than the deliverer. And the bottom line is that it’s a dangerous game, Kate. We’ll make a plan, expect the unexpected and pray for the best outcome. That’s all we can do.”

She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and held up the photo of Sophie she’d put as her wallpaper in front of him. The photo of the adorable four-year-old with her pigtails and bright smile tugged at his heart, just as she’d intended.

“Praying for the best outcome is essential,” she said, “but going against Sophie’s captors’ instructions is foolish. I’m not willing to take that chance. We’ve both seen what these people can do.”

“Kate...” He paused as she turned back to the window, because he didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what to do to make things right. He wasn’t even sure he could make things right. Whoever had taken Sophie was playing a game, but it was a game where there were no set rules.

And what if Kate was right? Was it worth risking her life to save her niece? He knew how she would answer, but he wanted to find a way to ensure both of them stayed safe.

“What do you see?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“What do you mean?”

“Outside this apartment.”

His brow furrowed as he moved closer to her. “I don’t know... Traffic, buildings, people. Why? What do you see?”

“The sun glistening against the rooftop. The red awning over the corner café. The pink flowers in the apartment window across the way. And walking down the street, there’s a couple of tourists.”

Marcus couldn’t help but smile at her observation regarding the tourists. “White tennis shoes, his fanny pack and her
I Love Paris
bag. With your eye for detail, maybe you could be an FBI agent after all.”

“I don’t think so.” She pressed her fingers against the window frame. “As a photographer I’ve learned to look at the details. Often, in even the most simple setting, you can find amazing beauty. An everyday object shown in a different way with a simple lens change or camera angle can bring beauty to the ordinary.”

“You’re an optimist,” he said, thinking he understood what she was trying to say. She was the one who expected to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. Who found beauty in the world around her despite the difficulties of life.

She turned to him and caught his gaze. “I can normally find the good in situations, but this time...this time it’s different. I don’t know how this game is supposed to be played. And even if I did, I can’t change the circumstances of this situation, and that not being in control...it scares me.”

Marcus struggled for the right words when nothing he could say could change the situation. “Everything you’re feeling right now—the anger, the hurt and confusion—they’re all normal, Kate.”

“Is it normal for a grad student to find herself involved with a bunch of international diamond and gun smugglers?” She shook her head and turned back toward him. “You’re right. I am an optimist. I always have faith that things will work out, but this time...I don’t know. I’m worried about my family. Worried that we made the wrong decision in asking the kidnappers for more time. All we did was prolong her time with whoever has her.”

“Come here.” He took her hand and led her to the couch, where he sat down next to her. “We didn’t have a choice, Kate, because we don’t have the diamonds. I’m not even sure the time they gave us is going to be enough to find them.”

“We could make a plan.” She pulled her hand away from his then clasped them together in her lap. “We could show up at the arranged exchange and snatch her. Arrest her kidnappers.”

“It’s never that easy, and if the plan went wrong? Exchanges are risky. They’re not going to make the switch until they know they’re getting the diamonds. It’s a delicate balancing act. I know that the waiting is horrid, but we have to do this the right way. And in turn give Sophie her best chance for us getting her back.”

“And if we don’t find the diamonds in time?”

“We’ll find them.” He paused, praying he was right. “We’ll find them, because we have to.”

“Now who’s the optimist?” She shot him a half smile despite the tears in her eyes. “But you’re right. We
will
find those diamonds, because Sophie’s life depends on it.”

And Kate was depending on him.

Kate, who was supposed to be nothing more to him than another source in a case.

Except she wasn’t
just
a source. Somehow she’d become so much more, and he couldn’t help but like her. A lot. And not just as a person who could help him solve his case.

She sniffled, and he handed her a tissue from the side table, then waited for her to blow her nose. He still wasn’t sure how it had happened, but from out of the blue she’d managed to walk into his life and tilt his world upside-down. Not to mention what she’d managed to do with his heart. She’d reminded him to look for hope. Made him look beyond the cold details of the case to the individuals involved. To the details that really mattered. And she had him wondering about the possibility of seeing her again after this was all over.

“I’m not finished discussing the exchange, but what I can’t do,” she continued, “is sit here doing nothing. I need you to let me help.”

He cleared his throat and leaned back against the couch. Staying focused had never been an issue for him before Kate. “I need your help, but I intend to keep you safe, too.”

“I know.” Kate nodded and the tears were back. “I’m just so scared, Marcus. Scared I’m going to lose them both, and I don’t know how my mother would handle that. I can’t let that happen.”

* * *

Kate tried to stop the tears pooling in her eyes before they ran down her cheeks. She fanned her face with her hand, embarrassed she’d given in completely to her emotions and broken down. If they were going to find Sophie, she needed to stay strong, because falling apart wasn’t going to help anyone. Sophie needed her. Rachel needed her. Even her mother needed her. But right now her head was swimming with all the possible scenarios of things that could go wrong...and the urge to simply run.

Because at the moment, being the strong one seemed too hard.

Marcus leaned forward and brushed away the tears from her cheeks. “Hey...it’s going to be okay.”

She looked at him, her vision blurred, wishing she could lean against his chest and sob away the pain. Wishing he would gather her into his arms and help her forget.

“What if it isn’t okay?” she asked finally. “What if Rachel dies, or we don’t find Sophie. How will I tell my mom? I still need to tell her that Chad is dead, but every time I think about him, all I can see is him lying on the street with blood pooling around his head—”

“Kate—”

“I’m sorry.” She tried to erase his concern with the wave of her hand, then reached around him and grabbed another tissue. “This is crazy. Rachel’s the crier in the family. I’m the practical one. If it’s broke, fix it. If you can’t fix it, replace it. It will all be okay eventually.”

But this time things might not end up okay, even though she wanted desperately to fix things. She’d hopped on the next flight to Paris to find Sophie. Ignored Marcus’s warnings and probably all her normal common sense. Met with Chad without telling Marcus...

“I don’t normally blubber, and cry and cause a scene,” she continued, before blowing her nose again.

“You need to give yourself some credit, because face it,” he said, “you’ve been through a lot these past few days.”

He shifted in his seat beside her, looking uncomfortable. She was certain he’d be more in his element interrogating criminals and suspects than trying to comfort a blubbering female like herself, and wouldn’t blame him one bit if
he
decided to run. But instead of running, he took her hands and pulled them toward him, making her heart flutter at his nearness.