The Greek Tycoon Box Set: The Complete Serial: Books 1-10 (35 page)

“Now everybody shut up,” said Richie.
 

Brian looked through the rearview mirror to see Richie making a call. He knew it was to Carla, and he felt a surge of remorse. At first, he’d pursued her because he was so attached to her, but to get her mixed up in this? He’d come to realize she was only trying to move on and live her life. She was in love with someone else now. At that moment, watching Richie make the call, he was able to accept that for the first time. She could move on. He could move on. They had been attached, but that was over.

“Carla Simpson?” Richie said. “Put the phone on loudspeaker. All the staff need to hear this.”

“Okay,” Carla’s nervous voice spoke into the car. Guilt panged through Brian.

“We have Jules and Felix Swanson-Jessup with us. They have been officially kidnapped.” Richie sounded proud of himself. “All staff members must cooperate. If you do not, your families will be harmed.”

“Now see here,” a posh, angry older man’s voice said. “This is absolutely ludicrous and I shall not—”

“Hugo Reid, I assume?” Richie said. Sam handed him a bit of paper and he read from it. “Of the Reid family of Oxfordshire. Daughter: Camilla Reid of 8 Dorchester Place, Bicester, Oxfordshire? Son: Tobias Reid of The Manor House, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire? HP11 2SQ?”

Brian knew, then more than ever, that he was way in over his head. There was a long silence.

“Are you listening, Hugo?” Richie said in a mocking tone.

“Yes.”

“Now we require the bank details of all guests in attendance. Olivia Stonnell, this is your task. Make up whatever story you have to, for example, that guests can have suites named after them. Or that you are going to set up a direct debit for membership. Whatever it is, it must be believable.”

Olivia’s shaking voice came through the phone.
 

“I … but I… I don’t know how.”

Richie’s voice suddenly turned savage.
 

“Do it.”

Brian kept on his mask—his expression held not a hint of emotion—but it felt like something was tearing at his insides. Perhaps his conscience.

“Now,” Richie said. “The rest of you go on like everything’s normal. Carla, you will leave the phone on loudspeaker until I tell you otherwise. If it even hangs up by accident in your pocket, the whole place is going to blow up. Understand?”

Carla’s voice was tiny.
 

“Yes.”

*****

Atreus struggled. Tom was small, but wiry and strong. He laid blow after blow onto Atreus, into his neck, into his temples, sending him reeling. But a new burst of strength saw Atreus pushing Tom off and leaping up himself. He pushed Tom against the wall and pinned him there.

“You’re involved in this,” Atreus said. “You’d better tell me what’s going on.”

Tom couldn’t move, so he spat in Atreus’ face.
 

As Atreus wiped it away in disgust, Tom managed to wiggle his arm free. And, in a moment, his hand darted into his jacket and out again, pulling out a knife. It flashed in the harsh white light of the surveillance room.

Atreus jumped back, his eyes fixed on the knife.
 

“What the hell do you want?” he said. “Why are you doing this?”

Tom advanced slowly toward him.
 

“Money, you idiot. I know you’re so rich you don’t need to even think about it, but not everyone in the world is that lucky.”

He lunged forward, the knife towards Atreus’ chest. Atreus sprang back further, hitting the opposite wall with a painful thump. He was astounded by how different Tom’s voice sounded, coarse and cruel, a million miles away from the gentle, refined tones he’d heard since they met.

“You’re cornered,” Tom said. “Just give up.”

“You’re a fraud. A fake.”
 

Atreus couldn’t believe he had been duped. Carla had been duped. Cressida had been duped.

“This ain’t about me,” Tom said. His blond hair shone in the light as he stepped closer. “This is about you and your money. Why don’t you just give me … say … five million. Then I’ll call off the whole thing and you can get back to real life. I know what you’re worth, Atreus. Five million is nothing.”

“No.” Atreus said.
 

Even if he gave Tom the money, he knew he would come back for more. Atreus would never be free of them until they were all behind bars doing long stretches. Giving his money would only make this all worse.
 

Tom shrugged.
 

“Okay, well maybe I’ll just stab you instead. Prefer that?”

Atreus’ concentration was as sharp as the knife edge. There was no way he was taking his eyes off that weapon. Tom dipped his wrist and the blade flashed.

“I’d prefer if you get out of here and never show your face again,” Atreus said. “I’d prefer if you left people who are trying to do good alone, and tried to do some good yourself. If you want five million, make it yourself.”

Tom laughed.
 

“Yeah. Right.”

They stood for a moment, each staring the other down.

“Am I really gonna have to stab you?” Tom asked.

Atreus said nothing, his face serious.

Tom moved forward as if to plunge the knife into Atreus’ chest, but Atreus pushed his hand out of the way. The knife clattered to the floor, and they both bent to pick it up. Atreus was faster and snatching it up by the handle, holding the blade upward. But Tom was just behind him, and when Atreus straightened up, Tom was still going down. The blade pierced the side of his midriff.

He quickly pulled the blade out in horror as he watched Tom’s shirt turn red.

“I’m calling an ambulance,” Atreus said. “And the police.”

“No,” Tom said, his face screwed up in pain. “Don’t call either of them!”
 

Gripping his side, he ran out of the room as fast as he could.

*****

Chapter 2

For an injured man, Tom was surprisingly fast. He dashed away down the hallway, Atreus following behind and ringing an ambulance on his cell. When he turned the corner, Atreus saw Tom dip into one of the suites and return out into the hallway again, clutching his jacket.
 

Tom approached the main stairway and Atreus knew it was all over—their hotel business would be ruined. Of course the lives of Jules and Felix Swanson-Jessup and those of their other guests and staff were of paramount importance, but that didn’t stop Atreus imagining the headlines:
 

Billionaire’s New Hotel Struck by Bloody Kidnapping Tragedy!

But he could not prevent Tom going down the stairs and entering the hallway where all the guests were congregated, oblivious to what was going on. The sound of happy chatter, clinking glasses, and harp music sounded so strange to Atreus while his mind was focused on saving lives.

He followed Tom down the stairs, feeling like he was in a twilight zone.

And then it happened.

“Thomas!” Cressida said. “What’s happened?”

Atreus stood on the stairs and waited for all the guests to notice—to be horrified. And they were. All turning around to see Tom’s still growing patch of blood, they gasped and some shrieked.

Cressida was already on her cell calling an ambulance. She broke from telling them the hotel address, to say, “Who did this? Who did this?”

Tom turned around and pointed right at Atreus, who, for his part, felt like the world was caving in. He hadn’t even considered that Tom would do that. The whole room gasped and every eye was upon him.

He had to say something.
 

“This man is part of a kidnapping plan,” he said, catching Carla’s eyes across the room. They shared a deep, profound look. “If you look around, you will see Jules and Felix Swanson-Jessup are nowhere to be found.”

The guests looked around, murmuring. Some regarded him with outright suspicion, which made him realize how fragile the ties were that kept them all together. They interacted on such a basic level that they would not even trust his word.

“That can’t be true!” Cressida exclaimed. “Thomas is a good, upstanding man. An Oxford graduate. A refined man of honor.” Her voice began to quaver. “Isn’t that right, Thomas?”

She reached for his hand, but he snatched it away.
 

Her voice was ever more unstable.
 

“Isn’t that right, Thomas?” She repeated it like a mantra. “Isn’t that right, Thomas?”

“Shut up,” he said, with no pretense left in his voice.

And then he did an unthinkable thing. He pulled a gun from the inside pocket of his jacket and shot it up in the air.

BOOM
.
 

A flurry of tiny bits of white plaster fell down upon his head, but he stood tall as the whole room was swept up in panic.

“Nobody moves!” he hollered. “Or I shoot again!”

Everyone froze and he laughed.
 

“That’s right.”

Atreus had perhaps the best place in the room, standing on the stairs with Tom’s back to him. He considered leaping down in one swoop and snatching the gun from him, but Tom whirled round as if he had read Atreus’ mind.
 

“Don’t try anything funny now,” he said.
 

Atreus watched where Tom’s wound dripped blood onto the polished marble floor. He begged God that the ambulance and police would arrive before anyone innocent was hurt.

Cressida burst into tears, the only noise in the otherwise quiet hallway. The harp player was hiding behind her instrument as if it could ward off bullets. Cressida’s crying was so deep and tormented it twisted in Atreus’ gut. He looked over at Carla. She was clutching her stomach, terror in her eyes. Atreus prayed for her safety, and that of their tiny baby, still growing inside her. He knew Dios was safe, locked in the Gardener’s Cottage with Andria.

“I want money!” Tom exclaimed suddenly.
 

Atreus was sure this was not part of the kidnapping plan. How could it be? Tom seemed like a loose cannon, even a liability to their plan.
 

“Everyone put everything expensive on the floor, anything of worth. Cash, I want it. Jewels, I want it. Watches, I want it. Right now.”

So the elite crowd began to take off their Rolex watches and Cartier diamonds. Atreus felt so ashamed as he watched them. How could this have happened under his watch? He had nothing of worth on him but watched in every moment for a chance to spring toward Tom and disarm him. If they had been alone, he would have done it instantly. But he feared the gun might go off in the struggle and injure or even kill someone. He could not have that on his conscience. As long as he could keep Tom talking and not shooting, everything might turn out all right.

“That’s right!” Tom said, picking up a string of pearls that Baroness Khan had placed in front of her. “Lovely.”
 

The Baroness faced him with such haughty dignity that Atreus’ heart ached. This was all his fault.

But, as Tom walked around the room, his steps began to drag and his voice to slur. He was dripping blood in a trail behind him and the sight of it was horrific, bright against the pale, shining floor.

“I hate rich people.”
 

Tom’s face was contorted but his voice was weak. His gun arm flailed, obviously involuntarily, and Atreus almost moved in to disarm him. But then Tom collapsed, and the gun fell out of his hand.
 

Atreus thanked God that it did not discharge, then rushed over to make sure Tom was pinned to the ground.

He checked his pulse as everyone crowded around.
 

“He’s still alive,” he said.

Cressida was still in a flood of tears, clearly in disbelief that the man she’d fallen in love with never existed. Carla took her into her arms and let her cry on her shoulder. It was the sincerest Atreus had ever seen a group of people, even those who did not know each other embraced and shook hands. Most had solemn faces, but soon there was laughter, and sighs of relief, and even tears.

Carla bent down beside Atreus. He caressed her face, realizing then, even more than usual, how precious she was.
 

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you,” she said, then leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “The kidnappers are still on the other end of the line, listening to everything.”

Atreus stared at her, realizing how tiny this victory against Tom had been. The piercing siren of the ambulance cut through his thoughts.
 

“I want to go after them,” he said.

*****

A tear of stress fell down Brian’s cheek and he wiped it away. He’d heard everything on the loudspeaker of Richie’s phone. He wondered if Tom was dead. He saw a sign saying,
Services Two Miles
and right away he knew what he had to do.

“This is crazy,” he said, trying to make his voice sound as tough as possible. “Let’s let them out at the service station and just get out of here.”