"What were you doing at the bank?"
There was a steely edge to his question.
"Getting lunch money."
He inspected the glowing fire poker.
"It's going to be like that then, is it? You know, Georgina, you are not giving me enough credit. You still think you are smarter than me. Did you honestly think you could waltz back into my city undetected? You forget that we created this disguise of yours together."
She smiled, intentionally hinting that she might have planned it that way.
"Ah, and there it is again, the bit where you think you are smarter than me. I see right through you, Georgina. You knew I'd track you down looking like that and, in the event that I captured you, I'd bring you to my house, one you'd escape from easily because you consulted on the security system."
She tried not to reveal that he had guessed her plan to a tee, so she looked blankly at his face.
"But here's the thing, dear friend, I learned a thing or two in that prison you had me locked away in. I met a few, shall we say, business consultants who taught me a thing or two. Not to mention that I had a lot of time to think. And here we are, tucked away in my lake house instead where I had a very impressive security system installed that I am positive not even you can escape from."
In the furthest corner of the room, a cuckoo clock sounded the time and he turned to take note of the time. Looking annoyed, he placed the poker back in its stand.
"I guess we will have to continue this conversation a little later. I have more pressing guests to attend to." He smoothed his already perfectly groomed hair with his comb then pivoted and left the room.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
When she was certain Gustav had left the room, knowing where he was headed, Jorja attempted to free her hands once more. But, as with the first attempt, the ropes didn't budge and she resorted to jumping the chair toward the fire poker set. The chair's feet caught on the carpet and planted her face-first into the Persian rug. It nearly knocked her breath out but she soon recovered and wriggled her body like a snake attached to its prey toward the companion set. Out of breath and making hardly any progress at all, she paused when she heard footsteps approaching.
Her heart pounded noisily in her temples as she listened, praying Gustav had not decided to return. She tried twisting her body toward the door, to see better, but her angle was off.
The footsteps grew louder and her heart beat loudly in her chest, stopped in place only by the fear that wedged in her throat. She searched anxiously for another way out, wriggling her body faster toward the poker, grasping at any opportunity to save herself. Suddenly the footsteps were in the room with her, rapidly moving toward her, stopping right behind her.
Out of her line of sight, the smooth clanking sound of a switchblade springing from its shaft was unmistakable; telling her the owner of the footsteps was there to kill her.
She pinched her eyes shut, tried to ready herself for the stabbing. A strong hand held her arms in place.
This time, there was no way out.
Overcome by emotion, her life flashing before her, she shot up a prayer to the only one left to rescue her. It didn't matter if God heard her or not, or even if she fully believed that he would. All that mattered was that she at least gave it a last shot.
But unexpectedly, her miracle didn't come in the way she had imagined and moments later Ben's deep assuring voice whispered close to her ear.
"See what happens when you start the party without me?"
The knife freed her hands and she pushed herself upright. When her eyes confirmed that she wasn't imagining it, she could no longer hold back her emotions.
"Ben! How did you—?”
"The oldest trick in the book, my dear. I planted a tracker on your jacket. Of course, the rest was left to my accomplished skill set when you left the jacket at the hotel, but, hey, not the time to get into that now."
His strong arms helped her to her feet and she threw her arms around him.
"You're welcome. Now let's get out of here."
But once again, Jorja was faced with a decision. Choosing the tugging she so strongly felt was from God, or choose the path she had obsessed over for all of two decades. And as her mind once more clouded her spirit, she reasoned that she was not in God's way, but that God was in her way, and that perhaps, if he was as gracious as they said he was, he would wait for her, just a little longer.
"I can’t, not yet."
"What? Why not?"
"I have to finish what I started twenty years ago. I have to put Gustav Züber behind bars for the rest of his life. This time, for good."
"You're insane, Georgina, let's get out of here. Let sleeping dogs lie. People like that eventually hang themselves. We have a chance to start over, enjoy what's left of our lives together, finally, just like we were meant to do a long time ago."
Ben's piercing blue eyes were holding her hostage and every cell inside her body wanted to give in to his—and God’s—plea, but she couldn't, not yet. She couldn't let Gustav get away with what he had done to Ewan, to her, to her life. So strong was the anger that had been buried inside her for so long that she couldn't think clearly anymore. Like a festering sore, that had suddenly erupted to the surface, all she knew was that he needed to pay and that she was the only one who could make it happen.
From somewhere outside the house they heard movement, distant voices, footsteps on the deck outside.
"We're out of time, Georgina! The alarm must have overridden my transmitter. If we don't get out of here right now we're dead!"
But Jorja was already on the move, darting to the wide stone staircase that led upstairs.
"Georgina! What are you doing? They're already at the door."
"I need to find a computer. I need to send these files right now," she whisper-shouted back, already halfway up the stairs.
"Now? I have one back at the B&B, let's go!"
"He murdered my friend, Ben, used me back then, robbed me of my entire future! He cannot get away with it. Not again."
She was already upstairs in Gustav's office, bounding toward the computer on his desk.
"Yes, and he won't. But it will not do us any good if he catches us before you get a chance to do it. Then all this was for nothing."
But vengeance blinded her judgment and Jorja was already on the computer attempting to crack the access password.
In the sitting room below them, Gustav's voice echoed up the stairs as he shouted commands at his men.
"She's in the house somewhere. Find her!"
Ben leaned in over her shoulder and once more urged her to come to her senses.
"He's coming for us, Georgina. It's not too late. We can escape over the balcony. Please! He almost killed you before, and he will not hesitate to do so the second he walks up those stairs and sees you. Georgina, vengeance is not as sweet as you might think it is. You will not be free, ever. Even if you do succeed right now, and Züber goes to jail for the rest of his life, he will leave no stone unturned until he hunts you down again, even from behind bars."
Her hand reached inside her blouse and she took out the flash drive.
"It will be quick," she assured him holding the memory stick up to his face.
Urgent footsteps on the stairs rushed toward them. And with not a second to spare, Ben's eyes apologized as he snatched the memory stick from her hand and yanked her toward the balcony door. She fought back.
"I need to do this, Ben, please? It's the only way. He can't get away with it!"
She wrestled the flash drive from his grip and shot back to the computer, inserting it into the dock to complete her mission.
"You're blinded by revenge, Jorja, and it's going to get us both killed today."
But she didn't care. Nothing Ben said could persuade her to stop. Her mind and emotions were no longer under her control like a volcano that had lain dormant for two decades needing to burst through the hard crusty layers that kept it contained.
Her fing
ers moved quickly on the keys while Ben had already opened the balcony doors to prepare for any final opportunity to escape. Alert, he stood guard, ready to fend off the imminent threat rushing toward them, trapped in a web of loyalty and love.
But as Jorja pressed the key that finally launched the data on the drive into cyberspace, time had run out along with it.
Two men exploded through the doors of Gustav's office, shotguns aimed at their heads crushing any chance they might have had to escape over the balcony. Held hostage by their guns, there was now no way out.
Jorja glanced sideways at the blinking red light on the drive, and the laptop in front of her telling her the files were not done sending. Behind her, Ben's heart pounded wildly in his chest, his mind fighting for a way out. Their hands were in the air, but the guards took aim to shoot if they as much as moved an inch, pausing as they waited for Gustav to arrive to give the instruction.
Desperate to divert their attention away from the computer, Jorja stepped closer to the balcony, risking whatever she needed to save her cause—even Ben.
Her movement instantly had the guards on edge, their bodies rigid in their stance to shoot, their voices intimidating when they warned her to stop.
"Don't move!" one yelled as he lunged his gun toward them.
She watched his fingers tense over the trigger, his veins expand in his thick neck, knew that he was not bluffing.
To her left, the light on the drive remained red. Dying was not an option, not yet. Not without seeing Gustav Züber squirm when he realized she had taken from him what he had taken from her.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
"Well, will you look at this?" Gustav's voice cut through the silence as he walked into the room, ordering his guards to ease off and allow him to speak first.
As they flanked him, his eyes flickered with smugness and arrogance. He had won. And though it taunted her to see him relishing in his victory, Jorja suppressed the urge to tell him what she thought of him. His day of reckoning was upon him. Victory would be hers soon. She would wait it out, and when it finally came, it would be every bit as sweet as she expected it to be. For now, his presence provided her with the much-needed time the computer disk required to complete sending the files. So she would let him mock her with his eyes, bite her lip, hold her cards close to her chest, knowing that he wouldn’t be smiling for long.
Their eyes locked, his intensely staring into hers, like bulls preparing to fight. Then Gustav finally spoke again.
"I always knew you weren't acting alone. I mean you were good, make no mistake, the best if I am truthful. But I always knew there was no way you could have cracked some of those security systems on your own. I just didn't care to know back then. As long as you got me what I needed I was content. But here I am. Finally meeting the man who most probably helped you put me behind bars. Not necessarily the introduction I would have liked, but I am not going to pass up the opportunity to meet the man behind the world's once master art thief, caught like a deer in a trap right here in my own house. And under duress, I might add! It's a dream come true if you ask me."
Gustav's voice was mocking but under the sarcastic tone and flattering words, it oddly hinted at admiration, but something else laced his tone. As if he knew something she didn't. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on yet. Trapped by their enemy and two armed men, Ben and Jorja stood side-by-side and faced their imminent fate. But now that he had said what he needed to, Jorja couldn't ignore that time was no longer on their side. Careful not to alert Gustav, she sneaked another glance at the drive. The light had turned green. It was finally over. She had succeeded in exposing every clandestine transaction this man had ever made. Thanks to her, his entire business was now in jeopardy and, even if he one day did get out of prison again, he would have nothing to come home to this time. The contents of the flash drive had burned every bridge he had ever built to the ground and there was no way back from it.
But knowing what was to come his way would have to be enough. If she did not make it out of here alive to see his face when it happened, she would be okay with it.
Her eyes searched the corners of the room for a way out, evoking Gustav to react with laughter.
"Oh, that's priceless, you're already looking for an escape. Let me save you the trouble, Georgina. There is a reason I chose to keep you here in this little hidden gem of mine in the first place. I have made some, how shall I put this, associations during my time spent behind bars. Associations that are light years ahead of you and your old pal here. Not to mention that I do still have a lot of confidants of my own in high places, very high places. Friends who owe me favors, some of which I was forced to call upon earlier than I had anticipated when you turned on me. Nonetheless, it allowed me to make a few modifications to my once antiquated security system. I think you might be quite impressed by it. You will find the security in my house now tighter than that of the Bank of Spain's, and not even you can break in or out of this place. Take them!" He shifted gears and commanded his men to take Ben and Jorja captive. He had made his little celebratory speech.
And she didn't care anymore if he killed her. She had done what she needed to do. But Ben, she could not let his death be on her conscience too.
"Let Ben go, Gustav. He has nothing to do with this. This is between you and me.” She made a desperate plea.
Intrigued, Züber told his men to wait as he stepped toward his prisoners.
"And why would I do that, huh? I reckon the two of you might come in very handy in my future endeavors. Like I said, Georgina, we are partners, always have been, always will be. The way I see it, you owe me. Without me, you would have never had the opportunity to create the illustrious title you are now so desperately clinging to. You are no good to me dead. But as long as I have the upper hand, you, and your skilled friend, will do exactly as I say."
He snapped his fingers to have his men take hold of Ben and Jorja, then turned his back on them as he walked toward the door, and lay all his cards on the table when he stopped to say,
"Time is often a luxury most businessmen don't have. But when the world suddenly hands you nothing but time on a silver platter, it affords people like me the very commodity that is the most valuable of all in our line of business. Time to plan our next heist. I already told you. You are worth more to me alive than dead. Now, if you will excuse me, I am late for my banquet. Can't leave my esteemed guests waiting. Who knows what profits are to be made?" He smiled then barked a command at his men.
"Tie them up. I'll deal with them later. And this time, do a proper job of it."
Gustav's revelation burned in their minds as the armed men took them captive. He had not planned to kill them after all. He needed them, both of them. Though relieved to hear their lives would be spared for his selfish gains, she could not deny that the prospect of getting back into the business was exciting. Even if under Gustav's coercion. And she knew deep down inside Ben felt the same and that he would leap at the chance too.
The armed men took them downstairs to the sitting room where they tied them to chairs in the middle of the room. When they left, they took the fire pokers with them as if they knew this was what she had planned the first time she tried to escape. Of course, she thought as her eyes found the cameras in the corners of the room. They were watching. That's how they knew Ben had come for her.
After the men left them alone in the room and disappeared through a door they locked behind them, Ben spoke for the first time.
"I'm not going to say I told you so." His voice was calm and steady, his tone almost melancholy.
"Good, then don't," she replied, as she watched him wriggle in an attempt to loosen the far too tight ropes around his body.
"No, you know what? I am going to say it. I told you so! This is exactly what I said would happen. Now we're stuck here with no way out and the tantalizing prospect of being forced into pulling heists for this evil man again."
"And what's so bad about that, Ben? Are you telling me the
idea doesn't excite you?"
He stopped to look at her.
"Are you hearing yourself? None of this would have happened if you had listened to me. Georgina, you know how I feel about you, but you are so blinded by your vendetta to get back at Gustav that you have lost all logic. We cannot go back to pulling art heists. It's insane! We've been out of it for two decades. Everything has changed. We have changed. You might have been at the top of your game back then but that was a long time ago. I am not ready to die, Georgina. We were kids back then. And spending the rest of the days the good Lord grants me behind bars isn't how I'd like to spend my retirement either."
Ben's voice had turned gentle and warm, like his eyes. He was right; her heart had been consumed with hatred and malice. But that was not the part that had suddenly taken her by surprise, caught her emotions in her throat. Including God in his plea for her to let it go, reminded her of the person she had become and the life she lived in St. Ives.
And that person was not filled with anger and vengeful thoughts. Looking into Ben's eyes she realized she had lost focus, forgotten whom Ewan fought so hard for. Tears welled in her eyes as she recalled his parting words. Leave anger to God.
As her heart and mind pondered the last words her friend spoke to her, it was as if a flash of lightning shocked her into understanding. At the time she did not know why he had said it, or even what it meant, but right now, staring into the eyes of the man she loved more than anyone else in the world, she knew what Ewan had tried to tell her. His words were meant to warn her, as if he knew precisely what was to come. Once again, he was protecting her, warning her to be careful, telling her not to let vengeance rule her heart.
And at that moment, as her heart filled with sadness, and tears flooded her eyes, she also understood why Ewan had given her the fridge magnet. Because ever since he had met her, Ewan had tried to help her, like an angel placed beside her, guiding and protecting her. He had seen the wall she had built around her, to protect herself—to shut him out, and to stop God from coming in. All Ewan had ever wanted for her was peace, God's peace. And peace did not come from seeking vengeance on the ones who’d harmed her.
Vengeance is Mine: A Jorja Rose Christian Suspense Thriller (Valley of Death Book 1) Page 14