“My daughter is in a boarding school?”
Madeline nodded as she began to pace. “She lived with me—with Andros—full time until she was in second grade.” She turned toward me, her eyes filled with pride. “He had a tutor who worked with her...where we lived. Having her in a public school was too much of a risk. Oh, Patrick, she’s so smart. Too smart.
“I tried to keep things hidden from her young mind, but she’d ask questions. Believe me, even with her living there, I’m with her or she’s with me as much as possible. The truth is that having her go away to school was my idea. I begged Andros to let me move her away from the bratva. A little girl doesn’t need to hear...” She brought her hands together as her eyes momentarily shut. “...or see. Our apartment was separate for the most part, but she was a child, curious and adventurous.
“He thought he could speak in his native language and keep her from understanding. When she was very young, he’d say things in her presence...horrible things...orders to his men. I didn’t understand much of it then, but I detested the way his words felt. He dismissed my concerns, saying she didn’t understand.”
“But she did,” I said.
Madeline nodded. “She was around five years old and he said something mundane. It wasn’t bad—my Russian had improved. I remember, Andros asked for something from one of his men, speaking in Russian. His man replied that he didn’t know where it was. Ruby chimed in speaking fluent Russian and telling them where it was.”
“What happened?”
“After that he was more careful.”
There were so many questions I wanted to ask. The Sparrow side of me wanted to know more about the apartment and where the bratva was housed and operated. The newly found parental side of me wanted to know more about Ruby.
“Sir, the cars are ready,” Garrett called from the other side of the door.
“I want to know more, but first, do you have an address in Ann Arbor for the school?” I asked Madeline.
“Yes, but it’s late.”
“It’s early,” I corrected. “There’s always someone at a boarding school, correct?”
“Yes.”
Taking Madeline’s hand, I led her out of the room, through the hallways and to the back of the club. The hallways were mostly quiet. I wasn’t certain what had transpired while I’d been with Madeline or what had been done with Beckman’s body. The lack of knowledge confirmed my new reality. My concentration wasn’t on Sparrow, the man, but on my wife and daughter and how they fit into this Sparrow puzzle.
In silence, we reached the back entrance. It was more difficult to see and monitor, if there was a chance that Ivanov was watching. Did he have the technology Reid and Mason had mastered? I glanced at the woman by my side. Would she know?
Now, as the SUV drove through the early-morning coldness and dark Chicago streets on our way to the airport, I turned to Madeline. We had a few minutes. Removing Madeline’s phone from my suit coat’s inner pocket, I handed it toward her. “I believe you. I’d like to see a picture.”
Madeline reached out and took the phone. “Did they disable the GPS?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” When she looked up from the dark screen, her features were sad and thoughtful. “Has Andros left yet?”
“Not the last I heard.”
Her eyes grew wide. “We’re not going to the same airport, are we?”
“No, and currently, the signal from the bracelet is being disrupted. He doesn’t know where you are or what happened to the signal.”
Her head shook. “He doesn’t like the unknown. He likes total control.”
I huffed. “Too bad. He’s about to lose it.” When Madeline didn’t respond, I asked, “Will the boarding school release Ruby to him?”
Maddie nodded. “Yes.”
“And she’d go?”
“Yes.”
Swiping the phone’s screen, Madeline entered a code and as she waited, the sadness morphed to something happier. I could see it in her eyes and in the lifting of her cheeks.
“She really is beautiful,” Madeline said. “It’s not just a mother’s bias.” She extended her hand, offering me the phone. “I never thought this was possible, but, Patrick, may I introduce our daughter, Ruby Cynthia Miller.”
I considered myself a strong man. I risked millions of dollars in a poker tournament. I’d killed other men and watched as they bled out. I’d re-appropriated excessive amounts of funds, stealing from people and corporations and even royalty without batting an eye.
Yet as Madeline held her phone, the screen began to blur.
My eyes filled with moisture as the smiling brunette came into view. She looked like Madeline as I remembered her, the same hair and cheekbones. I blinked away the wetness as I settled against the seat. Stretching the photo on the screen I enlarged her face. I could have gone my entire life and not known that I had a child, but now, staring at her blue eyes, I knew without a DNA test that they were mine.
I blinked again and looked over at Madeline. “She looks like you.”
“With your eyes.”
“Why?” I asked.
Madeline extended her hand. There it lay, palm up between us. It would be easy to reach out and take it, to intertwine our fingers and pretend we hadn’t lost seventeen years, pretend she hadn’t shut me out of my daughter’s life. I didn’t do it. I never was one to take the easy road.
Sitting straighter, I asked again, “Why did you leave me?”
“May I just say that I didn’t? Please don’t make me relive any of that, not until I’m confident that Ruby is safe from a similar fate.”
My gut twisted with her answer.
She didn’t.
“You didn’t leave me?”
“Not the way you think. I know you deserve answers. Hell, Patrick, you deserve so much more than words, but right now all that matters is Ruby.”
“How secure is the boarding school?” I asked.
“Their security is why we chose it.”
I exhaled, returning her phone to my inner coat pocket. “We. Are you saying you and Andros Ivanov?”
“Yes, Patrick. I’m not going to lie to you. In truth, there is a long list of people...” She shrugged. “—some whose real names I’ll never know or recall—who I should hate. I don’t, not because they don’t deserve it, but because I only had the energy to truly despise one man. It’s Andros. I have also never needed someone as much as I needed him. At one time, I may have even been grateful for his appearance in my life. Sometimes, through the years, those positive emotions have emerged, but even then, they pale in comparison to my immense hatred for the man he is, what he has done, and what he’s capable of doing. Andros is incapable of love. I know that better than most. However, he has cared for Ruby.
“I have always appreciated that. My life has been...” She paused. “I don’t know if Andros saved me or secured my place in hell. I do know he has, up until now, never harmed Ruby. The threat was what kept me in my place. He knew from the first time we met that I’d do anything to keep her safe. I just don’t know why this one poker tournament was so important.”
“Because he wanted you here in Chicago. You said you didn’t tell him about us. You didn’t tell him you were married?”
“No.”
“Somehow he must have known. He knew that you were a distraction for the Sparrows, for me.”
The car slowed as Garrett drove us through the gate of the private airport. I looked down at my watch.
“It’s almost four in the morning. Once the wheels are up, we can be in Ann Arbor by five thirty.”
My phone rang. Pulling it from my coat I read the screen: REID.
“Arriving at the airport,” I said as I secured our connection.
“Leave the bracelet in the car.”
“All right. What’s the plan?”
“Once you take off, Mason’s going to take Ivanov on a wild goose chase around Chicago while you get to Ruby’s school.”
Yes,
I’d filled my friends in on all Madeline had said. After all, one of Sparrow’s last directives was communication.
“How long do you think you can delay him?” I asked.
“Not sure. We’ve got eyes on him. Hillman is still here, too.”
I inhaled. “They have to know we’re going to go after Ruby. Why are they waiting?”
“We’ll tell you what we know, when we know it,” Reid said. “You do the same. The GPS on your and Garrett’s phones is secure. We’ll be watching.”
By the time I hung up, the SUV had come to a stop outside one of the Sparrow hangars. The plane was already out and the steps were down. I couldn’t guess at how many times I’d boarded one of Sparrow’s planes or how many times I’d put myself at risk for the man and the outfit. Each time it was done without hesitation. This felt different.
I turned to Madeline. “If you’re lying to me, I don’t care if I love you, I will kill you.”
“If we don’t save Ruby, I don’t want to live.”
The door beside me opened. “Sir,” Garrett said.
“What did that person on the phone say?” Madeline asked.
Instead of answering her, I scooted out of the car, turned and offered her my hand.
As the cool winter air blew about us on the tarmac, I placed my hand in the small of her back; the soft oversized sweatshirt was beneath my palm. “Let’s go, Mrs. Kelly, and get our daughter.”
Madeline
The cabin around me was luxury at its finest. I didn’t care about the white leather seats or the faux gold trim. The surroundings were insignificant as I mindlessly drummed the tips of my fingernails against the leather armrest. Their resulting taps floated away, engulfed by the hums and workings of the airplane as we neared Ann Arbor.
With each mile, my mind recalled snippets of our daughter’s life while physically I stared out the small window. Beyond the rectangular pane was the still-darkened sky. Above us was a moonless canopy of jet-black velvet sprinkled with shimmering stars. Below us was a turbulent sea of gray clouds, billowing in peaks and swirling in chasms.
The sound of engines alerted me to the plane’s descent. The scene beyond the windows changed as we flew lower and clouds engulfed us in varying shades of gray.
As if the swirling gray wasn’t made of moist air but of solid particles, the airplane pitched one direction and then the other. I had the sense of being a silver ball inside an old-fashioned pinball game. No longer tapping my nails, my hands gripped the armrest.
“Ms. Miller, please fasten your seat belt,” Millie, the flight attendant, said as she fought to remain standing. “Marianne said to expect some turbulence as we prepare to land.”
Reaching for the seat belt, I forced a smile and latched the buckle. “Thank you, Millie. You should find a safe seat too.” When she turned, I added, “Is Mr. Kelly...is he going to return for the landing?”
“I-I,” Millie said, holding on to the wall for support as the turbulence continued. “I’m sorry, Ms. Miller. Mr. Kelly didn’t say.”
After we’d taken off from Chicago and reached a cruising altitude, Patrick led me to a private bathroom near the rear of the plane. Within its confines, along with the essentials, I found a shower and a rather large changing area. The space reminded me of a luxurious locker room, well, without the lockers. There were closets. Patrick told me to search for something that fit, something I wanted to wear when we entered Westbrook.
Westbrook Preparatory Academy was where Ruby had been since she was seven years old. Over the nine years she’d made friends and lived a life closer to normal than one in a bratva. I liked to tell myself that. It made sleeping easier.
Within the academy, the age groups were separated. At first I hadn’t been keen on the idea of her being with the older children, especially at only seven years old. She wasn’t. The campus was large and divided like a small community. There were individual dorms for all ages with house moms who oversaw the children in their care. There were also buildings with classrooms, laboratories, theaters, and gymnasiums. Elementary was separated from middle school and separate still was high school.
Beautiful and full of green space, it was the campus I fell in love with. Of course, this time of year—winter—it was more like white space. Westbrook even had an ice-skating rink along with other winter outdoor activities. When Ruby was younger, she enjoyed ice skating.
After Patrick left me alone in the changing area, I took a quick shower, washed my face, and using the makeup I’d found on the plane, reapplied less of a “poker face” and more of a “mother face.” And then I changed into a pair of slacks and a sweater. The emerald dress I’d been wearing earlier was back somewhere at Club Regal, and the sweatshirt and pants I’d been given were a joke. The clothes I’d found here on the plane were similar to ones I would choose. Whoever had selected the contents of the closet had good taste. Thankfully, everything fit.
I’d even been provided with underclothes including socks and a pair of stylish boots. The final additions to my wardrobe were a long wool coat, gloves, and a cashmere headband to cover my ears. The person who chose the clothes was well aware of midwestern winters.
When I asked Millie where the clothes came from, she replied, “Mr. Kelly had requested them.”
Asking Patrick how he came up with the closet of clothes was just one of the many questions on my long list. I also had stories I was eager to share. Despite the fact it was nearly dawn, my mind was a cyclone of memories and milestones of Ruby’s childhood that I wanted to relive with Patrick. He’d missed too much that could never be brought back. Perhaps with time, pictures, and stories, he’d come to understand what an amazing blessing she has been and is. I’d been led down the wrong path before she was born, but I was proud of who she had become. Despite the world she’d been born into, somehow Ruby had thrived.
I hadn’t seen Patrick since he left me in the changing room.
Turning away from the window, I peered at the partition separating the two cabins within the plane. The partition had been closed since I returned from changing.
I knew the other side was where I’d find Patrick. I could hear the muffled voices. I could also assume that the man he referred to as Garrett was also there. Garrett and two other large men had entered the plane after Patrick had ushered me up the stairs. I only saw them for a moment, but I’d been with Andros too long not to recognize reinforcements when I saw them.
The plane was now in a steep descent, the clouds beyond the windows swirling like smoke from a raging fire. My breath of relief as we exited the cloud bank was short-lived. Beyond the window snow fell, attaching to the window and wing. Leaning toward the glass, I searched for the ground beneath us. While we were still high, the altitude wasn’t what obstructed my view. It was the darkness—time of morning combined with the swirling snow.
A gray mass with shimmers of light beneath us came into view. Streets lined with streetlamps and cars materialized. White headlights and red taillights were the only indication of their direction of travel. The snow continued to fly, reminding me of supersonic special effects in a seventies’ movie.
Despite the inclement weather, my excitement blossomed. I’d soon be with Ruby. Her beautiful face came to mind. She’d be sleeping when we arrived or recently wakened.
I tried to recall the day. So much had happened.
It was Sunday morning.
A smile came to my lips. Ruby would still be asleep. I imagined entering her dorm room and waking her like I did when she was visiting and staying in Detroit. Watching her sleepy eyes meet mine and a smile bloom upon her face was one of my favorite activities.
I’d been honest with Patrick when I’d said I spent as much time with our daughter as possible. What I hadn’t said was that the frequency and duration wasn’t at my discretion. It never had been. Like everything else, Andros was in control. Even holidays weren’t a forgone conclusion. My heart ached with the recollection of the year he’d taken her away, leaving me in Detroit. Of
course, Ruby didn’t know the truth—that I was being punished. She was told I was ill, a lie that I’d perpetuated on our phone calls. I couldn’t ruin her holiday with the ugly truth.
For once, I was in control. Well, maybe it wasn’t me but Patrick. That was all right. The sense of change was empowering and truly felt right.
How would Ruby react to an unscheduled visit?
Could I convince her to leave with us?
My pulse increased.
Did Patrick’s men know for certain that Andros wasn’t on his way?
As the sound of landing gear rattled the floor beneath my borrowed boots, I looked again to the closed partition. “Please come back here, Patrick.” I hadn’t spoken loud enough to be heard. We descended lower as the blue lights of a landing strip flashed in the distance.
Abruptly, the trajectory of the plane changed, throwing me back against the seat.
I gasped as the whine of the engines grew louder and noises echoed within the plane. Gripping the armrest, I inhaled sharply. Where we’d been about to land, we were now climbing back into the sky, through the swirling snow and into the clouds.
My tired mind tried to make sense of the sudden change.
We weren’t landing in Ann Arbor. We were traveling away...away from Ruby.
“Patrick,” I yelled, hoping he could hear me.
Panic raced through my circulation, thumping in my ears and combining with the roar of the engines as the plane’s deceleration morphed to acceleration.
“Patrick,” I called again.
Fighting with the buckle on the seat belt as well as the centrifugal force binding me to the seat, I freed myself and pushed off of the armrests. Though the plane continued to climb higher and higher, I made it to my feet. Like swimming against the tide, I pushed toward the partition.
As I reached forward, the door slid open, and I was met with an angry blue stare.
“Did you think we wouldn’t check?” Patrick growled.
Behind him three sets of eyes stared my direction.
The plane continued its ascent as my footing slipped and Patrick reached out, seizing my wrist.
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