She swallowed. Ever since she’d seen Jaja being buried alive with his dead mother her insides had shifted. It was like he opened her heart. She did care about Delilah. It didn’t matter what the woman had done, she was a fellow human being. Her fingers mattered. Her life mattered. Sadie swallowed. Maybe, she was getting too soft for this job.
“Jeremiah, don’t you ever wonder if it’s all worth it?”
“Anubis is pure evil. He built the largest arms dealing business in the world. He siphoned money to five different mid-east terrorist groups. Two of them are active in the States. He buried two of our people in the desert last year. We need to take him out. And you are our best bet.”
“You’re asking me to kill him?”
“No. Just locate him and gain intel. Do what you do best, your stealth and stilettoes thing.”
“Not too much pressure.” The familiar warmth of patriotism flowed through her body. She could do this. She would do this. The asshole had to be stopped.
Jeremiah laughed. “You can handle it.”
“Will I have back-up tonight?”
Silence. “Working on that.” She knew he wouldn’t give her the details on this call.
“I’m late. I’ve got to get going.”
“Enjoy smiling Sadie.” The line went dead. Jeremiah liked to tease her about what he called her empty-smile job.
She walked back onto the Kalvastraat clogged with tourists looking at the shops. The rain had stopped, but the afternoon sky remained gray. The mimes who performed at the edge of the square with their elaborate costumes and white faces came into sight. She squared her shoulders ready to take on Knickers’s constant barrage of insults. Show time.
And then she ran smack into him. Jonathon, her friggen-ex. Where the hell did he come from?
He blocked her path. “Come with me,” he said.
Giving him the evil eye she attempted to walk past him.
He reached towards her arm. Something pricked her flesh. She looked at him and caught his bad-ass gotcha-smile. Bastard. Dizzyness swamped her senses. Damn it to hell. Taken down by a civilian. Jonathon no less!
Her knees wobbled and her upper-body weaved. Oh no! What had he done to her? Jonathon caught her in his arms as the world went black.
20
Chapter Twenty
Sebastian shadowed Sadie from a safe distance. Her slow wobbly gait made her easy to spot, so he gave her lots of room. Her blisters made her walk like a drunk duck. Maybe, she’d let him bandage them. The image of holding her foot in his lap and glancing up her long well-sculpted leg slid through his mind hardening his dick. He grumbled.
She deeked into the side alley to take a call on her cell phone. Who did she talk to? Had someone called her? Three minutes later she remerged and made her way down the busy shopping street. Following, he kept a twenty yard distance between them. She didn’t appear to notice him, or if she did, she didn’t appear to care.
He heard a siren coming from the opposite direction. Then a man grabbed Sadie. Seb hurried forward to see more, but he couldn’t get there fast enough. Damn. As he got closer he recognized Jonathon Moore her ex-husband holding her limp body. What the fuck. Something’s wrong. Sebastian broke into a run. But the dense crowds blocked his way. “Move. Get out of my way,” he yelled at people as he pushed towards her, sweat beaded on his brow.
An emergency vehicle with its siren blaring appeared at the far end of the street. People moved aside and let it in. It stopped by Sadie and Jonathon. Seb increased his speed, but the sheer volume of people held him back.
Loping forward he yelled, “Stop him. Stop him. Don’t let him take her.” People turned and looked at Sebastian like he belonged in the crazy bin, but no one helped him. Jonathon and another man dressed in a medic uniform loaded Sadie into the vehicle.
“Nooo,” he yelled. “Stop them.” More heads turned his way but no one understood what was happening. He shouldn’t have given her so much room.
The door of the ambulance closed and with the siren shrieking it reversed and motored towards the Dam.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. A long list of expletives left Sebastian’s lips. But they didn’t help. He’d lost her.
***
It took another five minutes to make it to the Dam. The magazine people stood in a circle ready for the shoot. Sebastian jogged over and faced Mitchell, Sadie’s friend. Towering a foot above the man, he looked down and let his presence sink in.
Mitchell took a step back, eyes wide. “She’s not here yet.”
“I know.” Seb’s heavy breathing made the words come out staccato style, like machine gun bullets. “She’s been taken.”
An older woman with brittle black hair moved closer to them. “Are we talking about Sadie Stewart?”
“Yes,” Seb said keeping his eyes on Mitchell. The man’s shoulders drooped and his mouth twitched. He knew something.
The woman exhaled loudly. “That’s it, the bitch is fired!” She threw her arms in the air and stomped off.
Color drained from Mitchell’s face. “Sadie?”
“Start talking.” Seb grabbed the neck of Mitchell’s shirt. He’d shake the information out of him if he had to. Awareness that he’d kill him, or any other man to save Sadie, swelled in the chest. He’d never felt so barbarian-primal before.
Mitchell motioned with his head to move away from the others. Seb released his grip and followed him. When they were beyond hearing distance, Mitchell said: “We should go to the police.”
“You know she’s a thief.”
He nodded. “She never hurts anyone. She doesn’t deserve this.”
“This? What has Jonathon got planned?”
“Jonathon?” Mitchell’s eyes bulged. “Jonathon took her?”
“Who did you think?”
Mitchell shook his head dismissing the question far too quickly. “I know how to find that bastard.”
The model’s words came out way too slowly, for Sebastian’s liking. He reached over and grabbed him by the neck of his designer shirt.
“Uh.”
Seb stared.
Mitchell put his hands on Seb’s arms trying to free himself. Seb kept his hold. “Will he hurt her?”
Mitchell shook his head, and Sebastian released him.
“No. He just wants money.”
“He told you that?”
Mitchell’s face went white again. He’d make a lousy poker player. “I had no idea the guy’d grab her off the street. Honest, if I’d known…”
Sebastian moved closer to him, staring.
“He needs money, and I…”
“You what?”
Mitchell looked up at the sky. “Man, I didn’t expect this.”
Seb grabbed his arm this time and squeezed until Mitchell called out.
Mitch put his other hand up in defense. “Look we both want what’s best for Sadie. I’ll tell you everything.”
“Damn straight you will.” Whatever this jerk had done had something to do with Sadie being abducted.
“Ow. That hurts.”
“It’s not the only part of your body that’s going to hurt if you…”
“Okay, okay. I get it. Listen to me. I keep telling you, we’re on the same side.” Mitchell closed his eyes, when he opened them he made a pained, about-to-step-in-deep-shit face. “Jonathon’s been blackmailing me for six months.”
Seb narrowed his eyes.
“He has pictures of me, I don’t want shared.”
Sebastian nodded and eased the pressure on Mitchell’s arm.
“He told me all I had to do was keep him informed about what Sadie’s up to. I hated myself for it, but he had me by the balls, man. He threatened to release photos to the press of me and shall we say an important married person… in the act. It would have ruined the other man’s reputation and I care for the guy.”
“What did you tell Jonathon?”
“I kept him in the loop, let him know where we were going, who she spent time with, and when she stole jewe
lry. For a few texts a week I got to keep my privacy. I didn’t like ratting out Sadie. I love her like a sister, but I can’t… can’t have those pictures get out.” He swallowed. “But then I ran out of money to pay Jonathan off.”
“So why would the sleezeball abduct her?
“I don’t know. But we’ll find out.”
“No idea?” Sebastian tightened his grip again.
Mitchell swallowed. “Look. Something big’s going down. Bigger than her usual jewellery jobs. I don’t know what it is, but Sadie’s spooked. She told me…” His lips clamped shut.
“Told you?”
“Where her will is.”
“Will?”
“Yeah. She’s never talked to me about death before and this morning she started talking about what to do if she died.”
It made some sense. Sadie must have got in over her head with that Delilah woman and got scared. He released Mitch’s arm and the man straightened his back. “Text Jonathon. Ask him what he wants. But don’t mention me.”
Mitchell pulled out his cell and tapped the keys. He looked up when he finished.
“Let me get this straight.” Sebastian eyed him closely. “Jonathon blackmailed you, to keep tabs on Sadie so he could take her money.”
Mitchell nodded. “And I feel like a cad. Sadie’s …special to me.”
“Will Jonathon hurt her?”
“Nah. She’s his source of money. He has a nasty coke habit. He’s not stupid.”
Unless he’s somehow got mixed up with some nasty art thieves. “He grabbed her and then he took her away in an ambulance.”
Mitchell lowered his head shaking it. “That must have cost him.”
Another reason organized crime could be involved. “Where do you think he’d take her?”
“He’s staying at a hotel downtown, the Eerste Klas.
“First class and expensive.”
“That’s how he hooks up with rich ladies. He prowls in their playpens.”
Sebastian nodded. “Room number?”
“I’m going with you.”
Sebastian raised a brow. “I don’t think so.”
“He won’t open the door for you.”
Sebastian stared at him for a minute. His eyes looked true. “As long as you keep up with me.”
***
The Eerste Klas stood majestically over the Amstel River as it had for centuries, but its grandeur didn’t faze Sebastian. He nodded his way through the security people. Being known as one of the good guys who bought rounds of beer for others helped. Besides, he played football with one of them on Sundays.
Moments before they gained entry, Sebastian held his breath and visualized how he wanted this to go down. Really, he wanted to kill Jonathon, but he needed to stay focused. Think peaceful thoughts. Yeah, right.
Mitchell knocked on room 257.
“Who is it?” A man’s voice.
“Mitchell.”
“Go away.” Same man.
“You didn’t answer my text. Sadie’s missing.”
“She’ll turn up.”
“I’ll tell that big guy where you’re hiding.”
The door slowly opened.
Too slowly for Sebastian. He shoved it in, knocking Jonathon back a couple of steps and breaking the security chain. Then he walked forward and punched him hard in the face. He could feel the man’s nose breaking with the impact. Blood squirted in all directions.
Jonathon’s eyes widened with recognition, then fear, as he crumpled to the ground holding his nose. “Shit, man. Not you again.”
“Where is she?”
“I just want to talk to her.” Jonathon’s voice whined.
With his left hand Sebastian pulled Jonathon up by the front of his shirt and readied his right fist for another punch.
“I need money.”
The sound of moaning came from the next room. Mitchell ran past the men towards the sound, calling back over his shoulder. “It’s her.”
Sebastian followed through with the fist and Jonathon fell to the floor a second time.
***
After the blackness came a slow dawning light nudging Sadie towards consciousness. It felt like surfacing from a deep, dark vat of cold water. What was Jonathon thinking? Why had he taken her? Did he work for Anubis? She heard men’s voices. She wanted to call out, but her mouth was taped, so she moaned.
“Sadie?”
She opened her eyes fully to find herself lying on a strange bed. Mitchell who for some reason knelt beside her looked worse than he did after his last hangover. And that was bad.
Looking past him she could see Sebastian standing over Jonathon who lay on the floor. She tried to smile.
Mitchell reached his hand to her mouth and ripped the tape off.
“Oww…” `
Sebastian approached. His sun drenched blond hair shone in the light streaming through the window. His blue eyes burned with intensity and sweat poured off his body. He looked like a conquering Viking. A warrior no one would dare cross.
Her mouth tasted like a sewer pit. Nausea rose from the pit of her stomach. Damn, she’d been drugged. That’s how Jonathon did it. Weren’t damsels in distress supposed to look serene and beautiful when being rescued? She swallowed the acid rising in her throat.
“My stubborn friend,” she said loud enough to be heard.
A slow sexy smile that held enough heat to melt all the ice on both poles slid across his face.
“I guess I should say thank you.” Her voice sounded drugged, kind of warped and hesitant.
He nodded and touched her face with his fingers. How could such a giant of a man be so gentle. “You okay?” he asked as he untied the rope binding her hands.
“Is that Jonathon bleeding on the floor?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’m more than okay.” She grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him in and kissed him with all her heart. Hell, it was a ‘conquering moment’ after all. He tasted good—strong, virile—Sebastian.
When she released her grip he pulled away enough to look at her. He smelled—manly, primal… Did any of this make sense? Her mind did a woozy flip. She grabbed his shirt again.
“Mijn liefje,” he said, his voice low. “You’re drugged.”
“But kissing you feels so amazing.”
Wait a minute. She was drugged. Another woozy moment flowed through her brain. Mitchell stood behind Sebastian. Jonathon lay on the floor. This wasn’t a dream.
What was she thinking kissing the big guy? She wasn’t thinking. Sebastian had a way of getting into her blood and short circuiting her mind. Of course she could blame the drugs. But that wasn’t the whole story and she knew it. She leaned back in defeat. “Sorry.”
He gently moved tendrils of her hair away from her eyes. Her stomach churned and she gagged. So much for being an alluring damsel.
Mitchell cleared his throat. “We can’t forget Jonathon.”
Sebastian got up and moved over to where he lay crumpled, unconscious on the floor. Jonathon moaned and moved his shoulders. Seb put his foot on his wrist, pulled out his cell phone and punched in his Interpol friend’s number.
“Seamus, I have a suspect for you to interrogate,” he said. He gave him his location and clicked off.
Mitchell looked at him wide eyed. “I don’t want to be in the middle of this.”
“You should have thought of that when you sold out Sadie.”
“What?” Sadie said. What the hell were they talking about? How drugged was she? Mitchell looked pale and guilty. No. He couldn’t have. He wouldn’t have. “You?”
“I’m sorry…” began Mitchell.
But Sebastian interrupted him. “You two can make peace somewhere else. I’ll stay here with Jonathon.”
Mitchell’s shoulders dropped, but if he thought he was off the hook he was so wrong. When she had him alone, she’d grill him hard.
“I’ll take Sadie to her room at the Bed and Breakfast,” said Mitchell.
“I’ll c
atch up with both of you later. Take care of Sadie. Go.”
Mitchell helped Sadie to her feet. She wanted to walk out the door and leave her treacherous friend behind, but her knees couldn’t support the rest of her. Despite her anger she leaned on Mitch for support. “What about the shoot?”
“Forget it. I’m going to take care of you.” How could Mitchell have sold her out? Her best friend? She gritted her teeth.
21
Chapter Twenty-One
Sebastian let his friends Xander and Seamus into the hotel room and nodded towards Jonathon who sat tied to a chair, bleeding from the nose and mouth. Then he strode over to the window overlooking the river, hoping that the fresh air might invigorate him in some way. He needed a fucking reboot button. A hornet’s nest of trouble spun around Sadie. Worry held him in its grip like the talons of an eagle and dug deep. Shit he hated that. Worry never did anyone any good. He liked action. There had to be something he could do to help her.
Seamus, a short wiry man with carrot red hair wore a Scottish soccer jersey and jeans. He took one look at Jonathon and said, “Looks like you got started without us?”
“He fell,” answered Sebastian with his back to him.
“Was that before or after the floor came up and hit him in the nose?” Xander’s words may have been funny, but his voice held no humor. He wore his usual business casual, chinos, an open necked white shirt and a blue sports coat. His body’s abrupt movements when he entered the room telegraphed irritation. Seb could read him like a book. He was pissed. Probably thought Seb was just digging himself into a deeper and deeper mess.
Sebastian smiled to the window pane. “About the same time.”
Seamus went to look out the other window as if he expected more company to arrive. Xander walked over to Jonathon. “You abducted a woman by the name of Sadie Stewart?”
Seb turned to watch. Jonathon nodded. Blood trickled from his nose and his right eye had swollen shut.
“Your ex-wife.”
He nodded again, but didn’t make eye contact.
Sebastian wanted to punch the guy again, but they needed more information from him, and if he were unconscious he couldn’t tell them anything. Folding his arms around his stomach he told himself to stay back. He turned and looked out the window again, focusing on the tranquil canal scene below them. He forced his breathing to slow down. All the while he listened to the interrogation going on behind him:
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