“And you sound so proud of yourself.” Dee was gazing at him incredulously. “Don’t you realize what a monster you’ve been? You’ve killed people, you’ve kidnapped me and brought me to this hellhole, and you’ve made me put up with that vicious bitch.” She held out her manacled wrists. “Dammit, now take these off me!”
“I can’t do that yet,” he said. “You’ll have to earn your rewards, Delilah. I’m still very angry with you. Perhaps when we’re out of here and you can convince me that you’re sorry for the way you’ve treated me.”
“Out of here? Where the hell are we supposed to be going?”
“I have a lovely private island set up in the South Pacific where we can get to know each other all over again. It’s very well guarded, and you’ll stay there until you learn your proper place in my life.” He checked his watch. “My pilot will be landing in about an hour to pick us up. However, Charlotte and I have a few things to attend to before he gets here, so you’ll forgive me if I leave you for a while.” His lips suddenly tightened. “But before I do, I want you to apologize to Charlotte for calling her a bitch. I realize she can be difficult, but she’s been very helpful to me in this situation. From now on the two of you will have to get along or you’ll both hear from me.”
“And you think that would make a difference?” Dee asked in amazement.
“Yes, because I’ll let her punish you whenever she wishes from now on.” He leaned forward, his gaze holding her own. “I can’t tell you how hard it was to keep her in check. But now I’m not even sure that all this was worth the effort. You didn’t appreciate me.” He glanced at Charlotte. “And my Charlotte has always appreciated me. Haven’t you, my dear?”
“Always,” Charlotte said gruffly. “From the time they put you in my care, you were my little boy. I was the one who kept you safe. I kept you safe this time, too. But this foolishness has to end, Noah. I know you were angry with her, but you can get a woman anywhere.”
“I wanted this one.”
“And I went along with it, didn’t I? But she wasn’t like that model in Paris that you made disappear two years ago. All it took was a fat check to have one of your mafia friends remove her when you were bored with her. But I knew people would notice this time.” Her voice roughened. “You were obsessed with her, and look where we are now.”
“I was careful. I was smart. There was no reason why I couldn’t have her.” His voice was pettish. “You were just jealous. You thought I liked her too much.”
“This is all very interesting,” Jessie said. “But would you like to explain to us just who Charlotte is?”
“Charlotte Palker,” Noah said. “My parents hired her to take care of me when I was five. Then they promptly forgot I existed unless I did something extraordinary. Of course, I did that frequently.” He smiled at Charlotte. “I was never a good boy. But bad or good, she was always there for me. She lives at my house in London now…except when I get in trouble and need her.”
“I won’t go to that island,” she said sourly. “Get rid of her. Get rid of both of them.”
“We’ll talk about it.” His voice was soothing. “I admit it might save trouble.” He turned and headed for the door. “But now I need you to help me. You’ve only done half the job. We’ve got to get those stupid bastards stuffed away in one of those other planes before that jet gets here.”
“We’ll manage,” Charlotte said brusquely. “There are only three, and I’ve set up carts to transport them.” She smiled. “But don’t expect me not to try to convince you to do things my way. It’s much easier to have everyone think that the kidnappers eliminated her and just drop her into the ocean once we leave here. Then you’ll be free of any suspicion.” Her voice was butter-soft. “Do what I ask. Let me help you as I always have before, Noah.”
He hesitated as he looked over his shoulder. “Perhaps…We’ll talk about it after we finish.” He glanced mockingly back at Jessie. “You might not be needed after all. How sad for you.” Then the door slammed behind them.
Dee drew a deep breath. “What an incredibly loathsome twosome. Being in the same room with them made me feel dirty. Charlotte Palker is a cross between Madame Defarge knitting at the guillotine and that hag-housekeeper who ruled the mansion in that movie Rebecca.”
“And Noah is no better,” Jessie said quietly. “He was very defensive but there’s no doubt that he’s a psychopath. And you weren’t his first victim, Dee. There’s no telling how many others there have been. That Paris model you told me he was dating must not have healed his ego enough for him to keep her around.”
Dee shivered. “And he has a mafia Good Fella on the payroll? No wonder he thought he could have anything he wanted.”
“Apparently.” Jessie grimaced. “I believe Charlotte might genuinely care about him, but he probably uses her just as he uses everyone else. Either way, they’re both sickos who deserve each other. Agreed?”
“Absolutely.” Dee began to work quickly at her manacles. “And I don’t know how much time we’re going to have to get away from here while they’re burying corpses. So we’d better get a move on while we have the chance…”
Jessie tested her wrist restraints as she looked around the aircraft interior. “We need to get out of here. Noah said his plane will touch down in under an hour.”
“I’ve already tried,” Dee said. “I couldn’t even crack these windows.”
“They’re built to withstand thousands of pounds of pressure. There’s no way you could have—” Jessie looked at her. “Wait a minute. How could you get to those windows? Your restraints don’t give you that much room.”
Dee smiled. “No, they don’t.”
“So how in the hell—?”
“I listened to you,” she said simply. “What you taught me. The only chance I had was when Dorset took me to the bathroom, and he must have thought I had one hell of a bladder infection to have to go so often. But every time I went to the bathroom, I did push-ups and got pumped up as much as I could. And when Dorset put the straps back on, I tensed up and swelled up my muscles a little more. Most times it got me to an extra hole on the strap buckle. After a while, when my arms shrank back to normal, I was able to work my way out. Didn’t you tell me Houdini used that trick?”
“Wow. You always looked bored during my safety tutorials. I was never sure you were really listening.”
“I always listened to you, Jessie. You were the only one I did pay attention to. But it hasn’t done me any good here. I couldn’t even slip out of these cuffs to help you. I was afraid I’d blow any chances for us to escape.” She shook her head. “And there’s no way out. The silver door they’ve been using is locked, and those forward aircraft doors don’t work.”
Jessie tugged at her restraints. “I was unconscious when they put me in these straps, dammit. I wasn’t able to do the Houdini trick. Do you think you could get out now?”