Ella twisted her neck to view her best friend sitting in a leather armchair next to a lit fireplace, the flames from the blazing fire throwing shadows and effectively hiding whatever emotions Ella was certain were visible on Savanna’s face.
Savanna had witnessed her fiancé brutally tasered that morning as she’d been taken from Griffin’s arms, same as Ella had been pulled away from Jesse. And the horrific sight of both men stubbornly resisting the effects of the tasers made Ella sick to her stomach every time she remembered the scene. She’d never felt so helpless as she watched Jesse on the ground, trying to reach for her and failing, his body convulsing. Veins prominent at his neck.
“We’re pretty secluded out here,” Ella commented when Sydney continued her silence. “Don’t you think it’s strange that the French didn’t take us to their main office?”
“It’s also weird that the place where they did take us just happened to be near Henry’s mansion,” Savanna pointed out. “Oh wait, millionaires have mansions. Billionaires like the Rochellas have compounds.” And from what Ella could tell, Savanna was right. The place was multi-building-huge. “Plus, it seemed like the French officers knew ahead of time to release us into Henry’s custody.”
Ella mulled over Savanna’s theory. “So you don’t believe what Henry said in the car?” Why would he lie about that? He’d explained that he was contacted to pick them up because of the information on Ella’s visa. She’d listed Rochella as her temporary employer, and as such, her stay in France would be longer than ninety days. He’d gotten two more women than he’d bargained for, but . . . “How else would the French officers know I’m in Paris because of Rochella if not for the visa application?”
“True, but the guys did mention Thatcher on the plane. Asked Jesse if he still trusted him given our welcome to Paris by the police,” Savanna reminded her. “I remember Griffin saying Thatcher was Jesse’s old boss. Maybe we’re here because of him?”
The boss who wanted Jesse back, as in back to being a hitman. “But what motive could Thatcher possibly have to turn on Jesse like that?”
“Hell if I know,” Savanna remarked, grit to her tone. They were both growing more frustrated the longer they were separated from the others. “But maybe the French knew you’d be on the plane, and for whatever reason, they chose that house to detain us all, anticipating they’d be handing us over to Rochella. Because their target is Carter. That female MI6 officer Carter said hated him was there this morning, so.” Savanna’s words must’ve had an impact on Sydney because she turned to face them.
“Thirteen hours,” Sydney said, finally breaking her silence, looking back and forth between them. “We were held for thirteen hours without a single question. We were denied a phone call, and any attempts to see my team were refused. Hell, they wouldn’t even let us stay when we objected to leaving without the guys.”
“A.J. would have hijacked Air Force One if we’d been allowed to call him,” Savanna commented, clearly trying to remain as calm as possible.
They’d both spent the day doing their best not to fall to pieces in that holding room. Sydney, of course, didn’t have to “try,” she was just flat-out calm. Level-headed. But also super quiet, which made Ella nervous.
Sydney had been worried there were people listening or watching the holding room, so she’d advised them to keep their mouths shut and not entrap themselves in any way. But they were alone now, and Sydney was still a solid 2 out of a scale of 10 on sharing her thoughts or emotions. And Ella only gave her the two points because she’d finally said something just now.
Sydney’s eyes narrowed, her gaze falling to the floor, and Ella could practically see the wheels in her head turning. “Then night falls, and as you said, we’re whisked away to Henry’s, a five-minute drive from a DGSE safe house,” she finally continued her line of thought.
What are you getting at? Who set this all up? Why?
“Henry didn’t question why our plane was intercepted by the police on the car ride here. I guess that’s an oddity in itself,” Savanna said, raising a point Ella had thought about as well on their drive there. “Maybe the officers gave him a fake explanation, though?”
“Henry barely said a word in the car, period.” He’d sat in the passenger seat of the Range Rover beside his driver, eyes straight ahead and fingers drumming his thigh. He’d definitely seemed nervous, but Ella had assumed it was because he’d been called to pick up one of his “gems” from police custody, at some off-the-books location, no less. And well, he was probably stunned, perhaps questioning whether he ought to kick her out. Boot me back to Bama. “I’m a little surprised he agreed to pick us up in the first place unless the police sold him a convincing story.”
“I’d like to know what that story was since we’re so in the dark.” Savanna shifted in the seat, clutched the chair arms, and tipped her head back, eyes going to the ceiling.
Ella looked back to Sydney, who was once again staring out the window. “Do you think someone is coming for us? That Zoran guy?” She’d done her best to avoid asking because she didn’t want to hear any other answer than no, and she was worried Sydney would give her a yes.
Sydney glanced at her. “I’m certain someone is coming.”
Ella stumbled back at Sydney’s words, but it was the stone-cold look on her face that frightened Ella even more.
Sydney had flipped a switch and was now in operator mode, preparing for a battle. But how would the three of them, even with Henry’s security team, go up against such a calculating criminal as Zoran? The man was so dangerous the CIA had ordered Jesse to kill him.
Savanna quickly stood. “My fear that this has all been a ruse just to get us away from the guys, like a plot twist in a romance novel . . . that’s possible?”
Savanna had already been through so much, and it crushed Ella that she was dealing with more, especially so soon after she’d narrowly survived the hell of being hunted down by criminals herself.
“But why would the good guys help the bad ones?” Ella asked, more so speaking her thoughts aloud rather than expecting Sydney to provide another answer. She may have been one and done in the answer department. But when Sydney peered straight at her with a slight nod, Ella blinked at the unspoken message a few times before speaking. “Oh. No, I don’t believe it. Henry’s not helping Zoran. He didn’t tip off the police that we were coming to Paris. No way.” She adamantly shook her head. She wasn’t someone who blindly trusted people, but Savanna said Griffin had checked out the Rochellas, and they were clean. Too clean, though? Now she was thinking like Jesse, damn it.
“Why would a billionaire fashion mogul help Zoran?” Savanna asked, backing up Ella, or at the least, not quite ready to throw that particular fashion mogul under the bus, which is what Jesse would most likely do when he was free. He’d bulldoze right over Henry and flatten him without remorse if he was in any way responsible for endangering Ella.
“A number of reasons,” Sydney said in a low tone. “Blackmail. Threats of harm to his family. Tit for tat.”
What possible tit for tat could have Henry, the billionaire, helping a bad guy? Unless, well . . . Hmm. But before Ella could process her thoughts, Sydney set her palm to the window and, in an eerily calm voice, announced, “I need a gun. They’re here. The property has been breached.”