Surrounding it all, the surety that I would die. Unfortunately, that last feeling is the one part of this terrible night that’s still ongoing.
When the henchman fails once again to pluck Sophia from around my neck, I hold up my wrists. “Maybe take the cuffs off so I can help?”
“No,” Sophia’s dad barks. “They stay on until we know who the… Who you are.”
Watching his lips, it looks like he wanted to insert another word in the mix there but held back. Presumably on his daughter’s behalf.
We’re at a stalemate and I don’t have the strength to resolve it. If the guards can get the limpet child off me, good luck to them. Right now, my mind seems to have decided it’s naptime. The room darkens around the edges.
A sharp whiff of something disgusting brings me back to the present. “What the—?” I cough, trying to get the horrible chemical tang out of my throat.
“You were fainting,” Sophia’s dad says matter-of-factly. He’s crouching next to me, staring levelly into my eyes. “It’s a trick I picked up in training.”
“Couldn’t you just have let me faint?” I choke out, my eyes watering.
The horrendous scent has one advantage in that Sophia no longer wants to stay near me. Can’t blame her there. Neither do I. The enormous guard finally gets her hand in his and drags her away under colossal protest.
“Tell me who you are,” Sophia’s father repeats as though nothing happened.
I give him the same side-eye he earlier gave me. “My name’s Isabelle Chappel.”
He raises his eyebrows as though he expects me to continue but I don’t know what he wants to know, and I’ve found it safer in life not to volunteer information.
“Andyouare?” I ask pointedly when the silence stretches into discomfort.
“Deciding whether you live.”
Fear would usually make me more circumspect, but I’ve had an overload of the stuff tonight, along with a hefty chaser of adrenaline, so I’m in no mood.
“Listen, buddy. I rescued your daughter from her kidnappers at great personal risk and drove into the middle of nowhere on just her say-so to deliver her safely into your arms. Kill me if you need to but you can at least say thank you first.”
Surprise creases his forehead, an expression that soon morphs into a smile. It’s only then I notice how nice his features are. Dark hair, glossy beard. The wide mouth that softens as his eyes skim my face. Those amber eyes flecked with gold will go straight into the memory bank as part of my lonely nights’ collection.
Now that his personal fridge is escorting Sophia back to her room, her dad also appears a lot larger. But large in a way I want to put my hands on instead of tiptoe away from.
Then he pulls back, standing upright, and my inspection period is abruptly over.
“Who’d you work for?” The abrupt bark demands compliance if his looming above me wasn’t imperative enough.
“Nobody after tonight. The last I saw of my boss was when I drove into the side of his car.” When he levels an impatient stare at me, I sigh. “Sergio Mannika, all right. I manage a skating rink near the airport for him. Except, as I said, I’m willing to bet I’m now unemployed.”
“How did you know they were going to take my daughter?”
“I didn’t.” Since a hand to help me isn’t forthcoming, I scramble onto all fours and slowly stand. My head gives one serious wobble but otherwise seems on board with the new position. “I was closing up when they brought her in.”
“Whose blood is that?”
I stare down at my soaked shirt as though noticing for the first time. My work clothes aren’t my best but with such a limited wardrobe, they’re not the worst either. It’s not fantastic news to realise I’ll now have to replace them before I can search for a new job.
Not a consideration unless this man lets me live.
“The other guy who was with Sergio.”
“Is he dead?”
“I hope so. Otherwise, he’s gonna carry a large grudge.”
The man tilts his head, eyes narrowing. “Are you trying to be funny?”
