The racing organ in my chest skipped a beat and, reflexively, I leaned in closer.“Really?”
“What was that?”His voice was softer than usual, but it held the same domineering resonance I remembered, the prompt accelerating my already galloping pulse.
“Ah, so you remember what I call you, as well,Sir?”
Mirroring his smile, I was shocked at how little embarrassment there was about using the title in Kaspar’s presence.In the face of the dizzying dynamic Harper and I had created, her judgment about us was meaningless.So long as she kept her word and expedited his impunity from prosecution, nothing except cajoling him back from oblivion was important.
“I remember.”His lips stretched wider.“Looking at your face has brought a whole lot of memories crashing back, little girl.”
“What memories?”Buoyed by his immediate progress, I gave in to my need and grasped his nearest hand.“Tell me.”
“So demanding.”His laughter was heartier that time.“You aren’t like that at Fortorus.”
“No, I wasn’t.”My tone was more reticent that time, something about the way he’d expressed his memory jarring in my mind.He’d referred to Fortorus in the present tense, which was an exceptionally strange way to talk about a place we’d both fled from with little more than only the clothes on our backs.“Life was different then, Sir.”
“Then?”His brow creased.“When?”
“When we were at Fortorus.”I slowed down my words, wanting to ensure he grasped what I was saying.“We left there, remember?You asked Macmillan to meet us, but he didn’t make it, so we drove to Felixstowe in the middle of the night to meet Andrew.”
“I remember Macmillan.”His tone was contemplative.“I like him.”
“Yes, you trusted him.”I squeezed his fingers, encouraging him to go on.“That’s why you worried so much when he didn’t turn up at the meeting point.”
“I don’t know an Andrew, though.”He looked to me for clarification.
“He was Macmillan’s contact, Sir.That’s why you believed he’d help us, and he did.He let us board his trawler boat,Carla, and she took us across the Channel to the Netherlands.”
He took a deep breath.“I would trust someone Macmillan endorsed, but I don’t remember the journey.”The crease in his brow deepened.“I’m sorry, little girl.”
“It’s okay.”Emotion rose at his admission, burning tears in my eyes.I could tell how hard he was trying to recall and could only imagine how frustrating it must have been for him not to remember.
“If we landed in the Netherlands, then why are we in Zurich?”He peered around the small white room.
“You wanted to come here,” I reminded him.“Zurich is where you stored your—”
“Deposit box.”He finished the sentence for me with a smile.“Nowthat, I recall.That has all my—”
I grasped his hand harder, abruptly cutting him off.
“Hey!”Wounded eyes met mine.“What was that?”
“They don’t know.”I mouthed the words, tipping my head back lightly to convey who I was talking about.
His expression softened, his gaze darting briefly in Kaspar’s direction.“Oh, okay.”
“Is everything all right?”Kaspar spoke up for the first time since I’d entered the room.
“Yes.”Harper nodded.“I’m just remembering more.”
“That is good.”Kaspar sounded superficially pleased, but I had to wonder what she’d caught of our exchange.
“Has the officer told you why you’re in custody?”I glanced back to meet her knowing gaze.
“Not yet,” Harper answered.
Stepping forward, Kaspar cleared her throat.“I arrested you on behalf of the ICC for international human rights violations.”
“Shit.”His eyes were wide as I turned back to him.
