The spark of another memory blazed behind my lids, expressed less as a picture in my mind and more as an unnerving sense of dread.That escalating dismay curled itself around me like a constrictor, threatening to cut off my air supply.In its furling power, the answer to why I’d fled the only life I’d known was obvious: Ian wanted to murder her, and I simply couldn’t allow that.
“It was worth it.”The words flew from my lips as though some greater power had put them there.“Leaving and everything that’s happened since.It was worth it to get you out of there.”
I didn’t yet have the facts to support the statement, but every fiber of me knew it was right.Staying there would have been tantamount to signing Caroline’s death warrant, and far too much had passed between us for me to permit that.Ian had enjoyed his own way for far too long, but Caroline was mine.
A single tear meandered its way along her cheek.“Thank you, Sir.”
Pulling her closer, I held her for a few seconds of blissful contentment, the feeling of serenity swelling inside.It was clear the woman in my arms had changed me, and for all the challenges we needed to negotiate, I didn’t detect any regret about the transformation.
“We do need to get that bag back, though.”Peering over her shoulder to check Kaspar hadn’t come back, my voice lowered.
“Yes.”The urgency in her tone suggested that should have been what we’d been discussing since Kaspar left, but clarifying how I felt had seemed more important.
“It has all the money in, right?”I prompted, needing her to fill in the gray areas for me.
“Yes, and your gun and fake passport, Sir.”
“I remember.”I smiled at the revelation.“Adam Clément, right?”
“That’s right.”She laughed softly.“Your mother’s name.Maybe if I ask for a change of clothes, Kaspar will let me go back there, but I don’t know what I’ll do with the bag if she does.I don’t want to draw unwanted attention to it.”
“And you don’t think the police have found it already?”I pushed down the unease bubbling at the idea that they had.My life’s savings were in that fucking bag, and our best chance of a successful life beyond the grasp of the Swiss police and the hospital.
“I don’t know for sure.”She sucked her lower lip between her teeth.“But I have to imagine one of them would have said something about the money by now if they had.I’ve been stuck with them for hours.”
“And no one has said anything?”I needed to hear her say the words.
“No one,” she confirmed.
“Perhaps it’s better that the bag stays in the house, then,” I suggested.“For the time being, at least.”
“Yes, but the lease is about to expire, Sir.You were going to call Fabian about it when they came to arrest you.”
“Shit.”I despised the spiraling fear contracting in my body and the surge of cold anxiety it spread to my limbs.I wasn’t used to being so powerless where proceedings over my own destiny were concerned.
“Where’s your phone, Sir?”Her hand rose to steady my face, and instinctively, my fingers relaxed in her hair.“Maybe I can phone him and ask for an extension.He knows we have the cash.”
“Yes.”My chin rose at her idea, an image of the capable woman I’d rescued forming in my mind.Caroline might have been the one in need for most of our relationship—a consequence of the system I’d help to create—but she was by no means weak.I’d found her with the charmless sentries that first night because she’d been sneaking around the camp looking for medication for her friend, and that stoic resilience had been a theme ever since.“But I think the phone might still be at the house.Do you remember if the police took it?The nurse told me I was admitted with no possessions.”
“I don’t recall them taking your phone.I’ll have to find a way to get back to the house and call him.I remember you added his number to your list of contacts.”She sounded resolved to the task, though how she’d accomplish the feat was less certain.“While I’m there, I can make sure the bag is put somewhere less conspicuous.”
“Do you remember where we left it?”I was used to having an abundance of everything I wanted, and the thought of losing everything we had left was horrifying.
“In the bedroom, I think.”She frowned.“I went back there to change after they took you away, and I think it was in the corner of the room by the wardrobe.I should have thought to hide it, but I was so upset, and —”
“Hey,” I interrupted her.“None of this is your fault, little girl.”
Resilient under stress, she might have been, but I could see the strain being on the run had caused her.No doubt, life at Fortorus before that hadn’t done much to help, either.
“I just want everything to be okay.”She heaved in a breath, the delicate hand that had fortified me falling between us.“I want to get to know you better.”
“You will.”I had no way of knowing that for sure, but staring in her eyes, nothing had ever seemed more necessary.“I’ll get out of here and get a plea deal with the ICC.”
“But what about documents?”Her eyes were so big and imploring as she searched my face for any sign I wasn’t being sincere.“I don’t have a passport, Sir.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I assured her.“There will be a refugee passport the Swiss can issue for you.”
“Yeah.”Closing her eyes, she pulled in a breath.“I’m sure you’re right.”
