“Oh, come on!”Caroline blurted.“Be reasonable!We’re going to need more than that, Officer.”
“All I know is this.”Kaspar’s hands rose to her hips.“In order to gain your plea deal, Mr.Harper, the ICC wants you to go back to Britain.”
Chapter Ten
Caroline
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“THEY HAVE TO BE FUCKINGjoking.”Perched on the edge of Harper’s bed, I had no idea what time it was or how long I’d been there at his side.All I knew was that the only topic of conversation since I’d been forced to re-watch that terrible video was the ICC’s crazy demands.“We can’t let them do this, Sir.You can’t allow them to!”
“Little girl.”He leaned back on his pillow, obviously weary.Not for the first time, I was grateful for the expansive width of his hospital bed.There was plenty of space for us both without inhibiting his rest.“We won’t know anything until their representatives appear tomorrow.”
“I can’t believe this.”I’d lost track of the number of times I’d said so, but each time, the unease in my belly tightened as though I was close to breaking point.I wasn’t, though.I couldn’t have been.Not after surviving something as horrendous as Fortorus, but still, the thought of losing Harper after everything we’d been through was torturous.“Do they honestly expect you to go back there?”
“It’s okay, Caroline.”Reaching for my hand, he clasped my fingers.“Whatever happens, it will be okay.We’llbe okay.”
“How will we be okay?”I pressed.“You know what Jackson will do to you if you go back, Sir, and I can’t have that.I’m not losing you.”
“Shhhh.”His free hand rose to my lips, his index finger pressing gently against my mouth.“Don’t upset yourself.We don’t know anything for certain yet.”
“We know what Kaspar told us.”I glanced around the darkening room, thankful that Kaspar and the nurse had finally left us alone together, yet wishing we could just slip out and truly be on our own again.Life on the run hadn’t always been a bundle of laughs, but we’d survived, and we’d had each other.Since then, fate and the authorities seemed determined to separate us.“They want to send you back there as part of the deal.”
“They clearly think Ian’s press conference presents us with an opportunity.”His tone was almost as skeptical as mine had been.
“Easy for them to say,” I muttered.“It’s not their life on the line.”
“Let’s just listen to what they have to say.”His arm slipped around me and coaxed me nearer.I went, dodging the multiple cables still connecting him to the various machines by his bedside.“I mean, what choice do we have?If I don’t comply, I could be looking at years of imprisonment, and that way, we’ll definitely never be together.”
“Oh, God.”Despite the fact that I’d been crying on and off for hours, fresh tears welled in my eyes.
“Come here.”He inched along the bed and gestured for me to join him.“Stretch out with me for a while.”
“What about our bag?”I signaled to the duffle by my feet.
“Oh, yes.Clever girl.”He winked at me.“Well done for making that happen.Is everything in there?”
