“You’ve got guts,” the ambassador conceded.“Don’t think I haven’t considered doing that, but the mess you’d make when you hit the ground might be awkward to explain.”
“Surely not?A simple suicide?I’m sure you could pay off plenty of witnesses to confirm that I took my own life.”
“Oh, no, no, no.”The ambassador shook his head.“That wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining as another helicopter flight.The ocean is so forgiving.It won’t leave a trace of you,” he explained with a smile that could never melt the ice in his eyes.
“Well, you should know about that.”
“Oh, I do.”And then he couldn’t resist bragging.“Your mother begged for her life, but I thought it kinder to put her out of her misery.”
“You fucking monster.”
Her father beamed at this description.“Well, I hate to break this up, rare as it is for us to chat, but my helicopter is waiting.We should go…”
She was escorted to the roof at gunpoint.There was no point in trying to escape.Where would she escape to?She had to be content that Conor was safe and so were the prisoners in the cellar.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement.
Conor!
A gunshot rang out.
One of her father’s guards had also spotted Conor, and his shot provided the distraction she needed.Felling the guard with an elbow to the throat, she finished the job with a well-placed roundhouse kick.
More gunshots rang out.Conor threw himself in front of her just as the helicopter lifted off and the ambassador escaped.The remaining thugs took the departure of the helicopter as their signal to scatter.After the sudden noise and violence, the silence was complete.
Conor’s face was bruised, but he was alive.“Are the women safe?”she asked.
“The team took them to the authorities to file their reports and to be checked over for injury.”
“I need to meet this team of yours properly,” she said.
“You will,” Conor promised.“But first we need to wrap up every loose end that we can, to help in the search for your father.”
With her father still out there somewhere, it was hard to imagine that anywhere could ever be safe again.But had she ever known safety and happiness?No.Life had been a series of hurdles, some big, some small, but none had proved insurmountable.
Throwing his jacket into the back of the SUV, Conor helped her climb in.And this time she let him and rested back with relief.But only for a moment.With the ambassador on the loose, there could be no rest for either of them.“Can you go any faster?”
“Drives like a hippopotamus and moves just as fast,” Conor explained with a grin to lighten the tension.“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she confirmed, “but my father could be anywhere by now.”
“Wherever he is, we’ll find him,” Conor promised with a quick smile.“We were charged with bringing him to justice when the regular authorities believed his diplomatic status might make it tricky to bring him before the courts.You’re shivering,” he noticed.“Put my jacket on.”
Any mention of her father could do that, though this was delayed shock, she guessed.It was easy to imagine that Conor’s jacket still held his warmth.Wrapping it around her, she inhaled deeply.
“He won’t get away.I promise you that,” Conor stated firmly.
She shook her head in disagreement.“He’ll wriggle out of this, like everything else.Diplomatic immunity.And great lawyers.”
“Immunity might have helped him at one time, but based on the reports I’ve been receiving, authorities in Kasiki are looking forward to having him face charges of corruption.And we have great lawyers too,” he reminded her.“The days of the ambassador intimidating and exploiting those weaker than himself are over for good.”
“I wish I could be as certain as you are about that.”
“Stop,” Conor insisted gently as he placed his hand over Karolina’s clenched fist.“It’s time you thought about yourself instead of that monster.”
Or you and me, she thought.
Would it ever be possible to live freely without fear with the ambassador out there?
