“Can you describe Mr. Mankel?” No one else had been sent to rescue the girls other than TF-Scorpion and Delta Force that he was aware of.
“He was tall and had a big chest, like really big and tall. He always wore a suit, but it was like he shouldn’t wear a suit, you know? He had black hair with silver at the temples. He was some sort of an ambassador.”
Aaron stopped breathing. She’d just described Mr. J to the letter. He managed to croak out, “Go on.”
“He had a doctor check out me and Caroline. But as safe and comfortable as they tried to make me, I wasn’t allowed to see Caroline after we were brought to the palace. Mr. Mankel said she was too sick and weak for company. But he kept us safe. He asked me all about my home, my family, myeducation. Gave me clothes and food and a beautiful room.”
He’d pumped her for information to sell her to Dmitri. Dammit.
“Ow, Aaron you’re hurting me,” Celine said.
He took a breath and forced his arms to relax. “Did he tell you his full name?”
“Jack Mankel.”
Jesus Christ. He had to call Colonel Grey and tell him Mr. J’s alias. They could track him with that. “Do you know where he took you? What town? Any land marks?”
“No, I passed out on the ride to his palace. His place was surrounded by desert, but inside the walls was heaven. Green grass. Bright flowers and fountains. My room was so luxurious… he had all kinds of guards. And a daughter. She – she…”
“She what?”
Celine shook her head. “I don’t know. My memory is kind of a fog. I keep remembering her in that blue burka and for some reason I want to think she looked like Caroline, but I never saw her face.”
Her voice filled with worry and confusion and Aaron immediately sought to comfort her. “It’s okay. They gave you a pretty strong cocktail to knock you out. It would be weird if youdidremember everything clearly.”
“Anyway, the last thing I remember is going to sleep the night before and waking up here.”
Aaron hugged her to him tight as he processed her words. She’d basically just told him Mr. J had left them in captivity for two weeks with the man hired to kidnap them. Then he’d sold Celine to a slaver and kept Caroline for whatever plan he’d concocted. But now they had intel Mr. J had never planned on them finding.
“Do you think he’s already sent Caroline home?” Celine’s wobbly voice penetrated his thoughts.
“I don’t think so, honey.” No need to tell her exactly who Jack Mankel was or that he was responsible for her kidnapping and near rape. Or an attempt to sell her into slavery. She still had to believe there was some good left in the world. He wasn’t fully convinced that he’d be able to prove that to her, himself. He’d let her down enough already to have lost any credibility.
Celine gripped his hand, her fingers convulsively clenching around his. Aaron gently rubbed his thumb back and forth across her palm.
Celine relaxed into his arms, her fingers opening wider as he traced larger and larger patterns over her palm. The urge to care for her held command and he leaned down to press a kiss to her temple. He would avenge her. He would kill the man who’d hurt her and then he’d wipe Jack Mankel and all his evil from the face of the earth.
Chapter 14
The plane ridehome was heaven and hell. Someone in the government had rented a private jet, complete with plush couches and an attendant and pilot. Once in the air, Aaron pulled Celine into his lap again, making her feel protected. Like him knowing and seeing her injuries hadn’t repulsed him after all.
The nuns hadn’t had anything for Celine to change into except a long tunic whose color could only be described as a non-color. Some sort of off-white, tan, dirt…Ugh. It looked like she wore the dust of the desert around her when all he wanted was to help her wash away those memories.
His thumb slid to her wrist, meandering back and forth across her skin. Feather light tingles spread up to her shoulders in delicious tendrils. She let out a breathless sigh. “So we're both stuck on here until we land. Why do you think they went to the expense of renting a private jet?”
“Sweetheart, I stopped trying to figure out the government a long time ago. But if Colonel Grey arranged for us to be here, it's for a reason, and I trust him with my life. Therefore, I trust him with yours, too.”
What must it be like to trust someone so much? She trusted Caroline, but didn’t know where she was. Maybe she trusted Kate, but anyone else? Anyone she could boldly say she’dgladly put her life in their hands?
There'd been a few boyfriends here and there, but they'd always managed to find someone better, someone more settled that they could marry and have kids with. Her last boyfriend had pretty much told her she'd been great for a girlfriend, but wasn't wife material.
She'd helped lots of women pick out their clothes for hot dates and wedding parties and honeymoons – but never herself. Celine Latimer – always number two.
Celine realized there was no one in her life in which she could put her complete faith. Not even Aaron. She honestly didn’t know why she was staying so close to him after what he’d done, but she wasn’t functioning on all cylinders right now. He was the only familiar face and that made her feel safer.
Even if she didn’t trust him fully.
“Hey, what's going on in that mind of yours?”
