“Mia is with me, sir. I’ll ask her to help,” he suggested, referring to his wife, who was just as equipped in the security field.
“Good.” I cut the call and tossed the phone on the passenger seat, my heart racing faster than the V8 engine under my foot. The one day I should’ve been in Jersey, I had to fly into London for a series of important meetings. While I called the pilot to have the jet ready for my arrival, my thoughts reeled with possible scenarios behind the girl running away and the blood Wilkes mentioned.
Did she hurt herself or someone else?
Granted, I’d done some messed-up shit in my life that wouldn’t be considered above board, I still had no idea why this girl and her circumstances intrigued me. Perhaps it was the universe’s way of throwing repentance my way.
Navigating the streets like I owned them, I sped through several traffic lights, violating every driving law I could and possibly inspiring some new ones. Against sounding arrogant, I knew that if the police stopped me, my face was all it would take for them to turn the other way. In England, the Sinclair name was almost as famous as the royal family. Only with mine, a hint of notoriety blended in for good measure. Another five minutes and the wheels on the jet sped down the runway.
Fifty minutes later, I barely nodded thanks to my pilot before climbing behind the wheel of my car and speeding through the quieter roads of Jersey.
When I finally reached the live location Wilkes had sent me, I parked the car, grabbed my phone, and climbed out in a rush. On a whim, I leaned back in and picked up a bar of chocolate my grandson had left in the center console. Michael, my middle son, had visited for a week with his family. Yesterday they’d returned to Africa. The youngest of his two children had insisted I drive him and his brother to the airport in the Aston Martin while their parents traveled in the limo.
Shaking my head with a fond smile, it took me less than a minute to reach Wilkes and Mia, my eyes shifting to the mountainous edge behind him. “Where is she?” Strangely, I couldn’t keep the anxiety out of my voice. I hardly knew the girl, yet my heart seemed unsettled since that first meeting.
He gestured with his chin, and I followed his gaze. My breath stalled momentarily. Even with the bright moon as my overhead light, I could make out her precarious position. Her legs dangled over the mountaintop edge, darkness swallowing their frailty, hiding them from sight. Palms flat to the ground, her upper body almost perpendicular to her lower body, I couldn’t tell whether she was readying herself to jump or holding on for dear life, frozen in her decision.
“She hasn’t moved from that spot and won’t speak to me, sir.” Mia’s words, filled with remorse, brought my gaze back to the couple.
“We managed to stop her from going over only because Mia screamed that she was here to help,” Wilkes said. “When we tried to move closer, she shook her head, her silence warning us to stop before she sat down.”
“I didn’t want to spook her.” Mia glanced at the girl again. “That look on her face, though.” She inhaled on sharp breath, her watery eyes coming back to mine. “It’s like she had nothing to live for.”
“She stopped, that says otherwise.” I offered her a consoling smile. Mia nodded her agreement. “Go back to her home. Find out what happened. Until we know better, don’t disclose her whereabouts if anyone asks.” With a nod to them and light footsteps, I approached the girl. “Are you all right?” I asked, keeping my voice low so as not to startle her. She let out a strangled sob, leaning forward. Something stirred inside me. “Don’t do it, love.” Unsure what possessed me to use the endearment, I silently cursed and lowered to my haunches, bringing my face to her level.
My uncertainty dissolved when I was rewarded with a slow turn of her head. The distress written all over her blood-spattered face told me it was just the beginning for us. I knew the moment she recognized me. Her eyes widened slightly, and her brow deepened with curiosity, yet her pursed lips remained sealed. I’d have to give her a little more assurance before they opened.
My gaze dropped to her haphazardly bandaged arms and the crimson stains on her hands. Curses that would probably heighten her dread stormed my throat, my thinned lips barely keeping them from breaking through. I reached out, hoping to dissuade her from making another move. She flinched. The fear on her face, something I’d never witnessed before her, paused my hand mid-air. I’d never get her out of here without further traumatizing her.
Then her gaze met mine, and the destitute look in that vacant stare hidden beneath long, dark lashes, I glimpsed her strength shadowed by the genuine desire for death. Her silence spoke louder than words. She’d been tarnished in ways I couldn’t even imagine. Yet suicide, once invited to dine at her table, had undeniable power over her soul, slowly enticing her to its fake realism of freedom.
Stumped for the first time, I felt my heart clench, yet her situation piqued my curiosity. Regardless, my usual caution rallied, pushing me to weigh each moment with thought.
She turned away, looking out into the darkness again, her shoulders hunched, her tiny body quivering inside the flimsy fabric that passed for a dress. I withdrew my hand, my mind already made up. When I left here, this girl would be safely beside me even if it came with a fingernail of trust.
The weather had turned colder earlier this evening, the portent of rain signified by the low-hanging clouds on the horizon.
Removing my coat, I held it out to the girl. “What’s your name?”
Silence.
“I’m not going to hurt you, love. I want to help?”
Silence.
“Is there someone I can call for you?”
“I have no one.” Surprisingly, she responded without looking at me, her voice swimming with unconcealed anguish.
Goosebumps sprinkled my skin, those words hitting the pit of my stomach. Everything about this situation was familiar in some twisted way. Were my sins coming back to haunt me? Yet, my next words could probably be considered selfish. “Is there absolutely nothing you want to live for?” Maybe it was in my nature to help, maybe not. I wanted her to say yes, though.
Her eyes met mine, and even in the moonlight, I could see her hesitation. There was something. But she remained silent, letting her gaze drift from my offering back over the dark ravine.
I set the coat on the ground as close to her as possible, hoping she’d take it. “Nothing you’d give that last breath for?” I gently coaxed. Tapping the torch button on my phone, I laid it next to the coat.
Her gaze shot to the small ray of light, fascination painting her features for a quick moment before she wrapped her arms around her chest, trying to shield the chill I felt against my cheek. She ran the tip of her tongue over cracked lips that demanded much more than saliva to ease their stiffness.
“Yes,” she murmured.
