Drake observed me in silence. “This does not surprise me.” He nodded toward the charity shop. “I’ve tracked the man I’ve been chasing here.” He took a gun out of a holster inside his jacket.“You get reunited with your daughter, and then you can tell me everything.”
“Yes. Fine. Anything once I get her back.”
I could face the Drake problem another time. The only thing that mattered now was getting Bibi back into my arms.
I watched as Drake leaned down to the back door lock with a couple of small silver tools. He fiddled with them and then tried the handle. It opened.
I pushed past him and walked in.
Bibi was sitting on a display table in the middle of the empty shop. She was wearing pink rabbit pajamas. Rabbits were her second favorite animal. A large McDonald’s milkshake was in her hands.
I longed to just run to her, but I had to be careful. Alert. I must’ve made a noise without realizing, as she turned.
“Hi, Mama.” She was okay. And she wasn’t afraid. Thank god.
I looked around. No one was here.
Was she really alone? Or was this the trap? Was Bibi the bait?
But I couldn’t think of anything else other than getting her out of here. I went to her and held her close. “Bibi, it’s okay. We’re going to go home now. Before the man who took you comes back.”
Bibi frowned. “What you mean? He’s already here.”
She was looking over my shoulder. At Drake.
I reached slowly for the gun in my waistband.
He smiled at me. “Let’s not get carried away, Mama.” He tapped his jacket, indicating where his gun was. “I’d like your phone, please.”
What choice did I have?
I took my phone from my pocket, ending my call with Fox and Jenny without him seeing. How much had they heard? Enough to work out what was going on?
“And your…toys. Both of them.” He motioned to my waistband and my back pocket. Of course he knew where my weapons were. He knew everything.
Bibi was back to slurping on her shake. I handed him my gun and knife without her seeing.
Drake was The Chameleon.
It was the perfect cover.
An Interpol agent could travel freely. He had the best contacts. The best databases. He was a powerful ally to turn to. He could find out information on anyone. His credentials gave him access to anywhere he wanted to go.
For fuck’s sake. Even the name. The Chameleon. He fitted in wherever he was. An assassin. An agent. He adapted to be whoever he needed to be.
How the hell was I going to get Bibi away from him without scaring her?
She was still noisily sucking on the straw of her milkshake, getting a sugar spike when she should be tucked in bed, fast asleep. She stopped and looked up. “You want some, Mama?”
I shook my head.
She didn’t know how much danger she was in, and for that, at least, I was grateful.
Bibi’s long brown hair was perfectly straight. She hadn’t been asleep long enough to get it into her usual knotted mats. I chewed on the inside of my cheek. He’d plucked her out of her bed. He’d taken her while she was sleeping.
It had been so well planned, so masterfully executed. He was a professional, after all. He’d taken her when she was sleeping because he knew we’d have a tracker on her during the day. That was the problem when you came up against someone who thought like you.
I had to get her out of here, away from him, alive and not so traumatized that her life was ruined in another way.
