The other thing re-reading the note brings home is that this is the first time I’ve seen her handwriting. And yet the scrawl looks vaguely familiar, perhaps too familiar.
After grabbing my phone, I scroll through the images until I find the one I’d taken of Ralph’s note. Sure enough, his handwriting and that in Phoebe’s goodbye note, while not identical, are damned close.
Close enough that I open the tracker app on my phone to see if Ralph’s bag is where it’s been for the last four days.
He’s moved, and he’s close. Like really close. The only thing I’m unsure of is whether he’s got Phoebe with him. The very thought is enough to have my heart contracting and doing its best to reposition itself in my throat.
If he hurts the woman I love, I won’t be responsible for my actions.
Another check of the app and I can see he has to be in the carpark. I’m out of the villa and sprinting down the tunnel soon after. Despite my flinging the metal door to one side, everything looks to be as it was when I crossed it not ten minutes earlier.
Yet something’s missing, and I have to close my eyes to see what it was. The white van, the one parked right next to the elevator since I’d first escorted Phoebe to the villa.
This has me kicking myself for my decision to send the guard back up to the casino after three days of no action. There’s no way Ralph could have bundled Phoebe into the van with him around.
That’s if Ralph has taken her. And yet he must have, because in my heart of hearts, I can’t accept she’s left me. Either way, I need to follow the creep, because if she is with him, then it won’t be by choice.
And if she has dumped me for that job in LA—a thought that has my eyes prickling—then there’s still the matter of Ralph breaking into the villa.
As I sprint across the carpark and up the exit ramp, my emotions are in turmoil. Either Ralph’s kidnapped her while she was under my care, or the past week was just a laugh for her. I wish I could say the same, but I care for her.
Yeah, the sex is great, but Phoebe’s more than that to me. As corny as it sounds, it’s as if I’ve found my other half. I can be myself with her and not have to play the hard-man twenty-four-seven.
She accepts me as I am, and after a lifetime of people taking me at face value, this is a big deal.
Soon enough I reach my Wrangler in the staff carpark. It’s seen better days, but the motor is in mint condition, as is the upholstery.
After jamming my phone in the holder on the dash, I radio Simon in the control room, and tell him what I’ll need. Confirmation received, I start the engine and am soon roaring down the road into town. A glance at the map on the screen, and I turn south, toward LA.
There’s nothing polite about my driving, with me screaming past anything slowing me down. I have a couple of near misses before I settle down and concentrate on catching Ralph without killing myself.
We’re only five miles out of town when I notice a white van up ahead. Rather than pull in right behind it, I keep a couple of cars between us. I’m sure it’s him thanks to a combination of what’s showing on my phone, and that distinctive decal on the back door.
The only thing I don’t know is whether Phoebe is with him. If I knew for sure she was on her way to LA and excited about that big job, I’d run the bastard off the road. In the end there’s no need, with him pulling into a country store with a couple of gas pumps out front.
Rather than stop next to the pumps, he keeps rolling through and into a gravel parking lot off to one side.
Of course, he’d have a full tank of gas. The neatness of everything in his case spoke of his being buttoned down in all things. It had also spoken of a disordered mind. What was that saying about people with neat desks being unhinged?
Unable to pull in without Ralph spotting me, I drive slowly by. Slowly enough that I can to see there’s no passenger sitting up front. After a death-defying U-turn involving a cliff and a truck, I’m soon on the way back.
I’m in time to see an old lady jump out of the van, the gray pin curls and purple dress marking her as Ralph in disguise. Rather than engage an alarm as I’ve expected, he simply shuts the door and totters over to the store, all while staying in character.
While the style of dress says he’s not carrying, the handbag that completes the disguise is large enough to conceal a weapon.
Another U-turn and I pull up behind the van, parking in such a way there isn’t a chance he can leave. After radioing Simon again, I climb out of the Jeep. My chief priority is to see if Phoebe is in the back. It’s something that sees me trying the handle on the back door, surprised to find it’s open.
After looking inside, rage blinds me. There’s no missing the terror in her eyes. But if she’s ever to have a normal life, she needs to hang tight.
After putting my finger to my lips, I reach in and take the gag from her mouth. “Trust me, you just need to keep quiet for a little longer. This will soon be over. Whatever happens, don’t forget, I love you.”
While saying those three little words to her is one of the easiest things I’ve had to do in my life, shutting the door is the hardest.
NINE
PHOEBE
The van was still in the hotel carpark when Ralph opened the back doors and shoved his case in next to me. This had given me my first proper look at him, although it had taken a second to realize it was actually him.
