Page 17 of Ash Storm

The answer came to him almost immediately.

Because having us do it instead gives him deniability.

And, hopefully, fewer chances of Reka getting blown up in the process.

Every time he thought of Reka, and what she was going through, his heart threatened to stop. And he knew he had to be patient—he’d just never found it this hard before.

Carrie, who’d been at the safe house already when they arrived, popped her head inside.

“I’ve got Aileen Murphy on the line,” Carrie said.

The third friend.

The one who managed to get away.

“Great. Please put her on the speaker phone, Carrie,” Dark said.

“Hello.” The woman’s voice, when she started speaking, was tremulous.

“Hi. It’s good to meet you, Ms. Murphy.”

“Aileen,” she said automatically. “Please call me Aileen.”

“Aileen. My name is Luke, and I’m here with my colleagues, Ash, Griffin, Slate and Rogue. We’re doing everything we can to find Reka and Chloe and bring them back safely.”

Aileen’s breath caught at the mention of her friends’ names.

“Please … yes, that’s all I want.”

“Is it okay if we ask you some questions, Aileen?” Dark continued, and Ash had never heard his voice sound as gentle. “If you need to stop at any point, just let us know.”

“I don’t know how this could have happened,” Aileen sobbed, the faint Irish brogue in her voice coming out. “We were on holiday. We were having so much fun.”

Dark let her talk for a few minutes before bringing her back to the day in question.

“When did you first notice something was wrong, Aileen?”

“Me? Not until … not until that man appeared in front of us. But I’ve been looking through the pictures I took, and I think Reka knew before me.”

“Pictures?” Rogue asked quickly.

“I’m a hobby photographer,” Aileen explained quickly. “I’m always taking pictures. I took so many pictures that day. Of the city, of course, but also of the three of us. There are pictures of Reka and Chloe right outside the Grand Bazaar, and in some of those pictures, Reka is looking … strangely uncomfortable.”

“We’re going to need to see those pictures, Aileen. Do you think you could share them with us?”

“Of course. I can give you access to the folder right now. I have Carrie’s email address.”

“Thank you. That would be great.” Rogue’s laptop was already open in front of him.

“I just don’t understand … I don’t understand how this could have happened,” Aileen continued. Her voice grew breathy, as if she was trying hard to hold back her tears. “Those men appeared out of nowhere.”

“Men? There was more than one?” Ash asked quickly.

“It was one man at first. The bigger one, with the greasy mustache. We were running in the opposite direction, but he caught up with Chloe and grabbed her by the hair, dragging her back. Reka and I were closer to safety, but Reka …” Aileen began crying openly here. “Reka pulled out a pepper spray and went back for Chloe.”

Ash knew how the story ended, but even so, his respect for Reka Evans increased tenfold as her friend spoke.

Such fucking courage it must have taken for her to turn around like that.