Taken (9 page)

“Since we can’t question Chad, there’s only one thing I know that will put an end to this.” He reached out and squeezed her hand. “We need to meet Pierre and Jocelyn back at the safe house and regroup. Because we have to track down those diamonds.”

NINE

K
ate followed Marcus out of the safe haven of the René-Viviani. Part of her wanted to stay, because for a few brief minutes, she’d been able to forget the reality of the situation they were facing. Getting to know Marcus on a personal level had been unexpected yet welcome. Because despite the seriousness of what was going on around them, he managed to calm the storm raging through her—even if only temporarily.

But that
reality
now loomed again in front of her as real and tangible as the Notre Dame Cathedral to her left. Five million dollars had motivated someone to shoot Rachel and grab Sophie. Five million dollars had provoked someone to try to grab her off the streets. And while she still didn’t understand everything that had happened, the threat was very real. Someone was out there looking for her. Someone who would stop at nothing to find her and the diamonds.

As far as she knew, though, the trail of the diamonds ended when Rachel mailed the music boxes. And there was a good chance that whoever she mailed them to didn’t even know what was contained in the packages. She was certain Rachel hadn’t known Chad’s ulterior motive in sending Sophie the music boxes. Or how those seemingly innocent gifts would in turn cost her family.

Marcus grabbed her hand to help maneuver her through the crowded intersection, his touch bringing with it the needed reminder that she wasn’t alone. As they headed away from Notre Dame, past shops and cafés, the pedestrian traffic began to lighten. Apartment buildings lined each side of the narrow street that was lined with cars and rows of bicycles. Motorcycles zipped past them down the one-way street, along with the constant flow of cars and delivery trucks.

“There’s a metro station not too far from here,” he said finally. “It’s the quickest way to get back to the apartment.”

Kate shivered despite the warm afternoon sun.

“You okay?” he asked, still holding her hand.

Kate tried to suppress the feelings of panic. “You’ll think I’m silly if I tell you.”

“I can think of a lot of descriptions of you, but silly isn’t one of them.”

“When I was ten,” she began, “I went to New York on a family vacation with my parents.”

“And you took the subway?”

She nodded. “Up to that moment, I’d loved everything about New York City. My dad decided it might be our only trip to the Big Apple, so he let us do everything, starting with Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He took us to the top of the Empire State Building, Central Park, a Broadway play and even a Yankees game. My sister and I thought we’d died and gone to heaven. After living in a small town in Texas our entire lives, New York was indescribable.”

“So what happened on the subway?” he asked.

Memories surfaced as they walked past an outdoor café where an older couple chatted over cups of coffee at a table for two, seemingly unaware of anyone around them. She shot Marcus a sideways glance, feeling the warmth and protection of his fingers entwined with hers and wondering if she’d find someone to spend the next fifty years of her life with. She shook her head and pushed away the thought. When this was over, Marcus would take on another dangerous case with the FBI, and she’d go back to her quiet, suburban life where things like kidnappings and ransoms and five million dollars’ worth of diamonds didn’t exist.

“There were so many people around me,” Kate said, going back to his question. “I remember I could hardly breathe, and I can still smell the sewer and garbage from that moment. I stood there, my eyes closed, trying to hold my breath, and when I opened them the doors of the subway were shutting and my parents were gone.”

“You lost them?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so frightened—until the past few days, at least. It was dark in the car and lights kept flashing while people kept pushing into me.”

“What did you do?”

“I found a seat and sat down in that car until the end of the line, terrified. Somehow I finally got off and was found by a police officer, who made some calls and was eventually able to find my very frantic parents. But since then...”

“You’ve managed to avoid underground transportation.”

She nodded, hearing the foolishness of her actions in his words.

“It will take longer, but we could walk,” he offered.

“No, you’re right. The subway is quicker.” She wanted to be back in that safe house as soon as possible. But she also didn’t want to be defeated by fear. “It will be fine.”

Kate tried to shake off the feeling. She wasn’t ten. And this time she had Marcus.

She shook her head as she took in a deep breath. “I told you it was silly.”

“And like I said, considering the way you’re handling what’s going on right now, I still say you’re brave.”

Marcus pressed his hand against the small of her back as they took the narrow flight of stairs into the belly of the city. He had somehow become her constant in a world that seemed to have spun out of control. The one person who seemed to stand between her and the terror awaiting her on the other side. Someone jostled against her and she grabbed Marcus’s arm as he bought her ticket, then guided her toward the turnstile.

The subway on the other side of the platform zoomed down the tunnel while they waited for theirs to arrive among the dozens of passengers. She didn’t feel brave. Part of her still felt like the ten-year-old who’d somehow managed to lose her parents in the middle of New York City.

Even now, everyone seemed to know exactly where they were going. Except for her. She still remembered studying the map of the underground city on her tiptoes until a police officer had approached her. For months after that, getting lost had been a constant fear.

Today fear wrapped around her from a different source. Marcus seemed to know the system as well as any Parisian, but this time it was more than her panic over the city’s subway. Someone was still after her. She was certain of it. She studied the growing crowd, aware of every person in the growing crowd. Of every person exiting their subway car, certain she would find him lurking in the shadows.

She watched for him as they crowded onto the subway, and as the doors swished closed behind them with Marcus’s arm now wrapped tightly around her waist. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake the reality that someone was determined to find her. And that there was nothing they could do to stop it.

With no place to sit, they stood beside one of the metal poles in the middle of the train. Marcus drew his arm tighter around her waist as the car pulled out of the station and plunged them into the darkness of the tunnel. Lights flickered above them. Panic threatened to take over.

She studied a young woman with two children. A baby cried in the back. An older man dozed in one of the seats. The train was packed with commuters on their way home from work. Most ignored those around them, reading a newspaper or dozing. None of them seemed to notice she was standing in the middle of the train screaming on the inside. They’d found her before, but she was safe now. All they needed to do was find the diamonds—and Sophie—and this nightmare would be over.

“You okay?” Marcus asked above the noise.

Kate nodded.

“We’re the third stop.”

She shifted her focus to the map on the train’s wall as they sped down the tunnel. Three more stops, and they could get off. Three more stops, and she’d be safe again.

Do not fear, for I am with you.

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

The words from Isaiah she’d memorized years ago started running through her mind.

I will strengthen and help you.

Do not fear.

Do not fear.

She repeated the words until she felt a small wave of peace sweep over her. She could do this—she would do this—whatever it took, for Rachel and Sophie.

Leaning into Marcus as new passengers pressed into the train, she grasped on to that sliver of peace and kept praying. Prayed for continued peace. For wisdom. For protection. For healing for Rachel...

Kate’s fingers tightened around the pole as the train left the platform and she looked out across the crowded car. Her breath caught. He was standing at the far end, near the door. She recognized him immediately. Bald head, tattooed arm sleeves and those gray eyes that seemed to pierce straight through her. Panic engulfed her as their eyes met.

Do not be afraid.

She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. She was ten again. Alone, lost and afraid. She counted to ten and tried to stomp out the fear. He still hadn’t moved. Maybe he hadn’t seen her. Maybe it really wasn’t him. She closed her eyes for a moment. Or maybe she’d imagined him. But a moment later, when she glanced again across the crowded train, he was still there.

Do not be afraid.

She nudged Marcus and leaned toward him. “He’s here. At the far end of the car on the left.”

He grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers. “Okay. At the next stop we’re getting off. Stay close to me.”

She tightened her grip around the strap of her purse, forcing herself not to look back at the tattooed man. Trying to convince herself she would be safe with Marcus. But even with the strapping agent beside her, her confidence was fading.

God, I don’t know when this is going to be over. How much more of this I can take...

Because whoever was behind this had proved they weren’t simply playing a game of threats. And that fact alone had her wanting to run for her life.

She glanced up. This time the tattooed man caught her gaze. Panic struck again. Her fingers gripped Marcus’s arm. This was no coincidence. He knew she was here and as foolish as it seemed, he clearly had no plans of letting a crowd stop him.

She tried to walk through their options. He could be armed, but security appeared to be tight, even at the metro stations. They could get off, find a police officer. Surely that would deter the man.

Marcus pressed through the crowd toward the doors as the train prepared to stop. Seconds later, a rush of commuters stepped out onto the platform with them. Kate glanced back, trying to find him. He’d vanished into the crowd.

“Is he following us?”

“I don’t know. I lost him.”

But she knew he was still there. She had no idea how, but in a sea of people, he’d managed to find her again. She searched behind her while struggling to keep up with Marcus across the congested platform. He
was
still there. She knew it.

“Do you know where we are?” she asked, out of breath.

“More or less.”

His answer didn’t help alleviate the panic. She glanced behind her again at a group of women wearing colorful saris, and found him.

“He’s there. Twenty yards or so behind us.”

Marcus gripped her hand tighter and pulled her toward the exit, pushing through the crowd, past an elderly man playing an accordion. Past ads for shampoo and movies. Past the stairs that led to the street.

“Where are we going?”

“Back onto the platform on the other side. If we time it right we’ll be able to lose him on the next train that comes through.”

She nodded. Marcus should go after the man, but he clearly wasn’t taking any chances because of her. She glanced again. He was still behind them, but they’d managed to lengthen the distance between them.

A whoosh of wind came down the tunnel just before the train arrived on the other platform. Her heart pounded in her chest as the doors flew open and Marcus pulled her onto the train. Seconds later, the doors swooshed shut behind them, leaving their opponent on the platform.

Marcus led her to a pair of open seats and slid in beside her. “We lost him, Kate.”

She searched the car, which was less crowded this time. His plan had worked. She was safe again. For the moment.

He still had her hand. “It’s going to be okay.”

She shook her head, legs shaking, her lip quivering. She tried to remind herself that this wasn’t like the last time. Marcus was here. He was going to make sure the people behind this paid for what they had done.

Kate’s phone rang as they sped through the tunnel. She pulled it out of her pocket, hoping it was an update from her mom on Rachel. She needed answers from her sister. She glanced at the caller ID.
Caller unknown.

She glanced up at Marcus before answering the call. Who else would be calling her?

“Hello?”

“Don’t talk. Just listen or your niece is dead.”

Kate fumbled with the phone and almost dropped it. No. It was nothing more than a bluff. They wanted the diamonds and were desperate.

“Kate?” Marcus prompted.

She held her hand over the phone. “It’s him.”

“Ask him where Sophie is.”

“Where’s my niece?” Kate heard the desperation in her voice as she asked the question.

“We know Chad is dead. If you want to see Sophie alive, be on the second level of the Eiffel Tower with the diamonds tomorrow at noon. Come alone. No games. It’s the same deal we had with Chad. Otherwise, I can guarantee you’ll never see her alive again.”

“You need to buy time, Kate,” Marcus said.

“Wait...I’ll get them for you, but...it’s going to take me time.”

There was a long pause on the line. “You’ve got until noon on Friday.”

Marcus’s hand brushed across her shoulder. That still gave them less than forty-eight hours. They would simply have to find a way to make it work. “Tell them we need a photo. Proof that she’s okay.”

Kate swallowed hard. “We need proof of life.”

“We’ll send you a photo.”

The line went dead.

Kate cradled the phone between her hands. A week ago, she’d gone with Rachel and Sophie to the party store to plan Sophie’s fifth birthday. They’d picked plates and napkins to go with the princess theme. Kate had gone back later and bought the tiara Sophie had fallen in love with. It was still sitting in Kate’s front room, in a pink-and-white gift bag with sparkly tissue paper.

Keep her safe, God. Please. I don’t know what else to do. Don’t know what will happen if Mom and I lose both of them.

Her phone beeped. Kate clicked on the message. The photo opened. Sophie sat cross-legged on a small wooden chair, her expression serious. She held Lily, her one-eyed bunny, in one hand. In the other, she held a newspaper. Kate zoomed in on the paper. June 14. Today’s date. She felt her lungs exhale. Sophie was alive...for now. And they had less than forty-eight hours to find the diamonds and ensure she stayed alive.