Page 134 of Rescuing You

Please, please answer…

By the fourth ring, he was losing hope. And then, “Did it work? The script? I never heard⁠—”

“Sorry. It’s been…” Indescribable. “It worked. I need another favor.”

“Of course you do.” Her tone—sardonic, slightly sarcastic—might make him smile under different circumstances.

“I have a list of phone numbers. I need to know if any of them are on the island of Lesvos. In Greece.”

“You have the weirdest requests.” She was probably waiting for him to explain, or at least laugh. But he didn’t have it in him. After a pause, she said, “Go ahead.”

He read off the top ten phone numbers.

The messages were in Arabic and would take some time to translate. He doubted they’d texted their current whereabouts or plan, so he’d leave the translating to others.

When he was finished, Alyssa said, “I’ll get back to you.”

“It’s important.”

“Isn’t it always with you?”

She wasn’t wrong, but he needed her to understand. “It’s about the woman I love. She’s been taken.”

“Oh.” All humor gone. “Five minutes.” She clicked off.

He set the phone down.

“Who was that?” The way Bryan was looking at him, Michael worried he’d recognized her voice.

Alyssa liked to keep her extracurricular activities private.

“Doesn’t matter.” He pulled up a map of Lesvos, zooming in on Mytilene. There were only two ways off this island, by air and by sea. According to his search, this was the only airport. “You guys didn’t happen to see any other private jets hanging around, did you?”

“No,” Derrick said. “But one is expected soon. That’s why they had me move when I told them we had engine trouble.”

“Any idea who’s landing?”

“They didn’t say.”

Didn’t matter. Even if Shehab and his cohorts had come by air, they’d have landed long before Derrick and Bryan.

“I could take a look around,” Bryan suggested. “See if there are any other private jets nearby.”

“No, don’t do that.” Waleed, if he had left a plane, would also have left the pilot, who could be armed.

Leila thought Michael and Derrick looked alike, and surely she’d say the same about himself and Bryan. He wasn’t going to do anything to put his brothers on Shehab’s radar.

“I’m gonna need a car. Could one of you rent one?” He reached for his pack. “My wallet’s⁠—”

“I’ll put it on your bill.” Derrick stood and headed for the exit.

He didn’t even want to think about the size of that bill. And it was only going to get larger. “Thanks, bro.”

Derrick disappeared down the steps.

Michael’s phone rang, and he snatched it up. “Well?”

“Three are on Lesvos,” Alyssa said, “all at the same place. Texting you the location.”