AllFreeNovel
Share Us
What?
It’s as though I tripped into a cavernous hole in the ground. There’s so much noise as it swallows me, but I can’t make sense of anything because it’s all muffled sound.
I finger the angel wings in my pocket—that I took with me, just in case. The one tie I wasn’t willing to sever.
“He’s stalking you,” my father continues, “and I have every reason to believe he means to do you harm.”
Stalking me? No. It makes absolutely no sense. “I don’t understand.”
“He contacted me, looking for you when you wouldn’t answer his calls. When I wouldn’t give him any information, he said he’d find you. He sounded unhinged, Lexie. Completely unhinged. We’ve secured a hangar at the airport, and we’re clearing the area before you deplane. It’s not London, and the French are not proving as amenable as I’d hoped. But it won’t be too much longer before you land.”
“Dad, Rafael wouldn’t hurt me.” I don’t believe it for a single second.
“He commandeered a satellite from a foreign government, Lexie. There’s no telling what he might do. A few extra minutes on the plane isn’t going to hurt you.”
“Let me talk to him. Maybe I can help.”
“No!” he roars. “Do not contact him. It took some effort, but we managed to scramble the satellite signal transmitting him information about your location. If you call him, he’ll be able to track you again.”
This is—surreal.
“The plane will land and taxi to a secure location surrounded by guards. After you deplane, Brendon Symes will get you to safety. I have to go, sweetheart.”
With that, he disconnects the call before I can ask anything more.
“Stalkers are big problems,” Ivy explains, like I might not know this. “Especially men. No one presents the kind of danger they do.”
Rafael isn’t a stalker. He’s too arrogant and proud to chase a woman who walked away.
The argument we had before he left was contentious, but if he had wanted to do me harm, he would have done it then, with tempers flaring. Could something have happened in the interim to make the situation worse between him and Valentina? Maybe. It still doesn’t make sense that he would commandeer a satellite to track me down and punish me.
I pull up the email from Rafael that I’ve been ignoring. I have information about the traffickers. It’s a matter of life and death. Contact me as soon as you get this.
The traffickers. I knew it. They struck again. It’s my fault.
I read the message again and again. It seems rational and sane—properly punctuated, no shouty capitals. Although I suppose it could be a ploy to get me to contact him. But I just don’t see it.
Anya sticks her head in the conference room, looking as washed out as I feel. “We’re about to land. You can remain here, but please fasten your seat belts.”
“Not here,” Ivy says brusquely, jumping to her feet. “I need you seated in the center of the main cabin when we land. It’s protocol under these circumstances.”
My skin prickles as I stand. Rafael unhinged. I think about how angry he was when we were in the kitchen at the apartment. I guess that could be considered unhinged. What if they shoot him? An icy shiver runs up my spine.
I turn to Ivy. “Is there a shoot order on Rafael Huntsman?”
She peers into my eyes. “He poses a serious danger to you.”
Ivy doesn’t confirm my fear, yet she told me everything I need to know. It has to be my father’s doing, because a shoot order on someone like Rafael had to have come from the very top. He’s the only one who can call it off.
What if it’s a kill order? Oh my God.
“I need to talk to my father again before I go to the main cabin.”
“There’s no time,” she cautions. “We’re in landing mode, and there won’t be a signal anyway.”
My mouth is bone-dry and my hands are shaking. I’m not worried for my own safety, but Rafael—I need to warn him. But how? Right now, I can’t even send an email, and even when I can, I’m sure my communications are being monitored. He won’t get it, certainly not in time.
8
