Page 30 of Elusive Promise

"Yes. We'll do it then." She followed Anika out of the suite and past the guards, one of whom accompanied them to the elevator. "Do you normally live at the consulate, or—"

"No, I have an apartment in Midtown that I share with Jasmine. I would have gone there last night, but my mother was so distraught, and I didn't want her to be alone."

"So, the room at the consulate, where Jasmine and I were talking—that isn't her bedroom?"

"It is when she stays there. My parents have a room set aside for each of us, and we occasionally stay the night after a family dinner. Why do you ask?" Anika gave her a questioning look as they stepped onto the elevator, the guard staying close to Anika's side.

"I was just wondering how the kidnappers would have known that Jasmine would take me upstairs to that bedroom. Why would they have had reason to think she'd ever go up to the third floor?"

"I've wondered that, too," Anika admitted. "That's why I was asking you earlier why she suggested you go upstairs."

She saw something suspicious in Anika's gaze that she had to address. "If you're thinking I had anything to do with this, you'd be wrong."

"But you did survive an attack in which two men were killed and my sister was kidnapped."

She was surprised at the bluntness of Anika's statement. "I barely survived. I understand that you're looking for answers, Anika, but I like Jasmine very much and I would never hurt her."

"I want to believe that. It's just strange that she had to have a private conversation with you in the middle of her engagement party."

"I honestly think she just wanted to take a breath." Parisa paused, as they moved off the elevator, the guard walking a few steps ahead of them. "Did you tell Jasmine that I wanted to speak to her?"

"No, I didn't speak to Jasmine about you," Anika replied, pausing in the middle of the lobby. "Why do you ask?"

"She said something about how happy she'd been to learn I wanted to talk to her. And both you and Jasmine suggested that I reached out to the family for an invite, but I didn't do that, Anika. I didn't know about the engagement until I got the invitation to the party, which came through my stepfather's assistant."

Anika frowned. "My mother told me you reached out to her, saying how happy you were about Jasmine's engagement. Why would she make that up?"

"I don't know. Maybe my mother said something to her and just didn't mention it to me."

"That's probably it. My car is outside. Do you need a ride somewhere?"

"No, I'm going to walk. But can I get your number? I'd like to keep in touch."

"Of course."

She put Anika's number into her phone, noting that Anika did not ask for hers. Then she followed her out of the hotel.

Jared's vehicle was idling two cars behind a black SUV, where a man in a suit waited for Anika.

Once Anika was in the SUV, she walked over to Jared's car and slid into the passenger seat.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"We'll soon find out. Follow that car."

Seven

As the SUV left the hotel, Jared followed, staying a few cars behind. There was still a lot of traffic, so they weren't going anywhere too fast.

"Why are we following Anika?" he enquired.

"She acted oddly after getting a text. She said she's meeting with her boss, Bill Haskins, at WNN, but it felt like she was lying. I just want to make sure that's where she's really going and that the kidnappers didn't reach out to her."

He gave her a sharp, approving look. "Good call. Did you learn anything else? Was Jasmine's mother there?"

"For a bit, until she went to take a call from Elizabeth Langdon."

"Dare I ask if Ben's name came up?"

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