Page 92 of Elusive Promise

"It's down the hall on the right," Anika told him.

"I'll be right back," he said, hearing Parisa ask a question about Westley as he left the room.

They hadn't discussed what they'd do when they got inside the consulate beyond finding a way to get whatever information they could. Now that he'd made his move, Parisa would keep Anika and Kenisha distracted.

As he made his way down the hall, his memory of the layout of the consulate came in handy. There were two doors leading into the living room: one from this hallway, and one from the front foyer.

He paused by the bathroom, glancing around. There was no one in the hall, no one paying attention to what he was doing, so he moved closer to the living room door, which was partially ajar.

From his limited view, he could see Westley and his father Phillip, Agent Wolfe, Mr. Bhatt, the NYPD detective who'd been at the hospital with Parisa the first night, and the older man she'd spoken to at the party, Vincent Rowland. Maybe it was a good thing they'd been sent to the smaller sitting room. Vincent didn't need to know Parisa was here.

"Just do exactly as we've practiced," Damon told Westley. "No deviations. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Westley said tersely. "I've got it. We've gone over it a hundred times. I don't hand over anything until I see Jasmine. But I'm afraid they're going to realize there are cops all over the place and not show themselves."

"We already have people in place," Damon said. "They've been there for over two hours. When the kidnappers get there, they won't see anyone new arriving on the scene."

"I hope that's true."

"This will work," Vincent reassured Westley. "The bureau knows how to run this."

"That better be true. I can't even think about what Jasmine has been going through the past few days."

"Don't think about it," Damon advised. "Stay focused on what you need to do."

Hearing footsteps, Jared quickly backed away from the door and dashed across the hall into the bathroom. He heard heels clicking down the marble floor and peeked out to see Anika walking toward the kitchen. This might be the perfect time to get a moment alone with her, ask her what she was doing with Westley the day before.

When he entered the kitchen, he saw a male chef at the stove and a woman chopping vegetables.Where had Anika gone?Had she simply headed toward the back stairs?

Then he felt the rustle of a breeze and realized the door to the basement was open.

His heart jumped against his chest. He knew better than anyone what was in that basement—a way out of the consulate.Why would Anika be leaving her family now?

"Can I help you?" the woman who'd been handling the vegetables asked.

"I was just looking for some water," he said, improvising a cough.

She reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottled water.

"Thanks," he said, as she handed it to him. He made his way quickly back to the salon.

Parisa gave him a speculative look. Kenisha was on the phone. He motioned for Parisa to get up.

She moved across the room, and he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "We need to go—now."

A dozen questions filled her gaze, but she simply nodded. They walked down the hall and out the front door. Neither of the guards seemed interested in their departure, and the law enforcement personnel were still in the living room.

Once they were out of sight, they jogged the rest of the way to the car.

"Where are we going?" Parisa asked, as he fired the engine and pulled into the street.

"To the end of the tunnel," he replied, turning quickly at the next corner. "I'm pretty sure Anika is using it to get out of the house unseen."

"She said she was going upstairs to make some calls."

"She didn't. She went down to the basement."

Parisa grabbed at the door handle as he sped around the next corner, and then he slowed down as he saw Anika walking toward a small silver Prius by the park. She had a duffel bag over her shoulder now, and his pulse leapt once more.

---