Page 7 of Belgian Betrayal

Could they possibly link her to the former SAS Scotsman?

She called the number she hadn’t called in months, a plan forming in her head.

When he answered, all the emotions of losing him and her parents rushed up and choked off the air to her vocal cords.

“Catya?” His sexy Scottish brogue flowed over her like warm syrup, filling all the cold, empty places in her life, if only for a moment. “Catya? Are you all right?”

“Oh, Fearghas.” She swallowed hard on the lump in her throat. “My parents... They’re dead.” Her voice caught on a sob.

“Where are you?” he demanded. “I’m coming.”

“No.” She shook her head, though he couldn’t see her. “You can’t come. I called to warn you. They might come for you next.”

“Catya, breathe,” he said softly. “Tell me what’s happening. Slowly.”

She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The oxygen helped to steady her. “You have to leave wherever you are now. Go into hiding until I figure out who’s behind this.”

“Why are they doing this?” Fearghas asked. “What do they want?”

“A disk,” she said. “They want me to deliver it in forty-eight hours.”

“Where are you making the exchange?”

“Bruges, Belgium,” she said. “Only one problem.”

“Just one?” Fearghas asked gently.

She gave a short bark of laughter without humor. “I don’t have it.”

“Who does?” he asked.

“Peter Atkins,” she answered.

“Then don’t go,” Fearghas said.

Her jaw hardened. “I have to. They killed my parents. I need to know who they are. They must pay for what they did.”

“You can’t do it alone,” Fearghas insisted.

The video of her parents’ murders replayed in her mind. Catya’s fists clenched. “I can and will.” Before he could say anything else, she hurried on. “My phone has been compromised. You won’t be able to reach me at this number. Get out of Athens.”

“I’m not in Athens,” he said. “I’m in Amman.”

“Then get out of Amman,” she said. “They probably know where you are. They found my parents.” She gulped hard on a sob and continued in a whisper, “You must hide.”

“No way,” Fearghas said. “I’ll see ya in Bruges.”

“No. They’ll kill you like they killed my parents. Don’t come.”

“I’m coming. Like it or not,” he stated firmly.

She wouldn’t dissuade him once he’d made up his mind. If he got to Bruges before she did, he’d die. “Fine. Then meet me in Amsterdam. We’ll travel together to Bruges once we have the disk.”

“It’s a big city. How will I find you?” Fearghas asked.

“Show up on the MX3D bridge in the red-light district at eight o’clock this evening. I’ll find you. Wear a disguise. I don’t know how many people are involved or are following me.”

“I’ll be fine, lass,” he said softly.

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