Page 28 of Belgian Betrayal

Catya glanced at the bed where she and Fearghas had made love hours earlier. Sure, she had doubts about letting him, but she had no regrets.

Moments later, Atkins ducked through the low door and entered her sanctuary.

Catya held her breath, waiting for Fearghas to follow and give the all-clear.

Several moments passed, making Catya tense. She started for the door.

Fearghas bent and passed through, pulling the heavy wooden door closed behind him. He twisted the lock with its thick metal bolt into place.

Once they were all inside, Catya turned to Atkins and held out her hand. “I’ll take that disk.”

The man dug into his pocket and pulled out his hand. He uncurled his fingers, revealing a thin square disk the size of an American nickel.

When she reached out to take it, he closed his fingers and retracted his hand. “This disk represents my only chance of getting Madison back. You can have it as long as you promise to help me get my daughter back alive.”

Catya’s eyes narrowed. “I promise to help.”

Atkins placed the disk in her hand.

Catya studied it briefly and then slid it into her pocket. “I can’t promise you’ll get her back alive. These people are animals with no respect for the lives of innocents. I watched them murder my parents.” She swallowed the bile rising in her throat. She hadn’t had time to process her loss or grieve. She snorted softly. “I realize the irony, considering we’re all in the business of killing.”

“She’s nineteen and barely beginning her life,” Atkins said. “I’d take that disk to them in a second if I believed they’d go through with the trade and give me back my daughter unharmed.”

“But you don’t believe they’ll spare her.” Catya nodded. “Having seen what they’re capable of, I wouldn’t trust them, either.”

“How do you think we can help?” Fearghas asked as he removed his bushy gray brows and the wig Catya had talked him into wearing.

“They’ve been after both of us, which leads me to think they don’t know for certain who has the disk. If we both show up in Bruges, it could provide enough distraction to demand proof of life. Once they bring Madison out in the open, we have a chance of negotiating the trade.”

“They’ll outnumber us,” Catya said.

“And they’ll threaten to kill your daughter if you don’t hand over the disk.” Fearghas shrugged out of the sweater he’d used in his disguise and slipped his arms into his leather jacket.

Atkins’s jaw hardened. “And we can threaten to destroy the disk if they harm a single hair on Madison’s head.”

“Meeting them in Bruges exposes us to snipers and being surrounded and cut off,” Catya said. “We need a way to guarantee they won’t get trigger-happy and start shooting. What’s to keep them from killing us and taking the disk?”

Atkins fished in his hoody pocket and pulled out something the size of a baseball.

Fearghas immediately stepped between Atkins and Catya. “What the fuck?” he demanded.

Catya’s heart skipped several beats when she realized what it was. “You’ll threaten them with a grenade?”

Atkins nodded. “I show up and let them know I have the disk and a grenade with the pin pulled. If they shoot, I drop the grenade, destroying the disk. Once they release my daughter, I need you to get her safely away before I hand over the disk.”

“You think they’ll let you walk away?” Catya asked.

Atkins held her gaze for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t care what happens to me as long as Madison gets away. She doesn’t deserve to die because of me. If I’m dead, she will no longer be the target of someone trying to get to me.”

Catya couldn’t fault his thinking. She’d had similar thoughts. If she had died, rather than walking away from him, these people wouldn’t think to target Fearghas. He’d be safe to live that normal life he deserved.

“Did you ever consider how your daughter might feel about you making a martyr of yourself to save her from danger?” Fearghas asked. “Are you and your daughter close?”

Atkins nodded. “Her mother died when she was six. I raised her with the help of a nanny. She’s everything to me.”

“And she probably feels the same about you,” Fearghas said. “Shouldn’t she have a choice in your life and, in this case, your proposed death?”

Atkins frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”

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