Page 36 of The Forgotten Wife

He gritted his teeth against the mocking inner voice. In this he knew she was right, but they hadn’t lost everything that made their relationship work—he refused to believe that.Her trust in him might be non-existent, but her uninhibited physical response just now had proven the sexual side of their relationship remained white-hot. She’d all but melted in his arms on the terrace. His body leapt again in remembrance of her hitched cries and seeking hands. She’d been right there with him until the last moment when she’d accused him of using her to scratch an itch. Yes, he had an itch all right—oneshe’dcaused.

Well, it was time to bring things to a head. He smiled grimly at the crude analogy. Tomorrow, he would meet with Richard Francis and find out what the hell he wanted and what he knew about Nawaka and Charles Mwana. If he could shed light on Mwana’s whereabouts, all the better.

Once that was out of the way, he and Belle would revisit tonight’s conversation. And he fully intended them to revisit other things, too.

Because the cold showers had stopped working; hell, they’d been less than effective in the first place. Even the swimathons he’d punished himself with the past couple of nights no longer did the job. He found himself waking up in the middle of the night to a raging boner and an empty bed, and he was slowly losing his mind.

He released a harsh sigh and started unbuttoning his shirt.

The distinct ring of his cell phone stopped him.

“Andreakos,” he announced himself, irritation coating his voice.

“John Allen here, sir.”

“Do you have anything new for me?” he rasped.

“Yes. We’ve picked up a trail here in South Africa.

Unfortunately it’s to a private airport.”

Adrenaline surged through his veins. “So we know where he’s headed?”

“That’s the thing. He didn’t just charter one plane. He chartered five, each one with a different destination. And noneof the officials at the charter company have been able to give us an accurate description of who boarded what plane.”

Nick bit back a curse. “Dammit, isn’t finding people what you do for a living? Isn’t this what you’resupposedlybest at? You’ve had five days to find him. How could he have slipped out of your fingers so easily?”

“We weren’t anticipating?—”

“No, you weren’t. Where are the flights headed?”

“Hong Kong, Venezuela, Ghana, Tel Aviv, and Turkey.”

“He won’t be on the Turkey flight,” Nick said with a certainty born of instinct. “He’ll expect us to home in on that one because it’s the closest to Greece. Don’t rule it out completely, but I want you to concentrate on the other flights, especially the ones to Tel Aviv and Venezuela—there could be political or drug connections there we’ve overlooked. I’ll look into it from this end, too.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you need more manpower?”

Allen hesitated. “That would help, if?—“

“Do it. Hire as many men as you need to. You told me one of his soldiers said Mwana seemed fixated on my wife?”

“Yes, the soldier overheard him say he intended to have her, whether you paid the ransom or not. Mwana kept her separate from the rest of the hostages and spent hours talking to her. He… he may have shared things with her.” “What things?” Nick snapped.

“This is just second-hand of course, sir. But the soldier mentioned they spoke of his plans for Nawaka, how he intended to seize power.”

“Jesus!” Nick’s rage threatened to spill over. He also wanted to storm back to the villa and demand Belle tell him exactly what she’d been playing at. He forced himself to breathe in the tangy salt air. “Mr. Allen, do you understand why it’s imperativehe’s found as quickly as possible? Before this madman attempts anything that’ll further put my wife’s safety in jeopardy?” “Sure I do, sir, but?—”

“No. I don’t want to hearbuts. Hire as many bodies as you need. But find him, do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Nick ended the call, then breathed deeply when he realized his hands were shaking. “Damn it!”

He hated handing over Belle’s safety to someone else, but there was no way he could go after Mwana himself when Belle needed him here.

He’d known in his gut that the rebel leader was dangerous. To have it confirmed took things to a whole new level. If Mwana had shared his plans with Belle, then he’d done so in the certainty— delusional, granted— of Belle being around to help him see them through.

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