Page 50 of A Princess, Stolen
I glanced from one to the other, my gaze lingering on Nathan as Isaac continued. “You’re lucky you made it through the storm unscathed. To be honest, it caught us all off guard. The forecast hadn’t predicted such a severe hurricane. But nothing happened to you. You’re truly a lucky child, aren’t you? You’re lucky with everything in your life: your dad and his billions, and your doll face. It’s as if Fortuna had poured out her cornucopia just for you. It’s just that things went a little wrong with your mom.” My fingers grasped the phone like they had on Staten Island when I’d stood alone on the side of the road. I couldn’t say anything, but I didn’t need to because Isaac continued. “I have good news and bad news for you today. Which do you want to hear first?”
Even though I was staring at Nathan and he was standing close to me, his face was nothing more than a blur. “None,” I said, trying to sound dismissive.
Isaac laughed, amused. “I’ll start with the bad. That makes more psychological sense and we want you to hold on a little longer.” There was a dramatic pause as if he wanted to increase my fear to an immeasurable level. “Are you still listening, little lady?”
“Yes.” In my mind, he seemed like a psychopath, strong and cold with the merciless features of a colonel who tortured prisoners of war with a sick passion. “I’m afraid you’ll be our guest longer than we estimated,” he finally said.
“What?” With difficulty, I struggled to suppress the gag reflex so that the canned peaches and bread didn’t come up.
“Nine days have passed and your beloved daddy is not prepared to give in to our demands.”
I felt myself paling. “That…that can’t be,” I stammered. My mind suddenly went blank.
“He asked for…wait…how did he put it…time to think.”
It felt as if Isaac had punched me in the stomach with both fists. My field of vision contracted like a camera lens, red stars flickering all around. Dad asked for time to think? He hadn’t agreed to all of the demands straightaway? “That can’t be true,” I whispered, choking. “My dad would give everything for my ransom.Everything.” He had sacrificed Mom for me. I was his…everything. His day and night. I have no idea where that phrase came from.
“I think you may be overestimating your worth to him.” Isaac sounded as if every word was melting on his tongue. “And like your beloved daddy, you don’t seem to follow any rules. I heard you disobeyed orders.”Oh no!He knew. “One of the men in the background brought it to my attention when I was on the phone with Nathan.” I felt hot and cold, but he was already continuing,so I couldn’t think clearly. “So, now the good news, little lady. There has to be something positive to follow this shock, right?” I swallowed so hard it hurt. “Since your stay in our circle has been prolonged and Nathan doesn’t seem to have the situation properly under control, I will take care of you personally and come aboard earlier than planned.” I stood there frozen in shock. “That way we’ll get to know each other and I can get a good idea of the situation. And you. Now if that isn’t good news…”
It was the most horrible news ever and he knew it. Some baser instinct of his seemed to take fiendish joy in tyrannizing me, and I didn’t want to imagine what he would do to me once he arrived.
In my mind, I saw the room where he had pinned newspaper articles of me and Dad to the walls like a serial killer, meticulously collecting facts about me… Then I remembered that this room was only in my imagination, even if Isaac seemed to be obsessed with me in some sick way.
“Are you still there, Willa Nevaeh Rae? And this time I want an answer.”
“Yes,” I tried to say more firmly than I felt and failed. “I’m still here.”
“Good. Because now you’re going to tell Nathan and the others that your father is refusing to comply with our demands.”
“What?”
“I want to hear it from you. Remember, something could still happen to your father at any time.”
Strangely, I thought about John F. Kennedy, who had been shot in the street. Clearly, security guards and cameras were no match for a lunatic’s obsession. I now realized that there was no way to protect anyone against men like Isaac. And it wasn’t just Isaac’s words that scared me, but above all, the vibration in them. The coldness. The hatred in all this familiarity.
I glanced at Nathan. His gaze was on me, full of concern. I was so glad that he hadn’t told Isaac about the blindfold. “What’s going on?” he asked softly.
“I have a message for you from Isaac.” I blinked. “My father…he’s not agreed to your demands. Isaac has received no commitment from him.”
Nathan’s face went stony, looking like a figure in Madame Tussaud’s wax museum for a few seconds before he grabbed the phone from me, pointed at me, and said urgently, “You stay right here.”
My mind still couldn’t piece together the truth, and for several heartbeats, I was in a period of stasis. Dad refused to meet the demands. Why? He had billions. I would have given my life for his. Even if he thought he could solve things better through the intelligence service or private action, he didn’t know if his refusal was putting my life at risk. And he didn’t even know how they were treating me. He couldn’t know if they were torturing me, beating me, or abusing me. He had also received the photos in which I was blindfolded with my hands bound, hadn’t he?
Or was Dad simply unable to meet the demands? No, Isaac had made it clear that he was not ready…
For a few seconds, I stared up at the sky, insanely hoping to see a special task force, but all I saw was a salmon-colored veil over the almost sunken sun. Nathan had walked a few yards away and was obviously talking to Isaac while the others had taken me into their midst. Just like days ago when I had taken off the blindfold. Sparta’s eyes glowed like those of a panther at night. Only now did I see how gaunt, almost emaciated, he truly was as if he had been starving for a long time and now wanted to devour me for dinner.
Taurus crossed his arms in dismissiveness across his chest as did Ilias, who was still standing a little hunched over next to Pan. And Troy wouldn’t look at me.
I understood. My value here on board had suddenly shifted. Now there was another feeling inside me. Shame. Because I wasn’t worth anything to Dad. And now they all knew that too.I’m not worth anything to Dad!
With tears in my eyes, I glanced down at the deck. Isaac would come on board; I had seen for myself how close we were to the mainland. Maybe he would tie me up again and have me blindfolded so that I wouldn’t see him. And maybe he would do other terrible things to me.
“Willa.” My name spoken by Nathan made me look up again. “What did Isaac say to you?” He had taken a position in the circle between Pan and Troy.
“You know.” I couldn’t really tell him the dark premonition that came over me when I thought about this mastermind on land. Besides, he knew Isaac better than I did and had to know what made him tick. “My dad doesn’t want to pay.” I sounded bitter. “How much are you demanding?”
Nathan was silent as if he didn’t know if he should tell me.
