Page 3 of No Way Forward

Zaid checked his gun, which was more of a routine than anything else. He kept it clean and loaded just in case he might need it. Up until now, he’d had no reason to shoot anyone. For that matter, he had never run into trouble staying by Richard Kagen’s side.

While Zaid’s job wasn’t exactly bodyguard, he might be called upon to risk his life on the older man’s behalf. He needed to be ready at all times. His primary job though was right hand man, if he had to give a name to his position. Whatever needed to be done, Zaid did it.

He stuck the gun in the holster he wore under his left arm and slipped his jacket on. After a final look in the mirror, he walked down to the mansion’s first floor and knuckled the door to the study.

“Sir?” Zaid called.

“Enter,” came the clipped command.

Zaid stuck his head in the room. Dark cherry wood met his gaze amidst a sea of law books and some other reference material. This space was Richard’s home office, the area he frequented when he was at home, claiming to be taking time off from work. That never really happened.

“I’m about to leave, sir,” Zaid told the silver-haired man at the desk. “Are you sure you don’t want to come along?”

Richard’s impatient gaze met his, and he frowned. “I told you, I’ve got too much to do here. This case isn’t going to solve itself, especially since my foolish client is guilty.”

Zaid stepped into the room. He clenched his jaw to keep from asking why Richard would defend a person he knew was guilty. It was a useless question. Richard Kagen had made a fortune as an attorney for those with money but no moral values. The harder the case, the more his hourly charge rose. To ask him why was pointless.

“There’s a chance I can’t convince her to come home.” Zaid almost laughed at the statement. He could guarantee even before he showed up at Novette’s place that she wouldn’t go along with his suggestion she visit her dad. In fact, if she knew he was coming, she would likely skip town.

Richard frowned. “You have your orders, Zaid. Bring her home. Period.”

“Yes, sir.” He rolled the tension from his shoulders. “To be clear, you’re saying I should make her if she doesn’t want to come?”

“You can try to talk her into it, but I know my daughter. She’s stubborn but also young and foolish. I don’t know how she’s been living all this time, but I imagine it’s not been easy. She won’t want to admit she misses the luxuries I’ve given her. So we’ll allow her to save face. Bring her home any way you have to do it.”

“Understood.”

Zaid started to leave the room when Richard called him back. The older man hesitated, something Richard didn’t often do. He never second-guessed his decisions or had trouble making the hard choices.

“About Novette,” Richard began. He shuffled up from his chair and walked over to the window. While he couldn’t see his boss’s face, Zaid had a good idea how the man felt. Richard’s neck flushed red. “You’ll keep your word…about what I told you?”

“Yes, sir, of course. I won’t breathe a word about it. My lips are sealed.”

Richard whirled to face him. The moment of awkwardness was gone. Steel lit his pale blue eyes. “Good because if you ever betray me, Zaid, you won’t live to regret it. No one is more important to me than Novette. Absolutely no one. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

Richard softened a fraction. “Okay, then. Bring her back to me, Zaid. Bring my daughter home.”

“Will do.”

Zaid leaned back in his seat aboard the plane. He checked the folder again with all the information on Novette. The pictures of the outside of her apartment building concerned him. The place looked rundown, far beneath the luxury she had grown up with.

He moved on to the sandwich shop where she worked, again not in the best part of town. By the look of the place, he wondered that they had customers. Dead plants in the picture window with a huge crack down one side of the glass. Someone had taped it up rather than replace it.

The sign over the door was missing a letter, and the grate, which the owner of the shop pulled down when he closed for the day, said what kind of unsavory element frequented the area. Zaid didn’t like to think Novette was unsafe, but she was tough. She could handle herself.

“Do you think we can convince her to come home, Mr. Sutherland?” the intern across from him asked.

The guy was a bit young, and according to Richard, moldable. He had a fresh face, but Richard believed he could change the kid in no time into being the kind of employee that would do whatever he was asked to do. Zaid had never argued. If anyone knew people, it was Richard.

“She’ll come home,” Zaid assured him. “But your job isn’t to convince Novette. Yours is to be quiet and learn, Jeff.”

The younger man grinned. “Maybe I’m being groomed to take your place.”

Zaid raised an eyebrow at him, and he flushed, uttering a nervous laugh.

“Just kidding. Everybody told me you’re the closest to Mr. Kagen. Ever since I watched him during the Wilson case last year, I’ve been determined to get on his team. I’m a little surprised to be sent on this trip to get his daughter. I thought I would be a part of the investigations for the current case. You know, digging up background, gathering character witnesses or something.”

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