Page 76 of Fortress of the King

My eyes go wide. Not at the 5k but his admission. “You think you can find her and yet I haven’t even told you anything about her or the situation.”

He sits back in his chair and smirks. “None of those details matter. I find people who don’t want to be found, it’s what I do. There isn’t a stone in this city that I can’t get under, behind or over, so the logistics aren’t for you to worry about. That’s my job.”

I go to get the envelope out of my bag. I had to withdraw most of my savings, and I’ll have to sell the earrings Angelo gave me to pay the rest until my divorce settlement comes through. My hands shake even though I feel strangely at ease with this man. He doesn’t even look shady.

He shakes his head slightly. “Not now. When we part, I’ll take the cash out of your purse without anyone seeing.”

“Okay.” I nod.

He gives me a level gaze. “So, where do we begin?”

I give him the details, starting with her name, address, cell number, where she works, and then where I believe they snatched her from. All the while, I try not to fidget and act nervous, though my heart is racing so fast that I’m almost certain he can hear it.

He doesn’t even jot it down.

I take a couple of deeper breaths then he asks, “Have the kidnappers given you a ransom amount and a timeframe?”

“It’s not quite that kind of situation,” I say, clutching my glass vigorously.

“Okay, so explain that to me. What do they want?”

Obviously, I need to tell him I’m being bribed, I get that. But I can’t tell him everything. I still have to be careful. Everyone knows Angelo Medici.Everyone.He could be in his pocket, too, for all I know.

I clear my throat. “They wanted me to get information from a certain person of interest to them. A work colleague…” Seems plausible. “And in exchange for the extraction of information and intel on him, they said they’d let her go.”

I’m not telling him where I work.This is going to be fine.

He nods. “Who is this person?”

I close my eyes. “I can’t tell you that.”

He frowns. “Without a name, I’m flying blind here, Jessica.”

Shit.

“They’re high profile. I can’t tell you right at this moment who he is. Maybe in time when I get my head around it and am able to…” I pause.What have I really got to lose here?“Trust you,” I add.

“You’re not making life very easy, but I understand if they’re high profile and you want to protect yourself.”

I almost sag in relief. “Uh, they are wealthy and affluent, and I’ll be frank – I don’t know who I can trust, so I’ll give you the basics first.”I’ve gotta lie better.

He nods in approval. “What have they asked you to get so far?”

“Just the colleague’s schedule, diary entries, appointments, this person’s general day-to-day activities and where they go, where they’ll be this week – those kinds of things. It’s not like they’ve asked me to bust into the safe and steal the crown jewels or anything.”

He frowns. “Forgive me for saying, but it seems a little extreme that they’d kidnap your sister and then hold her to ransom for some information on a work colleague. This will make things exceedingly difficult if I don’t know all the logistics.”

I swallow hard.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Mr. Russo, but I can’t give you any more information without incriminating myself further. All the details I’ve given you are what I know so far. My sister’s captor telephones me once a week for an update from an untraceable number, and I email my findings to a no-reply email.”

“I’ll need a copy of that email address and your phone records. Have you spoken to your sister at all in this time?”

I nod. “Once, but only for a few seconds.”

He looks slightly relieved.

I watch him carefully. “I need to know…”

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