Page 4 of Captive

“You know Bohdan has you on his hit list,” Jennings said. “The crazy bastard will have everyone from his own men to Isis searching for you.”

“Then I suggest you get your director at MI6 to send you far away to some deserted island so that they won’t find you until I get rid of Bohdan. As soon as I reach Rome, I’ll notify your chief I told you to go undercover.”

“Yeah, sure.” Jennings paused. “You mean it?”

“I mean it,” he said flatly. “You won’t hear from me after I hang up, but that might not help with Bohdan. He was the general’s second in command, and he was lusting to take over the entire business. Now that I’ve eliminated his competition, he’ll think he has to prove himself all over again. He’ll be on the hunt, and he’ll track you down because you’ll be one of his only leads to me. The stakes on this job were too enormous. Bohdan bragged that no one could take down the general as long as he was in charge of his mercenaries. You know he was damn good at that. Any threat and they ended up like Zeller. That’s why he has to make an example of me.” His lips twisted. “So if Zeller also told him about you, then you’ll be on his list, too. He’ll be going after you. If you’re stupid enough to stick around and try to obey orders and do your duty to save me, you’ll be disappointed. Just get out of here. I don’t need you. You’ll be in my way.” He paused. “Take care of yourself.”

“We will. Who needs you? I’ll report back to the director that you completed your mission when I get back to London.”

“Send him a text from that desert island I mentioned. Good luck, Jennings.” He cut the connection and took off through the woods in the opposite direction from the airport. It would take him about thirty minutes to reach Kelly’s cabin, where he could steal a vehicle that he could use to get to the border. Unless the borders had already been closed, then he’d find another way. There was always another route if one failed. But it might be close, and he had to be very sure to cover his bases. Bohdan was the crazy bastard Jennings had called him, and he knew that the hunt would already be on. He’d prefer not to be cornered here where Bohdan had a virtual army to call on. Better to set up the conflict on his own turf.

But first make sure both his valuable assets and that turf were absolutely protected.

He reached for his phone and quickly dialed.

“Speak of the devil,” MacDuff said when he answered the call. “I was just talking about you earlier today with Jane. But it’s really not too interesting having discussions about you with her. She persists in defending you whether or not she really believes you’re innocent of all the things we’ve all heard about you. Perhaps she feels sorry for you? What do you think?”

“I think that emotion doesn’t enter into our relationship, and you’re trying to find a way to annoy me,” Caleb said. “How is she?”

“Well, she started a new sketch that I’m trying to buy from her. It’s extraordinary. Different…Why don’t you ask her yourself how she is?”

“I will. I just wanted to make sure that you hadn’t bored her so badly she’d decided to run back to London.”

“She’s never bored here. Shebelongshere.”

“That’s what you’ve kept telling her since you first met her, when you showed her that portrait of Fiona. She does love it at MacDuff’s Run, but she belongs where she wants to belong. And it’s always been with Eve and Joe. Not with me, not with you. So stop pushing her, MacDuff. I don’t want her bolting on you.”

MacDuff was silent. “Bolting? Is that why you called me?” He paused. “I wonder why. Is there something wrong?”

“Possibly. Not at the moment, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to check if there are any signs of disturbance on the horizon.”

MacDuff muttered a curse. “And warn me that you didn’t want Jane to go on the run? What the hell are you up to, Caleb?”

“Letting you take care of Jane when I should be the one to do it,” Caleb said roughly. “It’s safer for her if I don’t go anywhere near her for the time being. Though I was hoping that I’d have this problem completely eliminated before it would have a chance of touching her.”

“What problem?” MacDuff asked. “And, dammit, she’llknowabout it. We both know that Jane has instincts that are super sharp. Why is it safer for her?”

Caleb paused. “Because MI6 convinced me that I should rid the world of General Niko Rozkor before he could give the orders to have his mercenaries butcher the opposition party in Savgard who have been trying to boot him out of power. He couldn’t be touched by the courts or local government. They were all on his payroll.”

“I’ve heard of the bastard. And you did it?”

“Yes, how could I resist? It was a challenge. I have a dislike for butchers. He’d set himself up as dictator and has already had Bohdan, his second in command, start drafting the young boys in the village to serve in his army. I agreed with MI6 that it was time to put a stop to it.”

“But you still think they’ll be coming after you?”

“Probably. Bohdan is a narcissistic bastard and I made him look bad. I didn’t have the chance to take him out at the same time I went after the general. But he’s not stupid, and I don’t want to take any chances that he might find out about Jane and zero in on her instead. I’ll get MI6 to keep an eye on your property and she should be perfectly safe there with you, but it wouldn’t hurt if you arranged for additional security.”

“Of course,” MacDuff said curtly. “I won’t let anything happen to her. But if you’re calling on MI6, you’re more worried than I thought.” He paused. “And I can’t believe you’re leaving this entirely in my hands.”

“I didn’t say that. I only said it was better if I wasn’t seen anywhere near her. I don’t want anyone to believe she has any importance to me.”

“Then you definitely shouldn’t be seen with her,” MacDuff said sourly. “You’re fairly transparent.”

“Am I? That’s not the usual impression I give. Perhaps only to old and perceptive friends. I have to hang up now. Goodbye, MacDuff.”

“What do you want me to tell Jane?”

“Nothing. I’ll talk to her myself. I’m just in a bit of a hurry right now.”

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