“Come on, Jade. I know you’re in there somewhere. Wake up.” The sweet, melodic voice pulled Jade out of her pain-free slumber. The flickering lamp in the corner seemed as bright as Alaska’s midnight sun on the summer solstice. Her head throbbed, and her eyes hurt.
She felt dizzy and almost threw up when she turned toward the figure beside her.
“Good.”
Jade could hear the smile in the woman’s voice even through the ski mask she wore.
“Do you know who I am?”
Did she? Did she know anything? Jade tried to remember where she was or what she was doing lying on the wooden floor in a strange room.
The woman raised her long, elegant fingers and removed the mask. “Now do you recognize me?”
Jade knew that her body was supposed to respond, that she was supposed to feel afraid.
“I hope Gabriel wasn’t too rough with you. Was he?” A second figure, also in black, emerged from the shadowy corners, standing guard behind Lady Sapphire.
Her smile was like a snake’s. “So sorry about your head. But I assure you that you’ll be fine.”
Jade reached up to rub her skull, but Sapphire grabbed her by the wrist. “Not right now, darling. You’re lucky Gabriel didn’t crack your skull open. He’s stronger than he looks, my dear, which is saying quite a bit, isn’t it?”
She let out a mirthless chuckle.
“Now, tell me, are you going to be a good girl, or are we going to have to deal with you just like we did with Elder Keith?”
Jade blinked, begging her mental processes to speed up. This wasn’t the time to feel groggy or light-headed. She had to figure out where she was, and then she needed to escape.
“If you’re looking for Gabriel’s gun, I assure you we have no more intentions of shooting you now than we did back in that trooper’s car. Let’s cooperate, shall we? For old time’s sake.”
Jade squeezed her eyes shut as if she could will away the pain on the top of her head.
Sapphire ran the back of her fingernails up and down Jade’s arm as if she were trying to tickle her. Jade tensed her entire body.
“No need for that.” Sapphire clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “The way I see it, you owe me an apology. After all those lies you spread about my husband, did you think I was just going to forget all about you?”
Jade forced herself to sit up, surprised when neither Sapphire nor her henchman made a move to stop her.
Instead, Sapphire smiled. “That’s good. I knew you’d be feeling better soon. Once that goose egg dies down, you’ll be as good as new.”
“Where’s Dez?”
“The child?” Sapphire widened her eyes in mock surprise. “Didn’t I already tell you? She’s in the next room.”
Jade made a move to stand, but she was far too slow. Before she even got to a crouch, Gabriel had his arms wrapped around her waist and Sapphire held her finger to her lips. “Shh. The little one’s sleeping. She had quite the eventful night, I can assure you.”
Jade flung herself from one side to the other, but she couldn’t break free. “Dez!” she tried to scream before Gabriel smothered her face with his beefy palm.
“We can’t have any of that now,” Sapphire scolded. “Didn’t I just tell you she needed her sleep?”
“What did you do to her?” Jade kept her voice low to avoid getting suffocated again by Gabriel’s massive hand.
“Told her the truth.” Sapphire’s smile widened. “All of it. Imagine how surprised I was to discover the child didn’t even know who her father is.”
“God’s her father.”
Sapphire nodded patiently as if Jade were the same age as Dez. “That’s what she said. But don’t worry. She was quite happy to learn that she had a real daddy who loved her very much.”
“You won’t lay a hand on her.”
Sapphire shrugged. “Think what you will. It means nothing to me one way or the other.”
“What do you want?” Whatever game this was, Jade was sick of it. If Sapphire was telling the truth, if Dez really was sleeping in the next room, Jade just had to bide her time and wait for the chance to make her escape. Gabriel had a gun, which meant that if he wanted her or her daughter dead, they would be by now. Jade simply had to wait. Try to win as much of their trust as she could, wait for them to grow complacent, and then she’d rescue Dez.
It took all her mental stamina to keep from calling out for her daughter, but if Dez really was asleep, it was a mercy that she didn’t have to deal with this living nightmare. A nightmare that Jade would bring to an end, just as soon as she got her chance. She was bigger than Sapphire and outweighed her by at least sixty pounds. It was Gabriel she had to watch. Gabriel who had to be convinced she wasn’t a threat.
No threat at all.
She glanced at him, trying to figure out where he kept that gun.
Sapphire was standing now, walking around Jade in a wide circle. She glanced at the small window, trying to guess how much longer until the sun went back down. How long had she been unconscious?
The view was blocked by spruce trees. How far into the wilderness had Sapphire taken her?
At least her daughter was nearby. Even though Jade had no proof, she chose to believe that it was true.
The hope of seeing Dez again, the promise of a safe reunion, was all she had to give her strength.