Rob stood and pulled a flip phone from his pocket, handing it to Nora. “Burner phone. Call your boy Benny.”
“Why would I do that?”
Rob narrowed his eyes. His cold tone surprised Nora. “Because you have no choice, Nora. I am going to see my wife and kids and we will have our happily ever after, to use your words. And you’re going to help me so you can get back to your happy life with Sophie.”
She dialed the phone.
“On speaker,” Rob said.
Benny’s voice came through the little device. “Who’s this?”
Nora kept her voice normal. “Mr. Smooth, it’s Ms. Rough, can you hear me okay?”
“Five by five,” Benny said.
“Hey, I just wanted to tell you and Laslo that Sophie and I are fine but we’re going to be on a little trip for a bit. We’ll get a message to you as to where we are and you can come pick us up. But I need you to stand down on the investigation until then, capisce?”
“How long you think it’ll be?”
“Two days, tops.”
“So no more trying to track Rob down, shit like that?”
“Correct. Stand down. Really important, okay? Laslo too.”
“Okay. Weird, but I’ll do what you say.”
“Thanks Mr. Smooth. Bye.” Nora clapped the phone shut and handed it back to Rob.
“Okay, good,” Rob said. “I really hope he listens to you. But even if he doesn’t, they’ll never find this place.”
Nora sighed heavily. “Sophie needs to eat, Rob. She has to have dinner.”
“Sure,” he answered. “That’s fine. I have lots of food. How about some pasta with sauce, maybe some peas, and apple slices.”
“Fine,” Nora answered. “Let’s make enough for us, too, because I’m hungry.”
“I’m going to need you in the bunker while I fix it.”
“Really? So I’m going to run away into the woods and leave my daughter? Or I’m going to overpower you? Come on.”
Rob paused for a moment before saying, “Okay, but if you try anything, I’m going to have to lock you down there.”
He gestured toward the back wall. “Sit there in the corner while I cook. Then we’ll eat downstairs when it’s ready.”
“Sure,” Nora said, trying to keep her voice level. She slid a wood dining chair into the corner.
Rob opened a drawer and clumped quickly toward her. “Let me have your wrist,” he ordered, producing handcuffs. Nora raised her hand and Rob manacled her to a cupboard handle. With his prisoner secure, he began moving about the kitchen preparing the food.
“You know I don’t care if you get away, right?” Nora said. “I only care about Sophie. I don’t care about Saugatuck’s money or reputation. I’m glad you’ve done good with a lot of the money. I’m glad you can walk again. I also hope you’ll be happy in Van-whatever with your wife and kids.”
“Vanuatu. It’s so beautiful, Nora. I know it can never happen, but I truly wish you and Sophie could visit us and see it.”
“Uh, sure. Anyway, I’d love to hear about your wife and kids—which is amazing, by the way.”
Rob tilted his head as if considering the prospect. “I really can’t tell if you mean that, but I’d like to tell you about it anyway.” Then he began talking as he turned to the stove.
“Julie was a nurse at Walter Reed. I met her when I was in bad shape, physically. She helped me through all that, and then I put her through hell when I got hooked on the pills and lost it mentally. That stuff in Helen’s files about how messed up I was after I left the hospital was all true. I was a case and a half, and Julie carried it all.”
“So she was never your ex?”
“Not officially, although we were estranged for a long while. My addiction and PTSD pushed her away. But when I quit using and got counseling and started to get my shit together, she came back. Julie helped me get my upper body strong and helped me learn to live a productive life in a wheelchair. We started the charity together and then I figured out how to get more money for that and it was a very slippery slope from there to where we find ourselves now.”
He pulled a knife from a drawer and began cutting apples as he talked. “We both knew we had to get away from all this—a clean break. Like I told you, when I decided to use the data center to make big money, we also knew the risk of being caught increased. So we made our escape plan and she moved to Vanuatu and set up our life there, and thank God for Zoom. We spent as much time together as we could on my client visits—which, by the way, is how I originally learned of Vanuatu.”
Rob looked up and smiled at Nora. “My visits were ‘productive,’ as they say. We have two boys, almost three and nine months.”
“Can I ask their names?”
“Sure,” Rob said. “Osman is the oldest—good, strong Turkish name. Irwin is the little guy, after her dad. Wouldn’t be my pick, but relationships are about compromise, right?”
Nora smiled and nodded. “They sure are.”
Rob turned back to the stove but kept talking. “I love those little boys more than I can describe. People who’ve never been parents can’t understand what those little ones mean to us, how we would do anything for them, to protect them. I know you feel that way about Sophie and you’ve done a great job.”
Nora managed to feign good humor. “Yeah,” she said with a smile, “right up to the point where she’s locked in a bunker at some desperate criminal’s hideout.”
“Hey,” Rob replied, turning to face her, “nothing about this situation is a reflection on you as a parent. That little girl is not going to be harmed by this. Two days of TV and video games is all this is.”
“I hope so,” Nora said sharply, before adding in a gentle voice, “You do know that both Sophie and I actually care about you, right?”
“I know that,” Rob said. “I wouldn’t do this if I had any other choice. But I don’t.”
He poured the cooked pasta into a colander in the sink, speaking through the steam. “I’ve done some stuff I wish I hadn’t, Nora. But I’ve also done a lot of good for people who needed me, both on the battlefield and here at home. I’m nowhere near a perfect guy and I’m so, so sorry for what I had to do to Helen. And to you.”
He kept talking as he turned to the stove to stir the peas. “But there are no uncomplicated people. And when it came down to it, Helen was not a good person, Nora. If she had shown the tiniest bit of empathy, things would have gone down differently. Anyway, I can’t relive the past. But I can keep my promises to the wonderful woman who helped me find life again and literally gave life to our two little boys, who aren’t to blame for any of the mistakes I’ve made.”
Nora studied him as he moved around the kitchen. Despite the limp, he was an imposing figure. And a highly trained one, she thought. It can’t be about tackling him. I’ve got to connect.
“How about a glass of wine?” she asked. “I can drink with one hand shackled. And I’m sure you have good wine here, even in your hideout.”
“I do, I do,” Rob said, as a slow smile came to his face. “You know me too well. And I suppose a glass wouldn’t hurt. I’m off in the morning and there isn’t a lot of Willamette Valley pinot noir in Vanuatu. Although I gotta say they have all the good New Zealand stuff.”
He opened a weathered-looking kitchen cabinet to reveal a wine refrigerator, retrieving and opening a screw-top bottle. “I know this hurts the cork business in Portugal,” he said, examining the cap, “but it works.” He poured glasses, handing one to Nora.
“To you,” Rob said, raising his glass. “I faked a lot of stuff, but my admiration for you was real. Still is. I realize our association ends tonight, but I’m better for having known you.”
“Back at you,” Nora said, lifting her glass. “I’ll miss you, your wit, and your kindness, especially to my little girl.”
Rob took a drink of wine and sighed, before walking to Nora and unlocking the handcuffs. “I’m sorry I did that. Just need to be sure I get to my family. You gotta understand that.”
“I do,” Nora said quietly, rubbing her wrist. “Let’s get Sophie her food. I promise not to attack you with the peas.”