Chapter Fifteen

When Alyson stepped back into the salon, Renee was feeding Olivia and Viviana was on the phone. The older woman smiled after ending the call. “I had to do some fast talking and a touch of begging, but I convinced Alex to push your reservation time back two hours. I’ll send my son a quick confirmation text.” As she told Alyson this, her fingers were texting a message to Niko. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could use a glass of wine to settle my nerves. I’m sure I have a nice bottle of red.” She took a few steps and then halted. “I hate his job. It’s turning my hair gray.”

“How many times has your son gone out that door leaving you to worry?”

Viviana turned, a tear sliding down her cheek. “I worry every time. A mother worries. Especially when her son is trained to be a seeker, a menace to the evils of the world…and a cold-blooded killer. I did not raise him to be that kind of person. The goodness and malevolence often war within his soul. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Alyson sat on the sofa next to Renee and ran a finger across the baby’s cheek. Olivia stopped sucking and gave a milky-wet smile. Her heart broke open into the sunshine of love.

“She’s so beautiful.” She looked into Renee’s kind face. “I hope I didn’t upset your maman.”

“She’ll be okay. Maman was always the strength of this family. We all worry about Niko.” Renee burped the baby.

Alyson leaned her head back, recalling Viviana’s words. Yes, Niko was a killer. She saw him murder an evil man who tried to run them down. Yet sometimes he displayed such tenderness.

Niko’s mother came back carrying a tray of wine and cheese. She set it on the square glass coffee table. “We’ll relax with our wine for a few minutes while Renee gets my sweet grandchild to go to sleep. Then we’ll show you the presents Niko bought you. He gave me very explicit instructions.” She extended a glass of wine to Alyson and then served Renee and herself.

“What made him go into this line of work? He told me he studied computers at Carnegie-Mellon.” She took a sip of the Merlot. “Why this dangerous occupation? Why not something safe?”

“That’s a very sad story, my dear, but one you need to know to understand what drives my son to seek out and destroy these atrocious terrorists. He was at Carnegie-Mellon sharing a dormitory room with three other young men. One of them was two years further along in his studies than my Niko. When that young man graduated, he secured a financial job in New York City in one of the twin towers.”

“No. Don’t tell me…” Visions of the crumbling towers replayed in her mind. One of the worst days in American history; one every citizen alive at that time would recall with great sadness and anger.

Viviana nodded and expelled an audible sigh. “All four young men were very close. Niko brought them here one year for Bastille Day, France’s version of your Fourth of July. Claude and I enjoyed having them. Bright young men, funny and so sweet.” She shook her head. “We couldn’t believe it when Niko called, devastated over the news. A month later, we received more devastating news. My Claude had cancer. Niko, who was already a mess from losing a close friend in such a horrific way, dropped out of college. He came home to help take care of Claude.

“They were so close, those two. Always discussing current events. Solving the ills of the world. Niko shared with his papa his plans to go into the army. His papa, thinking he was promoting a safer profession, talked him into applying for a position with Interpol. Because of my son’s education and his skill with computers, they were happy to have him. We had no clue what they’d slowly turn him into.”

Alyson sipped her wine, enjoying the coziness of this room and these ladies. “You mentioned Hae-Won earlier. May I ask who she was?”

“She was the first woman Niko loved.” Viviana made a face and looked away for a beat. “A mother longs for her son to find a good woman, a woman who will make him happy.”

“Hae-Won didn’t make him happy?”

Renee snorted and the baby whimpered in response. “She was too intent on having her own way. She was two-faced. Around Niko she treated Maman fine, but if he was not here, she was rude and demanding.”

“Now, be nice, darling. One does not speak ill of the dead.” Viviana reached for a slice of cheese. “She hounded him about his job, which I must confess I do as well, but she hounded him in a cruel way. Belittled him until he began to doubt himself. Their relationship was doomed. While we French are quite open-minded to the cultural differences in nationalities and religions, her parents in Korea were not.”

“How did she die?”

“Hae-Won was a photographer.” Viviana sipped her wine.

“A very ambitious photographer,” Renee interjected, rocking Olivia and patting her bottom. “Yet she condemned Niko for his devotion to his job.”

“There was a very tense situation in Iran. She traveled there to get some pictures for the associated press and was captured by The Red Hand.”

An uncomfortable awareness crept in. The Red Hand? So the terrorists who were after her were the ones who killed Niko’s fiancée? Was his drive to capture them driven out of concern for her safety or out of revenge for the woman he loved? This new information bothered her greatly. Bothered and saddened her.

“The poor girl was tortured during the ten days The Red Hand held her captive. Niko and Jean-Luc went to Iran to try to locate and rescue her. They had some good intelligence concerning her whereabouts.” Viviana tucked an errant strand of hair back into her chignon. “It took them two days to realize she had been moved. Unmanned spy planes…what do they call them again, Renee?”

“Drones, Maman.”

“Yes, drones. Thank you. Drones using body heat technology located what was supposed to be five humans in a deserted house on the outskirts of Tabriz, in northwest Iran. Niko and Jean-Claude rented a car and drove there. The whole affair still makes me angry. These two supposedly intelligent men rushed into harm’s way with no backup.”

“Niko wasn’t thinking things through, was he? All he cared about was getting Hae-Won.” Jealousy and sadness gripped Alyson’s heart.

Viviana heaved a great sigh and nodded. “Everything that could go wrong went wrong. My Niko was shot in the leg. Jean-Luc was wounded in the shoulder while he attempted to drag my son to the car. Just as they neared it, the terrorists used a…a…” She snapped her fingers.

Renee was changing her daughter’s diaper. “Bazooka.”

“Thank you. The terrorists used a bazooka to blow up their car. Shrapnel further wounded Niko and Jean-Luc.” A huge tear forged its way down Viviana’s cheek. “They were lucky they survived. They hid behind some trees and bushes before they found shelter in an abandoned warehouse. His friend nursed him through the fevers of infection until American Special Forces rescued them.” She shook her head. “It was a nightmare for us. For three long days we did not know where he was or if he were alive.”

“How awful.” Niko shot, wounded by shrapnel and on the run. She couldn’t conceive the fear he and his friend felt.

“In the helicopter on the way to an airplane carrier, Interpol ordered Niko home for treatment, thank God. For awhile we feared he would lose his leg. Two weeks later, he found out The Red Hand killed Hae-Won. Unconfirmed rumors claimed she was decapitated.”

Alyson closed her eyes as if to block out the vision. “How horrible. How utterly horrible!” What deep emotional pain Niko must have suffered when he heard the devastating news. No wonder he was so protective of her; he didn’t want another woman to die like that.

“Yes, it was horrible. By the time Niko was informed of her death, she was cremated and her ashes spread on Korean soil.” Viviana set her wineglass on the table. “My son lost all will to live.” She swiped at a falling tear and reached for a tissue. “A deadness moved into his eyes and darkness occupied his soul. He refused to eat, talk, continue with therapy. I knew I would have to take charge or I would lose him.” She wiped her nose and dabbed at her tear-moistened eyes. “A mother does this, you know.”

“What did you do?”

“What Maman does best.” Renee rocked Olivia. “She pushed and yelled and insisted he come back to the land of the living. She can be very convincing. Olivia is finally asleep. Let’s show Aly her things.”

Viviana’s face brightened and she stood. “Yes. Come, Aly. I have your things on my bed. Everything is just as Niko ordered. I am so happy he has found a good Italian woman.”

“What he’s found is an American woman. A woman who’s only here for a few days.” Alyson followed the women down the hall. Too many thoughts swirled through her mind. Niko lost the woman he loved to The Red Hand. Now that organization was after her. No wonder he was hell-bent on destroying them. Maybe he was transferring his feelings for Hae-Won to her. Maybe he really didn’t care for Aly. What if she gave her heart to yet another man who couldn’t love her?

Spread out over the gold satin bedspread in Viviana’s chamber was the black dress from the window of that boutique on Boulevard Saint Michel—Cote dé Cote. One single long-stemmed red rose lay across it. One of the leopard print heels she coveted at Minelli’s yesterday was artfully displayed atop the opened shoe box. “Why…why would he do this for me?” She picked up the stiletto and stroked the pink satin lining. Tears flowed. Emotions warred. She had no clue if she cried over his thoughtfulness or over his love for Hae-Won.

“Oh, I think I hear my cell. I’ll be right back.” Renee hurried to answer her phone.

“I saw sadness come into your eyes when I told you about Hae-Won. His feelings for you are true. They are no longer for Hae-Won. He was extremely upset when you disappeared.” Viviana squeezed Alyson’s shoulders. “My dear, he is falling in love with you. I saw how he hugged you when he found out about his coworker, his past paramour. She was not right for him, either, but you…you are perfect for my son.”

Renee stepped back into the room. “That was Marcel. He caught the earlier train back from Nice. If it’s okay with you, the baby and I will leave now. He’s been gone for two days.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Go. Go to your husband. Aly and I will be fine here alone.”

“Aly, how nice it was to meet you. I want to see you again. Often.” Renee breezed kisses off her cheeks and then turned to her mother. “Maman, take pictures of her in her new outfit and e-mail them. Okay?”

“Okay.” Viviana planted a kiss on Olivia’s sleeping head. “See you soon. I love you both.”

A few minutes after Renee and the baby left, the front door opened again. “Who can that be?” Viviana asked.

“Maman?” Footsteps sounded in the hall.

“Renee? Did you forget something?” Viviana and Alyson stepped out of the bedroom and froze. Two masked gunmen held guns on Renee.

“Renee!” gasped Viviana. She made a couple steps in Renee’s direction but halted when the larger of the two black-clothed gunmen pointed his semi-automatic weapon at her. Both wore black ski masks with eyes visible through the openings.

The one sleeve of Renee’s cream blouse was ripped at the shoulder. Her cheek was bleeding where she’d been struck, but what reached out and punched Alyson was the terror on her face. No wonder. The smallest of the two gunmen held baby Olivia. Cold fear gripped Alyson’s lungs, making it almost impossible to breathe.

“If you want to see this baby walk, give us the American.” The smallest one held a revolver to little Olivia’s head. Renee was wild eyed. She quaked with terror. Words of begging and beseeching tumbled from her lips.

“Give the mother her child back and I’m all yours.” Alyson had no compunction about saving little Olivia’s life. The child deserved to live. When she was within three steps of the gunmen, she stopped. “Give Renee the child.”

“You’re in no position to negotiate.” Olivia began to squirm and fret in the shorter gunman’s arms. Renee extended trembling hands toward her baby.

Alyson took a deep breath and feigned bravery. “You gain nothing by killing the child.”

Dark eyes in the ski mask studied her.

She was afraid to breathe. Dear God, please don’t let anything happen to Olivia.

Finally, the crying child was deposited into her mother’s arms. Both Renee and Viviana dissolved into tears. Alyson turned to Viviana. “Take the baby into the bedroom and the three of you stay there. Go now!”

The smallest one, who Alyson suspected was a female, shoved Alyson back against the wall, pressing the barrel of a black revolver to her throat. “You do not get to give orders!” The barrel’s cold steel singed seeds of resolve in her system. After all she endured these last few days, she’d be damned if she’d let fear get a stranglehold on her thoughts. Plan. She needed a plan.

Alyson turned her attention to the women and the child. She nodded at them, willing them to follow her command. Somehow, The Red Hand had discovered where she was again. They came for her. Although she was trapped, she’d do her best to make sure Niko’s family remained safe before the terrorists took her away.

Once the three were in the bedroom, Alyson pushed away from the wall. “Let’s go.” She glared at the larger of the two gunmen with her best school teacher scowl. “Show some manners. Open the door.” When he complied, she stormed through, her fists clenched.

She would not show them fear. Damn them. They’d have to hustle to keep up. Before they killed her, she wanted to remove herself from Niko’s home. A handprint of her blood would not mar this place, not if she could prevent it.

She bolted down the steps.

With every step, she made decisions.

“Stop or we’ll shoot!”

Alyson turned and took note of her captors. She imagined she had them off guard. They were probably used to their captives cowering and begging. She’d do neither. She had no doubt they’d kill her, but she’d die on her terms.

“I’m not running away. You just need to keep up.” She turned and continued down the steps. She was an American and a woman—and neither gave up without a fight.