: Chapter 29

Lia

Across the table from me in a busy café, Lincoln blew steam from his coffee, closing his eyes for a second. “So let me get this straight. You tracked down Adrienne, and she gave you Stephen’s details. He was then shifty as anything and you suspect him.”

I sipped my latte. “I do. Except I can’t work out why he’d do it. What was in it for him?”

I focused on remembering the call, and a memory hit me. “There’s another part of the conversation that was kind of weird. He told me not to take my problems to Dad, then said something like, ‘Let him do God’s work.’ I didn’t think anything of it at the time, because I was so focused on working things out with Max.”

Lincoln considered me and tilted his head. “God’s work?” Then his eyes widened. “Okay, this is going to sound a little crazy, but do you know of the connection between Stephen and Felix? I heard about it from chats between the hired help, but it’s odd.”

He’d mentioned this before, but I hadn’t asked. I shook my head in the negative, and he continued.

“Stephen came to work for your dad directly after he finished university. Your dad actually funded his degree by way of a charity he set up.”

Dad was involved with several charities, so this wasn’t all that surprising. “I guess that makes sense. He was always interested in giving back.”

“Sure, but when it came time for Stephen to move on to his fancy new job, the next assistant came via the exact same route.”

“You mean Felix?”

“Bingo, and I mean the exact same route. They are the same nationality, same age, and came from the same small town in Austria. When I’d just started working for you and was hyperaware of everything going on around me, I paid a lot of attention to them. This was when Stephen was leaving and handing over all his notes. They freaked me out, to be honest. It wasn’t so bad when just one of them was around, but the two together unnerved me. Like they were a hive mind, moving and thinking the same.”

I placed my mug down, the world somehow tightening around me. The transfer from Stephen to Felix had happened when I was still unwell, but both men were so similar in how they spoke and what they did, it hadn’t felt like a significant shift in our household

I puzzled this over, talking through my thoughts. “Maybe Dad spent time in that town, and that’s why the local teenagers knew of his opportunities. It might explain why they were so similar.”

Lincoln ran his teeth over his lip. “That makes sense. But the connection has to go deeper if he’s then pulling those individuals into his employment.”

I cast my mind back to when Stephen had joined us. I was probably ten years old, so if he’d done three or four years at university prior to that, we were talking about Dad being in Austria maybe fourteen years ago.

Then I took a shocked rush of breath. “I think I might have something. Someone sent me a series of anonymous texts. Events that happened, like hostage incidents that had come off okay. I’m sure one of them was Austria. I took it as someone trying to tell me how important dad’s job was. Like I didn’t know that.”

I scrambled for my phone.

“What, you think Stephen and Felix were saved by your dad?” Lincoln said slowly.

I found my phone, silenced because I wanted to have this conversation without Dad interrupting me, but before I could look at the screen, Linc nudged me.

“There’s a woman looking at you. Wait, she’s coming over.”

I lifted my gaze to the woman approaching. Instantly, I recognised her.

“Lia?” She moved in, arm out ready for a hug.

“Sara, it’s great to see you again.” I hugged her in return, my heart beating harder.

Sara had worked at the hotel Dad and I had lived at during our stay in Inverness two years ago. She and I had gotten friendly, but she was also the person who Max claimed had told off his brother for having sex with me.

The witness to that act.

She pushed aside her sheet of blonde hair and peered between us, her smile bright. “It’s been forever. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, what with… Anyway, is this your boyfriend?”

Time was supposed to heal old wounds, but I never truly believed that. Even so, I had to move on from that event.

“This is my friend, Lincoln. My boyfriend is actually Max McRae. We’re back together.”

It felt good owning it.

Sara’s expression dropped. “Max McRae? But didn’t you—”

“Accidentally sleep with his brother. Yep. Ancient history.”

I stood firm, maintaining a neutral expression. Sara’s eyebrows had risen almost to her hairline.

“That’s great.” She blew out a breath. “I always did think you made an amazing couple. If you’re ever in town, look me up. Got to go.”

She turned and threaded her way through the tables, exiting the café with a friendly wave.

Lincoln watched her go and then swung an amused and mock-outraged expression my way. “You did the big bad with who now? I’m away for a matter of weeks and all hell has broken loose.”

Warm, I waved him away, returning my attention to my phone and the mystery of my father’s assistants. “Don’t even ask.”

But my embarrassment was short-lived. Multiple messages and missed calls filled my screen. Cait, Max, and others had all tried to reach me.

“Something’s wrong,” I managed.

Then I opened the first of the messages, and my heart seized.

Max: Evie has been taken by your father. Ripped from my sister’s arms. Where are ye?

Max: Are ye with them? Please answer me.

Cait: I’m so sorry. It all happened so fast. Please forgive me.

Dad: I’ve arrived and will see you shortly. We need to talk.

With frozen muscles, I staggered forward, pressing a hand to the table to keep myself upright. Nausea and panic rose in equal parts.

“Oh my God, what’s the matter?” Lincoln uttered.

Over the years, my father had been terrified that one day I might be kidnapped, a revenge attack by someone he’d wronged. That concern had applied to my daughter, too. Surely he couldn’t be behind this.

“Evie’s been taken,” I managed.

Then I ran.

All I knew right now was my little girl was missing, and I had to find her.