‘Autumn, is something wrong?’ Alison’s voice called from the cell phone.
‘No, I’m just… a little upset. I mean, he was a good friend. He has a wife and—’
‘We’ll have to get Janey to find you someone new. Perhaps it’s time we spoke to Simon Cowell,’ Alison suggested.
Autumn dropped her head onto Nathan’s arm and closed her eyes. This was impossible. She just couldn’t do it.
‘Foreign Secretary, it’s Nathan Regan. Autumn and I were wondering if you were still here, in the US. We’d like to meet for dinner tonight.’
‘I’m still not sure I like the way you’re keeping my daughter from me,’ came the retort.
‘I apologize if I was a little overprotective at the party last night, but I think the attempted kidnapping proved I was right to be cautious about who has information about Autumn’s location.’
‘And what is this dinner meant to achieve? You aren’t still expecting me to believe you two are having a relationship? I have no idea why you would want people to think that was the case. It’s very bad PR for Autumn. Before all this kidnapping business came up, I was trying very hard with the Crown Prince of Dubai,’ Alison stated.
‘Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. I’d like to start again and… Autumn misses you. She’d like to see you,’ Nathan concluded.
Autumn shook her head at him and ground her teeth together. Right now, all thoughts of what she wanted to do when she next saw Janey were insignificant in comparison to how she felt about her mother. She wasn’t convinced that Nathan giving her a handgun was a good move.
‘Fine. Where?’
‘The Ricardo,’ Nathan informed her.
‘The Ricardo?’
‘You’re staying there, aren’t you?’
‘Well—’
‘I’ll reserve a table at eight. See you then,’ Nathan said then ended the call.
*
The Ricardo. The very name of the hotel sent a shiver down her back. That was where everything had changed just last night. She’d attacked Juan, she’d sang and lied to a whole room full of people. Then someone had tried to kidnap her right outside. One of her closest confidantes—no matter how lame that sounded—had been killed.
‘I can’t go there… that place. Not there,’ she told him.
‘What?’
‘I can’t go back there.’
‘Why?’
‘Why? I can’t believe you would ask that question. Where would you like me to start?’ she spat at him.
‘It’s just a venue. Your mother’s staying there. We know the layout. It’s easy.’
‘It isn’t just a venue! It’s where my friend got shot, got murdered, and only last night.’
‘Shit, Autumn, if I never visited a place where someone I knew had been shot, I’d run out of venues.’
‘But that’s you. Not me. That’s what you do. This is still alien to me, and I want it to stay that way,’ Autumn raved.
She felt lightheaded at just the thought of even being near that hotel again. She was counting in her head, the words almost forming on her lips. She bit back the urge.
‘It can’t stay that way though, can it? Whether you like it or not, you’ve been put right slap-bang in the fucking middle of it!’
He was getting frustrated with her again. The volume of his voice had raised several bars, and the tone was full of annoyance. She seemed to be able to get under his skin quite easily, without particularly trying too hard.
‘Listen, I know how you feel,’ Nathan spoke, ‘but if this is going to work, if we’re going to make her pay, you’re going to have to have a civilized dinner with her. I want to get information from her about my people. At the moment, she might be the only person who can give that to me.’
Both of them heard the front door slam, and, instinctively, Nathan reached for his weapon and shielded Autumn by stepping in front of her.
‘I’ve been to the market!’ Tawanda called as she burst into the room, a basket hanging from each arm.
Nathan dropped his gun and it crashed back down on the cabinet. Autumn let out the breath she’d been holding, hurried toward Tawanda, and immediately took one of the baskets.
Tawanda noticed the look on both their faces. ‘Did you think I was someone else? Has something happened?’ she asked.
‘No, I was just being cautious,’ Nathan responded.
‘You didn’t get any fish, did you? I can’t eat it,’ Autumn said as she carried a basket over to the kitchen countertop.
‘I didn’t get fish, child, but it was calling to me! Fresh off the boat,’ Tawanda informed with thick enthusiasm. ‘I got beef to stew and fresh yams. This store in the town has amazing produce, all grown in the backyard.’
‘Autumn and I are going out to dinner tonight with Foreign Secretary Raine,’ Nathan told her.
Tawanda looked across at Nathan, her brow furrowed in confusion as if taking time to digest what he’d said. ‘I thought you tell me they say to—’ Tawanda began.
‘I can’t do what they say, Tawanda. It isn’t fucking moral. This woman aids and abets terrorist activity. She put her own fucking daughter up for sale and got someone else killed in the process. I can’t let that go.’
Autumn kept quiet and watched their exchange. Nathan bubbled with supercharged emotion. He couldn’t keep still. He picked his gun back up and locked and released the safety catch in rhythm. One… two… three… four… five.
‘Mr Nathan, you need to retain your professionalism. This cannot be about anything that has gone before,’ Tawanda told him.
Nathan stared straight at Tawanda. ‘It isn’t about what’s gone before.’
‘No? Because if this is about revenge, Mr Nathan, then you are in the wrong place.’
Nathan shook his head, as if to physically remove a memory that was lodged in it. What had gone on before? Did Autumn really want to know?
‘Sometimes there are
