Farah!
He’d been giving her a clue.
That both relieved and infuriated Jacquie and she walked more quickly. Pierce had anticipated his own disappearance and had tried to warn her about it.
But why had he gone at all?
Pierce was hustled straight out the back of the restaurant and into the alley behind. There were two of them, both younger and bigger than he was, or he might have fought them. They were dressed in black and wearing sunglasses at night. The more compelling argument was that he could feel the nose of a gun against his back.
The same black limo was waiting, the engine idling. Pierce’s heart sank when the window was rolled down and Rodrigo smiled at him from the shadows of the back seat. The man he’d known as the head of security for the royal family had once been handsome, but had gained weight in his less active managerial role. His smile still looked as if it didn’t belong on his face, and his dark eyes still glittered with menace. “Perhaps we could offer you a ride, Pierce,” he said, his voice faintly accented and very familiar.
“I’m right where I want to be, thanks.” Pierce said this, even though he knew that Rodrigo never took no for an answer. Farah might have learned that trait from him.
Rodrigo shook his head. “I’m afraid I must insist.”
One pushed the gun into Pierce’s ribs. The other reached around him and opened the car door. His smile wasn’t particularly encouraging.
Pierce calculated for a split second, but then accepted the inevitable. It would be better to resolve this now. He got into the limo, sliding onto the bench seat opposite Rodrigo, as he knew was expected. He remembered only now how much he disliked riding backwards. The one thug who had opened the door got in beside him. The other one went around the car, opened the door and sat on Pierce’s other side, barricading him from the doors. It was like being wedged between two refrigerators.
Rodrigo made a gesture and the limo moved out of the alley, pulling into traffic. Pierce winced that they were moving, then heard the door locks engage. Rodrigo waved a finger at the thugs and Pierce was quickly divested of his phone and searched for weapons. The phone disappeared into a compartment in the back seat on Rodrigo’s left. On Rodrigo’s right, there was a small bar.
“Coffee?” that man asked, as if Pierce was his guest and not his prisoner. “Water?”
“Thanks, but no. I won’t be here long enough to enjoy it.”
Rodrigo lit a cigar. “I believe you’re mistaken, Pierce. We need your help.” He exhaled and blue smoke drifted in the air between them.
“I’m not available. I told Farah that last night.” Pierce realized that the car had turned onto Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive and was headed north. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
“This is kidnapping.”
“This is recruitment,” Rodrigo corrected. “It’s a small job, Pierce, an assignment that only you can fulfill with your particular skills. Think of it as a favor for an old friend.”
“I’m thinking of it as an imposition, actually. I’m not interested.”
“Not even in securing Farah’s safety?”
“I can’t imagine that’s possible. She’s too impulsive.”
“But she listens to you.”
“You’re wrong about that.”
“I hope you’re the one who is mistaken, Pierce. Her mother and I need your help.”
“I’ve declined.”
“I’m feeling persuasive.”
Pierce watched the city slide away. Farah had said she was living in Boston. They couldn’t be driving there.
He couldn’t leave Jacquie at the restaurant.
“I have plans tonight,” he said. “You’ll have to speak quickly.”
“Your plans have just been cancelled.”
“Then I’ll have to let the other party know what’s happened.”
Rodrigo shook his head and tapped the ash from his cigar into an ashtray. “I’ll make you a deal, Pierce. You help me and I’ll help you.”
“You can just let me out of the car and you won’t have to help me.”
“Sadly, that’s not an option. I’m in a predicament. You will help me.” Rodrigo nodded. “And in exchange, I will ensure that the pretty lady you met for dinner knows that you’ve been unavoidably detained. I’ll also pay the bill. You’ll have to dine together another time.”
Pierce bristled that he’d been watched for longer than he realized. His game was slipping—but then, he wasn’t supposed to be playing the game any longer. He realized with sudden vehemence that there was a lot he didn’t miss about his former life.
Maybe this was his chance to get out of the game forever.
He leaned forward, feeling his guards bristle as he held Rodrigo’s gaze, counting out his conditions on his fingers. “I will help you, if this is the very last time, if you let me make one call, if I’m back in Manhattan in twenty-four hours, and if you pay me a certain sum.” He didn’t need the money but he knew that Rodrigo believed money solved everything. If he hadn’t given a number, his suggestion would have no chance of acceptance. He named the number.
Rodrigo smoked, watching him. “You have very specific expectations, Pierce.”
“I thought that was what you liked about me.”
Rodrigo chuckled. “Forty-eight hours, no phone call, and I’ll transfer half of the money on deposit now.”
“I just vanished. She has to know why.”
“How unlike you to have personal commitments, Pierce.” Rodrigo tapped the ash from the cigar into an ashtray. “I think your situation isn’t the lady’s business.”
“But it is her concern. She’ll call the police. That would be inconvenient for you.”
Rodrigo’s gaze flicked to meet Pierce’s. “She’ll be told something but not the truth.” He arched a brow, then offered a hand. “The truth is out of the question, as I’m sure you understand.”
Pierce recognized that his options were limited, because Rodrigo had planned it that way. “The last time,” he insisted.
Rodrigo nodded. “We will miss your services.”
“And I’m not going to that wedding.”
The older man shook his head. “I need you to coordinate her security for the event and ideally locate a
