Page 68 of Degrees of Acceptance
“Why don’t we get situated and visit until everyone arrives. Bring your wine with you,” Carlos says, guiding us through the living area into another spacious sitting area and then into what has to be the largest dining room I have ever seen. I look up and down the expanse of the sleek, shiny black table with enough chairs to seat twenty guests. Chase and I follow him to the head of the table, and he gestures to the chair on his right for me and waves Chase to take the seat next to that. Carlos greets each member of the family as they arrive, shaking hands with them one by one. When everyone is situated, he sits at the end of the table and only then does everyone else take their seat. He fastens a small device and clips it to his collar, and likewise, everyone in the room does the same thing. I look down and notice that Chase and I do not have what appear to be microphones.
“I appreciate everyone’s attendance this evening. I know a few of you were out of the country, and it means a great deal to me that you traveled back to be with the family tonight. As you may have noticed, we have guests this evening. Chase Prestian is the son of Don Prestian, who you all know is a dear and close friend of mine. And this lovely lady is Katarina and more importantly, she is my daughter,” he says, and his eyes are full of pride.
There are audible muffled gasps, and I feel embarrassed at the eyes turned my way.
”As most of you know, my wife Karissa, Katarina’s mother, disappeared twenty-six years ago. Many of you were by my side, helping to search for her and were there to comfort me when at last the effort seemed futile. I will never forget that kindness. Karissa left because I was dishonest with her, leading her to believe she was marrying a fine upstanding businessman. Upon discovering the truth, and terrified, she fled this way of life and soon learned of her pregnancy. She feared returning would put her and her unborn child in danger.
“She worried, and still fears she will not be welcomed back. Her concern gravely distresses me. She and I have recently had many conversations about this, and I have assured her that as my wife, she will be welcomed with open arms by anyone in my family. It is clear there was never any intent to harm the family as she has kept her knowledge of the family business safeguarded all of these years. Please speak now if anyone at the table is unable to fully support this,” he says, scanning the length of the table… completely in control. “Now, I need to know if anyone here already knew about my wife and daughter?” he asks again, looking at each face down the expanse of the table. “My wife was deathly afraid that she or Katarina would be in harm’s way if her identity were learned. I convinced her to come out of hiding and meet with me; however, she disappeared before the meeting could occur. We are investigating every lead thus far, but I need to make sure that no one in this family was in any way, shape or form involved with Karissa’s disappearance.” There is shaking of heads all the way down the table signaling no involvement from any of the family. “Good, then I need to ask everyone to assist us as we work to find her. Lastly, if you would be so kind to take turns introducing yourselves to my daughter I would greatly appreciate it,” he says.
They are in the process of sharing their names and where they live when Chase looks down at his vibrating phone, which is on silent. He stands abruptly to take the call and taps Carlos on the shoulder. “It’s Karissa’s number,” he says, answering the phone immediately.
“Karissa,” Chase says, listening intently to the voice on the other line. “I’ll be waiting,” he says after a short while.
“Chase what happened?” I ask, and everyone has stopped and is openly staring at us.
“Do you want me to discuss this here?” Chase asks Carlos.
“Yes, my family was not involved in her disappearance. I have their word,” Carlos says, handing Chase a small microphone.
“The call I answered was Karissa’s phone. Otherwise, I would never have shown such disrespect,” he explains to the members of the family. “The caller told me Karissa would be held hostage until enough merchandise was moved through United States customs to make up for the shipment which was lost last year. I can only assume the delivery being referred to is a drug shipment that was confiscated by Interpol last year. I was in the middle of a deal with Prince Alfreita in Saudi Arabia, and he invited me to meet him on his ship. We had a meal, concluded our business and I flew back to Saudi. Shortly after that, his boat was taken over by Interpol and a lot of drugs were found in the hull. He believes I leaked information to the authorities, and this must be his way of exacting retribution,” he says, looking into my eyes.
“Did they give you any indication of when they would call back?” Carlos asks.
“No, the man on the other end of the line said that he would phone again with instructions,” Chase says.
The heavyset man with graying hair at the end of the table speaks. He has a very deep and distinct voice, and his eyes are dark and wary. “We have intel on that operation,” he says to Carlos.
“Chase and Katarina, if you will excuse us, I need to speak with the family. Maria will show you into the sitting room until I’m done,” he says, as a woman with long hair pulled into a ponytail appears to escort us into the great room.
Chase pulls me into his lap on the couch and rubs the back of my neck. “Baby, I am so sorry. We’ll get her back, Katarina. We’re a step ahead now, we know who we are dealing with. I’m going to need to talk to Carlos when he gets done. There are going to be things about this mission that you may not want to know anything about, Baby,” he says.
“Do whatever it takes to get my mom back, Chase. I promise I won’t think any less of you or Carlos,” I say, resting against his chest.
“We’ll get her back, Baby,” he says, wiping at the steady stream of tears falling onto my cheeks and his shirt.
Carlos joins us shortly, and I move off of Chase’s lap, suddenly self-conscious under my father’s scrutiny. “Chase, we need to talk,” he says.
“I’ve told Katarina that we may be discussing things that are difficult for her to hear or comprehend, but that are necessary for getting her mom returned. She’d like to stay, Carlos. She understands the stakes here.”
Carlos looks at me for affirmation, and I nod.
“Chase, what we’re about to discuss stays in the room. I have your word?”
“You do, Carlos. What’s on your mind?” Chase says, seeming entirely at ease with my father and not the least bit intimidated.
“Members of my family are responsible for tipping the authorities off to Prince Alfreita’s shipment. I was not aware until this evening. The product was intended to undercut sales in the families’ markets. Prince Alfreita and his business associates have been blatant about trying to impair the family business and have now taken my wife hostage.
“Carlos, you realize that he does not know she is your wife. He thinks he is getting back at me by holding my girlfriend’s mom hostage until payment for his loss is collected,” Chase says.
“I do realize that Chase, but it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to me. He has systematically been trying to drive my family out of the overseas territory for quite some time and now the bastard’s got Karissa. He’s passed the line of no return, Chase.”
“I understand your feelings, Carlos. We’ll get her back,” Chase says.
“My understanding is that your security detail and intel capabilities far surpass those of our own and even the military. I’m not quite sure how you’ve pulled that off, but we could sure use ears on the ground, Chase.”
“You can be assured intel, and anything else you need is at your disposal. I’ve already sent word to Jay. He’s tracking the call from Karissa’s phone, but my guess is that it may have been too short to learn anything substantial,” Chase says.
CHAPTER TWELVE
