Page 5 of Degrees of Control
I contemplate her question. It is clear that he loves her. He has kept her portraits over his fireplace at his home in New York for all these years and helped Chase invoke a full-blown mission to find her and bring her home to me. “Mom, I just want you to be happy, and it’s clear to see how much you care about him. I’m thrilled that I have a father and in time we’ll get to know each other better,” I say, hoping that I will not always feel so suspicious, uncomfortable and awkward in his presence.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it and all I kept thinking about was the chance to see you and your dad again,” she says, wiping a single tear that has escaped and is gently running down her cheek.
The trauma of her recent kidnapping has apparently taken its toll and I feel a sense of anger at the man responsible for this. “Mom, please don’t cry. I love you, and I am thrilled that you have a second chance with Dad. It’s clear he’s as much in love with you today as he ever was,” I say. She dries her eyes and I squeeze her hand from across the table.
“Do we know what the plans are for Saturday?” I ask, diverting her attention to the family gathering being organized in New York for our engagement.
“Carlos has had a planner taking care of the details but they are planning to fly both families in for the celebration. I haven’t seen some of them since my wedding and many of them I don’t know at all.
“It’s heartwarming to see you so happy, Mom,” I say.
“Thanks, Sweetie. I couldn’t be happier, and I’m ecstatic about you and Chase. I’m looking forward to this weekend, but I don’t have a thing to wear,” she says.
“Oh, sure says the lady with two walk-in closets full of clothing,” I say.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll need to go shopping for a new dress before the weekend,” she says.
“I think you’ll probably need some help,” Carlos says, as he and Chase return, taking their seats at the table. He squeezes my mom’s shoulder and she blushes. I roll my eyes skyward and glance at Chase. He smiles, but it does not reach his eyes and his jaw is tense.
“Ladies the travel arrangements are set. We’ll fly into New York Saturday afternoon and spend the weekend with the Larussio family,” Chase says.
He glances at his phone. “Now, if you will excuse us, Katarina and I have a conference call for the Prestian Medical Facility project that we need to sign into,” he says, taking my hand. I don’t recall seeing anything on my calendar for this afternoon but follow in his stead. The door to his office is barely closed before he pulls me into his arms. He does not kiss me and it is not sexual. I look up and his eyes are tremulous. He brings his lips to my forehead and smooths my hair.
“What’s the matter, Chase?” I ask.
“Come and sit with me,” he says, pulling me to the couch along the window that overlooks the shore of Lake Michigan. I follow silently, and my mind conjures up all sorts of things at the moment.Did someone find out that he and my dad were behind the explosion in Miami?
I pop off my shoes and tuck my feet under me on the sofa in an attempt to warm myself from the chill that has set in. Chase sits on the love seat across from me and I eye him warily.What is he going to tell me?
“Katarina, I needed to speak with your dad before we talked to make him aware that I was going to fill you in on the details of what’s been planned since he is involved.” He does not give me a chance to comment. “While this is still against my better judgment, and he is in complete disagreement with me sharing this with you, I understand your need to know the truth,” he says.
I feel my heart catch.How much more is there, is it worse than what I already know?“Tell me,” I encourage, hoping he does not see through my false sense of bravado.
“You already know that Prince Alfreita is behind the kidnapping of your mom. What you don’t know is why.”
“I thought he was trying to get you to deliver a shipment to replace the one they blamed you for reporting last year.”
“That’s part of it, Katarina,” he says.
“Alfreita has been working with a member of the Brazilian cartel for some time supplying the Middle East, but the shipment confiscated last year was intended to undercut your family’s business in the United States. We don’t know who he is working for or why, but we do know, now, that the head of the Brazilian cartel is not aware of his intent to try to gain a foothold in your family’s market, only that they expect Alfreita to get the shipment he lost back and recover their losses. He received advancements for the job and did not return the money, instead he made assurances that he would get another shipment through.”
“How does he intend to do that if he no longer has my mom?” I ask.
“I’m sure that’s exactly what he’s trying to figure out right now. We need to draw him out with the opportunity to do just that. We meant to locate him the night we rescued your mom, but our plan was thwarted by a mechanical aircraft difficulty outside of Saudi. We had to turn the plane around or the crew would have never made it.” He shakes his head. “We were that close, Katarina,” he says wistfully.
“We’ve had people working around the clock to locate him, but he knows we have significant intel, so he is extremely cautious. The element of surprise when we rescued your mom no longer exists. It means we have to create it or we will be the ones surprised.”
“How do you intend to do that?” I ask.
“The only way we have right now is to create a window of opportunity. He realizes that I know who he is and that we were able to locate your mom through an extremely advanced intel system. After Miami, he must understand the Mafia is helping us and that they are aware of his plan to infiltrate the United States.” I raise my eyebrows with his reference to my father and uncles as Mafia, but let him continue.
“If he thinks this, he has two choices. They will hide or come after us first. My assumption is he will do the latter, which means we need to act fast,” he says.
“And you have a plan?” I ask.
“Yes, we do, and that’s what we need to talk about. Katarina, we need to find Alfreita fast, and we’d like to use Saturday night as that opportunity,” he says.
“What exactly would it involve?” I ask, hoping I appear relaxed and unflustered.
