Page 41 of His Brother's Wife
Jackson grinned. “Speaking of which …”
He grabbed the remote control and on the flat screen, the video of Inca being stabbed played. Ama gave a cry of distress.
“I’ve watched this over and over again, just enjoying the terror and pain on her beautiful face. The way the knife slides into her belly like butter. The way the blood blooms across her dress.”
Jackson looked back at Ama, who was trembling uncontrollably. His eyes were cold and dead, and now Ama saw the madness within. “I wish I had ordered the men I sent to kill Penny to film it too. I didn’t even think about it until I ordered the hit on Inca.”
He was insane. A monster. A …Ama didn’t have the words for it. But inside her mind, one thought began to fester.He is insane …use that. Use it to get Selima released. Use it to save your own life if you can…
Ama knew what she had to do now. She had to push all her feelings aside and allow Jackson to do what he wanted …even it meant the worst kind of violation. If it meant getting him to trust her, she would take that risk.
God, Enda, I’m sorry …I’m trying to fight my way back to you.
Please forgive me.
Enda had not found anything in the rubble of his father’s home. He’d contacted the forensics team, who had let him examine what little was left of his father and brother’s possessions. There were some old photographs, badly burned and warped, a few old letters that Macaulay had written to Olivier and Jackson’s mother, receipts, and bills. But there was nothing else. No clues.
Frustrated, he drove into his office. The police knew to find him there, and at least he could coordinate the search from there.
Raffaelo called him just after midday. “Guess what?”
“Tell me.”
“We’re coming to the States.”
Enda was astonished. “Inca’s well enough?”
Raff hesitated, then sighed. “Not really, but she is insistent. There’s a surgeon over there who might be able to fix some of the scarring. Between us, I think Inca’s using that as an excuse. She knows I couldn’t say no to her. She is much stronger now and she’s not hooked up to any machinery. I negotiated a nurse to come with us, but yes, we’re coming to America.”
Enda sat down with a bump. “Selfishly, Raff, I can’t wait to see you all, but do you really think this is a good idea?”
“Inca and I …we want to be there for you, Enda. You are my brother, and we can’t see you hurting like this.”
Enda was so touched he couldn’t speak. Raff laughed softly. “We’ll be there tomorrow, Enda. Stay strong.”
The next day, Enda drove out to the airport to meet their private jet. Inca smiled at him, but he was shocked at how thin and pale she was. Raff hugged him tightly. “We’re all together now …we will find Ama, I swear it.”
Enda insisted that Raff, Inca, and Inca’s nurse, a sweet woman in her fifties called Giovanna, or ‘Vanni,’ as Inca already called her, stay with him. “Don’t be fooled by that gorgeous face,” Inca had warned Enda, as Giovanni giggled, “She rules me with a rod of iron.”
Enda marveled again at Inca’s ability to draw people to her, even when she was obviously still in a lot of pain. Raff looked older, saddened, and wrecked by what had happened, but Enda watched him rallying, trying to hide his misery.
When Enda got Raff on his own later, Raff admitted he was shattered. “I just feel so damn helpless. Is the answer really locking Inca up in an ivory tower to keep her safe?”
“God, I’m so sorry, Raff. If it’s any consolation, I feel exactly the same, man.”
Raff nodded. “Of course. Sorry. Look, take me through what you’ve found out already.”
They poured over the maps of California. “We think he planned this down to the most minute detail; wherever his compound is, it is deeply hidden. The places the police and my team have searched all had roads leading to them. Wherever Jackson is, it’s out in the wilds somewhere.”
Enda gave a short laugh, running his hands through his dark hair. “I’ve spent days just on Google Earth, just trying to figure outsomething.We’re going to have to extend the search, I think.”
Raff nodded. “We need new teams, then. People who aren’t jaded from searching.”
“I agree. And we need to do this in a grid pattern, I think. However much it costs.”
“Money isn’t an object. You know that. Let’s just get them home.”
Ama woke up, her limbs stiff. She felt a hand on her arm and skittered away from it in alarm.
