Page 24 of His Brother's Wife
He turned to Enda, who was still trying to call Ama. “Inca was stabbed. It’s bad, Enda. It’s so bad …god … I have to go. Get to Ama,now. This is Jackson. I know it.”
Enda drove like a madman back to the villa, still unable to reach Ama on the phone. As the car screeched to a halt outside, he could see his security team in disarray, and it was only when Ama flew out of the house and into his arms, obviously healthy and apparently safe, that he could breathe again.
But Ama was hysterical, and he couldn’t understand what she was saying at first.
“Baby, calm down. Tell me. Calm down …”
“He has her, Enda …he has mysister…”
Oh god …Selima…Enda was staggered at the scope of Jackson’s revenge plan. First Inca, now Selima.
“What does he want?”
Ama looked like she was about to pass out. “Me. He told me he will kill her unless I go to him.”
“No …no …not going to happen.”
“Enda, I don’t have a choice. Do you honestly think he won’t go through with it if I don’t?”
Enda closed his eyes and thought about Inca.No …Jackson would happily kill Selima.
Just like he would, without a doubt, murder Ama the moment she went to him.
There were no happy endings here …
Ama sat on the cold tile of the bathroom floor, her head in her hands. Thankfully, the nausea that had attacked her so suddenly in the night had passed. Enda tilted her head up gently and pressed a cold flannel to her burning forehead. Her eyes were puffy from lack of sleep and crying, but Enda was concerned about the utter despair in them.
Jackson had taken Selima and had ordered a hit on Inca, who was fighting for her life in a local hospital after two of Jackson’s men had brutally stabbed her and left her for dead.
Raff’s voice on the phone had sounded like it coming from the grave. “They’re still operating …they said she’d been stabbed nine times …oh god…I thought that part of our lives was over. I don’t know if she’ll make it, Enda. I really don’t.” He sounded broken.
She’s going to die …Enda pushed the thought away.Come on, Inks …you can survive this …you must.
When he’d told Ama about Inca, just after she’d had the news that Selima was abducted, she’d collapsed, screaming and sobbing great, wrenching sobs. Enda knew she blamed herself, but now he was more concerned by her silence than her screams.
The police had told them to sit tight while they contacted Olivier, and an hour later, Olivier had called them.
“He’s obviously been planning this for months,” Olivier said, sounding as desolate as they did. “He emptied his accounts and sold most of the stuff from the house. When they went there tonight, it was on fire. It was gutted …the house is gone, man. All dad’s stuff. Enda, he’s got unlimited funds. He can hide anywhere in the world and he won’t stop until Ama’s in his grip.”
“Not going to happen,” Enda said grimly. “He’ll kill her the minute she goes to him.”
“Agreed. Look, my suggestion is to stay there. It’s too dangerous here, even though I don’t think Jackson is even in the States anymore. He’s gone underground. Someone, somewhere surely will have to see him sometime, right? I’ve already sent out a team to scour California.”
Enda sighed. “Good. I’ll do the same here. Listen, Tommaso Winter said the same thing. We need to cover the globe. He spoke to Raffaelo—you can imagine what he said.”
“How is Inca?” Olivier’s voice was soft; he loved Inca as much as the rest of them.
“Not good, brother. Not good at all. God, poor Raff.”
“What is this, now? The fourth or fifth attempt on her life? That’s way too much for any lifetime.”
Enda tried not to let the tears in his eyes fall. He pinched them shut with his fingers. “Let’s hope we can still say it was only anattemptwhen this is all over. Raff won’t survive if Inca dies.”
There was a heavy silence on the other end of the phone. “Enda …when we find Jackson,” Olivier hesitated, then sighed. “You know what I’m going to say.”
“Yes,” said Enda in a hard voice. “And to answer you …yes. I want that fucker dead. I know he’s your brother, but …”
“He’s no brother of mine,” Olivier said. “Live or die …he’s dead to me now.”
