They listen in heavy silence to the conversation between Talia, Lindsey, and me. The one we had sitting at the table outside the coffee shop.
It’s almost at the end of the conversation.
“I’ll go with you,” Lindsey’s voice whispers. “I don’t want to go back to him.” She sounds terrified, even now as I listen again.
The video ends, and the Marcas family stands in stunned silence, staring at the phone, then at each other.
“Where did you take her after the safe house?” the cousin demands.
“Luke, I fucking swear if you don’t shut up right now, I am going to make you leave,” David snarls. “I need to think! Where the fuck is Jaco? I want to know what the fuck this is about!”
“He says he will be here in ten minutes.” It’s the first thing Clara has said the entire time I’ve been here.
David paces up and down, shaking his head. “It might be a trick. Maybe they forced her to say it?” Jaco’s brother mutters, but he doesn’t sound convinced.
Suddenly, the door at the top of the stairs explodes open, shattering as wood splinters fly in all directions. Several men run down the stairs, dressed head to toe in black Kevlar and carrying heavy weapons.
The man in front pulls his mask down and runs to me.
“Simon!” I yelp in relief, fighting tears as emotions overwhelm me.
His guards hold the Marcas family at bay while he pulls me into his arms.
“My phone,” I stammer, pointing at Jaco’s brother. A guard snatches it from him.
Simon hardly glances at the Marcas family, standing in awkward silence with their hands raised in the air. He takes my hand and leads me out of the basement without a word.
“Where is Lindsey!?” David shouts after us, but Simon ignores him.
Outside, we hurry into the vehicles Simon and his men arrived in. He pulls me into the back seat as a driver climbs into the front seat.
In no time at all, we are speeding away.
“Are you okay?” Simon demands, pulling me onto his lap on the back seat.
I nod, wrapping my arms around him and burying my face in the curve of his neck. I can’t believe he came so quickly. I can’t believe how safe this man makes me feel.
“They aren’t following,” the driver says in surprise.
“Keep your foot flat on the pedal. You can’t trust them,” Simon snaps.
“What’s the plan, sir?” the guard next to us asks.
“Marlen and Bardil are making contact with David Marcas as we speak. They will sort this out before it turns into an all-out war. Just take us home. I want to get Blair somewhere safe.”