Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
I shook my head.
“Morocco is one of the countries that does not have an extradition treaty with the US.”
What was an extradition treaty?
“I don’t know what that means.”
He frowned. “You’re a fucking teacher.”
I threw up my hands. “For second graders. We don’t discuss treaties the US has with other countries!”
His gaze softened some, but only a minute amount. “It means that US criminals can live in Morocco without fear of the US government. Their law enforcement will not collect you and send your ass back to the US. It happens to be one of the top five countries white-collar criminals flee to.”
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. My heart began to slam against my chest as images of my brother being tortured and left for dead flashed through my mind.
I jumped out of the bed, panicked. “No, he wouldn’t have gone without me. If he was going to flee there, he’d have taken me with him, not canceled the trip. You’d be wasting your money and time, going there.” I was spewing words that didn’t even sound believable to me.
Oz put the phone to his ear, ignoring me and heading for the door.
“Marrakesh,” he said to whoever had answered. “He was going to take her there for her birthday to stay at a business associate’s house.”
I followed him, stopping at the door he’d left open as he walked out.
“He canceled their trip.” Pause. “Yep.”
Yep. Was that the response to, Do we go there and find him and kill him?
Please, Perry, do not be in Morocco, I pleaded silently.
Why didn’t I know more about other countries? Why hadn’t one of the crime shows I watched have anyone flee to Morocco?
I ran a hand through my hair, then fisted my heavy strands tightly. I had to think. I could not let them hurt Perry.
Oz turned when he reached the end of the hallway and looked back at me. “Come on. Time to eat dinner.”
I’d won a meal and a bed for the night. All it had cost was my brother’s safety. Possibly his life.
The heavy weight inside my chest went all the way to my stomach, as if I had just swallowed the private plane that had taken him there. I thought about telling Oz no, but if I stayed up here, I might miss something. A call or a decision. If I stayed close, I could at least know if Perry was safe or not.
“I need to brush my hair and use the bathroom first,” I told him. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
He didn’t respond, but continued on until he was out of sight. I went back into the room, no longer feeling the joy from my surroundings.
If something happened to Perry, I would never feel joy again. He was so gullible. Whoever this Samson man was, he had used my brother and his intelligence. That had to be what had happened. Perry wasn’t who they thought he was. I could not believe that he had used counterfeit money knowingly and taken even ten dollars, much less four million, from anyone. I just didn’t know how to clear his name.
Eleven
Oz
She hadn’t thought she was giving me useful information. Now that she knew exactly what she had told me, the fear for her brother was clear in those brown eyes of hers. He didn’t deserve it. All that tension and anxiety pouring off her in waves. He had to have known we had taken her, and he’d gotten on a goddamn plane and left anyway. Sorry-ass motherfucker didn’t even consider calling to check on her. He’d chosen his life over hers.
I watched her as I drank the whiskey in my glass.
She had started eating the tortilla soup slowly, as if she had no appetite. But once she had gotten a taste of it, her hunger had taken over. She’d had breakfast before five this morning because I couldn’t leave her down there a second more. Then, she slept through lunch because I couldn’t wake her up. She’d been sleeping too good, and she’d needed it.
This was her second bowl, along with a second serving of tortilla chips and guacamole. She had said very little, and honestly, I was enjoying watching her eat. It eased some of the shit in my chest over having to starve her. The fact that she didn’t have to sleep in the basement tonight came in right under the fact that I was almost positive Perry was in Marrakesh.
“Don’t get too full,” I told her. “There is strawberry cheesecake and chocolate cake in the fridge.”
Her eyes lit up at that information, and I grinned. I couldn’t help myself. She could go from messy-haired sex kitten to adorable in the blink of an eye. I was also one hundred percent sure she was clueless to the fact. She didn’t even attempt to use her feminine wiles to get her way. Not that it would work because although she was tempting, I had Blaise Hughes breathing down my neck. The idea of having her under me was one I was struggling to keep in check. But it wasn’t happening, and I knew it.