Victoria walked into the condo and was blasted with the aroma of some kind of meat being cooked. It smelled like chicken, only
richer.
Malcolm heard the door open and rounded the corner with a knife in his hands. His sudden appearance and the weapon startled Victoria and set her fighting instincts ablaze. They both sighed in relief and Malcolm took quick steps toward her.
“Where the hell were you?” he asked with worried anger in his tone.
“Doing what you ruined my life for. Finding Claire,” she said casually. “Dinner smells good.”
“Victoria. Going outside without me was dangerous,” he said with narrowed eyes.
“Don’t patronize me, Malcolm,” she said hotly. She couldn’t deny that being under his intense gaze was incredibly arousing; she felt like she was a little girl that was being scolded. Still, she stood her ground.
“I told you, clear as day. Do not go outside,” he said slowly, trying his best to keep his composure.
“And not take a chance to get information you need?” she asked incredulously. “I won’t apologize for doing my job. Being an investigator isn’t a safe occupation.”
“It’s even more unsafe now,” he said in a rage-filled tone. His face was turning purple. “We’re practically behind enemy lines, Victoria!”
She walked up to him and gently put her hand on his chest. Words were lost on her tongue, and she simply pressed her lips against his. He was shocked for only a moment before he melted against her body. He wrapped his arms around her waist, spun her around and pressed her back against a counter top. She bit down into his lip and dug her nails into his back.
“Don’t think this gets you out of trouble,” he said with a heavy breath as the kiss broke.
“Promise to punish me?” she asked coyly. She was enjoying his reaction too much, and knew she would get it later. She counted on it.
“After dinner, maybe,” he said, attempting to regain his composure.
“You need lots of nutrition after what you went through.”
She gave him a tight lipped smile. “You sound like Chloe,” she said softly. “Damn, I miss her.”
Malcolm’s face softened and he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “She’s a good friend,” he said soothingly. “I’m sorry I yelled. I just got so close to losing you and I can’t stand not knowing where you are.”
She wrapped her arms around Malcolm and buried her face into his chest. “I know, champ. I feel the same way. I still can’t believe you’re still alive.”
“We’re both survivors,” he said as he ran his fingers through her hair. “Food will be ready soon. What did you find out anyway?”
She nodded against him and lifted her chin to place a kiss on his jaw. “Nothing yet, but I made a contact. A corrupt sub-commissioner by the name of Martin Gonzales. I gave him twelve hours and twenty-five thousand in cash as half his payment to give us Elizabeth’s new name and address.”
Malcolm frowned. “That’s a risky play but it might be the break we need. You’re brilliant.”
She flashed him a smile and squeezed his shoulder gently. “Where would you be without me?” she asked teasingly.
“No closer to finding my daughter,” he said softly.
Victoria stood on her toes to plant a kiss on his nose. “I’m glad I can be of some help.”
“You help more than you realize,” he said with a hesitant smile on his face. “Where did he say he would meet you?”
“I told him to text me when he finished the job. A location chosen right before meeting is safer and less likely to be an ambush,” she said softly. “At least in my experience.”
Malcolm nodded in agreement. “It is safer,” he said with narrowed eyes, “but you won’t be going. I will.”
She felt her temper rising and glared at him. “Why? I can do this Malcolm.”
“I know, my treasure,” he said softly, placing a kiss on her forehead. “I just have a bad feeling and I want to make sure you’re safe.”
Her heart softened slightly but she still felt annoyed by his overprotectiveness. “And what about you? Am I just supposed to not worry about you?”
Malcolm shook his head and stepped away from her. “Of course not. Just trust me to get this done. Besides, I want to make sure he knows exactly who he is dealing with.”
Victoria frowned and looked away. “Fine,” she said stubbornly. She hated it when someone else took her job away from her, but she had to admit that going out into the city had taken a toll on her body. “My leg is bothering me anyway. It wasn’t the smartest idea to go out in this heat.”
“Probably not, but I trust your lead,” Malcolm said as he walked over to a drawer in the kitchen. He opened it slowly, as if debating something.
Victoria watched him with curious eyes. “What do you have there?”
He didn’t answer right away. He turned his neck to look at her and then lifted an object into view. “Do you know how to use one of these?” he asked, displaying the medium-sized handgun to her.
Victoria’s brow furrowed in worry. “I do, but I don’t like them.”
Malcolm nodded his agreement. “Nor do I, but they can come in handy. Especially when you aren’t at your best. Keep it while we’re here.” He walked over to her and pressed it into her hand.
She wanted to argue, but thought better of it. Accepting the gun was difficult, as if by somehow taking it she was sullying her hands. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Only use it if you have to, and I really hope you’re never in a position to,” he said sweetly.
“Do you have one too?” she asked in concern.
He shook his head. “No; this is mine.”
“Then you need it more if you’re going to meet with Gonzales,” she said, giving the gun back.
“I have other ways of protecting myself, Victoria. I won’t be here in case something happens when I’m gone,” he said seriously, holding her hands in his. “Please take it.”
She felt her lip tremble under his gaze. It was difficult to accept that she was in a situation where she could lose him again at any moment. She just wanted to run away with him and be free from all of this. “Alright, but you better come back to me.”
“I will,” he said in a confident voice. “I promise.”
His words eased her worry slightly, but she still imagined him being hurt. “I’ll drag you out of hell if I have to, buddy,” she said, forcing a smile on her lips to mask her concern.
He grinned and leaned down to kiss her deeply. “I expect no less. Now, we need a plan,” he said seriously. “If something happens, there is an abandoned apartment building I scouted out today. It’s going to be destroyed later in the month and if anything goes wrong we should go there.”
She nodded, it made sense. “Where is it?”
He turned toward the kitchen counter and picked up a pen. He quickly jotted down an address and handed it to her. “When I’m gone. If you need to use our backup plan, call my phone. I’ll cancel it on the second ring to let you know I understand. Call three times. If I don’t cancel by the third call, get out of Argentina and go home,” he said gravely. “Am I understood?”
She didn’t want to imagine that happening but she had to admit it was a solid plan. “I do. I’ll see you there if anything happens.”
Malcolm gave her a reassuring smile, though it did little to soothe her anxiety.
“Go get comfortable. Dinner will be ready soon,” he said softly. “I’m roasting a duck.”
Victoria couldn’t get over being worried about Malcolm. More than her own life, she was glad he had his. Almost as soon as
they had been reunited, he’d needed to leave again. He was in the city meeting with the sub-commissioner while she was stuck in the condo. She demanded that her body heal faster. She hated being left behind. Even though it was her lead Malcolm was chasing, she wasn’t there to have his back.
Goliath sensed her need and jumped up onto the table where she sat. He gently pawed at her arm to get her attention.
“Hey, little guy,” she said sweetly as she reached out to pet him. It startled her to think of how quickly this little creature had snuck into her heart. A smile came to her lips as she realized she was developing a bad habit of letting wild men into her heart at lightning speeds.
Goliath rubbed his head against her hand as any normal cat would do. He didn’t seem to mind being fed canned food rather than going for a hunt.
Rather, he seemed to relish the idea of being taken care of.
As she sat there petting her friend, her thoughts drifted to her home. She glanced around the lonely condo. It was massive; over three times the size of her home in Chicago. It made her miss Chloe fiercely. The bubbly personality of her friend was exactly what she needed right now. She had to fight the urge to give her a call. Malcolm had warned her that outside contact was dangerous and she had been around in the reporting world long enough to know the truth of his words.
It didn’t help to ease her homesickness.
She pushed the thoughts from her mind and stood up from her table. Goliath wasn’t happy that he was no longer being petted and walked off, brooding. Victoria watched the sulking cat with mild amusement and was glad for his presence. He was able to take some of the sting of loneliness away.
Deciding that she was hungry and that she would be even more useless starving herself, Victoria made her way over to the kitchen to prepare herself a meal. Malcolm had made sure that the kitchen was fully stocked with fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables prior to their arrival. All of which was useless to her. She had no idea how to cook or even where to begin.
Ramen noodles were normally her go-to meal.
Thankfully, there were leftovers from the night before. The duck was cooked to perfection and Victoria wondered how she had gotten lucky enough to find a man who knew how to cook. She took the tray of duck out and cut herself a healthy slice from the bird and put it on a plate along with some of the side dishes.
Deciding she was too hungry to wait for it to be heated in the microwave, she simply started putting the food in her mouth. It was nearly as exquisite cold as it was freshly cooked and she savored the spices of the meat on her taste buds. Even taking a single bite ignited her hunger and she devoured the meal in a few minutes.
The sudden ringing of the landline startled Victoria. Her heart jumped into her chest and she nearly dropped her empty plate. Cautiously, she approached the phone. She mentally debated if she should answer the call or not. Surely Malcolm wouldn’t be foolish to put them at risk by calling, and no one else knew they were alive. Unless… she thought to herself as she reached for the cordless phone.
She didn’t say anything right away, only listened to the sound of breathing over the phone. It sounded quick and afraid, and Victoria wondered who it was.
“Hello?” she asked curiously.
“Who is this?” the small female voice asked quickly.
Victoria noted the lack of accent in the girl’s speech and grew curious about the caller’s identity. “Victoria,” she said quickly. “Are you sure you have the right number?”
“Yes. What are you doing answering my father’s phone?” the girl asked, her nervousness rising in her voice.
Victoria felt her heart quicken. “Claire?” she asked in a soft voice.
The girl seemed to hesitate over the line and when she spoke again it was in barely more than a whisper. “How do you…? Who are you?”
Victoria stiffened as she held the phone and felt her nose wrinkle. “I’m a friend of your father’s,” she admitted. “What’s going on Claire?”
“Put my daddy on, please,” she asked desperately. “I need to speak with him.”
“I can’t. He’s not back yet,” Victoria frowned.
“Then you have to tell him this for me. I don’t have much time,” Claire spoke in urgency. “My mother and uncle found out he was alive. I overheard them talking about killing him. Please, you have to help my daddy… even if what they say is true about him; he doesn’t deserve the things my uncle is saying he will do.”
“How did you get this number, Claire?” Victoria asked, fighting down the fear that was forming in her stomach.
“My daddy doesn’t make it that difficult to find him,” Claire said nervously. “I think he’s been hoping I’d find him, but I’ve never had a chance. My uncle is a cruel, cruel man. I know he seems nice on the surface, but I know better. My mother is a fool for believing in him.”
“Malcolm loves you very much, Claire. He will be happy to know you are okay,” Victoria said softly. “Can you tell me where you are?”
“No,” Claire said fearfully. “Tell him to go home and stop looking for me. It’s only going to get him killed. Mother is a crying mess over this and isn’t paying attention to me as much and my uncle is away. I can find a way to call him later. Please, convince him to go home. I’m glad he’s looking for me. I miss him so much, but I don’t want him to die.” “I’ll try. I promise.”
Claire spoke through a frown. “Victoria, you seem like a nice person. I’m glad my daddy found a nice person. Don’t let anything happen to him. I’ve never forgiven him for missing our movie dates and he better make them all up to me!” Claire was on the verge of tears as she spoke. “I have to go now. Someone is coming.”
“Stay safe,” Victoria said before the line went dead. Her heart ached for this little girl. She is Malcolm’s daughter alright, she thought fondly. Victoria had thought it was incredibly brave and smart for her to find where they were and warn them. Throwing caution to the wind, Victoria pulled out her prepaid cellphone from her pocket and jabbed her thumb into the speed dial button for Malcolm.
The phone rang four times and went to voicemail. Panic began to well up in Victoria’s throat. Had Claire been too late with her warning? Was Malcolm in some kind of trouble? Those thoughts and more flooded her mind and she hurriedly called Malcolm again.
This time, after precisely two rings, the phone went to voicemail. She wasn’t sure if she should be worried or relieved that Malcolm had canceled the call. She dared not call again for fear of exposing his location if Brantford was somehow monitoring calls. Speaking of call monitoring.
Claire called here, too. She stuffed her phone back into her pocket.
“Come on, Goliath. We need to move to the other house. It isn’t safe here right now,” she said as she gathered her things. It was less painful to walk than before, but she still found herself limping if she tried to move too quickly. She ignored the pain and gathered the bare essentials. At least in the concrete jungle of Buenos Aires, she was confident she could survive.
She didn’t call again, hoping that Malcolm was smart enough to understand if she called at all it meant there was an emergency and they needed to go deeper into hiding. The kodkod seemed to understand the danger of the situation and came out from his brooding and hopped in Victoria’s arms without question. There was a low growl rumbling in his belly that assured Victoria that anyone who dared to cross her would have to deal with a lot more than only Malcolm’s gun. With a few essentials in a pack on her back, Victoria left the condo. She looked back inside for a moment as the door closed and wondered when she was ever going to get to see her own home again.
At least I have a home to return to at all. For now.