Page 48

“You’ve done bloody what, now?” My father lowers his head like a bull about to charge. “Where are you taking my daughter?”

“Dad.” I put my hand on his arm. “I can’t go through immigration here. I don’t have a passport, to start with.” I’m hunting around for an excuse when I become aware that Dimitry is taut as a wire, attuned to every word I say.

My internal red flag waves hard enough to knock me over.

No more lies, Abby.

I take a deep breath and look directly at my father.

“Some really dangerous people will be chasing me, Dad. Even if I could go home, it would only lead them straight to you and Mum, and I won’t do that.

” I think of my mother with a sudden, horrible lurch of fear and turn to Dimitry, panic choking my voice.

“They could already be going there,” I whisper.

“Some friends of mine are on their way to your parents’ farm now, Abby.” Luke smiles reassuringly at me. “And I’ll be staying there until this is over. We’ll keep your parents safe, don’t worry.”

“What the hell?” My father glares around the car, then back at me. “You’re coming home, Abby. We’ll go straight to the Australian embassy, get you a new passport. I want you where I can protect you.”

Oh, God.

Where do I even start?

The long years of my double life feel like a swamp reaching up to suck me down. I’m fighting for breath, trying to find the right words, when Dimitry turns to face my father.

“The people we’re dealing with won’t ever let Abby leave Thailand, Pete.”

Pete? I stare at Dimitry in surprise.

“People saw you asking questions about Abby earlier tonight,” he continues.

“They’ll be looking for you, so with all due respect, the farther you are from Abby, the safer she’ll be.

And the sooner you’re out of Thailand, the safer you’ll be.

” His voice is calm and respectful, but there’s no doubting the steel beneath it.

“Paddy’s organized a boat for Abby and me,” he goes on.

It doesn’t escape my attention that he still hasn’t looked at me.

“I’ll work out what we’re facing. Once I’ve taken care of it, I’ll bring Abby home.

” His mouth tightens. “I promise you that.”

Bring me home?

A cold, sinking sensation creeps over me.

Dimitry isn’t here because he wants me back.

He’s here because he’s trying to do the right thing. He’s trying to save me.

“Then I’ll come with you.” My father is glaring at him. “It’s the bloody least you can do, after locking me up with this mad bastard.” He nods toward the driver.

“Oi” comes the unruffled protest from the front seat. “This mad bastard is the reason you didn’t get your head punched in by the triads. You’re welcome, by the way.”

Triads?

Oh, fuck. I never wanted any of this for my parents.

Shame mingles with confusion and a cold sense of loneliness. I don’t understand this strange alliance between Dimitry and my father, any more than I do how Dad wound up in a Bangkok bar drawing the attention of triads.

But I know one thing.

He can’t stay here.

Somehow, I have to convince him to go home without me.

“Dad.” I put my hand on his arm. “Please listen to me. Embassies and governments don’t matter to the people chasing me, and they can’t help me outrun them.

Dimitry can. And he can keep you and Mum safe.

” I squeeze his arm. “I wish it was different,” I say quietly.

“I wish, more than anything, that I hadn’t messed up so badly, years ago.

But I can’t undo it now, any more than I can stop these people from looking for me. ”

I brace myself to deliver the coup de grace.

“Dimitry is my only chance to survive this, Dad. I trust him. I need you to trust him, too.”

That much, at least, is the truth.

What I don’t know is what happens afterwards.

Because the other truth is that whilst I trust Dimitry to face whatever is coming for us, I’m pretty damned sure that his afterwards doesn’t include taking me back.

I can read it in every taut muscle in his body, in the way he won’t so much as look at me. Dimitry might have come for me, but whatever his reason for doing so, I’m damned sure it isn’t because he wants me back.

And that doesn’t matter now , I think dully. What matters is keeping my parents alive. Getting the deal with Rodrigo done. And then getting as far away from everyone as fast as I can, until and unless Rodrigo somehow manages to do what his father couldn’t.

“We’re here.” Paddy pulls the car to a halt at the end of a dark alley, where a local longboat with a canopy over it is moored to a small wooden dock.

“I’ll do the deal,” he says as he gets out.

I notice no overhead light turns on as he does.

“Dimitry, you and Abby keep your heads down until it’s done. Luke, come with me.”

The two men close their doors, leaving the three of us alone in the darkness and awkward silence.

“At least tell me what your plan is.” My father isn’t looking at me. He’s looking at Dimitry.

“I can’t. Not yet.” Dimitry answers him calmly, not flinching at the harsh tone in Dad’s voice. “I need to get the full picture first.”

“How do you know they haven’t tracked you here?” My father looks around warily.

“I don’t.” Dimitry’s fingers drum his leg, a surefire indication of just how tense he is. “Which is why I need to get Abby out of here as quickly as possible. And why I need you to do exactly as Luke and Paddy say.”

“For Chrissakes.” Dad rubs his hand over his face. His exhaustion and worry break my heart. “What a fucking mess.”

He glances at me. “I promised your mum I’d bring you home, love,” he says quietly. “How am I supposed to face her now?”

Oh, God. Please don’t. Guilt crushes the breath from me.

To my relief, Dimitry speaks when I can’t. “Tell Susan the same thing I told you, Pete. That I’m going to bring her daughter home safely.”

My father gives him a cynical look. “You clearly don’t know my wife, mate.”

“Maybe not.” For the first time, the trace of a smile ghosts Dimitry’s mouth. “If she’s anything like her daughter, she might throw a few things at your head, but she’ll also respect Abby’s decision. I need you to do that as well.”

My father shakes his head slowly, looking between us. His eyes settle on my bruises, and his face darkens. “Promise me one thing,” he says, giving Dimitry a flinty stare. “Promise you’ll cut the balls off the bastard that did this to my daughter.”

The look that crosses Dimitry’s face is cold enough to freeze lava. “Oh,” he says softly. “That, I can fucking promise, Mr. Chalmers.”

Dad nods at him curtly.

Luke opens the door and throws a bundle of clothes at Dimitry and me. “Something a bit less conspicuous,” he says, smiling. He holds up a sarong to shield me as I wriggle into the loose fisherman’s trousers, T-shirt, and sandals, aware of Dimitry changing on the other side of the car.

On the dock, Paddy turns and gives a low whistle to signal the all clear.

“Time to go,” Luke says.

“Wait a minute.” My father clambers out of the rear door. He comes around the car and pulls me into a fierce embrace. I inhale the scents of my childhood, lingering even here, on the Thai night. Earth and sweat, the uncomplicated smell of a man who’s spent his life in honest labor.

A man who never deserved to be saddled with the kind of trouble I brought to his door.

“I’m so sorry, Dad,” I whisper into his chest. “For everything.”

“Don’t you be sorry. Ever.” He steps back and grips my face tightly, his eyes holding mine.

“Look. I know I’m lousy at words. But I love you, girl, okay?

More than bloody anything.” He crushes me to him again, and this time, I can’t help the tears spilling from my eyes.

“Don’t you forget that,” he says gruffly.

“And come home to us. No matter what happens, Abby. Just come back, alright?”

I nod against his chest, unable to meet his eyes. I know my chances of ever seeing either of my parents again are minimal, at best .

But they don’t need to know that. They need to believe I will be safe.

“I love you too, Dad. And Mum. Will you tell her that from me?”

“Of course I will.” He kisses the top of my head and turns me around, his hands on my shoulders as he looks at Dimitry over my head. “Take care of my daughter,” he says roughly.

Dimitry nods curtly. “Always.”

I can barely see through my tears as I stumble toward the boat.

“Please protect my parents,” I whisper to Luke as he hands me into the shallow cockpit, clutching his hand and trying not to look at the thickset silhouette of my father by the car.

“Don’t worry, Abby.” Luke’s easy smile is as reassuring as ever. “I’ve got half a dozen nasty bikies on their way to the farm as we speak.”

“Bikies?” I stare at him in surprise.

He nods, grinning. “They used to be Banderos, but they’ve recently become... free agents, shall we say. Handy boys when it comes to guns. Think you might have met one of them. Fat bastard by the name of Turbo?”

I give an odd hiccup of laughter despite myself. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” Luke lets go of my hand as Dimitry steps into the cockpit beside me. “Handed in his colors the same week they made him guard you. He leaped at the chance to make amends for what happened to you.”

I shake my head. “Tell him thanks. And that he was actually the nicest of all the guards I’ve had.” Luke nods, shakes Dimitry’s hand, and walks back to the car.

Paddy sticks his head under the canopy and grins at Dimitry. “Remember what I told you, cock. Head south down the river, and you’ll be on open water by dawn.”