Page 33 of Storm Warning

“Sorry to hear that, my friend. Paige won’t be happy to know you’re injured again.”

“Tell her I’ll be fine, all right? I don’t want to upset her.”

“You’ve got it.” Marcus shifted his attention to Riley. “Now, do you want Andre to stay in the room? I can ask him to leave if you prefer.”

“No, I want him to stay. We’re…together.” And didn’t that sound strange to say. She liked it, though.

Understanding lit Marcus’s eyes. “Ah, I see. We’ll let him stay for now. If at any time you change your mind, Riley, say something and we’ll ask Andre to wait outside. He’ll understand. So, why did you contact me? What can I do to help?”

“Dr. Sorenson insisted I talk to someone. Andre recommended you. I wasn’t comfortable with the other Fortress counselors I’ve talked to.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Is this conversation related to a mission?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell me about the mission from the beginning.”

For the next hour, Riley told Marcus everything about the mission and how things went from the time the terrorists kidnapped her until the jet touched down in Bayside.

Marcus was silent for a moment. “What bothers you the most about this mission?”

“Christopher.”

“What about him?”

“The boy reminds me of myself.”

“How?”

Riley’s gaze flicked to Andre for a beat, then returned to Marcus. “My childhood shares some similarities with his.” Some, but not everything. She certainly didn’t grow up in an ambassador’s home. The abuse, though, was all too familiar.

“Explain.” He held up a hand. “Are you still comfortable with Andre in the room?”

Andre wrapped his hand around hers. “I can wait in the hall. It’s up to you.”

“Stay with me.” Riley didn’t know if she could get through this alone.

“All right,” Marcus said. “Go ahead, Riley.”

“Andre and I believe Christopher is a victim of abuse.” Her throat closed so tight she couldn’t say anything else.

“Just as you were?”

She nodded.

“Do you have proof of your suspicions?”

Riley was so stressed that for a minute she thought Marcus was asking her for proof of abuse from her childhood.

Andre shook his head. “No, sir, we don’t. Just a lot of suspicion based on his reactions to situations and things said.”

“It’s a serious accusation. You need irrefutable proof before you accuse an ambassador of abusing his child.”

“We know, sir, and we also want Christopher to be safe regardless of whether we have proof. We can’t let him go back to his father without some kind of guarantee he’ll be safe.”

“Hard to do.”

“We know.”