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She made it to the outside edge of town before steam spewed from the hood. Ziva pulled off the road and slammed her fist into the steering wheel. Damn. There was no way she could drive to the airport like this. The engine would blow long before she made it. The only thing she could do was walk back to town and see if someone—anyone—would give her a ride.
The one problem? People weren’t going to drive her anywhere close to the Hendersons. Well, one might, if she’s not with them already.
“What the fuck?You’re being paid to watch Miss Gryzb. How did she get past you without her truck?”
“Sorry, Mr. Henderson. We were told to make sure no one hurt her. We didn’t realize she’d sneak out in the middle of the night.”
“Do I look like I want an apology or your lame excuses? The only words I want to hear from you are that you found her. Do I make myself clear?” Alex barked his orders to the guard who was still by the SUV. He was livid, and not just at them, but at himself. He hadn’t warned her he’d left a security detail to make sure no lingering goons came after her. If he had, she could’ve reached out to them when trouble came her way.
It’s been less than twenty-four hours since we parted ways, and something has already happened to her.
Alex, still holding his cell phone, tried her number again. Just like the last time, it went directly to voicemail. Please let it be a dead battery. He slid the phone into his back pocket as the second guard came out of the hotel saying, “I’ve checked everywhere. Her room is vacant and the old man at the desk said he didn’t see her leave.”
Alex knew there was no way she left with someone. She’d have gone kicking and screaming. At least, the woman I know would’ve. “Someone knows something.” He looked around and saw a small house next to the hotel. I wonder.
He started walking in that direction when the first guard shouted, “Want me to call for backup?”
If I don’t find her, you’re going to need the protection. From me!Alex shook his head and continued walking. He knocked on the house door, and a young man in his late teens answered rudely, “Unless you’re blind, the hotel’s office is over there. Can’t miss it. Big red letters. Unless you can’t read either.”
Punching out some bratty kid wasn’t his thing. “I’m looking for a woman who was staying here.”
“I have a don’t ask and don’t tell policy. What your wife does is none of our business.”
Alex’s jaw twitched with anger. “I have my own policy. You watch your mouth, or I’ll make it so you drink from a straw for a year.” The kid straightened and backed up a bit. “Want to try this again?”
The kid nodded.
“Her name is Ziva Gryzb. She was driving that truck when she arrived. Did you see who she left with?”
“Oh, that crazy wom—” He held up his hands in a mock surrender, as he knew it was a mistake. “I mean, that lady said to tell anyone who came looking for her that she traveled up north to see her parents.”
Her parents are dead. Why try to throw us off?“Was she on foot, because her truck is here?”
“Hell, no. She traded me for my Volkswagen. It’s not in great shape, so I’m surprised you didn’t pass her broken down on the road.”
Alex remembered seeing one in bad shape when he was driving here. It’d been traveling south toward town, not north as this kid said. “Was it gray?” Clever woman. She planned to send whoever she thought was watching her the wrong way.
“The parts that aren’t covered in rust are. Hey, don’t be angry with me. The cra... the lady insisted. She looked like she was afraid someone was watching her. Like her life was in danger. Is she hiding from you?”
Alex didn’t reply. Instead, he pulled out his phone and called Bennett. “She’s in an old gray Volkswagen. I passed her about an hour ago heading toward town. Find her.”
“Already have the choppers in the air searching.”
He went up to the two guards and said, “You two better pray we find her. If anything happened to her because of your incompetence—”
Still on the phone Bennett shouted, “Get the facts first, Alex. We’ll find her.”
Alex shot the two a warning look and walked away with his fist clenched. If he hadn’t, all his frustration would’ve been taken out on them.
“Get a chopper here to pick me up. I don’t want to waste any time driving back,” Alex ordered Bennett.
“ETA ten minutes.”
He slipped the phone back into his pocket and went back to his vehicle. He couldn’t be around anyone right now. Alex needed time to process everything that’d transpired since his feet touched down in Tabiq. It felt like the country was cursed. Or was that just him?
He knew this was his fault. Coming here would stir things up and it sure as hell had. When he found out what she was doing, he should’ve insisted she stay with him while he was in Tabiq... and then hopefully come with him to Boston for good. But when she put up resistance, he caved too quickly. Not because he didn’t want her with him, but he didn’t feel as though he was good enough. Why would she want a Henderson?
It was what had been on his mind the entire way here. Ziva had proven time and time again what a resilient and resourceful woman she was. Although there was so much to see and do in Boston, he knew she’d feel like she was in a cage, that her purpose in life had been snuffed out. Alex might be nine years older than she was, but Ziva was doing something with her life that was actually making a difference. She’s trying to make this world a better place and all I do is write fiction, attempting to hide from anything real. You can’t get more real than she is. She’s... one hell of a woman.
