Hatch, page 11
She stared at him in horror. “Oh my God, really?”
He nodded. “Yes, and he had a wife and an infant.”
She nodded slowly. “I don’t know much about his family. I just know that he and his wife were very capable. He was always there, always dealing with my father.” She winced at that. “Jesus, the man deserved a big fat raise, not death.”
“Was your father that difficult to deal with?”
She nodded. “Yes, and getting more so all the time.” At that, Hatch raised his eyebrows, as she watched him. “Why the reaction? What difference does that make?”
“Did you ever consider that maybe he had an illness?”
She asked, “What do you mean?”
“It’s just, when you said that, about him getting worse all the time, it makes me wonder. Quite a few illnesses cause mood swings. People get cantankerous, and they get more quarrelsome and more difficult to deal with as time goes on.”
She stared at him. “Oh God, I really don’t want to think about that.”
He waited. “Meaning?”
“I don’t want to think that we could have done something to help him and that I didn’t see it because I was just so tired of his behavior.”
“Would he have gone to get a thorough medical checkup? And if he did, would he tell you?”
She immediately shook her head. “No, he would never stand for something like that.”
“In that case then, no sense in you worrying about it,” he stated. “I get that it’s too late to do anything about it now, and that won’t be an answer that you want to live with, but it is the truth.” Bitter laughter erupted from her mouth, and he immediately reached across and grabbed her hand. “Stop it now. You have to stop beating yourself up.” He watched her expression as it changed. “I get it. You’re stressed out over all this. Too many blows all at once. But right now you need to begin to heal, and we need to make sure that you’re safe.”
“That means, … I need to go home.” She scrubbed the tears from her face.
“What about back to South America?”
She stared at him and then shrugged. “I don’t even know what to say about that. I can’t just walk onto a dig and start a new job. I’d have to have an invitation, and I don’t have that right now. I think, at the moment, I need to deal with my family scenario first. Then reconsider my future and what I want then.”
“Did your father leave a mess in terms of his estate?”
“No, not really. He had some things that were very private—well, maybe not private in the traditional sense but very special to him.” She shrugged. “And I don’t really know very much about that. I just know he kept some items in a storage locker.”
“And would they still be safe there?”
“Sure. Why not?”
He nodded. “So, I hate to say it, but any chance these kidnappers would want the contents of that storage locker?”
She stared at him in astonishment. “I don’t think so,” she replied slowly. “I can’t imagine that there would be …” Her voice had turned cautious, as if she weren’t sure.
“And where is this locker?”
“In London,” she replied.
“Your father was based out of London?”
“No, it was just one of many places he was based out of at different times,” she explained. “He didn’t really put down any roots.”
“How is that possible? Was he such a vagabond?” He stared at her.
“I know it sounds foolish, but my father was on the move so much that he kept places like that because they were convenient.”
“Well, that makes sense,” he noted. “Do you know how many he had?”
She shook her head. “Last I heard, at the time of my mother’s death, there were three, but he combined them down to one.”
“Good Lord,” Hatch said. “I can’t imagine managing three storage lockers.”
“Maybe not,” she replied, “but my mother had all kinds of things she didn’t want to get rid of. Things she wanted to have available for later in life, when they retired or at least stayed in one place long enough to enjoy them. She was always against putting all her eggs in one basket.”
“Well, I applaud that thinking,” he agreed, “but she never had a chance to enjoy her things.”
At that, Millie shot him a bitter look. “I know. That is something I’ll be keeping in mind when I go through the locker.”
“And you’ll need to,” he admitted, “because presumably there will be bills associated with that locker which you’ll have to continue to pay.”
She winced at that. “The kidnappers’ boss did say something about money, and I told him flat-out that my father didn’t have any. He didn’t. … That’s the thing that I don’t really understand about all this. My father never had money, like not much of it anyway. He always needed grant money to do this or the other digs. He was always pushing for more grants and nonprofit donations.”
“So, as far as you know, there will be no money in the estate?”
“My mother’s estate, maybe,” she replied, “but he would have spent that toward more digs, if he could have.”
“Did he have access?”
She laughed. “I have no idea. I really don’t know anything about my mother’s estate. Those topics were a part of my father’s private affairs, and he tended to those things himself.”
At that, Hatch stared at her. “And what if there was money involved in your mother’s estate?”
She shrugged. “Well, it would have gone to him. I mean, he was her husband after all, and they had been married for many years.” She shook her head.
“So it all would have gone to him. That’s an interesting turn of events,” he murmured.
“I don’t know what’s interesting about it,” she replied, “and honestly you’re freaking me out talking about it that way.”
He smiled gently. “It’s just more of what we have to consider, when we look at what’s going on here.”
“Will you consider any of it?” she asked curiously. “Or will your job be done now that you’ve rescued me? And my father, … I don’t know that we’ll ever find his body.” She stared off in the distance. “A part of me says he himself would be okay with that too.”
“Meaning that he would be okay to spend his life out in the desert?”
“In his death, … yes,” she stated. “Most definitely. He would be perfectly happy being out there for all of eternity. Not many people would understand that, but I know that he would be okay with it.”
“Well, that’s interesting,” Hatch murmured. “I hadn’t really considered that, but I also don’t know how much time and effort can go into searching for him.”
“None,” she replied bluntly. “I don’t think these guys intended for his body to ever be found.”
“Are you okay with that?”
She stared at him. “I don’t even know. … What I want is all a blur at this point. With your help, I’m coping—to some degree at this moment—so thanks for that,” she murmured. “All I can tell you is that everything is just so strange, so off the wall. I’m working on adapting, but I’m definitely not there yet.”
He stared at her for a long moment. She was a shadow of the strong vibrant woman he’d met before. “That might be,” he agreed, “but you need to speed up the process.”
She stared at him in shock. “Why?”
“Because you’re not out of danger,” he replied, “and, until we can get you back on US soil, we don’t dare let you out of our sight.”
“Who cares now?” she asked, with a bitterness that surprised him.
“I think a lot of people care,” he noted, “and I hate to say it, but they may only care because of whatever your father was involved in. As soon as the US government gets wind of the possibility that he was involved in something shady, it’ll require a full-blown investigation.”
“And that,” she added, “will make the Egyptian government very happy.”
“They really hate him that much?”
“I don’t know if they really hate him, but he had been a thorn in their side for an awfully long while, and, because of all of his fighting with them, he was always a sore spot,” she whispered. “It was very hard on all of us when he became so very vocal about it.”
At that, Hatch nodded. “Well, hopefully it won’t be anything like that this time.”
“This time?”
He nodded. “We have orders to speak to the Egyptian government.”
“Well, good luck with that,” she quipped. “I just hope you leave me out of it.”
Hatch nodded. “We’ll try. I’ll speak to them first, while Corbin stays here with you. Then I’m sure the Egyptian government will also want to speak with Corbin. So I’ll return here after my appointment with them, so Corbin can speak with them. Even after all that, they probably want to hear your story out of your own mouth. Sorry.”
“When?”
“I’m scheduled soon, starting at eleven a.m., and I expect to be gone for hours. You know how the government types can be.”
She nodded. “I don’t want to deal with them.”
“I understand that. Believe me. I can tell them you are mourning the loss of your father. That may buy you a couple days. However, I don’t expect them to care. So what if we can’t talk them out of speaking with you?” he asked.
She gave him a flat stare. “Tell them no. Don’t give in to them. As far as I’m concerned, they don’t even need to know I’m alive.”
Chapter 8
Millie woke up early that next morning to find herself once again wrapped up in Hatch’s arms. She lifted her head and stared at him. “I’m not sure what happened.” Yet it felt right, normal. At that glance at his face she remembered him.
“Well, you fell asleep and then started crying,” he explained, his voice gentle. “You only calmed down when I picked you up.”
“I’m sorry.” She looked away from him. “I don’t know that something like that has ever happened before. How embarrassing.” Yet it wasn’t. It was lovely.
“Well, keep in mind you haven’t been kidnapped and lost your father before either,” he noted. “Don’t worry. It’s not a problem.”
She scrambled off his chest and looked around. They were still in her bedroom, where she vaguely remembered coming back here to rest. She couldn’t while Corbin was here, but once Hatch returned … She sat on the edge of the bed and gave herself a mental shake. “You’ve been beyond kind,” she said. “I’m sorry for being such a watering pot.”
“Don’t apologize for crying. You’ve been very stressed and overwhelmed. Plus, you are grieving—doubly so, in a way,” he noted. “If you’re ready to get up again, I’ll leave you to it.”
She nodded. “I guess I am. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do right now.” She stared at him.
He nodded. “Well, clean clothes may go a long way to making you feel better.”
“Oh my goodness, that sounds better than it should.” She still wore his T-shirt. She flushed with embarrassment. “Wow,” she said, more to herself than him, “this is very unlike me.”
“Again stress and circumstances.” He calmly got up and walked to the other side of the bed and held out some clothes for her. “Corbin bought you one outfit, so you have something clean to wear. You’ll feel better once you’re dressed.”
“I will, indeed. Good thing your shirt is as long as it is.”
He smiled. “No worries. Besides, it’s never looked even half as good on me.”
She laughed. “Well, at least I can get dressed properly now.” She watched as he left and then sagged in place. “Dear God, Millie, what the hell’s going on with you?” But she knew, and he was right about the grief. Plus the shock and other reactions were all great excuses, but it was definitely time to pull herself up by her bootstraps now and try to get back to normal. Whatever that would be for her now.
Even though America was her home, all she could think about at present was heading back to England to her father’s locker, where she might find some answers. At least that’s what she considered as she got fully dressed in new clothes—leggings, T-shirt, and underclothes—which she was most grateful to have available again. As she stepped out of the bedroom, she heard Hatch and Corbin discussing arrangements for her to return stateside. She had no time to think it through, but she spoke loudly. “No.”
At that, Hatch looked over at her, as she stepped from her bedroom. “Sorry?”
“No,” she repeated more firmly.
“No what?” he asked, looking at her and waiting.
“I need to find answers first.” Immediately he shook his head, but she glared at him, “Yes,” she stated. “I need to know what happened with my father. And to my mother, for that matter.”
“Well, that’s not something that you’ll necessarily find out anyway,” he noted cautiously.
“I know,” she admitted, “but I also don’t want you sending me off while all this is still in a mess. What happens if they kidnap somebody else? Killing the foreman? … That shouldn’t have happened.”
“No, it shouldn’t have,” Hatch agreed, “but killing the foreman doesn’t mean that it’s your job to fix this broken mess.”
She glared at him. “Maybe not, but I also need to know what happened and what my father’s involvement means in all of this.”
“Ah! Now that,” Hatch said, “is a whole different story.”
She sat down beside him. “You came here to get me.”
“We did”—Hatch nodded—“and we’ve done our job.”
“No,” she argued. “The job is half done. My father’s body is out in the desert somewhere, and I want it back. He may well prefer to stay there, but I need to find out what happened to my father. And, if you won’t help me, I’ll just have to do it on my own.”
Hatch stared at her, shook his head. “You know that’s not smart. Plus it is likely your emotions are talking right now. I get it, but you also must be sensible. The Egyptian government will let you leave, but they don’t want to see you back here again.”
“You mean, I’ll be painted with the same brush that they think my father deserved? Even after his death and even though nothing concrete at this point indicated he was involved in anything shady?”
He nodded slowly. “Can you blame them?”
“No, I can’t blame them,” she agreed quietly, “but neither do I want to believe it.”
“What will it take for you to believe your father’s involvement in any of this?”
“I don’t want to believe any of it,” she cried out. “Can’t you understand my need to find out the truth?” She looked over at Corbin, or at least she thought that’s what his name was. “Surely you can understand that.”
“I can understand it.” Corbin nodded. “But are you sure you understand what you’re asking us to do here? You already know how dangerous this is. You’re the one who’s only just escaped,” he noted. “I doubt your kidnappers will let you escape a second time.”
She blanched slightly. “Meaning that, if they find out what I’m doing—” She stopped.
“Think about it. Either they let you go or are definitely aware that you have escaped one way or the other. They are the ones who want to take you out so you don’t say anything, or they may well get pissed off that you decided to find answers on your own.” Corbin shrugged. “Either way, they’re playing for keeps. … Your father and his foreman are evidence of that. They don’t know for sure if you were telling the truth about knowing nothing about this other site, and who knows if they are still seeking proof of that. Maybe they allowed you to escape to follow you to this new dig site.”
She thought about it, while Corbin continued to sketch it out for her.
“You escaped. They let you go. Now, if you poke around to find answers, you don’t have any leverage. They might have waited a day to kill your father, but circumstances have changed, and they won’t think twice before deciding to take you out.”
She nodded, struggling to find a way to make them understand, when Hatch gently took her hand. She stared down at his fingers and groaned. “I don’t know how to explain it to you, but I feel like a gaping wound’s in my heart, after finding out that my mother was murdered, … by this guy, or at least by somebody who worked for him.” Shrugging, she continued. “I don’t think that makes him any less guilty, but I don’t really understand the circumstances.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “I need to know more.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Hatch suggested. “How about if we compromise?”
Immediately she looked up at him and stared intently. “What kind of a compromise?”
“We’ll push back your flight for forty-eight hours,” he offered, “and that’s it. We can stall using all kinds of excuses, like maybe you need a little more time to recover or whatever, but we’ll never get any more time than that.” He continued. “We’ll do what we can to help you get those answers, but, when that time is up, there’ll be no arguments, no fuss, no fight. You’ll get on that plane with us, and we take you back to England.”
She stared at him. “England? Not the US?”
“Oh.” He turned around to face her fully. “I just assumed you wanted to go to England to retrieve the contents of your father’s locker.”
She thought about it. “I’ll need to do that. Maybe I’ll find the answers there.”
“So, do you want to go there first maybe?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I won’t be allowed back here for a very long time, so I better stay while I can.”
“That’s quite possibly true,” Hatch agreed. “So that’s the deal. What do you think?”
She looked over at Corbin, who studied her with interest. “I don’t know where my ID and passport are. Maybe still in my suitcase, but without it, we could have a lot of trouble taking me anywhere. Are you okay with that?”
Surprised that she would even ask him, Corbin nodded slowly. “We both understand the need to find answers,” he stated. “And, if you follow along with your part of the bargain, we’ll do everything we can for you. But, like Hatch said, … you have to agree to get on that plane when it’s time. Otherwise you’re putting all of us in danger. And we have a few workarounds for your passport, but best if we can find yours.”
