“Niklas, let her go,” I say, just as he begins to make a move toward her.
Reluctantly Niklas steps to the side as Sian rushes past him and falls into the open arms of Emilio. Sobs wrack her body; he wraps her up in his embrace.
“Our daughter,” Sian says, weeping, probing Emilio’s face with her hands, “where is she?”
“Look,” Niklas speaks up, finally lowering his gun, “we don’t have time for this shit. Take her if that’s what you want to do, but we’re leaving.” I thought for a second Niklas might tell Emilio the news of his sister’s death, but he keeps it to himself, which is probably better.
“I have a plan, Love.” Emilio kisses her lips, her nose, her eyes, the bruise underneath one eye. “I’m just glad you’re OK.” He looks at Niklas. “Thank you—not sure who the hell you are, and I still don’t like you, but thank you for helping Sian.”
“I didn’t help her,” Niklas says, bitingly. “I don’t give a shit what happens to that girl.” He shoves his gun into the back of his pants, then he walks past Nora and goes back to his seat.
You’re such a liar, Niklas…you care, you care.
He doesn’t look at me when he sits down.
“Can you help them?” Sian says to Emilio. “They came here looking for one of the cyprians; can you tell them how to find her?”
Emilio looks at the three of us in turns, uncertain, reluctant, but appreciative and ultimately willing.
“Because you helped Sian,” Emilio says and reaches into his pocket, “I’ll do what I can.” He produces a small keychain with three silver keys; dangling from it is a typical flash drive. He unclasps it from the keys and holds it out to me in the palm of his hand. “I kept up with the books,” he says. “On this drive you’ll find the photos and address of all the girls who work for my family.”
This can’t be real! A solid, unexpected break into finding Olivia Bram! I thought for sure that hope was lost, that we’d never come close to bringing her home. I look down into Emilio’s hand, almost afraid to take the device for fear it might just vanish and all just be a dream.
“It’s yours,” Emilio says, urging me to take it.
“Thank you.”
“We need to leave,” Emilio tells Sian. “We don’t have much time.”
Just before Emilio takes Sian down the steps, she breaks her hand from his and she throws her arms around me. “Thank you, Izabel,” she says, and then she looks back at Niklas, who doesn’t bother to look at her even when she says, “You’re a good man; I’ll never forget what you did for me.”
He doesn’t even acknowledge her.
Emilio and Sian nod at Nora lastly, just before descending the steps and vanishing from sight.
“Niklas?” I say.
“What?”
I walk over to him. “I know you think it’s a waste of time—”
“Give me the flash drive,” he says, reaches out and takes it from my hand.
The three of us look through the profiles of the girls on the drive for twenty minutes, over a hundred of them, until finally a miracle happens and we see Olivia Bram’s face staring back at us, same birthmark underneath her left eye the size and shape of an almond sliver; brown hair and tired brown eyes—life has taken a toll on her, but she’s alive.
I can’t believe she’s alive…
“Maybe we can finish this mission with something to show for it,” Nora says. “Bringing his daughter back might be enough to satisfy him; Victor can tell the client that Francesca Moretti was killed in self-defense, that it couldn’t be avoided.”
“We’ll figure all that out later,” I say. “Let’s just find Olivia Bram and go from there.” I turn to Niklas, who still won’t look at me, and it crushes me but I deserve it.
“Niklas?” I say carefully, hoping to spark a glance at least. “Nora and I can go, if you want.”
He closes the laptop and stands.
“I’m ready when you are,” he says. “Nora, stay here; if anybody comes looking for us, give me a heads-up. I don’t want to walk into any ambushes when we come back.”
“What about me?” Nora asks, grinning.
“You can handle yourself,” he says. “I hope you don’t expect me to hold your fucking hand now because we slept together.”
Nora laughs. How can she not be offended? I’d punch him in the face for a remark like that.
“Honey,” she says, smirking, batting her eyes, “you weren’t that good.”
“I wasn’t?” Niklas is being facetious—he knows she’s full of shit—I know she’s full of shit. “So then when I get back, you won’t mind I try again.”
Nora shrugs. “Sure, I’ll let you try again.”