His Secret Life. Debra Webb

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       Before the call.

      Victoria shuddered as memories of Leberman and the horrors he had used against the Colby name crowded into her thoughts. Anyone associated with him would be every bit as evil and twisted. Worse, they would go to any lengths to accomplish their mission.

      The possibility of their success terrified Victoria.

      She swallowed back the emotions that constricted her throat. Victoria never allowed anyone or anything to shake her confidence and determination to this degree.

      But this absolutely shook her to the core.

      Perhaps she was not as strong as she once was.

      Her office door opened, snapping her to attention.

      “We have Jim on the line,” Ian Michaels announced.

      Simon Ruhl came in behind him, closed the door.

      A mixture of relief and anticipation seared Victoria’s senses. “Finally.”

      They moved to the conference table, where Ian activated the conferencing system. “Jim, Simon and I are in Victoria’s office. Are you in a position to speak at length?”

      “For as long as the connection lasts,” Jim granted.

      Emotion surged upon hearing her son’s voice. Victoria smiled even as tears welled in her eyes. “Jim, it’s good to hear your voice.”

      “What’s wrong? I can hear the worry in your voice, Victoria.”

      Victoria had hoped at some point her son would feel comfortable calling her mother. But that hadn’t happened yet. Years of brainwashing and bitterness had made any sort of intimacy on a normal level difficult. Still, their relationship was close, solid.

      “There’s a situation,” she explained, annoyed that her voice quavered. “We had hoped to contain the threat without interfering with your vacation, but that has changed now.”

      “Tell me,” Jim commanded, his tone fierce, “that my daughter is safe.”

      “Jamie is safe,” Victoria hastened to assure him. “She is unharmed and having a grand time being the center of attention. We have the maximum security measures in place. For now, all is under control where her welfare is concerned.”

      “There’s been a threat against her,” Jim surmised.

      His voice had lost all inflection. When threatened he closed out all emotions, a tactic he’d learned after years of abuse. Agony twisted in Victoria. She would give most anything not to have to do this to him.

      “Yes,” she confirmed. “Ian is going to bring you up to speed.”

      Surprised, Ian shifted his attention to her and Victoria nodded for him to take the reins. She did not trust herself to maintain her composure.

      She looked away as Ian launched into the details of the threat to her granddaughter. More of those stinging emotions burned in her eyes. Inside, where no one could see, she trembled.

      For the first time in a very long while she was afraid. Uncertain of herself. The past year her agency had worked hard to pull together a reconnaissance division specifically for finding the missing. How could her agency possess such talent and still be vulnerable to this kind of threat?

      The answer was all too clear.

      Leberman, an evil man with extensive power, had reached out from the grave and done this to her family. The years of torment…the struggle to overcome the misery he’d elicited in her life even now sent dread welling inside her.

      The bastard.

      “Victoria.”

      She blinked, returned her focus to the two men seated at the conference table with her. “Yes?” She mentally scrambled to catch up. Had Ian asked her a question? What had she missed?

      “Jim is ready to listen to the recording.”

      She nodded. “Of course.”

      Ian gave Simon a nod. Simon initiated the playback of the recorded call.

      Victoria clasped her hands in her lap, held on tightly as the sinister voice filled the room. Ten million dollars was the price for calling off the abduction of Victoria’s granddaughter. But she knew that no amount of money would guarantee Jamie Colby’s safety. The threat had to be neutralized at its core.

      When the recording had reached an end, the silence thickened for several moments before Jim spoke.

      “His name is Clayton Barker. He operated the mercenary camp where I stayed for two years. Do not underestimate him. If he’s behind this…”

      Victoria heard talking in the background. One voice sounded like Tasha’s.

      “Jim?” A new kind of tension quivered through Victoria. The background conversation sounded clipped, tense.

      “Look,” Jim said, apparently moving away from the conversation in the background since the voices faded. “I’m coming home. I don’t know how long it will take. There’s been some trouble here.”

      More of that paralyzing fear streamed through Victoria’s veins. “Related to the recent shift in the political climate?”

      “Yes,” Jim confirmed. “We thought we were safe but trouble has moved into this area. We were already preparing to move out before your call was patched through. Tasha and I will head back to Kenya and get on the first flight back home.”

      “Can we get a helicopter to your location to facilitate your departure?” Ian suggested.

      “Won’t work. The government has shut down all air traffic in the area. We’ll have to try getting out in the jeeps. If that doesn’t work, we’ll do it on foot. I will get there, one way or another.”

      “Jim.” Victoria worked at keeping her voice even. “Are you and Tasha safe for now?”

      “For now.” His tone was grave.

      Adrenaline fired through Victoria and she snatched back her crumbling resolve and courage. “Listen to me, Jim,” she said, her voice stronger than before, “you take care of yourself and your wife. Make your way back here, but don’t take unnecessary risks. All of us are working on this situation. We will find Barker and we will do whatever necessary to stop him. Jamie will be protected. Do not doubt that for a moment. You have my word.”

      Her resolve buckled for a minute, but there was no way Victoria Colby-Camp was going to be undone by a degenerate like Barker. She would prevail. She looked from Ian to Simon. She had the best of the best behind her.

      “I know you’ll do all you can,” Jim said, “but I can’t risk that it might not be enough. I’m coming back. Nothing here will stop me.”

      The call ended with one last plea from Victoria for him to take care.

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