Mrs. Quinlan frowned. “Er… Where did we store them? Actually, I think there are some in a suitcase under the bed in Ivan’s room. Go take a look there.”
Samira nodded. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”
Glowing with satisfaction, Samira jogged up the stairs and strode into Ivan’s room, then she crouched to feel under the bed. Her hand banged into a suitcase, so she pulled it out and frowned at how similar it looked to the case that had contained the cocaine. Presumably Ivan had shoved the cocaine under the bed with such haste that he hadn’t realized there was a similar one already here. And he’d probably pulled it back out again without really looking – just as she had.
Which meant… the cases would’ve been under there side-by-side…
But obviously he would’ve picked up the right one just now. Wouldn’t he? He would’ve opened it and checked before he left. There’s just no way he would've made the same mistake twice. But if he hadn’t known about this other one…
Praying this suitcase was indeed full of family photos, she took it back down to the kitchen, where she placed it on the now-cleared table in front of everyone.
“Oh you found them,” Mrs. Quinlan said, clutching Quin close.
“Yeah,” Samira said, feeling like she was in a trance. She opened the lid with a flourish, and her body washed with urgent terror as she was confronted with the bags of cocaine once more. “These damn drugs are haunting me…”
Mrs. Quinlan stared at the cocaine. “Well, I didn’t know we had that under the bed.” She glared at her husband. “I assume this is nothing to do with you?”
Mr. Quinlan’s face was frozen in shock. “No, no I’m pretty sure it’s nothing to do with me.”
Joseph stood up slowly. “Samira, if this is Langdon’s cocaine, what the hell did Ivan take?”
“Family photos. Oh god.” She grabbed her phone from her purse. “I’ll tell them to come back.”
Tension washed through her body as she listened to the dial tone. The phone rang in her ear – taunting her – until it disconnected with a bleep. There wasn’t even an option to leave a message. Perhaps the network was bad because of the storm? But she needed to get hold of him before he strode back in there with a suitcase full of old family photographs!
She tried again, but nothing. “He’s not answering.”
“You got Jake’s number?” Joseph asked.
She shook her head. “How can we contact him? Hey, we could go after him. Perhaps they haven’t gotten on the plane yet…”
Joseph checked his watch. “I’d imagine they’re probably just boarding now if the traffic was okay. Listen, I’ll drive you to the airfield. And if they have already gone, well… maybe we can go after them. I can fly a light aircraft.”
Ellie scoffed. “Joseph, you've had three lessons.”
Joseph zipped up the suitcase. “I can take off, land, and keep the plane airborne. Come on Samira, you’d better come with me – I may need you to tell me where to go.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ivan watched the land below fall away as he sat in the leather seat of Adam’s jet. The suitcase of cocaine was on the seat behind him, and Jake was sitting across the aisle, staring ahead of himself. Ivan checked his phone one last time, but it was definitely not working. It must be this storm…
The rain was pouring hard, and the humidity was high. The pilot had been reluctant to take them, but Ivan had explained the urgency and he’d relented. Hopefully they weren’t about to plunge to their deaths when the tail caught fire from the impending lightning.
He looked away from the window and stretched. In a few hours they’d be back in Texas...
“So, at last we’re alone,” Jake said.
Ivan tensed. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
He turned to face Jake – who was gazing at him. Jake smiled. “It doesn’t mean anything… I just got a bit obsessed with you for a while. With the family. I still can’t believe we met like this.”
“Mom and dad seem ecstatic. So what are your plans? I mean, you’ve got debts to pay, right? You know we can help you… Or if you’re not interested in handouts, I’m sure Adam and Dylan are recruiting right now.”
Jake gripped the armrest. “I assume our deal still stands? For me spying on Mr. Langdon? Especially now Langdon’s probably not going to pay me. I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I’m making by losing out on his money.”
Ivan’s insides corroded slightly. “Yeah, I’ll pay you, don’t worry. I forgot how mercenary you are.”
“You don’t know anything about me, Ivan.”