Chapter 16
Seven months later…
Faye glanced over at the clock, wondering how five minutes could last so long! Just five more minutes, and classes for the day would be over. She would rush over to Elspeth’s house and pick up Shanta, her three-month-old baby daughter, and they could spend the weekend playing and having fun! Oh, how she missed her little baby during these long days at school! But her job gave her security and money. That money gave her the means to protect Shanta, allowed them to leave at a moment’s notice if necessary.
Finally, the bell rang, and Faye waved goodbye to her students. “Have a good weekend!” she called out in English. Several of the students grinned back at her. “You too!” they responded, their English improving by leaps and bounds lately. She was so proud of them, but she still wanted them gone. She wanted to go find Shanta! Faye wanted to snuggle with her tiny daughter and find out what beautiful things she’d done over the day. More bubbles? How many times had Shanta wiggled her legs? Had she smiled? Oh, Faye prayed that Shanta didn’t smile too often while Faye was working! No, that was crazy. Elspeth was a wonderful caregiver. Faye hoped that Shanta laughed and smiled and giggled all day while she was here at school.
Unfortunately, the fear of Scott finding them had never left Faye’s mind. She constantly waited for Scott to find her and renew his threats, waiting for him to come around a corner, skulk out of a dark alley, or appear in either the doorway to her small classroom or the cottage where she and Shanta lived.
She still looked over her shoulder, still jumped at shadows, and still tensed every time the doorbell rang. Thankfully, her tension wasn’t as bad as it had been when she’d first run away from his vile threats.
Faye wished that there was some way she could find out if Zantar was safe. Looking out the window of her classroom, she wondered if perhaps she could hire someone to find Zantar? Maybe…? Shaking her head, she focused on the students who were finishing up a quiz. Somehow, she’d find Zantar again. Once Scott couldn’t threaten Zantar!
After leaving Skyla and finding a new place to hide, Faye had slowly started sleeping a bit better, but since Shanta’s birth, that sleep had come in bits and spurts. Faye accepted that extreme, bone deep fatigue was just part of her life now.
The last bell rang and the students jumped up from their desks, grabbed their book bags and hurried out of the classroom, plopping their quiz down on her desk while calling out greetings in English to her. She smiled at each of them, proud of their progress.
But now, it was her turn to hurry out! Time to see Shanta!
Packing up her bag, Faye slung the strap over her shoulder and hurried out of the classroom, eager to leave the school and get to Shanta for their precious time together. A whole weekend! Maybe they’d go on a picnic? The weather was a bit cooler lately and…!
“Don’t even try it!” the headmistress called out to Faye.
Faye turned, her fingers tightening on the strap of her bag as tension gripped her. Had Scott found her? Had he created pictures that made her look as if she’d been doing something bad? Or worse, had he found Zantar and…!
But the headmistress’ features were smiling, almost excited! Faye didn’t let her guard down. “What’s up?” she asked as her boss approached.
“We have a special visitor today!” she replied, rushing down the hallway and straightening her clothing. “This is huge!”
“Huge?” Faye parroted. “In what way?”
“Sheik al Abouss is coming here for a visit!” she explained in an excited whisper, running a hand over her hair. “Apparently, there was some trouble in one of the villages last year. He is now traveling through the country, visiting even the small villages like ours to check on all of us. He wants to ensure that we are doing okay and that nothing is amiss.”
“That’s very…” she stopped, the name sounding familiar for some reason. “That’s nice of him.” She continued, her forehead wrinkling as she tried to place the name. Instantly, an image of Zantar popped into her mind. But that wasn’t strange. He popped into her mind about a thousand times every day. She still loved him. She still cried for him at night. But at least she had Shanta to snuggle with during those long, lonely nights.
Zantar ground his teeth with frustration. These visits were necessary, but he was still furious that he hadn’t found Faye. Several times, he’d told himself to give up. But those last words…I love you…kept haunting him. He loved her too, even though he was furious with her for running away.
His guards had haunted the small towns in Georgia where she had worked before starting her research, but none of her previous co-workers had heard from her. Damn her!
Yes, she’d warned him about Green Mining. After interrogating Scott Roland, the man had explained all of the mysterious events that had been happening in Skyla and Silar, as well as the constant caravans of trucks coming and going from the lone highway. Unfortunately, Roland didn’t know who was in charge of Green Mining’s parent company and hadn’t offered any additional information on the illegal mining operations, other than what he’d developed on the border between Silar and Citran.
Would the man behind all of the illegal efforts ever be caught? Probably not. From what Roland had explained, no one really knew or saw the man. No one ever spoke to him. All instructions were done through second and third parties.
So why was Zantar traveling through all of these towns and villages? Why was he wasting his time?! He should focus on finding Faye!
Sighing, he tamped down on his frustration. This was his job, he reminded himself, forcing his shoulders to relax as he approached the headmistress of the village school. He refused to look to the right or left at the people gawking on the sidewalks. Faye wasn’t in the crowds! She’d hidden herself away and…! And he wasn’t here looking for Faye! He knew that she was long gone by now, hiding in fear of a non-existent threat.
If only she’d trusted him! If only she’d stuck around and told him whatever Roland had threatened her with! He could have told her that Roland was in a prison cell, rotting away. Furthermore, the guy wasn’t faring well in prison. Word had gotten around to the other inmates about his actions, the way he’d hurt the women in the brothels and all of the women that had been kidnapped from small villages trafficked to the highest bidder. All of the inmates, men who knew that Roland had repeatedly raped the brothel’s patrons, not to mention all of the environmental crimes! He was still waiting to be tried for those crimes. If there was ever a reason for Roland to be brought up for parole, Zantar would have those other charges brought forward and the man would be charged for those crimes as well.
No, the man was never getting out of prison.
Forcing his mind on the present, he moved forward, smiling politely at the group of teachers and staff members waiting on him in front of the school. “Good afternoon,” he said to the woman who immediately bowed low.
“Your Highness!” the headmistress gushed, her face wreathed with smiles and excitement. “It’s such an honor to have you here in our small town and, especially here at our school.” She stepped back, waving her arm towards the other school employees. There were only about ten of them and Zantar allowed his eyes to briefly sweep over each of them. There was no time in the schedule to greet all of the teachers personally. He still had to meet with the town’s governing body and visit the local health clinic before he could head back to the capital tonight.
He opened his mouth to utter the usual platitudes when his eyes stopped, arrested on a startled, beautiful face that had haunted his dreams every night for the past year!
“Faye!” he growled. It took him several moments, but when she blinked those long lashes, then stared right back at him with her beautiful, blue eyes, he spurred his muscles into movement, walking over to her. Without waiting for any response, he simply bent down and tossed her over his shoulder, carrying her to the SUV.
“No!” she screamed, instantly trying to get away from him. “Zantar, you can’t do this! Please! I can’t leave! I have to get to…” He shut the door on her outburst, tossing her into the back seat. Yes, he knew that it looked as if he’d just kidnapped one of the schoolteachers, but he didn’t give a damn. He would find out what the hell she’d been up to for the last year and then he’d…hell, he had no idea what he’d do with her.
He heard her fist pounding on the window behind him, but he ignored her. Walking over to his guards, he whispered, “Get her to the helicopter and don’t let her out of your sight!”
Then he walked over to the headmistress and took her hand. “I apologize,” he told her with exaggerated politeness as he tried to calm the fury that was almost choking him.
For the past year, he’d been searching everywhere for Faye, and here she was, happy and thriving in a small town. HIS small town. He’d been driving his guards insane with his demands to find her, interrogating Roland over and over again, demanding to know different places Faye had vacationed, her school friends, her work friends. The stupid man didn’t know much and was a pretty horrible brother, even for a step brother.
Zantar went through the motions with the teachers, but he didn’t hear any of their comments when he spoke to the group, praising them for their skills, time, and compassion. All the while, his mind was on the woman who was currently going nuts inside the SUV. He wondered about that, but he was still too angry with her at the moment. She’d calm down, he told himself. And then they could have a rational conversation. Then he’d spank her pretty ass for putting him through the torment of the past year. Then he’d toss her pretty ass out of the country!
No, he wouldn’t. Zantar came up with a variety of punishments for the beautiful woman. Up to and including keeping her locked up in his bedroom at the palace. Maybe even tied to the bed! Yes, that idea sounded pretty nice to him. He could then torture her with kisses every night, not satisfying her. Just as he’d endured over the past year! Every night, he’d dreamed about Faye. And every morning, he’d woken up feeling just as angry and furious and panicked when he realized she wasn’t in his arms.