know what I’ve gone through for you.” He bent toward her. “Do you realize I risked twenty-five million to make this work?”
Dee shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
“He paid the ransom to himself,” Jessie said. “It drew away suspicion and brought him access to the investigation. He was right there with us.”
Noah smiled. “Exactly.” Then he added quickly, “But that didn’t mean I wasn’t forced to put that money at risk. I had to trust some men who had proven to me they would do almost anything for cash. I had no assurance that they wouldn’t take off with that ransom payment, so I placed tracking chips in the money bands. I gave them a signal sweeper that shouldn’t have detected those chips, but one of the men, in a moment of rare initiative, brought another one of his own that was more powerful.” He grimaced. “The cash tracking chips were detected, and the whole thing almost blew up in our faces.”
“But then you had your chance to do it again and sent me into the Los Angeles River,” Jessie said sardonically.
Noah clapped his hands together. “Yes, well done, by the way. It kept me in the investigation’s inner circle, and brought you to us. Necessity really is the mother of invention, isn’t it?”
“And you sound so proud of yourself.” Dee was gazing at him incredulously. “Don’t you realize what a monster you’ve been? You’ve killed people, you’ve kidnapped me and brought me to this hellhole, and you’ve made me put up with that vicious bitch.” She held out her manacled wrists. “Dammit, now take these off me!”
“I can’t do that yet,” he said. “You’ll have to earn your rewards, Delilah. I’m still very angry with you. Perhaps when we’re out of here and you can convince me that you’re sorry for the way you’ve treated me.”
“Out of here? Where the hell are we supposed to be going?”
“I have a lovely private island set up in the South Pacific where we can get to know each other all over again. It’s very well guarded, and you’ll stay there until you learn your proper place in my life.” He checked his watch. “My pilot will be landing in about an hour to pick us up. However, Charlotte and I have a few things to attend to before he gets here, so you’ll forgive me if I leave you for a while.” His lips suddenly tightened. “But before I do, I want you to apologize to Charlotte for calling her a bitch. I realize she can be difficult, but she’s been very helpful to me in this situation. From now on the two of you will have to get along or you’ll both hear from me.”
“And you think that would make a difference?” Dee asked in amazement.
“Yes, because I’ll let her punish you whenever she wishes from now on.” He leaned forward, his gaze holding her own. “I can’t tell you how hard it was to keep her in check. But now I’m not even sure that all this was worth the effort. You didn’t appreciate me.” He glanced at Charlotte. “And my Charlotte has always appreciated me. Haven’t you, my dear?”
“Always,” Charlotte said gruffly. “From the time they put you in my care, you were my little boy. I was the one who kept you safe. I kept you safe this time, too. But this foolishness has to end, Noah. I know you were angry with her, but you can get a woman anywhere.”
“I wanted this one.”
“And I went along with it, didn’t I? But she wasn’t like that model in Paris that you made disappear two years ago. All it took was a fat check to have one of your mafia friends remove her when you were bored with her. But I knew people would notice this time.” Her voice roughened. “You were obsessed with her, and look where we are now.”
“I was careful. I was smart. There was no reason why I couldn’t have her.” His voice was pettish. “You were just jealous. You thought I liked her too much.”
“This is all very interesting,” Jessie said. “But would you like to explain to us just who Charlotte is?”
“Charlotte Palker,” Noah said. “My parents hired her to take care of me when I was five. Then they promptly forgot I existed unless I did something extraordinary. Of course, I did that frequently.” He smiled at Charlotte. “I was never a good boy. But bad or good, she was