When Day Breaks

CHAPTER 32

EDEN hummed as she dressed for the launch party. With the relieving news that the threat to her had been eliminated, she felt lighter and carefree. She was in love. Even better, Swanny loved her. Nothing seemed insurmountable in light of those events.

She hadn’t asked for details. Didn’t want them. And to Swanny’s credit he didn’t give her anything more than, “The threat to you has been taken care of.”

She trusted Swanny, and she trusted his team and organization, for that matter. She knew that while Swanny’s team had been front and center, KGI had been working behind the scenes to get to the bottom of the whole mess. So if they said everything was good, then she believed them.

Swanny, much to his consternation, had been shooed from her room so she could dress for the launch party. He and his team waited for her in the lobby. She wanted to surprise Swanny by wearing the necklace he’d given her. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face and love warming his eyes when he realized she was wearing his gift.

No, it didn’t exactly meet the standards of the designer dress she was wearing, but she didn’t give one damn. She loved the necklace and she was wearing it, choosing it over the many jewels designers would kill for her to wear for the event.

She had just finished securing the clasp when she heard her hotel door open. Frowning, she stuck her head out the bedroom door, her hand covering her chest where the necklace pendent rested, prepared to reprimand Swanny and tell him to get his ass back down to the lobby, but it was maid service pushing her cart inside.

Smiling, Eden walked farther into the living area. “There’s nothing I need. In fact, I’m just about to leave if you want to give me five minutes and then come back.”

Even as she said it, a prickle slithered down her spine because she remembered that Joe had arranged for them not to have maid service during their stay. Swanny always picked up linens, towels and other necessities straight from the front desk. For that matter, no one was allowed on her floor.

But perhaps now that a threat no longer existed they had relaxed their restrictions. She’d have to ask Swanny about it when she met him downstairs.

“It is no problem, miss,” the maid said in a heavily accented voice. “I just leave you new towels and give you turn-down service so when you return everything is perfect, yes?”

As the maid spoke, she closed the distance between herself and Eden, a warm smile on her face. She had darker skin, but Eden couldn’t place the accent. It sounded more Central American than Mexican. It definitely wasn’t French, but then many immigrants to France came from all over the world and took jobs in hotels and restaurants.

“That’s fine,” Eden said faintly.

She started to step around the maid to collect her clutch and head to the elevator when suddenly the woman moved with speed that astonished Eden. Then Eden felt a prick in her arm and she stared aghast at the woman just before the room sort of fizzled around her and grew fuzzy.

She opened her mouth to scream for help but found herself incapable of saying anything at all, much less screaming.

The maid grabbed her arm and jammed the barrel of a pistol into her side, her expression menacing as it yawned and blurred in and out of Eden’s vision. God, she had to get herself together. Make herself overcome the effects of the drug. This time she had only herself to rely on to get out of trouble. And there was no way in hell she was going to let Swanny down.

“Now you listen to me,” the maid said, all traces of her accent gone. “You’re coming with me and we’re going out the side maintenance entrance and if you make one wrong move, make a single sound, I’ll kill you where you stand. Nod if you understand.”

It took considerable effort for Eden to nod. The drugs had her impaired enough, but terror paralyzed the rest of her.

She stumbled as the maid started forward, her grip painfully tight on Eden’s arm and the gun digging into her side, most assuredly bruising the skin.

The maid all but dragged her toward the elevator and then pressed the button for the subfloor, one level beneath the lobby, that was restricted to employees only. The maid inserted a card that identified her as a hotel employee and the elevator descended to the basement level.

To Eden’s utter horror, when the maid yanked her from the elevator, she nearly tripped over the body of another maid. There was an obvious gunshot wound to her forehead, right between the eyes, and the woman’s head lolled to the side, eyes open and glassy with death.

Eden’s stomach lurched and the world went even dizzier around her, the drugs rendering her incapable of doing anything but being meekly led to the exit. The maid threw open the door, did a quick survey of the alleyway and then shoved Eden into the backseat of a small Peugeot. She leaned in over Eden and quickly taped her mouth shut and then roughly turned her on her side, jerking her arms behind her and cuffing them together.

It all took but a few seconds, but time had yawned for Eden and everything was moving in slow motion, terror and helplessness filling her as she realized she was being kidnapped. The woman, whoever she was, had already killed at least one person to gain access to the hotel. It was obvious killing meant nothing to her and now she held Eden’s life in her hands.

Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as the car eased out of the alleyway and into Paris traffic. She was certain this woman meant her to die. But where was she taking her? And why?

Swanny, her father and her brothers flashed through her hazy consciousness. She’d never see them again. Worse, they’d likely never know what happened to her. Tears slipped from her eyes, hot against her chilled skin. She wept for all she’d lost and for the pain her disappearance would cause Swanny and her family.

And then she prayed that Swanny and his team would somehow, some way, miraculously find a way to rescue her before it was too late. Swanny hadn’t given up when faced with the unthinkable. He’d survived months of torture and degradation and come out the victor, never giving the animals who tried their best to break him the satisfaction of doing so.

She drew on his strength now, the memory of all he’d endured. He deserved someone of the same caliber, the same never-quit attitude and the determination to come out the victor.

She gathered those things to her, holding them tightly, letting them—and Swanny—burn brightly in her mind. Because something in the deepest part of her soul realized that she was going to need to tap reserves she wasn’t sure she possessed. But damn if she was going down without a fight.