tion. And he fully intended them to revisit other things, too. Because the cold showers had stopped working; hell, they’d been less than effective in the first place. Even the swim-a-thons he’d punished himself with the past couple of nights no longer did the job. He found himself waking up in the middle of the night to a raging boner and an empty bed, and he was slowly losing his mind.
He released a harsh sigh and started unbuttoning his shirt.
The distinct ring of his cell phone stopped him.
“Andreakos,” he announced himself, irritation coating his voice.
“John Allen here, sir.”
“Do you have anything new for me?” he rasped.
“Yes. We’ve picked up a trail here in South Africa. Unfortunately it’s to a private airport.”
Adrenaline surged through his veins. “So we know where he’s headed?”
“That’s the thing. He didn’t just charter one plane. He chartered five, each one with a different destination. And none of the officials at the charter company have been able to give us an accurate description of who boarded what plane.”
Nick bit back a curse. “Dammit, isn’t finding people what you do for a living? Isn’t this what you’re supposedly best at? You’ve had five days to find him. How could he have slipped out of your fingers so easily?”
“We weren’t anticipating—”
“No, you weren’t. Where are the flights headed?”
“Hong Kong, Venezuela, Ghana, Tel Aviv, and Turkey.”
“He won’t be on the Turkey flight,” Nick said with a certainty born of instinct. “He’ll expect us to hone in on that one because it’s the closest to Greece. Don’t rule it out completely, but I want you to concentrate on the other flights, especially the ones to Tel Aviv and Venezuela—there could be political or drug connections there we’ve overlooked. I’ll look into it from this end, too.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you need more manpower?”
Allen hesitated. “That would help, if—“
“Do it. Hire as many men as you need to. You told me one of his soldiers said Mwana seemed fixated on my wife?”
“Yes, the soldier overheard him say he intended to have her, whether you paid the ransom or not. Mwana kept her separate from the rest of the hostages and spent hours talking to her. He…he may have shared things with her.”
“What things?” Nick snapped.
“This is just secondhand of course, sir. But the soldier mentioned they spoke of his plans for Nawaka, how he intended to seize power.”
“Jesus!” Nick’s rage threatened to spill over. He also wanted to storm back to the villa and demand Belle tell him exactly what she’d been playing at. He forced himself to breathe in the tangy salt air. “Mr. Allen, do you understand why it’s imperative he’s found as quickly as possible? Before this madman attempts anything that’ll further put my wife’s safety in jeopardy?”
“Sure I do, sir, but—”
“No. I don’t want to hear buts. Hire as many bodies as you need. But find him, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
Nick ended the call, then breathed deeply when he realized his hands were shaking. “Damn it!”
He hated handing over Belle’s safety to someone else, but there was no way he could go after Mwana himself when Belle needed him here.
He’d known in his gut that the rebel leader was dangerous. To have it confirmed took things to a whole new level. If Mwana had shared his plans with Belle, then he’d done so in the certainty—delusional, granted— of Belle being around to help him see them through.
Nick took another breath and forced himself to acknowledge reality—Belle wasn’t out of danger. For Mwana to have gone to this much trouble to hide his whereabouts wasn’t good news.
His gaze fell on the almost motionless water stretching for miles in front of him. Perhaps tonight the swim might work if he doubled the distance. He tossed his shirt onto the sand and tugged off his trousers. Taking a deep, hopeful breath, he sprinted across the sand.