She’d played right into Nik’s hands. It would have been very hard for him to take Danny out of England without her consent, but she had done it for him.
Of course she hadn’t known Danny would come down with chickenpox, but Nik had been all too quick to turn that to his advantage. She should never have accepted his offer to take her home. And she should definitely not have handed over Danny’s passport.
‘My home is the other side of this mountain,’ Nik said. ‘It is quite isolated, so please don’t try stumbling about outside. I don’t want you falling down a rocky path.’
‘Really?’ Carrie asked nastily. ‘If I broke my neck falling off a mountain, surely that would solve all your problems?’
‘Not if you kill yourself on my property,’ Nik said coldly. ‘I should also warn you that the very best modern security system protects the perimeter of my land. You won’t be able to leave with Danny.’
‘You mean I’m your prisoner.’ Carrie glared at him.
‘Not at all. You are quite free to leave any time you choose,’ Nik replied.
‘No one will try to stop me?’ Carrie asked suspiciously.
‘My staff will have orders to take you anywhere you want to go,’ Nik said. ‘But you will not leave with Danny.’
Carrie tossed her hair back and turned to the window. She should be paying attention to her surroundings. The limousine was climbing into the mountains, sliding slowly round an alarming series of hairpin bends.
Surely this couldn’t be the same road they had been driving along a minute ago? That one had been narrow and windy enough, but nothing like this hair-raising track. They must have turned off the main road, but she had missed the junction.
The limousine went slowly and carefully, but Carrie couldn’t help feeling jittery. She only hoped they didn’t meet another car coming the other way.
She glanced at Nik, but he appeared completely oblivious to the fact that the limousine seemed to be clinging precariously to the side of a mountain. Instead he was studying Danny intently, a slight frown creasing his strong forehead.
‘He’s been asleep a long time,’ he said. ‘Is that normal?’
Carrie blinked in surprise, caught off kilter by Nik’s sudden question.
‘I think so,’ she said. ‘After all, it is his usual bedtime.’
‘But he slept a lot of the afternoon, and he hasn’t had anything to eat or drink.’ Nik leant forward and brushed a gentle hand over the sleeping child’s brow.
‘No doubt he’ll make up for it later.’
Nik was acting like a concerned father, Carrie thought with a worrying stab of anxiety. It was good that he was genuinely concerned about Danny, but it was making her feel uneasy.
‘Should we wake him?’ Nik turned to look at her.
It was dark inside the limousine, but Carrie could tell his sharp eyes were scrutinising her. Instinct told her that it wouldn’t be a good idea to wake Danny, but now Nik and his questions were making her feel worried.
‘How long till we arrive at your place?’ she asked.
‘Only a few minutes now,’ Nik said.
‘Let’s wait and see if he wakes up naturally when we move him,’ Carrie said. ‘If he doesn’t, we can wake him and give him a drink, see if he’s hungry.’
‘I’ll call ahead and have some food prepared.’ Nik pulled out his mobile phone. ‘What does he eat?’
‘It’s all right. I have a jar of food in my bag,’ Carrie said.
‘A jar?’ Nik repeated incredulously, the disapproval plain in his deep voice. ‘Obviously we have very different standards, but don’t think for a minute you will feed my nephew mass-prepared convenience food in my home.’
‘It’s a good brand,’ Carrie said, feeling slightly defensive. She cooked fresh food for Danny at weekends if she could, but she did feel a little guilty over giving him shop-bought meals at other times. ‘It’s organic,’ she added, ‘and, most importantly, now that he’s feeling ill, it’s what he’s used to, and I know he likes it.’
At that moment Danny made a little murmuring cry. Both pairs of adult eyes were instantly fixed on the infant, who was finally stirring from his long sleep.
Nik stared at Danny in alarm. Was it normal for a baby to howl quite so loudly? He didn’t know, but in the confined space of the limousine the noise was almost unbearable.