The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (The Devils #2)(81)

I’m making no sense. Jim somehow understands the question. “It means they probably took him hostage…or worse,” he says quietly. “We’re trying to get ahold of the embassy in Ethiopia since that’s where they went the last time they were evacuated.”

My brain is spinning. I can’t focus. “We have to go to Ethiopia,” I tell him. “We need to—”

I stop and press my hand over my face because I have no idea what we need to do. I have no idea who to pressure to find him. The one person I want to lean on in this moment is Josh. With that thought, I burst into tears.

“I’ll call you back,” I whisper.

I would give up my entire fortune for this not to be happening, to be back where we were the day before when he was safe and I was merely heartbroken.

Davis and Stephanie come barreling in, summoned by Ashleigh, no doubt.

“What’s the problem?” barks Davis.

“We may need to iron the dress,” says the stylist as I push myself off the floor. “How much time do we have?”

“No,” I say quietly. “I’m not going.”

“Not going?” Davis yells. “The hell you’re not going. You’re supposed to perform. You can’t just choose not to go.”

I look at him and feel utterly clear for the first time. “Of course I can,” I reply. “Ashleigh, I need a private plane out of LA. One that can go a long distance. Now.”

She looks at Davis and does nothing. My laughter borders on hysteria. “Ashleigh, are you serious? I’m the one who’s paying you.”

“I—” She looks from me to Davis. “You have to be on stage in two hours.”

And again, it’s so clear. It was always clear. I was just scared I’d make things worse, but there’s nothing these people could ever do to match the terror I feel right now.

“You’re fired,” I reply, turning for the bedroom. Davis grabs my dress so hard it tears from the back. Everyone in the room gasps in unison.

“You are not going anywhere,” he says, gripping my arm. “This is breach of contract. They can sue you and so can I.”

I look at his hand on my arm. “You just tore my dress and grabbed me inappropriately. There are fifteen witnesses. I’m pretty sure I can sue you right back.”

I pull away and march into my room, reaching for my inhaler as I wrench the dress off. And then I call Ben. “Pull the trigger. On all of it. Also, do you know how I can get a plane?”





From the car, I call Beth and Jim and tell them I’ve got a plane ready to go. We’ll leave for Ethiopia in ninety minutes, sooner if we get there faster and the pilot does too. I’m calling everyone I know to make sure this is being taken seriously.

“This is so kind of you,” Beth says. “You really don’t have to go there. I know you’re busy.”

She still thinks I’ve done all this simply because I dated Six. It kills me that I can’t tell them, but maybe it’s for the best. Because if they knew, I’d have to tell them he tried to call me, and the fact that he got cut off doesn’t seem good.

“It might help to have me there,” I tell her. “There might be people I can call.”

“You’re right,” she says, and then she’s crying again. “This is so kind of you. I’ll never forget it. I’m still trying to reach Joel. Hopefully he can come with us.”

Normally, I’d think Six’s presence would make a bad situation worse. Except this situation can’t get worse. It might already be over and we don’t even know.

I go online and look up kidnappings in Somalia, and I wish I hadn’t. Josh wasn’t exaggerating about the dangers. Kidnappings are routine there. Kidnapping of doctors is routine. An optimist would see that at least half of them survive. A pessimist, me, sees that of the other half, many die, and many are held for years before they are rescued. I close Wikipedia. I don’t want to know any more.

The plane is ready to go by the time Beth and Jim reach the airport. “I reached Joel,” Beth says, squeezing my hand. “He’s flying out tonight.”

She looks so hopeful about us. I feel all the blood drain from my face but I say nothing. It doesn’t matter. Nothing at all matters as long as Josh is okay.

I let Jim and Beth take the actual bedroom at the back of the plane. I’m sleeping fitfully in one of the reclining seats when she takes the chair beside me. Her face is drawn.

“We just heard from Sloane,” she says, tears rolling down her face. “They’ve been found, but several people are injured and an American is dead.”

The tight knot in my stomach becomes a hole and I feel as if I’m falling right through it. There were other Americans there, but the bulk of the staff was French. And I know how little good hoping for the best does at times like this. Beth begins to sob and I join her, my face in my hands, my shoulders shaking.

“What are they doing with the survivors?” I ask when I can finally get the words out. “When will we know?”

“They’ll be flown to Ethiopia once they’re medically stable,” she says. “The rest of the staff is already on their way there.”

My eyes squeeze shut. Even if Josh isn’t the one who died, that still doesn’t mean he’s okay. And if he is okay, if he did survive, I need to know this can never happen again. Beth goes back to the bedroom and I pick up my phone.