CHAPTER FORTY
Early on the morning after Liz and Meers arrived in Sofia, an American Embassy Chevrolet sedan sped down Sofia’s rain-dampened, time-worn cobblestones. Franklin Meers sat in the front seat, across from the driver. Liz sat in the backseat with Andrew Morton, staring at the depressingly-gray buildings lining the streets. She felt numb, drained of emotion. Until I have Michael in my arms, none of this will be real, she thought.
“We’re going to the Bulgarian Premier’s office,” Morton said. “After your papers are checked, you’ll be reunited with your son Michael. Then the Premier will make a speech at a press conference you will attend. His people have notified the press agencies. They’ve nicely orchestrated the whole thing to make themselves look good.”
“I don’t care, as long as I get Michael back.”
“I want you to understand,” Meers added, “the Bulgarian government will use this press conference for propaganda purposes. And they’ll condemn the people who kidnapped Michael.”
“Nice twist,” Liz said, exhaling a stream of air. “The Bulgarian Government was behind my son’s kidnapping all along.”
“Probably right, Mrs. Danforth,” Morton said. “But I warn you, say nothing about that. It won’t do the other kidnapped children any good for you to attack the Premier. Just say how happy you are to have your son back and how grateful you are to the Premier for his assistance.”
Keeping quiet about the Bulgarian Government’s involvement in kidnappings didn’t seem to Liz to be the way to protect other kidnapped children, but she had one priority at the moment. She’d keep her mouth shut until she had Michael back in her arms.
“I understand, Mr. Morton,” she said. “I’ll behave.” Liz shrank into the corner of the backseat and looked out the car window again. The morning sun was just beginning to light up the city. She visualized Michael’s face and conjured up the sweet smell of his skin. What have the Bulgarians done to him?
Then she snapped her head forward, looking at the back of Meers’ head. “Franklin, how are we going to know if Bob called?” She tightened her hands into fists and pressed them against her thighs.
Meers twisted in his seat to face her. “When we get to the government building, I’ll call our Embassy here. I left instructions for my messages to be forwarded.”
Liz nodded. She pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the car window, feeling a terrible emptiness. She felt suddenly chilled. An image of Bob came to her. She imagined him running through a dense forest, being chased by armed men shooting at him. Liz blinked her eyes and tried to erase this nightmarish image from her mind. What if I get my son back and then lose my husband?
“Ah, Mee-ster Mor-ton,” Premier Mimovich said in heavily accented English, “it is alvays good to see you. And this most be tha mother of our bright leetle boy.”
Liz cringed at the Premier’s use of the word, “our.”
“Mee-sus Dan-forth, I am huppy to meet you and to place you together vith your son. I understand all the formalities haf been taken care of, so let us not put off tha reunion any lunger.”
Mimovich gave an almost imperceptible nod to a barrel-chested man standing in a far corner of the spacious office. The man took two steps to a door, twisted an ornate brass doorknob, and opened it.
Michael stood there next to a heavyset matronly woman who was dressed in a long gray dress and From Russia with Love’s Elsa Clinch shoes, dwarfing the little boy, making him seem especially small and vulnerable. Liz took a step toward her son, but stopped when she saw him shrink back against the woman. Liz saw Michael’s fear – his eyes round, his little fists clenching the woman’s skirt.
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EVIL DEEDS
Misterio / SuspensoEvil Deeds is the first in a 4-book series that follows the Danforth family from the kidnapping of their 2-year-old son in Greece in 1971 to present day. The book (and series) is a roller coaster ride of action and suspense. This book, as with all o...
