Anya turned toward her. “Anta!” she cried, throwing her hands up in the air and dropping her crayon on the dining room floor.
“Hi, little one, did you have fun with Ms. Zoey today?” she asked, moving over to the girl and giving her a quick hug.
“Uh-huh,” Anya said, reaching for Mindy’s hand with her pudgy fingers.
They were sticky with what Mindy could only assume was peanut butter and jelly, Anya’s favorite afternoon snack.
“Thank you, Zoey, for watching her for me.” Mindy let go of Anya’s hand and, wiping her hand off on her jeans, sat down across the table from her.
“No problem,” Zoey said with a nod. “While you guys were working I found some things I thought you all might find interesting.”
Mindy tried to ignore the feeling of embarrassment that filled her. Just because Zoey assumed she knew what they were up to upstairs, it didn’t mean that there was anything to be ashamed of. She and Jarrod were both adults and they both... Well, they both had to know that there wasn’t any possibility of a future. No matter how badly she wanted there to be one.
Though she had forgiven him and they had made love, there remained a gap between them. Perhaps it was the fact that he had lied to her, or maybe it was something else, but there was something that was making her hold back from falling completely and utterly in love.
“Anta, we see Dada?” Anya said, reaching for another crayon.
And there it was, the wedge that was driving her and Jarrod apart.
There was nothing she could do to bring them together when a child stood in the world between them. Now that she knew Daniel was dead, she had to focus on Anya. She was the only person the little girl had left. First, Anya had been discarded by her mother, and now, with the death of her father, she was completely alone. If something happened to Mindy, she would have no one.
The world had already taken enough from Anya. Mindy couldn’t let her be hurt more.
But she also couldn’t keep the truth from the little one about her father’s death. She had the right to know that her father was gone. Yet, Mindy couldn’t bring herself to utter the words that would undoubtedly break Anya’s sweet heart.
“I don’t think you are going to see him today,” Zoey said, seeing Mindy struggle for words.
“Okay,” Anya said.
Relief passed through her. Though she should have been honest with Anya, the truth could wait. There were so many things happening right now, not to mention the fact that Daniel’s body hadn’t been released to his family. As far as the government was concerned, she had yet to find out about her brother’s death.
Sometimes, a reprieve could be found in the shadows of truth.
“You color for a bit, okay?” Zoey said, but Anya barely acknowledged her; instead, she leaned down and started chaotically coloring the picture of a cat. Zoey stood and motioned them to follow her outside.
As they walked out, they noticed a car waiting in the driveway. “Who’s that?” Jarrod asked, pointing toward the blue sedan.
“This is your driver,” Zoey said, walking them to the car. “He is going to take you to your private jet.” She stopped, clearly not planning to elaborate.
“No,” Mindy said. “I can’t leave Anya.”
Zoey sent her an acknowledging smile. “Don’t worry about Anya. She and I are going to go over to Dunrovin Ranch. We have family there, including kids that she can play with. We will hole up there until you find Arthur and neutralize the situation.”
Was she saying that she thought the only solution for Arthur and the spying was to kill him?
Jarrod stopped before they reached the car. “What did you find out about him?”
Zoey glanced over at her brother. “I dug into H&K’s records and found—”
“Wait,” Mindy said, cutting her off. “How did you gain access to our records?”
Zoey gave a dry laugh. “Did you really think I gave you that phone without a way to keep track of what you did with it?”
So, she had been hacked by the Martins, as well. Mindy sighed. Maybe one day she would no longer be surprised by the family that seemed willing to do anything to get to the answers they needed.
Their family was one that she would have liked to have called her own. Instead, she’d had a globe-trotting brother and a father who had kept them out from underfoot to such an extent that she was only just learning how dangerous his world had been.
“If you could gain access so easily how do we know it was Arthur who stole the data?” Mindy asked.
“Do a lot of people have access to your phone or your personal computer?” Zoey asked, a frown darkening her face.
“No, but—”
“And what about your brother’s network? Did anyone have access?” Zoey pressed.
Mindy shook her head. “Daniel didn’t have an assistant who had access. Anything that came through his secretary went through separate channels. With Arthur, on the other hand, I thought he could only access certain emails.”
“From everything you and my brother have told me, and from what I’ve been able to piece together, Arthur is our man,” Zoey said. “He is definitely up to something at H&K. Now, whether or not that is obtaining and selling military secrets is up for debate, but I have a feeling that we are going to get to the bottom of this soon enough.”
Mindy wasn’t sure that she had the same level of faith as Zoey, but she also didn’t have the same access to data as Jarrod’s sister.
Once again, she was thrust into a position where she was being forced to trust this family.
It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since the truth had been supplied to her, and yet there wasn’t time to waste rehashing any wrongs. She had granted her forgiveness, but was she ready to trust them?
“Okay,” Mindy said, taking a deep breath to alleviate the stress and anxiety that filled her. It did little to help. “But if something happens to me, I want Anya to stay with your family. She doesn’t have anyone else. Fake adoption papers, fake whatever you have to, but I don’t want her going back to Russia, or falling prey to a broken foster care system. Do I have your word?” Mindy took one more look in through the living room window at the little girl coloring at the dining room table.
“Don’t worry. No matter what, I have your daughter under my care. If anyone dares lay a finger on her, I will kill them.” Zoey reached up and took hold of Mindy’s shoulder. “I will take care of her as if she was my own.”
Zoey’s words ripped at her. If she’d had the chance, she might have said the same thing to her brother before his death. Instead, he had likely died not knowing what the Fates held in store for the ones he loved.
Once again, she found herself not wishing to follow in her brother’s footsteps.
* * *
ZOEY HADN’T WHISPERED a single word to him about her plan. No doubt, she had thought it best if he and Mindy didn’t know what was in store for them, but it pissed him off. Once again he was reminded of what it must have felt like for Mindy to be kept in the dark.
He and his brothers and sisters, before Trish’s death, had prided themselves on not falling into the trap created by keeping secrets. They had all vowed that they would not keep things from one another. Yet, here they were, and here he was once again having to confront his sister’s desire to lead the family.
Maybe he shouldn’t fight her on it anymore.
Then again, there could only be one leader. More than that would lead to chaos.
Maybe the best thing Jarrod could do was to let Zoey take the controls. She could prove herself, or else she could learn exactly how hard it was to keep order within the family, especially with so much happening right now.
This could be her moment to sink or swim.
If she succeeded, then he could step back and finally enjoy living without the constant pressure of leading the family.
He could relax and maybe even follow his heart with Mindy.
For once, he wouldn’t have to fight with her. If nothing else, that was a win.
“Before we go anywhere, Zoey,” he said, “where are you sending us?”
“With how much we’ve been through lately, and the liability that comes with running tech, I’m only going to tell you this once, and in person.” Zoey glanced toward the car that was waiting for them. “I tracked down Arthur. He’s holed up in a hotel room in Stockholm.”
“What is he doing there?” Mindy asked.
“From what we know about him,” Zoey said, “he’s probably getting off US soil in case the CIA chooses to crack down on him for his role in your brother’s death.”
“But why Sweden?” Jarrod asked.
Zoey shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
He couldn’t help but wonder if Arthur was deeper into this than even he had imagined. What if he had something to do with the hit on Hans Anders, as well?
Maybe he had intended for Mindy and Jarrod to get caught up and killed in the melee.
On some level it made sense. It seemed more than possible that after killing Daniel, Arthur had decided to go after Jarrod, as well. At Camp Delta, the day Daniel had died, there hadn’t been cameras rolling. Which meant that Jarrod was the only witness to Daniel’s murder.
That, in and of itself, was more than enough motive for Arthur to want him dead.
He couldn’t wait to get on the plane, fly across the Atlantic and lay a beatdown on the man.
He took Mindy’s hand and led her toward the sedan that was waiting. “We will be back here as soon as we can,” he said to Zoey as she walked the last few feet to the car with him. “While I’m gone, you are running things. She and I will be off devices as much as we can to keep anyone from tracking us.”
“Just call me when you can. You are going to have a stop in New York before heading over the Atlantic, but from what the pilot has said, it sounds like you’ll be there by tomorrow morning, their time.”
“Do you have any clue how to find Arthur when we get there?” Mindy asked, opening the car door and putting one leg inside.
“According to the app OpenTable, he made a reservation for tomorrow night at the Wine Cellar at the Grand Hôtel,” Zoey said, helping her into the car. “You both have bags packed and waiting for you on the plane. If you need anything, use cash. Stay off the radar as much as possible.” She closed the door on Mindy’s side of the car.
“Thank you,” Jarrod said, realizing how much work his sister must have done. “Seriously, I appreciate it.”
“No matter what happens, you will always be my big brother, Jarrod.” She threw her arms around him and gave him a hug.
From the way she held on to him, he could sense that she was frightened. With all their ups and downs, he hadn’t really realized how much Zoey loved him.
“I love you, sis. Take care of things while we’re gone.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
“You got it.” Zoey let go of him and watched as he got into the car. “And hey, bro, make sure you and Mindy come back safe. I want to watch you two get married.”
Chapter Eighteen
The flight felt short, but it could have been because he and Mindy had spent most of it locked in the back bedroom making love until they had both fallen fast asleep.
The pilot had made a stop to refuel at a private airstrip near NYC, but he and the staff aboard the plane had done little to interfere with their private time.
Jarrod couldn’t have thanked them enough, and when the pilot announced their descent into Stockholm, a profound sadness filled him.
He glanced over at Mindy. Her green eyes were heavy with sleep. She gave him a drowsy and satisfied smile. “Good morning,” she said, “are you ready for this?”
All he was ready for was to live his entire life with her in his arms. Screw the world and all the madness within it.
He knew that was impossible. They had to go back to their lives. And that meant he had to make sure Arthur was no longer a danger to Mindy—and that meant that he had to clear her name of any possible wrongdoing.
His family’s plan was to come together at the Widow Maker Ranch and live out their days in seclusion and peace. At least until the Gray Wolves were under control and they were no longer in fear for their lives. As such, once everything was handled with Arthur and Mindy was once again safe, she could come back to the ranch. If she was willing. He knew she had an entire business to run on her own, thanks to Daniel’s death.
Their time together might be coming to a close. Sure, they could try the long-distance thing, but such relationships were often destined to fail. Life always got in the way. First, they would go out of their way to meet up together—missing meetings and throwing caution to the wind. But over time, when the bloom left the rose, business would once again come first and life would take over. They would slowly move apart until neither could really recall exactly why they had ever gotten together in the first place.
It was better to realize now that whatever they had would be best left behind. It would be easier on both of them, instead of deluding themselves into thinking that they could make it work—no matter how much he loved her.
She blinked, her impossibly long eyelashes brushing against her cheeks. He wished he could tell her how he felt, that he loved her, that he wanted to be hers forever, and that he would do anything for her.
However, if he gave in now and told her how he was really feeling, it wouldn’t just be him that he was hurting...and he had promised that he would do anything to stop her from being hurt further. He had to keep his word.
The plane jerked as the wheels touched down on the tarmac.
Mindy set about getting her clothes together and putting them on as he watched. If things went well, they might very well be bringing Arthur back with them on their next plane ride. This could be their last time alone.
Reaching over, he helped her button her pants. And before she could turn away, he took her one more time into his arms and gave her a kiss that felt entirely too much like goodbye. She looked up at him as he let her go. There were questions in her eyes, and behind those questions was a darkness as she, too, must have realized what he had been thinking.
She knew as well as he did that what they had together was over.
The ride to their hotel was quiet and filled with melancholy. They passed by beautiful waterside and antiquated architecture, which would have normally given him joy. This time all he could think about was the sadness that filled him.
Maybe he could move to New York and stay with her and Anya. But then, she hadn’t spoken of a future together. And just like him, she was probably guarding herself from becoming too emotionally attached. That, or she held no feelings for him at all.
It pained him to realize the truth of their arrangement.
He normally wasn’t the kind of man who fell for a woman, so maybe this was his karma. In a way, he couldn’t deny that he deserved what he was getting from her.
Though she had seemed to forgive him for his transgressions, she had never really told him so in as many words.
Maybe she had spent the night with him to ensure that he would be hurt as badly as she was. Or perhaps she had taken him in an attempt to make herself feel better and to forget about the pain in her real life. Maybe she had known it was over before it began.
As their car came to a stop in front of the hotel, he looked across the water to the royal palace. It was no coincidence that Arthur was here. He had to have been somehow involved with the Riksdag, or possibly Hans Anders’s murder.
Come hell or high water, Jarrod would get to the bottom of this.
Not for the first time, he wished he could call his people at the CIA. He wished there was somebody he could trust to be on his side and tell him more about Arthur.
; If Arthur really was a double agent, then it seemed likely he may have also been behind the suspicion of Daniel and Mindy. Perhaps Arthur had even been spreading rumors that she was somehow involved with Hans’s murder, and in an effort to expunge himself from any possible guilt, he was here trying to sell his innocence to this Swedish Parliament.
Bottom line, Arthur was a bastard.
In broken Swedish, he thanked his driver and helped Mindy out of the car. The driver motioned that he would be taking the bags into the hotel for them. Jarrod handed him a healthy tip in kronor.
The man took the money with a wide smile and stuffed it into his pocket before escorting them to the lobby door where a bellman waited. The driver said something to the man and, though the well-dressed bellman was already at attention, he stood a bit straighter.
“If you wouldn’t mind,” Jarrod said, “could you please make sure our bags arrive safely in our rooms?” He handed the bellman the same tip he had given the driver.
The bellman nodded, and the money disappeared as though in the hands of a well-practiced magician.
They weren’t at a HoJo in the States, that was for sure.
As they made their way into the foyer, they were met with brilliant marble floors, fresh-cut flowers and crystal chandeliers that cascaded down from the ceilings. The place was quiet, though a few guests were making their way to and from the elevators and up and down the grand staircase. The hotel smelled of something clean but dripping of class, something reminiscent of white tea and sage. The palatial foyer opened up into a group of rooms and the luxury hotel’s front desk, where a woman in a suit waited with a smile.
He would have to ensure that he had the right attire for such a place. The thought made him miss the ranch, and it reminded him of just another thing that was so different from NYC and Mindy’s life. With her lace panties and high-end clothes—well, all except his Nirvana shirt—she was totally out of place at a Montana ranch.
He slipped his hand into hers, pretending just for a moment that they were something more than what they could be.
In His Sights (Stealth Series Book 2) Page 14