Expired Hero

by Lisa Phillips

  Dean rummaged around in the back of the cupboard and found a packet of plain crackers no one else liked. How long they’d been there, no one knew. He slid it to him across the counter.

  Stuart bit into the dry, salt-flavored nastiness. “Yum, thanks.”

  Dean grinned.

  “Seriously,” Stuart said. “Thank you.”

  Dean only nodded.

  He turned to Kaylee. “I’m sorry if I hurt you. And I’m sorry I yelled.”

  She gave him a small smile, but that was all.

  “Peppermint.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. Not the reaction he’d been looking for, but it was something. “I didn’t want you to have to go through all that just to get the password.”

  Stuart turned away from her. “Now we know.”

  He wanted to ask where the flash drive was but didn’t think he’d be able to get the words out. Not with the memory of stabbing her brother so close. He could still feel the knife in his hands, the other man’s grip covering his. He looked down and realized he was thumbing the scar on the side of his knuckle, at the base of his pointer finger.

  “Drink the coffee.”

  Stuart sipped enough to clear his throat. He was the one she was supposed to give the flash drive to. That knowledge should’ve been enough, but it wasn’t. He’d hurt her. Physically and emotionally she was battered, probably as much as he felt right now having just gone through an experience as intense as the one he’d forced on himself downstairs. He could say he knew how she felt, but given he’d been the cause of it, he wasn’t going to commiserate with her. It wouldn’t comfort either of them.

  He didn’t need to create more of a bond between the two of them when it was only a matter of time before he ended up destroying what they had between them. He’d done a fine job of screwing things up already.

  Him and Kaylee? Stuart might care for her, but nothing was going to come of it.

  “Yeah, it’s me.”

  Stuart spun to see Zander on his phone, his attention still on that computer screen.

  “The images we got of the compound where Leland was held; pull it up for me and then share your screen, so I can see what you’ve got.” Zander paused. “Before that. The five or so minutes right before he leaves.” Another pause. “No, the other side of the compound. I wanna know what was happening.”

  Stuart started to get up.

  Dean said, “Sit back down,” and rounded the counter to head for Zander.

  Kaylee turned in her seat. “What’s going on?”

  “I second that question.” He shoved another cracker in his mouth since the nausea wasn’t going away. He didn’t like drugs at the best of times—at least, anything stronger than coffee. Mind-altering ones were worse.

  “Thanks. That’s what I was looking for.” Zander hung up the phone. He pointed to something for Dean’s benefit. “Right there.”

  Dean scratched at his jaw. “We missed that.”

  “What is it?” Kaylee’s question was soft.

  He twisted to her, sharing a moment in the quiet with both of them out of the loop. Then Dean said, “Stuart?”

  He didn’t like the look on either man’s face. “Just spit it out.”

  Zander said, “You’re in a fragile place.”

  “You’ll find out how fragile I am next time we go a few rounds in the ring.”

  Zander might be bigger with a right hook that made even the best guy feel like he’d been hit by an airplane, but Stuart was fast.

  Dean said, “Guys.”

  Stuart sobered.

  “Kaylee,” Dean spoke tentatively. “We think Brad might be alive.”

  Stuart nearly fell off the stool. “We left him there?!”

  She looked at each of them in turn, a shell-shocked expression on her face. Dean came over to him, but Stuart didn’t need his help to stand. He leaned back against the breakfast bar. It brought him closer to Kaylee, close enough she could put her hand on his arm for just a second—before she realized what she was doing and dropped it.

  “We didn’t leave him there.” Zander folded his arms, a power move that showed off his bulk. “He left before you did.”

  Dean said, “The commotion you described might’ve been Brad causing mayhem so he could escape. He likely had no idea his actions made it so you got out as well.”

  “We both got free?” Stuart tried to think it through. He was physically and mentally drained and had been before going downstairs. “They told me he was dead.”

  “He would never have left without you,” Kaylee said. “Not when you guys were friends.” She paused. “And if he did escape, why would he not contact one of us. You got out months ago, right? Before you came here.”

  “I came straight here.” Stuart motioned to Dean and Zander. “These guys are the ones who got me out.” He turned to the two men. “She’s right. Why would he be free and not have at least called one of us?”

  Zander shrugged. “I’m not a mind reader.” He brought the laptop over, showing Kaylee and Stuart the screen. “Brad walked out of that compound. He was in a firefight, and he was injured. But he got out.”

  Kaylee gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.

  Stuart stared at the image of his friend on the screen. Even if it was a satellite picture, he knew it was Brad. “Why would he not have called?” The question was barely above a whisper.

  Kaylee jumped off her stool and paced to the far end of the living room. The lines of her body were tense, but more than that, she was hurt. The people she cared about had either been killed or had abandoned her. Then Brad had gone and done his own brand of damage.

  Stuart crossed the room, trying to figure out what he was going to say. He settled on arguing, “Maybe Brad isn’t able to contact you. He could’ve been captured again after that photo was taken.”

  Only that meant Stuart had walked away from his friend when Brad still needed him and after he made it possible for Stuart to escape. And all that, after he’d stabbed the guy.

  He didn’t like the idea, but it was possible.

  Kaylee glanced aside, tears in her eyes. She didn’t even want to look at him right now.

  Stuart turned to Dean. “We need to stay on point.”

  Zander said, “I’ll put in a request, get my guy to comb this footage, and figure out where Brad went. Work out where he might be now.” He snatched up his phone and left the room.

  After he’d gone, Dean said, “I need both of you to remember that you’re fragile right now. It’s not the time to lose sight of what needs to be done.”

  Stuart turned to Kaylee. “We need that flash drive.”

  She lifted her chin, but he saw it quiver a second before she pressed her lips together.

  “Please.” He’d told her the password, but he needed her to give him her trust in return.

  Finally, she said, “Peppermint was my mother’s favorite flavor.”

  I want to help her. Only You know if that’s even possible. They were both hurt, but he knew down to his soul that God could heal anything. After all, he was standing here. Right? The fact Stuart was able to function on any level was a testament to the healing power God had, and the work He’d done through Dean’s assistance.

  Stuart would be forever grateful to his friend and his Heavenly Father for helping him.

  Would Kaylee ever let him in enough that Stuart could pay it forward with her? She deserved so much. He wanted to be the one to give it to her, but he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t hurt her in the process.

  In the end, he realized he cared about her entirely too much. It wasn’t worth the risk.

  Kaylee moved to the stool, gathered up her purse, and slipped both her phone and the file she’d been reading—the one about that missing girl—into it.

  Zander came back in. “Okay, we’re on the Brad thing. The boys are on the sniper team, flushing out anyone else in town. Dean?”

  “I’m headed to check on Conroy, and then I’ll go see Ted. Find out what’s
happening there.”

  Zander nodded.

  Kaylee said, “Can you give me a ride back into town?”

  Stuart started to move before he realized she was talking to Zander. He opened his mouth.

  Zander cut him off. “Good idea.” He pulled a set of keys from a hook that Ellie had Dean mount on the wall near the kitchen doorway. Since then, their keys weren’t misplaced nearly as often.

  “Kaylee?”

  She turned to him. “Zander can keep me safe, right? He’s trained like the rest of you.”

  Zander sucked in a breath, affronted.

  “More so.” Stuart figured the guy could use a little ego stroking once in a while—until they got in the ring. “Am I not invited?”

  “I think it’s better if I just go and get the flash drive.” She lifted her chin, her bravado undercut by the fact she hugged her purse to her front. “You probably need to rest. And I could use some space. I’ll be fine.”

  He took a step toward her, not even knowing what to say. She was probably right. Truth be told, he could use a nap. But at a time like this? He wasn’t going to clock out before this was anywhere near over.

  She scurried two steps toward Zander, and he realized she really was afraid of him.

  Stuart froze.

  He shifted his gaze to the big man, not needing to say anything to communicate his concern.

  Zander nodded. “We’ll be good.”

  Stuart hoped that was true. He trusted Zander, but this was Kaylee. Her safety meant more than any of theirs.

  Kaylee didn’t even look at him. She followed Zander down the hall, and Stuart watched her do it. He just stood there and kicked himself watching her walk away. Letting her go was for the best.

  So why did he want to chase after her so badly?

  Twenty

  “You probably think I’m just being childish, ignoring him and latching onto you.”

  Zander held the passenger door of a huge SUV open. He hadn’t even rolled up the garage door, which comforted her. She figured, as a protection specialist, he knew what he was doing.

  “Why are you trusting me?”

  Kaylee raised her eyebrows in surprise. He really didn’t know. “You live with them. They respect you.” Kaylee shrugged. “That’s good enough for me. Especially considering we won’t be gone more than half an hour.”

  Zander tipped his head to the side. She figured that meant, “fair enough,” and then she asked, “How much do you charge for this kind of thing anyway?”

  That got her a reaction. As she hauled herself onto the front seat, Zander said, “Five hundred an hour.”

  He shut the door on her coughing and sputtering. When he got in the driver’s side, she said, “Five hundred?”

  “Saving lives doesn’t come cheap.”

  “Wow.”

  “My insurance rates are a nightmare.”

  Kaylee just blinked. “Well, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Are you going to send me an invoice later?”

  He hit the button on the visor for the garage door and started the engine. “Not to you.”

  She twisted to stare him down, her fingers freezing on the seatbelt buckle. “Who is paying for my protection?”

  “Stuart.” He shot her a look like she should’ve figured that out.

  “Great.” She straightened. He pulled out of the garage. “Now I feel even more like a jerk.”

  “You stood your ground, and it made you feel like a jerk?”

  She shrugged one shoulder.

  “Huh.”

  Kaylee watched the roadside as he drove. Even though she was probably completely justified being mad at Stuart, she couldn’t help feeling sympathetic. He’d gone through something insane. It had nearly broken him.

  Of anyone, she knew what that felt like.

  One night, after a movie, her parents had been shot by a man who had left her alive. To this day, she didn’t know why. She never would, considering he was dead now. Brad had killed him. If he’d found the reason she’d been left alive, he hadn’t told her what it was.

  She pulled out the cold case file, trying to settle her thoughts with facts that encompassed zero emotion. After reading for a minute, she glanced at him. “I just don’t like this whole Trina thing. I mean she’s gone off the deep end, and for what? A shot at the flash drive? There’s no way I’m going to give it to her, and now the cops are looking for her. Where is she going to hide?”

  “If she has half a brain, she’s in Mexico by now.”

  Was Trina that smart? Kaylee had the feeling her “friend” was a completely different person than she’d previously thought. And now she was faced with the reality that maybe she didn’t know one single true thing about her, even though they’d known each other ever since Kaylee first started working at the bank.

  “Maybe it’s her dad,” Kaylee said. “Hopefully Basuto questions him and figures it out. Because if he did something to her, that’s important to know.”

  “You think all evil is a result of people who have those actions forced on them. Like they can’t help it?”

  “Some of them. But I still think people are responsible for their actions, and they should be held accountable.” Kaylee shrugged. “But she was supposed to be my friend. I want to understand why she suddenly turned around and pointed a gun at me. How did she even know the flash drive was valuable anyway, and who would she have given it to? It’s not like she knows who to sell it to on the black market. Its covert operations, international stuff. Right?”

  “Guess we’ll find out.” Zander turned a corner into the neighborhood she’d entered into the maps app on his phone. “Maybe she does know some black-market players. Or some friend of a friend who has connections.”

  “This is insane. It makes no sense.” She flipped a page and blinked. “Huh.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A cold case. I don’t even know why I’m reading it right now, but it’s a distraction, and my brain wants to be occupied so I don’t freak out regarding my present circumstance.”

  “And the ‘huh’?”

  “A photo of the victim.” Kaylee glanced at him. “Basuto put a note in here that says her mother insisted she’d been wearing a necklace the day she went missing.” She brought the photo closer to get a better look at the necklace.

  She explained why she cared as much as she did about this missing girl, given her proximity to the young woman at the time of her disappearance and what had been going on in her life at the time.

  “Easier to try and help someone else. Especially when your life is going crazy. You can control your feelings about a missing young woman who might never be found. But your own life? Who knows what’s going to happen next? That, you have no way to control.”

  “So I just want to manage my whole life.” Kaylee shut the file. “I already knew that.”

  “It’s not a bad thing to keep your world simple. Control the variables as much as you can, so that you know what to expect.”

  She wasn’t sure that made it sound like a good thing. Some people might not want anything to do with a life as narrow as hers was. But that was their choice. She was entitled to choose whatever life she wanted to have. One she could love that gave her peace and supplied her with the contentment she needed.

  Kaylee spotted what she was looking for and pointed up ahead, the sidewalk on the north side of the street. “Right there.”

  “One of those ‘little library’ things?”

  She nodded. “One sec.” Kaylee pulled out her phone and sent a text. “The kid who lives right here—” She pointed to the white house they were parked in front of. “—watches the library. He has a camera pointed at it from his bedroom window, and I have the password to access the footage from the cloud. So if anything has happened, we’ll be able to see who was here.”

  Zander looked impressed.

  Her phone buzzed with a reply. “Everything is good. Lewis said he checked this morning, and
the envelope is still there.”

  “You stay in the car.”

  “Open the little door, and it’s taped on the inside lip of the roof closest to you. The envelope is half the size of one of those old floppy disks.”

  “Copy that.” Zander kept one hand close to his gun. He jogged across the street to the mailbox-sized birdhouse that had a collection of old books inside. She’d read most of them, had purchased half of them herself, and kept a list of recommendations taped to the inside of the door.

  Kaylee glanced at Lewis’s house. The blind in the front window shifted, but she didn’t see anyone watching. Probably the cat.

  Zander got the tiny envelope—barely big enough for a couple of dollars worth of coins—and turned to make his way back.

  A bang sounded. Kaylee glanced at Lewis’s white house. The front door opened, and Lewis strode out. Kaylee opened the car door before she could even register his strained expression.

  Behind him, Trina’s face was set. Determined.

  “Lewis!”

  His gaze flicked to her. “Kaylee!”

  Trina shook him, her arm grasping his bicep. The kid was twelve, but so gangly and short that he barely weighed ninety pounds. As an avid reader and gamer who spent zero time on his physique, he wasn’t exactly strong enough to fight off a grown woman who worked out regularly.

  And especially not when she had a gun pointed at the back of his head.

  Trina looked at Zander. “I don’t know who you are, but give me that flash drive now or this kid dies.”

  Zander took slow, measured steps toward them. He was in the middle of the street now. Trina was at the corner where the front walk hit a right angle and then turned to the driveway. Kaylee wasn’t close enough to do anything since she was at the curb still.

  She moved around the SUV door and took a few measured steps of her own.

  “Both of you, stop!” Trina screeched the words.

  Lewis whimpered.

  Kaylee put her hands out. “Everything is fine.” She tried to speak calmly…to distract Trina from the fact Zander was still inching toward her while her attention was divided. “Everyone is going to be calm, and we’ll get this figured out.”

  Where the clarity was coming from, Kaylee had no idea. There was a well of stoicism inside her that she could draw from in times of intense stress. Maybe it was that she had lost so much, and nothing could ever be as bad as what she had already been through.