Failsafe

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  “I don’t know. That will be one of our top priorities once we go back online: to send someone in to find out.”

  Charlotte looked back down at the man’s body and shuddered.

  “Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” Ace said, leading them from the room and into the store. The displays looked like a tornado had hit; toys were scattered everywhere.

  The front door opened, and Charlotte braced herself. A breath of relief escaped her when she saw Kade walk in.

  “You’ve got one wounded over there, assuming he’s still alive,” Ace told him, not bothering with a greeting.

  Kade immediately began tending to the unconscious man. “I’ve already got an ambulance on the way. You’d better get out of here.”

  “Can you handle the cleanup on your own?”

  “Yeah,” Kade said. “I have a friend from CIA who owes me a favor. She’ll be here in a few minutes, and she’ll help me create the cover story for the authorities.”

  “The guardian equipment is in a back room. I want to get it up and running first thing tomorrow morning,” Ace said. “Also, check to see if we have any Navy SEALs on the move tonight, going after an al-Qaeda cell.”

  “I’ll take care of it. Where do you want to meet?”

  “Charlottesville. I’ll call you with a location later tonight.” Ace passed by Kade, leading Charlotte and Jake outside. A few minutes later, they were all in his car, and Charlotte prayed she and Jake would be able to leave the nightmares of today behind.

  Chapter 50

  Even though Jake had written about them on occasion, he had never been through an actual debriefing. The ride back to his farm with Ace was exactly that. Question after question, answer after answer, rule after rule. He had listened when Ace had called someone named Sheriff Hendricks to give him an update on Charlotte’s safety as well as the confirmation that the men responsible for her father’s death were now in custody.

  Jake had thought he wanted to know the truth about Hannah and where she’d come from. He had never considered that her secrets were so closely guarded that sharing them could result in any number of negative outcomes, most of them ranging between danger and death.

  He wanted to pretend Hannah was still the woman he had fallen in love with, the woman who had chosen a simple life, whose kindness and gentle manner had made him want to share such simplicities with her. Every time Ace called her Charlotte, he was reminded that the woman he had fallen for was a figment, a hollow image of what he wanted rather than who she really was. Now he was faced with the glaring fact that he might never have the chance to get to know how closely Charlotte resembled his Hannah.

  The drive home seemed to pass by faster than the one to the toy store. Knowing he would live beyond the car ride may have contributed to his altered sense of time. When they arrived, Jake half expected to find a police car or some sign of activity at his house, but other than the broken front gate, it looked as though nothing was different from when he had woken up that morning.

  Darkness had already fallen, and the porch light illuminated the empty chairs and washed gently over the stairs leading to the door.

  As soon as Ace parked, Hannah said, “I’m going to check on Miss Abigail.”

  “Let Jake do that,” Ace replied. “We have some things we need to discuss privately.”

  Jake didn’t like the way he had been so neatly dismissed, but the truth was he was anxious to see how his grandmother had fared through the traumatic experience.

  “I’ll see you inside, then.” Jake pushed the passenger-side door open, holding it until Charlotte got out of the back and took the seat he had just vacated.

  “I’ll see you in a minute,” she said before reaching out and pulling the door closed herself.

  The thought that she might leave before he had the chance to say good-bye crossed his mind. He started to open the door again to insist on assurances that they weren’t about to disappear into the night, but logic and pride stopped him. If she chose to leave, he couldn’t stop her. Any future they might have together could only happen if she wanted to stay.

  He jogged up the front steps of the porch and went into the house. Max and Stella sat in the living room with his grandmother.

  “Did you have a nice time with your friends?” his grandmother asked pleasantly.

  Jake stared. Could she really have missed the tension that had existed inside these walls only a few hours ago?

  It took him a moment to find any words. “I’m glad to be home,” he finally said.

  Max stood. “Is everything okay now?”

  “Yeah. I think so,” Jake said.

  “What happened?”

  “Hannah witnessed a crime a few months back, and a couple of guys found her here. They were pretty intent on making sure she didn’t testify,” Jake said, retelling the cover story Ace had given him, one that followed the truth closely enough to be believable.

  “Is she in the witness protection program?” Max asked.

  “Something like that.” He saw the look of awe and wonder in Max’s eyes and, for a brief moment, wished he could go back to the time when he too could believe the lies.

  * * *

  Ace must have realized Charlotte needed a moment of quiet reflection before starting the inevitable discussion of what would come next. He sat silently, seemingly content to let her initiate the conversation.

  “What happens now?” Charlotte asked finally, dreading the answer but no longer able to stand not knowing it. Someone had to oversee the guardians, and she was the logical choice. At one time she would have loved the challenge, but now, knowing her career would take Jake from her, she was less than enthusiastic.

  “You have three choices,” Ace said.

  “What kind of choices?”

  “First, you could become one of us.”

  “A ghost?”

  “That’s right. As of tonight, Charlotte Martin died in a firefight in a toy store outside of Norfolk, along with the men who abducted her.”

  “Did any of the men after me survive?” she asked.

  “Owen was still alive,” Ace paused before continuing, as though he knew Charlotte needed to process his words. “Second, you could step up and run the database.”

  “Replace my dad?”

  “That’s right. You’re the only person left who truly understands all of the programming and intricacies of how it works.”

  “I think after today I would prefer not to deal with the possibility of bullets flying at me.”

  “I was kind of hoping you would say that. Finding a replacement for you, someone to keep the database running and to make sure the security is constantly changing and updating, would be hard to do.”

  “You said I had three choices. What’s the third one?”

  “You can walk away.”

  “What do you mean, walk away?”

  “I mean, you can leave this life behind. We’ll set you up with a new identity, a deep-cover story, and let you go on your merry way.”

  A combination of relief and regret twined through her. The knowledge that she could live wherever she wanted, that she could explore her relationship with Jake, gave her a surge of hope. Then again, what would happen if he wouldn’t forgive her for the lies and deception?

  Another part of her mourned the possibility of walking away from her legacy, the program both of her fathers had worked so hard to put in place. The program they had both died protecting.

  “How soon would I have to decide?”

  “A day. Maybe two.”

  “I need to talk to Jake before I give you an answer.”

  “I understand,” Ace said.

  “Thanks, Ace.” Charlotte felt her throat clogging with emotions, the what ifs of today’s events overcoming her for a moment. She swallowed hard and managed to add, “Thanks for everything.”

  Ace nodded. “You did well tonight. Both of your dads would have been proud of you.”

  Tears threatened now, and Charlotte turned be
fore the first spilled over. How she wished both of her fathers could be with her now. As though in answer to an unspoken prayer, warmth spread through her as she felt their love despite their absence. With her heart swelling in her chest, she opened the door and climbed out.

  “Charlotte?” Ace called before she could close the door between them.

  She swiped at the tears on her cheeks before turning to face him once more. “Yeah?”

  “You will also have some choices on what you want to call yourself, but we will need to change your name. Everyone involved in the information leak knows you as Charlotte.”

  She managed a watery smile. “I kind of liked being Hannah.”

  “I think as long as we change your last name and birth date and birthplace, we can make it work.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “Go talk to that guy of yours.” Ace waved toward the door. “And tell him he did a good job tonight.”

  “I will,” Charlotte said, praying Jake’s feelings for her hadn’t changed now that he knew the truth.

  * * *

  Jake watched Stella lead his grandmother toward the kitchen. She and Max had offered to stay with her for a while longer so Jake could have some time alone with Hannah. The uncertainty of her future as well as his feelings for her now had turned his stomach into a jumbled mess.

  He opened the front door to see her approaching the front steps. She slowed when she saw him, her cheeks flushing when she looked from him to Ace’s car and back again. “Is it okay if I stay for now?”

  His chest tightened at the realization that he didn’t know the answer to her question, but he lifted a hand and waved at Ace to signal all was well. Ace waved back, started his car, and headed down the long drive.

  Hannah climbed the remaining steps to join him on the porch. She leaned back against the post beside her as though she wasn’t quite steady on her feet. Her dark eyes stayed on him, and he saw that her eyelashes were already damp with tears. She swallowed several times, and Jake suspected she wanted to speak but didn’t quite trust herself to do so. He took a step forward and put a hand on the porch rail beside her.

  “I guess I’m supposed to call you Charlotte now.” He looked out into the darkness of the fields he now called home. Sometime over the last few days, he had decided to live here permanently. Now he needed to know if the woman in front of him would be part of his life on his family’s estate.

  She took a moment before she replied. The meekness in her voice surprised him. “Actually, Ace doesn’t want me to use that name anymore in case those guys shared it with any of their buyers.”

  He dared to look at her now. She was terrified, he realized. He knew the look. He had just seen it a few hours ago when she had braced for what she’d thought was certain death. How was it that she could be that scared now? Something inside him softened and smoothed over his own uncertainties. “Do you know what your new name will be yet?”

  “Hannah.”

  “Really?” Jake asked. “I thought they wouldn’t let you use that since it’s your real first name.”

  “No one knows that besides you, Kade, and Ace, ” she said quietly. “I’ll get a new last name as soon as Kade can create a new identity for me.”

  Jake’s hand tightened on the railing; he was not sure how he was supposed to feel. This woman he had professed his love to, a woman he’d thought he understood, was reinventing herself before his eyes. Though he couldn’t deny the sense of betrayal he’d felt when he found out she wasn’t what she appeared, those emotions were fading into something else now.

  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you the truth when I first met you,” she said. “I was sworn to secrecy.”

  “I thought I understood what top-secret meant, but this experience has opened my eyes.”

  “None of us ever thought anyone could find me at your house. I never would have come back home with you if I’d believed there was a chance of it.” Hannah took a timid step forward. “I hope you know that.”

  “I’m not sure what I know. You’ve lied to me this whole time.” He took a step away from her, paced halfway down the porch, and turned back. “I thought I had everything figured out. I found a woman I thought I loved, a woman who made me want to settle down and enjoy a life I thought I didn’t want, and then I find out you live a life filled with danger, a life I can’t begin to relate to.”

  “I’ve always been honest about my feelings for you.”

  Jake stared at her, surprised at how desperately he wanted to believe her. As though it had a will of its own, Jake’s hand gripped hers. He felt the truth of her words and found a sense of clarity. He still loved her, not just the illusion of who he thought she was but the woman she was now. His heart broke a little at the thought of finally finding love only to lose it. His voice was edgy when he managed to ask, “What happens now? Is this some last request? A chance to say good-bye before Ace whisks you off to somewhere else?”

  “I don’t know. Part of that decision depends on you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Ace wants me to take my father’s place, to help protect the guardian database.”

  This was what Jake had been afraid of, and he stiffened against the future he didn’t want to see unfold. “That doesn’t sound like a choice.”

  “That’s what he wants me to do, but I was given a choice. Stay with the guardians . . .” She hesitated. “Or I can walk away.”

  She laced her fingers through his, staring down at the way they fit before looking back up at him. “You’re the only reason I have to walk away.”

  The weight that had been pressing on him for the past several hours lifted. He might not know everything about her past, but he could envision building a future with her. The same indescribable feelings he’d experienced when she had first said she loved him flooded through him. Hope, wonder, and anticipation were but a few of his emotions as he lowered his lips to hers.

  She was safe, she was alive, and, most importantly, she was willing to be his. If he could spend the rest of his life keeping her that way, he would die a happy man. He drew back, keeping his face close to hers.

  “I love you so much. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you tonight.” The words poured out of him. “I’ve never been as terrified as I was when I saw that gun to your head.”

  Her eyes filled. “I heard the gunshots, and I thought you were dead.”

  The possibilities of what could have happened crashed over him. Not able to put his feelings into words, he pulled her close, burying his face in her hair. They held each other as the minutes stretched out, both of them drawing comfort from one another.

  One of her earlier comments rattled around in his brain, and an idea clicked into place. He shifted so he could look down at her again. “How would you feel about Bradford as a last name?”

  Her eyebrows drew together, and he saw her confusion and a glimmer of something else in her expression. “You want me to pick your last name?”

  “I want you to share my last name,” Jake corrected, his heart pounding. “Marry me.”

  He could see disbelief and shock push aside her confusion.

  “I love you.” Jake slid his hands down to grasp both of hers. “Please say you’ll marry me.”

  “Are you sure?” Hannah asked tentatively, as though she was afraid to hope for a future with him.

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything. I want you to be my wife. I want us to have a family and add another generation to this home I grew up in.”

  Tears filled her eyes again, but this time they were tears of joy. “Yes,” she whispered. “There’s nothing I would love more.”

  This time when he kissed her, he forced the past away and let himself fall into the promise of their future.

  Chapter 51

  Jake followed Hannah inside, looking around the basic motel room. The coffee table had been shoved beside the desk to hold the computer equipment Jake had seen in the toy store the night before. />
  “Kade, this is Jake,” Ace offered when they walked in. “We didn’t take a lot of time last night for formalities.”

  “Good to meet you,” Jake said.

  Kade simply nodded in return and spoke to Ace. “Are you going to let him stay in here?”

  “He can sit over there,” Ace replied, indicating a chair in the corner where Jake wouldn’t be able to see the display on the computer monitor.

  Not wanting to let Hannah out of his sight, Jake obediently took his seat. Hannah approached the equipment and went through the process he had seen just yesterday. She placed her palm on the scanner, opening the first lock. The retinal scan came next. Then she sat down in the chair by the desk and began typing.

  “We’re live,” she said.

  The whole process was anticlimactic after seeing what lengths Hannah had gone through to keep the technology and information from falling into the wrong hands. Jake had expected that he and Hannah would leave as soon as the database was unlocked, but Hannah stayed where she was.

  “The funding stream is open, and I’ve initiated a new download,” she said before pointing once more. “We’ve got a possible conflict brewing here that will need an intercept.”

  “Can you update the firewalls while the download is processing?”

  “Yeah.” Hannah fiddled with something on the desk and began typing again.

  Ace went into the bathroom and closed the door. Jake could hear him talking on the phone and realized he was using the door between them as a sound barrier.

  Kade stood behind Hannah, looking at one of the two computer screens on the desk. He pointed at it. “I’ve never seen code like that.”

  “It’s a computer language Dad and I developed a couple years ago. That’s probably one of the reasons Owen and Cheng weren’t able to break through it.”

  “They were literally trying to learn a new language.”

  “Exactly,” she said. “I don’t know who you will get to replace me, but I suggest you have them do the same thing. Now that someone has had access to my code, it would be best to develop another computer language again.”