Top Secret Target

by Dana Mentink

  Kendra recoiled from the touch.

  “Don’t worry. After you’re dead, I’ll take off the duct tape so it looks real official and I’ll be sure to tell Ethan that you were so sorry for treating him like you did so he will think you had a shred of remorse. That will help him heal. He’ll be better off without you. So much better.”

  She reached over and started the ignition. “’Night, Jillian.”

  Kendra fought the panic. It could not end like this. She’d hurt Ethan in the most grievous way, taking away Titus because she’d insisted on doing things on her own...like Jillian, she thought. And worse, he would take responsibility in his heart that he had not seen through Mindy. Kendra had destroyed Ethan Webb and he hadn’t even heard her say she loved him. Maybe that was kinder. Despair darkened her vision.

  She slammed back and forth against the seat, trying to loosen the duct tape, begging Mindy with her eyes.

  Don’t do this. Please.

  Mindy leaned close. “You don’t deserve a future with a good man like him. Think about that while you die.”

  Kendra screamed through the tape as Mindy let herself out the side garage door and closed it behind her.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Ethan still felt as if he’d been run over by a Humvee, but at least the roar in his ears had subsided to a dull ringing. He paced the floor of the local emergency room where they’d all but forced him after he’d taken Titus to the closest animal hospital. They didn’t have to tell him how close he’d come to death. He knew. A second more and he would have been killed and if Kendra hadn’t been able to draw her gun in time...

  A chill gripped him, the kind that gets you after the battle has been fought, when the full impact comes home to roost on your psyche. But she was alive. His vision blurred as he thought of the other victim, Titus. Dogs could not talk, of course, but Titus had told him in so many ways, “I would give my life for yours without hesitation.” There was no greater love than that. He’d been blessed, pure and simple. Please, Lord, let Titus make it. Swallowing hard, he texted Kendra again in spite of the late hour.

  She didn’t answer. Again. Something niggled deep down in his gut.

  Was she sleeping?

  He should leave her alone to rest, but he burned to talk to her, to hear her voice if only for a moment. The explosion had changed him somehow, though he didn’t fully understand how. It was as if the blast had bulldozed away the stubborn barriers he’d constructed to keep him from his own happiness. The past regrets, fears, had vanished and in their place was one echoing desire overriding his senses. Find Kendra and make her yours, no matter what it takes.

  He dialed again.

  The phone rang and rang before it went to voice mail.

  The niggle of unease expanded to a quiver.

  He texted again and called.

  Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to you. The thought stopped him. He’d given her enough reasons to cut him out by pushing her away, comparing her to Jillian, hanging on to his own failings. Besides, she had her life back. Andy was in custody and her role as Jillian had come to an end. Maybe she’d packed up and gone. Still, she would have said goodbye, wouldn’t she?

  Unless he’d misjudged her.

  Misread feelings.

  Believed she felt affection for him when it was really only circumstantial need. Like his ex-wife.

  Doubt. He’d let it in and now he felt paralyzed by it. He looked at the screen again and felt a twitch that sent him pacing afresh. Facts and emotions twirled themselves together but one thread kept coming to the top.

  The bodies in the woods. They did not fit in either investigation. It wasn’t Andy, and it wasn’t Sullivan. The coroner said both women were likely stabbed in the back, not especially deep thrusts, but deep enough to kill. It made him think the perpetrator wasn’t a man.

  Then there was the proximity of the graves to Jillian’s house. With acres of woods, why choose somewhere so close, where discovery would be much more likely? The location was a message of some sort, by someone who hated Jillian, perhaps. Someone who could go in and out of the woods without being noticed.

  He picked up the phone and called Officer Carpenter.

  “Stop yelling,” Carpenter said.

  “Sorry, my ears are still ringing. Did you find any connection between those victims in the woods?”

  “No connection to each other, but we did some interviews with some frequent fliers at the bar. Got one interesting tidbit.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Both women were seen drinking at Oasis, and both with a local guy.”

  “Who?”

  “Captain Bill Madding. Trouble is, he was out of the area at training around the time the coroner figures the first victim was killed. We’re looking into his family connections. There’s an ex-wife.” An ex-wife. Ethan suddenly remembered a moment from their visit to Mindy Zeppler’s house. I guess it’s harder for me to let go than it was for Billy. He’ll never be lonely. Women swarm to combat pilots... All Ethan’s suspicions cleared up in his mind, and he knew. His heart slammed into his ribs. “It’s not Madding,” he said. “It’s Mindy Zeppler.”

  Carpenter frowned and looked at his notebook. “We’ve turned up nothing substantial on her yet.”

  “It’s her. Madding cheated on her repeatedly. She discovered he was having an affair with Jillian and those other women.” He forced the words over his dry tongue. “Kendra’s not answering her phone or texts.”

  “I’m rolling now. We’ll take care of it. Stay—”

  Ethan didn’t wait for the cop’s orders. He was already pulling on his dirty ABUs, tossing the hospital clothes on the floor. He raced past the startled nurse and the security guard at the door.

  As he sprinted into the parking lot, he felt keenly the absence of Titus by his side. This mission he would have to complete alone. Once in the truck, he sped to Jillian’s house, praying with each twist and turn that he would not be too late. His pulse hammered home the truth.

  Kendra was everything he longed for. Everything he needed. He was a better man when she was with him and he wasn’t going to lose her.

  Yanking the truck to the curb and hurtling from the car, Ethan ran straight to Kendra’s front door, pounding hard and yelling her name. Carpenter rolled up a moment later.

  Ethan slammed his palm on the wood again. “No response.”

  “I’ll check the rear door,” Carpenter said.

  Then Ethan heard it, a soft low rumble, the sound of an engine.

  “The garage.” The main door was closed and he did not know the code to override it. The gate to the yard was locked. He took a running start and climbed over, splinters sinking deep into his flesh, his breath raging in his lungs. He made it over the gate and landed hard on the other side, scrambling to his feet and throwing himself at the side door to the garage. He flung it open, and his senses were assaulted by the smell of car exhaust. Slamming a hand on the garage button, he opened the big door, releasing the cloud of noxious carbon monoxide that had built up in the enclosed space. He ran to the driver’s side, nerves on fire as he saw Kendra slumped behind the wheel.

  “Kendra, I’m here, I’m here,” he shouted. Was he too late? No, he would not allow his mind to think so. He cut the ignition, pulled a knife from his pocket and began to saw her wrists free of the duct tape. He thought he noticed her eyes flicker open, a slit, only a crack that ignited a firestorm of hope in him.

  “I’ll get you outside to some fresh air. You’re gonna be okay.”

  Her eyes widened a crack more and he saw the warning spark in them.

  He whirled just in time to avoid Mindy Zeppler’s stun gun. She stumbled against the car, losing her grip on the weapon, and he snaked a boot around her ankle, sending her to the floor where she thrashed and screamed.

  Carpenter sprinted up, quickly turned Mindy on her stomac
h and pulled her hands behind her back. “Get her out of here,” he said, coughing.

  Ethan didn’t need the direction. He finished slicing through the tape and dragged Kendra from the car, carrying her out onto the grass. Inside the garage, Carpenter was handcuffing Mindy Zeppler.

  “Jillian’s a tramp, Ethan,” she screamed. “She fooled around with Bill, just like those other girls. She deserves to die.”

  No, he thought, looking into Mindy’s hate-filled eyes. No matter what Jillian had done, she didn’t deserve to die. And Kendra... She had been hurt many times over, by her family and by a man, just like Mindy, but she’d chosen another way, the only way.

  He turned away from Mindy and peeled away the tape from Kendra’s mouth as gently as he could. He began chafing her hands. “Come back to me, honey,” he said. “I’m right here waiting for you.”

  He stroked her hair and her face, his fingers tracing the contours of her cheeks, her brows. This woman, his woman, with a broken past and a golden future.

  Their future.

  “Come back,” he whispered, one more time.

  * * *

  An agonizing headache, nausea, confusion. That was all Kendra could identify. She felt as though she was underwater, surfacing only long enough to see the doctor’s face and watch Ethan speak words she could not hear, his expression grave. There was a vague sense of time passing, minutes turning into hours. Somehow, she finally emerged from the water, awake enough to discover it was the next morning.

  The doctor said she was recovered sufficiently to be discharged from the local hospital. She wasn’t sure. Her body was well enough, but her spirit would not lie easy. As the noxious chemicals left her body, she still felt keenly how much she’d cost Ethan, Mindy’s words working their way into her flesh like a spiked thorn.

  You don’t deserve a future with a good man like him.

  Maybe Mindy was right. He didn’t promise her anything anyway. He saved your life, isn’t that enough?

  But it wasn’t, not nearly enough to salve the ache in her soul as she ran through the plans in her mind. Pack up. Reengage in her PI business. On to the next case, the next part of her life without him.

  As soon as the doctor finished her discharge papers, she pulled on clothes that somebody had brought for her, Ethan perhaps. Blindly she punched the elevator button and made her way to the parking lot, blinking against the onslaught of sunshine, looking for a cab.

  “Going my way?”

  She jumped, spotting Ethan’s newly repaired truck at the curb, him standing at the passenger side, beckoning. She allowed her feet to carry her to him and he folded her into a hug.

  “I step out to get some coffee and come back to find that you’ve been discharged. How are you feeling?”

  “Headachy, but alive.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He grinned. “I thought we could celebrate your operational status with a little lunch back at my place, if you’re up to it. Got something I want to show you.”

  The brown eyes, so warm, the strong arms, not meant for her, created an unbearable level of pain. “Oh, I’m not sure. I should be packing up, giving my final report to Colonel Masters.”

  “He can wait,” Ethan said. “The investigation team at Canyon needs a face-to-face report anyway, so we might as well knock two things off the to-do list.”

  How could she resist that smile, the crinkle under his eyes, the almost dimple on his cheek? She must be still groggy from the carbon monoxide, but she found herself unable to do anything but acquiesce. A few more hours, and she meant to savor each precious moment of them. “Okay. I guess packing can wait.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. Once they were in the car, he tuned the radio to the country station as they made the drive back toward Canyon. His fingers drummed a sultry rhythm on the steering wheel and the warmth of the June morning seeped inside her, lulling and comforting her. If only she could stay in the moment, live in it...

  To her mortification, she awoke a little while later, just as they were entering the base.

  “I slept. I can’t believe it. I’m sorry.”

  “You should be. You missed some amazing music.” He stroked her hand. “Anyway, you’ve been through a lot. You’ve earned a rest.”

  “A lot” didn’t nearly cover it. She wondered how long it would be before she could rid herself of memories of Andy and his bomb, Mindy and her Taser. She shivered and he gripped her fingers.

  “Allow yourself to feel and remember,” he said softly. “And then try to let it go.”

  Let it go. How would he ever let go of losing Titus? she wondered. She yearned to tell him again that she was sorry, to ease the burden she knew he must be feeling, but the words stuck in her throat, sharp edged like glass.

  “Okay to make a stop?” he said.

  She nodded. He checked in with security at Canyon and drove to the K-9 training center. Her heart sank as they got out. Was it time to place Ethan with a new dog? Already?

  Master Sergeant Westley James poked his head out the front door. “Thought I heard you. Ready? Because he is.”

  Ethan chuckled. “Might want to stand behind me, Kendra.”

  The door opened and Kendra’s mouth dropped open as Titus shot through the gap, running full tilt at Ethan. The dog slowed only a moment before leaping up and knocking Ethan to the ground. Titus tongued Ethan’s face until Ethan pushed him back a piece.

  “Oh, all right. I get it. You didn’t want me to leave you here, but these docs had to check you out for themselves.” Titus finished licking Ethan and raced to Kendra, wriggling his rump and slurping up the tears that dripped from her face.

  “I thought...I thought he was...” she mumbled.

  “Nah. Titus is stubborn, just like his handler. He’s tougher than an overcooked brisket.” His face softened. “I told you in the hospital, but you must have been a little fuzzy still.”

  She laughed and rubbed Titus down until the dog returned to Ethan for some more licking. He’s alive, she kept saying to herself. Thank You, God.

  They loaded Titus into the truck and went to Ethan’s base apartment. He picked up a wicker picnic basket from the counter. “Not too hot yet. Figured we’d hit the beach.”

  “What? There’s no beach around here.”

  He waggled his eyebrows. “That is where you are mistaken, Ms. Bell. Come along. Close your eyes please.” Laughing, she complied, took his hand and he led her to the backyard, where they stood on the porch, bathed in June warmth.

  “All right. Eyes open.”

  She blinked against the sunlight, as an unbelievable scene came slowly into focus. Sand glittered on top of a big blue tarp, an inflatable palm tree sticking out of the gritty pile. There were a couple of shells tossed onto the sand and a beach ball nearby, which Titus promptly went after, his paws batting it ahead of his snapping teeth.

  Ethan had spread a blanket in the middle of the sand and there he placed the picnic basket and handed her a pair of pink sparkly flip-flops.

  “Gotta have the proper footwear. I guessed at the size.”

  Laughing so hard she almost could not breathe, she took off her shoes and put on the flip-flops, while he donned a ridiculous multicolored bucket hat patterned with flamingos.

  “Are you feeling all beachy now?” he said, eyebrows wiggling.

  She stopped her laughing long enough to answer. “Yes, but you didn’t have to go to all this trouble just for me.”

  His face grew serious. “Yes, I did. We need to start planning.”

  “Planning what?”

  His shoulders rose and fell with the force of a deep breath. “Our wedding.”

  Wedding. She’d imagined him saying it, surely.

  “It’s gonna be at the beach, remember?” he said.

  Kendra froze. She’d heard wrong. It was her heart overriding her ears. But there he was,
sinking down on one knee in the sand, doffing his flamingo print hat as he fished a ring from his front pocket.

  “Kendra Bell, I love you. I want you to marry me.”

  She gaped. “But... I...” She closed her mouth, her throat suddenly too thick to speak, just as her mind was unable to process what she was hearing. I love you. It must be her own desire confusing her, tricking her senses.

  He took her hand and kissed it. “I love you, and let me tell you that was a God thing considering that you look just like my ex-wife. But I think He arranged all that so I could go face-to-face with myself, what I really believed, about forgiveness and trust. Typical of God to do that kind of thing to a poor unsuspecting clod, isn’t it?” He smiled.

  “Ethan,” she whispered. “I hurt you and Titus. You almost died because of me.”

  He shook his head. “No. We both almost died because of three twisted individuals, two of whom are already in custody. Now, back to what I was saying...”

  “My past is a mess.”

  He laughed. “Mine, too.”

  “You don’t want children.”

  “I’ve been stubborn there, too, but now that I’ve met you, I’ve reconsidered. Let’s start with a few and see where it goes. I’d say we should cap it at a dozen, for sure.” His grin grew even wider.

  “But—”

  “Kendra, we’re going to get married and it’s going to last forever. You know how I know that?”

  She could only shake her head.

  “Because I’m not your number one.”

  She frowned until he pointed a finger at the sky, his expression both soft and serious. “He is. We have Him and He will join us together and keep us together if we always put Him first. He’s the best at sorting out messes, the absolute best.”

  “Yes, He is,” she whispered. He’d kept her alive, taught her what love was supposed to look like, helped her to forgive herself. She brushed a finger over Ethan’s cheek. And this man had helped.

  “I’ve never felt this way about anyone,” he said. “Not Jillian, or anyone. I want a life with you, every day, month, year and decade that I can get. What do you say, Kendra?”