Wyatt's eyes flickered briefly over the tablet’s screen to capture whatever she was researching. The name didn't pop out with anything specific and so his mind wandered again. What the heck am I doing? He pondered as the pre-saved image floated before his mind's eye. The ringing phone was a godsend lifeline which he snatched as an excuse to exit the building.
CHAPTER NINE
“… I’m fighting a losing battle but, just when I want to give up a peaceful thought enters my mind reminds me why I must continue to try.”
— Unknown
"Trent?" he breathed as he stepped into the crisp, fall air of north Texas. He just needed a breather from this case to gather his head together and it wouldn’t come. This was crazy; he'd never been this flustered over anything in his life. Even when the enemy had held a gun in his mouth when he had been captured during a covert operation, he had been resolute that he knew nothing and his body had given nothing away despite the pain. But one look at this olive-toned goddess even fully dressed had him sweating bullets. She wasn't even his; he shouldn't even be thinking of her in that manner. How many times should he have to remind himself?
“It’s a blood bath out here,” Trent muttered down the line. “It’s thirty blasting degrees out and Ignacio is here kidnapping another idiot who has no idea what happened to Brooke,” he grumbled down the line. “I would much rather be locked in the embrace of the girl I should’ve picked up at the bar last night while I tailed this idiot.”
Wyatt leaned his head against the wall as he looked up at the too bright skies. “What’s so special about this woman that drives men crazy?” he questioned Trent, his mind truly boggled.
“It has to be something good,” Trent huffed. “Because Ignacio is tearing apart the rival gangs to find out who had taken her out.”
“At least he still believes that she’s dead,” Wyatt muttered.
“With that scene though, Wyatt, he had to; this woman is really good.” Trent took a breath. “Do you think that she’s CIA?”
“Wouldn’t Oliver know?” he questioned one of his longtime friends.
“Right now, Oliver can’t tell his hat from his butt on this case; we seem to be digging a bottomless pit.”
Wyatt’s breath formed a mini-cloud before him and he could just imagine how much Trent was freezing his butt off in New York in the middle of an early winter storm. “This seems like some international level stuff; she could rival Crew’s techniques for staging a crime scene any day.”
Trent made a sound similar to a grunt and his eyes bounced off his smartwatch. “Do you still have a visual on her?” he asked.
“No; but I do have a tracker—”
“Is that even safe?” his friend questioned and Wyatt shrugged nonchalantly even though he couldn’t see. “We still don’t know who she is, Wy; losing sight of her can cost you your life—”
“I’ll be fine, Trey; I needed a breather anyway.”
“Is it getting to you?” he questioned at the tone of Wyatt’s voice.
“It’s multiple things but I’ll be alright—”
“That’s not what I asked you, Wy. You just found out that you had a brother all your life—”
“I’ve always had brothers—”
“Wy—”
“Trey, talking about it will change nothing.”
“Then you need to find out who Brooke is and wrap this up because you don’t sound okay, man,” he stated frankly.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence—”
“Wy, stop being an idiot; I’m just looking out for you; I’m concerned.”
Wyatt sighed deeply. “To be honest, I’m not on top of my game right now but I have a job to see through,” he responded. Admitting it was killing him; he needed to get away from Trent for a bit before he started spilling his guts. “I’ll hit you up later, there’s movement on her end.”
“You were always an exceptional liar under interrogation but never one with friends, Wy, but I get it. Clear your head though and be safe.”
“You too, Bro,” he whispered as Trent rang off. He dropped his head against the concrete wall and a boy passing him looked at him weirdly before increasing his strides. With a sigh, he returned to his torture post.
∆∆∆
Raine’s brows met again as she absorbed the information laid out before her. She could find everything about her father but nothing on herself or her mother; it was as if they had never existed for him. Where had her mother disappeared to? She watched as the video played silently, just trying to catch a glimpse of her mother. Kerry-Ann Bass was nonexistent. The lights reflected off her father’s newly, slightly graying hair as he was sworn in. Skipp Bass was now the senator of Iowa.
She was used to her father being mayor for years but to amass that type of political popularity in three years? She leaned back in her chair and watched Gabriella talk to the cheap dolls that she had grabbed at the dollar store. Her eyes flickered back to the library’s borrowed laptop.
Can I even trust him with your life? She wondered. He looks like a different man than I had left behind.
She stroked back the little girl’s curls and big, navy eyes looked up at her, filled with joy.
Who is Skipp Bass now? She deliberated. Had he changed because I was taken from him? Can I even trust that he can help us?
But he’s even more powerful now, Reason stated.
And he’s also, even more, a target now, she responded.
All you can do is try, Raine; don’t give up now. A few hundred bucks will not carry you much farther.
Raine sighed deeply and Gabriella tilted her head to look seriously up at her.
“Is everything okay?” the two-year-old questioned and her mother’s heart squeezed in answer.
“It’s nothing Mommy can’t handle,” she responded softly. “Let’s go get something to eat, Pumpkin,” she bribed and Gabriella’s face lit up.
Quickly, she gathered up their belongings and returned the laptop to the front desk before zipping up Gabriella’s bright pink jacket and holding her hand tightly.
“What’s on the menu today?” she asked the wind as she walked down the street.
“Something with fries!” came a soft reply from down below and she couldn’t help the smile that stole over her lips.
“Always a wonderful suggestion, my darling,” she chuckled and Gabby giggled along with her. It was so much fun to laugh freely without feeling boxed in, and even though there was a dark tunnel looming at the end of her funds, she would make the most of it. As long as she was free from Ignacio and Stephano’s hanger-offs then she could breathe a breath of fresh air. With lighter steps, she led her daughter to the closest restaurant that would allow them a bite of ice-cream at the end.
She watched as her little angel arranged herself at the table after washing her hands in the restroom and waited patiently for their order to arrive.
“She so beautiful,” the waitress commented.
“Thank you,” she responded genuinely.
“I’m guessing those eyes came from daddy, didn’t they?” the older woman said cheerfully and even though he was dead, her gut still clenched in fear. The waitress quickly moved to apologize when a shadow fell over her expression but Raine quickly moved to assure her.
“Yes, they did.” She bit the inside off her cheeks as she wondered what was the best way to say to her that someone had joined her rapist, kidnapping husband’s brows with a bullet that he had rightfully deserved. “It’s just that he passed away suddenly very recently and she doesn’t fully understand,” she whispered to the woman.
The waitress’s hand flew to her mouth as sympathy flashed through her soft, brown eyes. “I’m so sorry to hear that,” she whispered.
I’m not, Raine thought but she gave her a small smile before the woman hurried away to complete their order, letting her know that dessert was on the house, which Gabriella was very grateful for.
CHAPTER TEN
“A wise person would retreat when fi
ghting a losing battle; a foolish person would fight until there is nothing left to lose.”
—Sheila Cheng
Wyatt pulled the hat lower over his face as Brooke glanced over her shoulder again in his direction. He blended with the crowd well but it was as if there was something invisible but tangible attracting her gaze to him and he knew that it wouldn’t be much longer before she could be certain that he was tailing her. With a frustrated sound, he pulled back and started to intertwine with the alleyways in order to keep an eye on her and Gabriella. After a few minutes, she seemed to relax and started to head to the now nearby park.
Taking a seat in a strategic location, he watched as she played with the carefree and innocent little girl and a small smile played over his lips. Observing them caused his mind to wander on how his life would’ve been if his mother hadn’t found him. Field Sergeant Beth Coleman had been the first one at the scene when the housekeeper had called in the murder of Giovanni and Anna Russo. She’d found him still breathing but barely, with his umbilical cord still attached to his dead mother. It had been her sole mission to ensure that he stayed alive. She had brought him to her husband at the hospital before she had gone back to investigate the scene. As the weeks had gone on and no one had come forward to claim him, she had stepped in to adopt him, having already been a foster parent to a few children.
He had known from early on that he’d been adopted, so had his older brother but their baby brother had been a miraculous surprise for his parents. Beth hadn’t told him the gruesome details of the crime scene but he had decoded encrypted files to see it after he’d joined the SEALs. The total story had still not come together until Ignacio had stated so calmly what he had done that night thirty years ago. In all honesty, neither had moved him because he had never known his biological parents and Beth and Roger had moved mountains to ensure that he and his siblings had been well cared for.
It would be good, in a sense, to see Ignacio brought to justice for Giovanni and Anna; so that their souls could rest in peace but at this point, he could do that without staying on this case any longer. The problem was that Oliver didn’t want Ignacio for a thirty-year-old murder; he wanted his whole money laundering, contract killing, drug trafficking, and only God knows what else operation to tank. It wouldn’t take just an idle statement of action to do so; hard evidence was required to bury the bastard deep enough where he couldn’t dig himself out. The man was without feeling or conscience if he allowed his only child to be taken out in order to keep his steely reputation at the top of the pack.
Right now, from all observation, he could safely say that Ignacio was gunning for the top seat on the Genovese gang. Currently, his older cousin Edwardo held the top seat and Ignacio has made it plain that he is to be the next top dog. Edwardo wasn’t doing too well nowadays; if the grapevine was right, then he was coming down with some terminal stuff and that left the top seat open for grabs; only the toughest would make it. Ignacio’s stupid move had been to take out his only heir who’d made sure that it stayed in the family. Well, there’s Gabriella—
But he doesn’t know that, Reason stated frankly.
Maybe he has just cause to believe that the child had made it; after all, hadn’t he created a similar crime scene in order to raise someone else’s child as his own? He pondered.
He probably thought that whoever was using Edwardo’s illness as a stepping stool would want to claim his last chance at an heir. Being in any organized crime could become a real pain when you don’t know who on your team you could trust and with him spinning out of control, Oliver saw it as an opportunity to drive the fatal nail in his coffin. Wyatt however, doubted that Ignacio was such a huge deal; there was someone in the family who was using it as a cover to commit heinous acts and that was the person that they needed to find unless it had been Stephano.
“Then he’s long dead,” Wyatt murmured into the chilling air as Gabriella’s cry of joy met his ears.
∆∆∆
Raine stroked her little girl’s hairs as she sang her favorite lullaby and then repeated what she told her every night.
“You, Gabriella, are my shining star and the day that you were born was the happiest day of my life,” she said softly.
Her little angel looked up at her with sleepy, deep navy eyes and for the first time made it known that she realized that they were nowhere near Florida. “When are we going home?” Gabby asked softly.
Raine smiled sadly, unable to hide the tightness in her chest. “We aren’t sweetheart; we are going to explore the world—”
Her voice froze as Gabby reached up to touch her cheek gently. “I’m glad because papa never made you happy.”
Oh, the words of a child! Raine bit her lip to hold back the flood of emotions as Gabby faded into sleep, all innocent looking as if she hadn’t just torn her mother’s heart wide open.
“I pray that I can always make you see the joys of life,” she whispered before she planted a kiss on her cherub’s downy hair and rose to do her next mission.
Moving to the small closet, she withdrew the duffel bag and dug through it silently. Not long after, she withdrew the shiny pink phone that Gabriella had ‘accidentally’ dropped into the toilet bowl all those weeks ago. Moving stealth-like, she exited the room and started to make her way outside the motel, knowing that Gabriella was safe in the room, fast asleep.
You’re doing the right thing, her conscience reasoned as she turned the cell over and over in her hand.
“Nothing beats a try right?” she questioned the crisp air as she pressed her thumb down on the button which would bring the phone to life.
All her research today hadn’t really gotten her far. She had wanted to return home to her parents, knowing that she didn’t have a dragon on her tail. But her father wasn’t some quiet mayor with money anymore; he was a senator and under international eyes. It would be quite hard for him to find out that a daughter who’d been declared murdered and had a man languishing in jail for it had suddenly shown up alive. It wasn’t a small town gossip or controversy; her death investigation had gone national for weeks before its conclusion. But at this point, she was out of resources. There was no one for her to leave Gabby with while she sneaked off to gather some cash together in menial labor. Her funds were running low and there was no one for her to turn to. She sure as heck was not going to put herself and Gabby back in harm’s way by asking a rival gang for help and so, this was her only solution.
Raine remembered her mother being a kind and gentle woman, fluffing out her father’s sometimes crass ways but grief changed people, didn’t it? She couldn’t guarantee how Kerry-Ann Bass would respond with a dead daughter resurrecting but she had to try to give Gabriella a shot at real life.
With a firm press, the screen lit up and she breathed out a pent-up breath to relieve some of the tension sitting on her chest. Her fingers flew over the keys as she dialed the number for his office that she’d found during her research today. The reviews had said that he was one senator who people were able to call all hours of the night and get an answer. She looked up at the slightly greying skies as the night wore on; at least it wasn’t that late.
She sucked in a terrified breath as she pressed the cell to her ear and heard the first ring. Suddenly, the phone was swiped from between her fingers to fall the two stories down, shattering beautifully.
“What—?”
A deep and powerful baritone cut off her words as she began to turn to the perpetrator. “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded and the rest of her words dried up in her throat as she looked up at Stephano.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“It’s like you’re my mirror.”
—Unknown
Her lips moved but no words came from between them. The words lay frozen and dead in her chest as her life warped before her.
“Are you paving the way for Ignacio to find you?” he bit out when she failed to answer. The anger was plain on his face because up until now, she had been smart enough to
stay away from any device that could track her.
Her throat loosened somewhat and only one thing came from between her lips. “Stephano?” Logically, she knew that it wasn’t possible because she’d seen Stephano die, watched him bleed out, but there was no other explanation. There was no other way to explain what she was looking at.
“We need to get out of the open,” he stated as if she hadn’t opened her mouth.
Her eyes roved over his face before he moved towards the door that she had just stepped from behind. The first thing that she’d noted was that his eyes weren’t emotional like Stephano’s had been, they were cold and calculated.
“Open the door,” he instructed. When she didn't move, he easily claimed the card from her numb fingers. Mentally, Wyatt knew that he didn't need the card, he could easily open the door by pressing his watch against it but she was speechless enough as it was.
With ease, he opened the door and firmly guided her inside.
As soon as the door clicked closed behind them, she seemed to find her voice. “Who are you?” she breathed as his eyes glittered down on her.
His brows drew together in a frown as he assessed her features in the partially lit room. It was as if he was seeing a totally different person than he’d led into the room from the dimly illuminated balcony seconds ago. As his cold, deep blue eyes ate at her, her heart hammered away in her chest at the thought of what all this could mean. “Brooke’s not your real name, is it?” he questioned as if to himself but she answered anyway.
“Why would you say that; do I know you?”
“You just asked if I was your dead husband,” he stated sarcastically but gave nothing else away.
Raine bit her bottom lip nervously. She had now come to the full realization that he sure as her last breath wasn’t Stephano; even if his features were an exact replica. She involuntarily reached her hand out to touch him, to see if he was really real, even though her body had already confirmed it. Her hand fell short, barely ruffling the expensive, cotton scarf draped around his thick neck and a shiver ran through her frame. Goosebumps crawled over her skin and her body quaked with awareness; something she had never felt around Stephano. She hugged her body to ease the motion but it did not help. He didn’t even acknowledge the movement.
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