Sinner Reborn

by Morgan Kelley

  “I’m someone’s gun. They pull the trigger, and I do the killing.”

  “Then leave.”

  She started laughing. “Lucas, you’re funny.”

  “I don’t see what’s amusing. You hate your job, so quit.”

  She turned, staring into his eyes. His face was still streaked with some dirt that they’d missed, and he looked like hell.

  “People like me don’t ‘quit’. We can’t walk away because we’re in too deep. I’m like Avalon. I’m someone’s property. Where she goes, I go. I’ll be tied to her for the rest of my days. I’ve seen too much. I’ve crossed that line, and I can’t go back.”

  He hated hearing the pain in her voice.

  “There has to be a way.”

  “Short of dying, I don’t know what it is.”

  He pulled her into his body, wrapping his uninjured arm around her. “We’ll work it out. Callie has some pull with the Blackhawks. She might be able to work something out with them. You might have a chance.”

  She wished that was true. As long as Oracle existed, she’d never have a chance at a normal life, and deep down they both knew it.

  “We should get ready to go.”

  Luke dropped a kiss to her cheek. “I’m ready when you are,” he stated.

  Standing, Maura pulled out her phone.

  “Who are you calling?”

  “The bosses. There’s no way that those goons could have found us that fast. Someone leaked our location. I just told the boss lady where we were heading, and BAM! We get company.”

  “You don’t think she’s the mole, do you?”

  Maura thought about it. “I don’t know, but I’ll ask.”

  He stared at her. “You’re going to accuse Elizabeth Blackhawk of being a traitor? Can I watch? She’s going to kick your ass, and you’re provoking the one person on this planet who can follow through and do it too.”

  Maura laughed. “No, I’m going to be a rational human being and ask her politely.”

  He shook his head. “Have at it. This is going to end badly for all of us.”

  She began dialing.

  On the third ring came the familiar voice. “Director Whitefox-Blackhawk.”

  “We have a problem.”

  “Spill it.”

  “We were compromised. Luke and I had to play a fun game of ‘kiss me fuck me’ with five commandos in the woods. Care to explain?”

  There was a pause as the noise in the background disappeared.

  “I’m putting you on speaker. Ethan needs to hear this,” she stated.

  “Hello, Major Gaines and Special Agent Mars,” came his calm voice.

  “Director,” they said in unison.

  “What happened?” Elizabeth asked.

  Maura briefed them on everything that happened from the minute the entered the woods to the single day it took to be found. “That was a secure location. There was no way anyone could have known about it. You gave it to me, assuring us that there would be no problems.”

  “Are you saying that I’ve boned you, Major?” Elizabeth asked. “If you are, let me reassure you that I don’t feed my people to the wolves. If I want to hurt them, I do it myself.”

  Luke flinched.

  “Well, ma’am, it seems suspicious. Only we knew, so how the hell did they take a plot of land miles wide and pinpoint our location in twenty four hours?”

  Luke was watching his fiancée. There were very few people who could get away with being disrespectful toward Elizabeth Blackhawk, and he was pretty sure there were fewer who could accuse her of treason.

  This was going to be ugly.

  “I wasn’t the only one who knew,” she stated.

  “What?” Maura stated. “Who else was told?”

  “Gabriel Rothschild.”

  Luke was right. This just went to shit in a very big way.

  “I had to tell him. He told me that POTUS needed a briefing. I’m high up the food chain, but I’m not that high up. I do have superiors.”

  She got that. “We have an issue then. Someone compromised us, and we need to figure out who, and fast.”

  “Are you at the new location?” Elizabeth asked.

  “No.”

  “I need a favor.”

  “Well, honestly, Director, you’re not in any position to ask for one. This last little adventure got Luke shot, and I have a war wound or two thanks to this mess. I’m not feeling so sunshine-y toward you.”

  “Major Gaines,” Ethan Blackhawk stated. “I don’t like your tone. Adjust it.”

  Elizabeth patted him on the arm. Their people were in danger, so she got the hostility. She was going to make sure that this didn't happen again.

  “Maura, I know you’re pissed at me, but do you want to find the leak?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Then I want to personally eradicate it.” She glanced over at her fiancé. He’d been hurt, and that insulted her bigtime.

  “I have a way to test the chain to find the rusty link.”

  Maura was willing to listen. “What do you have in mind?” she asked.

  “I’ll contact Gabe and tell him you’re on the move with Avalon. I’ll give him a bogus location. I want you and Agent Mars to head there, make it look like you were there, and watch the place. If someone shows, we’ll know it’s a leak. If no one shows, and instead they go after Director Carter, we’ll know that someone has a bug in your group.”

  “It won’t be any of us,” she stated. “We checked our gear.”

  “We’ll find out, won’t we?”

  She was willing to do it.

  Ethan scrambled to find a location. When he pulled up some abandoned properties not far from them, he found one that would fit their needs.

  “I have a place. I’ll send the coordinates.”

  “I’ll give you an hour to get there and set up. Then, I’ll text Gabe and give him the details. I’ll let them slip. He won’t even have to ask. You stake it out and don’t engage them. We might buy all of us some time.”

  It worked for her since it would keep the goons away from Nate and Avalon. They were going to be laying low—real low.

  “Okay, Directors. If he’s the mole, what will you do?”

  She started laughing. “I’ll make his life a living hell. He may be my friend and family, but I don’t like betrayal. I’ll go head to head with the head of the FBI to end this game.”

  Maura was good with that. “Oh, we found something out.”

  That piqued their interest.

  “As I was handling one of the men, he let a name slip. I think you might be able to work with it.”

  “What is it?” Ethan asked.

  “Greene.”

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Oh, well with such an unusual name like that, it should be so easy to find him. I’ll Google it.”

  Maura laughed. “That’s your issue. I’m a little busy trying not to die by the hands of some high paid lunatics. Oh, and keeping the president’s prize alive for another day. Don’t forget that!”

  “We’ll handle it. Wait for coordinates and go from there.”

  Maura hung up the phone.

  “You’ve got a brass set and are so damn lucky that Elizabeth’s not pregnant. She would have eaten you alive.”

  She wasn’t so sure about that. They spoke the same language of killer to killer. “Let’s get moving. Text Nate and tell him we’re going to be late. We have to clean up some FBI mess. This is exactly why I don’t like the Feds.”

  “Hey!” he stated, pointing at himself.

  She kissed him. “Present company excluded.”

  “Well, that’s good to know.”

  * * * C a r t e r - G a i n e s * * *

  The hike was pretty much downhill for the remaining journey. Nate was able to focus on his surroundings while navigating the terrain with Avalon at his side.

  As they were coming over the crest of a hill, his cell phone began ringing.

  He’d been waiting for this call.

  “Are you two
okay?” he blurted.

  Luke’s laughter was heard from the other end. “I guess you can say that. It was a long night.”

  “We’re almost to the location. When are you getting there?”

  Luke had bad news for them. “Not for a while, bro. It may not be until tomorrow.”

  “That’s going to suck, Luke. We’re out of supplies. I had to leave most of our stuff behind.”

  “We have more, but we have to handle something first,” he stated. Then he shared the details with his partner.

  “Oh, shit! That’s bad.”

  “Yeah, you aren’t kidding. We’re heading to a location to make it look like we’re using it as our base. When we’re done here, we’ll meet up with you.”

  Nate kept his voice calm. He didn't want to worry Avalon. She was blinking at him as her eyes never left his face. It was eerie since he knew she couldn’t see him, but somehow, she was watching.

  “I’ll get us food.”

  “Hang in there. If we don’t have confirmation by tomorrow, one of us will head to your location with supplies. Just keep yourselves safe and stay out of danger.”

  He was hoping to do just that.

  “See you tomorrow,” he stated, hanging up the phone.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Avalon, squeezing his hand. “Did something happen to Maura?”

  “They ran into some trouble, so they handled it. We’re supposed to lay low and get to the site. Once we do, I’ll have to catch us some dinner.”

  “Am I going to be eating raw squirrel?” she asked.

  “We’ll cook it first.”

  She started laughing.

  “I’m sorry, Avi. This has to be a nightmare for you. I wish we were back at my place on the couch. I’d make you real food, and we could take a shower.”

  She touched his cheek. “This is one hell of an adventure, Nathaniel. I’ll eat squirrel, skunk, or rat to be with you. Don’t worry about it.”

  He kissed her. “You’re probably the only woman on the planet who would say that and actually mean it.”

  Avalon didn't care what she had to endure as long as she could be with him.

  “How far do we have to go?” she asked.

  Nate looked at his watch and did the math. “It’s maybe another hour at the most. Then we’ll find a squirrel or three.”

  She said nothing.

  Deep in her gut, something was brewing. In her head, there were flashes of her death, and they were getting more and more vivid.

  It was coming.

  They didn't have much time.

  * * * C a r t e r - G a i n e s * * *

  Elizabeth gave them enough time to get ready. The last thing she wanted was to rush it or make it sound way too obvious. By now, Gabe would be in his office, prepping for his daily meetings. It was Friday, and that meant he had smaller ones throughout the day.

  The game was afoot.

  Dialing the phone, she placed it on speaker so Ethan could listen. He was going to take in the situation and figure out if the man could be trusted.

  Elizabeth valued his input.

  Right now, they needed all the help they could get.

  When he answered, he sounded calm.

  “Hey, Lyzee. What’s happening? I was just heading out to my meeting. Is something up?”

  “Yeah, our team had an issue last night. Someone found Oracle’s location. They moved on her.”

  There was a pause.

  “Is she okay?”

  Here’s where the game began. “Yes, but barely. They’re getting close, Gabe. I’m worried. I don’t know if we can keep her safe.”

  “Do you want to have the military extract her? We can call them in. She might be safer with them.”

  “No, we moved her to an abandoned house off highway twenty seven for the time being until Major Gaines can regroup.”

  “Elizabeth, you have her in an abandoned house out in the open like that? Is it safe? That’s not far from where she was. That’s going to be one of the first locations they look for her.”

  Everything was going to plan.

  “That’s my hope. It’s like hiding her in plain sight. I’ve tried to keep her hidden, but they keep finding us. This will work.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “You have to trust me, Gabe. I know what’s best for her. If we get in a situation, you can pull her. It’s not far from Fredricksville.”

  She heard scribbling.

  “We’re moving her there now. She should be bedded down in the hour.”

  There was more scribbling.

  “If you think this is best, I’ll go with it, but if anything happens to her, we’re all screwed. I can’t believe this location was compromised too. This mole has to be around you.”

  “The only people around me are Ethan and Callen, Gabe.”

  “Where are they now?” he asked.

  “Callen is running research and Ethan is in a meeting. I’m heading there after our call.”

  There was a pause and a then a door closing.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t tell them this. If you’re not the mole, and I’m not the mole, someone around you has to be.”

  It pissed her off that her oldest friend, and a man who was like her brother, was trying to pass this off on her husbands.”

  “I trust them, Gabe.”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t trust anyone.”

  Oh, she was beginning to see that.

  “I have to go. I’m going to be late for our staff meeting, and I have balls to bust. I’ll update you later.”

  “Great.”

  With that, the call ended.

  Elizabeth stared at her husband. His midnight blue eyes flashed with irritation.

  “Breathe.”

  He stood. “He just tried to get you to think we would betray you, Elizabeth. He tried to point the finger at Callen and myself. That’s not even cool. We’d never betray you.”

  She moved around her desk to go into his arms. “Shhhh, Cowboy, I’m well aware. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  “I can’t forgive that, Elizabeth. Gabe has screwed us more times than I can count, but to do this is low. I’ve served the FBI longer than you have, and I’ve bled for them too.”

  She was well aware.

  The battle lines had just been drawn, and when this was over, she had the distinct feeling that nothing was going to be the same.

  This was bad.

  Very, very bad.

  CHAPTER Twenty-ONE

  Fredricksville

  Hotel

  Y esterday had been a long day. After interviewing the elderly doctor, Callie and Quinn had headed to the address for the school teacher.

  She wasn’t there.

  So, they left a note and hoped she’d call them back. Well, she did. Only, it was late into the evening when they got the call and neither could muster the energy to head right over. Instead, they all bunked down and called it a night.

  They would meet with her this morning and try and find the answers to the most important questions.

  Who was killing the Millers?

  Why?

  And who was Avalon’s father?

  Since this all revolved around her, she had to be at the center of it all. They knew that someone was eliminating her mother’s side of the family, but the other person was a mystery.

  Sitting on the couch, Callie drank her coffee. When Jagger strolled in, he looked well rested.

  “How was your night?” she asked.

  “After you two went to bed, I headed out. I sat outside that motel.”

  “And?” Quinn asked.

  “Well, I can tell you where to pick up a hooker, but other than that nothing. They didn't move. In fact, they didn't switch out shifts either.”

  Well, at least they knew where the enemy was.

  “I also brought the files with me, and I think I saw something. I’m not sure if it’s important or not.”

  Callie was ready to listen.

  “When
you checked out the first victim’s home, Mary Louise, you said that you found a picture frame broken.”

  “We did.”

  “Then, at the second home, we found a book with family pictures in it.”

  “Yes, it looks like some random pictures were taken.”

  He grabbed his backpack. “I also went back there,” he stated. “Something was bothering me about that.”

  Callie waited as he opened the bloody book. “What bothered you?”

  “It’s the other missing photos. You can tell by how they were ripped out of there,” he stated as he flipped to the page he was discussing.

  “Who’s supposed to be on this page?” Quinn asked, staring over her shoulder.

  Callie scanned the pages, but unfortunately, there were no labels or anyway to know the answer to that question.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, in the house I searched, I found empty spaces where some pictures were missing on the fridge.”

  “Okay.”

  He pulled a picture out of his backpack.

  “I thought that maybe they were taking pictures of Avalon, but then why not this one? The picture part with her was tucked under another one, but they wouldn’t be that sloppy. We have professional killers here. They’re not going to leave a picture of her behind if that’s what they were instructed to take. Not unless she wasn’t the only one they were looking for in them.”

  Callie stared at him.

  “You know…you may be onto something,” she stated. “This feels personal to me. We have these family members being interrogated, but also tortured. They didn't know where Avalon was, but our killer would be aware of that. If he’s got a mole in the FBI, then he’d know the family is useless. So, that makes me wonder why he’s focused on them.”

  No one had an answer for that.

  Callie stared at the one picture that was left behind. Avalon was young in it—maybe eight.

  “Here’s her grandfather, Horace.”

  Quinn studied the picture. “Those two small children must have been Sarah and Brian.”

  “Here’s Mary Louise,” stated Jagger. “It looks like she’s sucking lemons.”