by Mary Alford
Blood seeped through the right side of his shirt. She touched it gently. “We need to take you to a hospital.”
“No, there’s no time. I need to clean it and put a bandage on it. We have to hurry. Go get your things together. I’ll take care of this.”
She didn’t move. “What happened out there?”
He didn’t answer. He pulled off his shirt. An inch long gash oozed blood. She clasped her hand over her mouth.
“Here, let me help you.”
He pushed her hands away. “There are two men dead out there. I don’t know if there are more. Gather your things together now.”
At last, she understood the urgency. She left him to bandage the wound and gathered both their things in record time.
When she went back to the kitchen and dumped everything on the table, he’d finished with the bandaging. She went to his room, gathered his few possessions and then handed him a clean shirt and he slipped it on.
The gravity of the situation showed in his taut expression. “Let’s get out of here.”
There were so many things she wanted to ask him, yet she couldn’t think of a single thing. Her thoughts had scattered into a dozen different directions.
She jumped in the truck next to him and they drove away at breakneck speed.
Both kept glancing in the rearview mirror until he was satisfied that no one was following them.
He grabbed his phone. “I need to call this in.”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t stop shaking.
“It’s me. We’ve been attacked. Two men. There both dead. Yes, we’re okay. Yes, I understand. I’ll text you the coordinates.” He disconnected the call and handed the phone to Hannah. “I need you to type the coordinates in for me.”
He gave them to her and she typed them in and then hit send.
“Were they the same people following us before?”
He glanced her way. “I don’t know.”
“Do you think there are more of them? Will they come after us again?”
He reached for her hand and held it. “I don’t know, Hannah, but we’re safe now. We’ll have a team at the cabin within the hour. They’ll go over everything. Hopefully they’ll know something soon.”
She drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Where are we going?”
He smiled at her. “Away from there. In other words, I don’t know. I’ll check back in again in a couple of hours, and I’m hoping we’ll have news that will tell us what we need to do next.”
She tried to relax as they drove through the night, but she couldn’t help but think that what started in the desert months was about to be settled right here on common ground.
Chapter Fifteen
“Hey, wake up sleepyhead.” Someone shook her gently. She opened her eyes and saw Jase leaning over her. It was barely daylight out.
“I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.” She sat up and glanced around them. They were in what appeared to be a small town. Snow was piled up along the streets.
“Where are we?”
“Maine.”
She remembered the nightmare they’d escaped and asked, “Is there any news.”
He glanced around the area. Jase had tucked the pickup behind a closed souvenir shop. A strategic move on his part. From their vantage point, they could see most of the main street. Although, at this time of the morning, not much was happening.
“Yeah. The two men who are dead are Pakistani. We’re not positive, but we believe they’re the same men who killed our agents. Probably the same who have been tracking us. They had no IDs and prepaid cells on them so that’s a bust. We’re hoping their prints will come up in one of our databases.”
“So we still don’t know if they’re the ones responsible for Kate’s death.” He couldn’t believe it. How many more lives must they lose before Kate’s killer was brought to justice?
Jase shook his head. “Not yet, but we’re close. We’re very close.”
She hoped he was right.
“How are my sister and brother-in-law doing?” She’d been so worried about them.
“They’re good. Concerned about you, but they’re both safe. We have people watching them twenty-four seven. They’ll be okay. Don’t worry about them.”
Impossible. She’d brought this nightmare to their door. If she’d listened to Beverly and left things alone none of this would have happened.
“No, Hannah. I know what you’re thinking. I even thought that myself in the beginning, but I’m glad you didn’t. I’m glad you didn’t let Kate’s memories fade away.”
She couldn’t believe she’d heard him correctly. In the beginning, he’d fought her, accused her of working for the enemy even. Now he was thanking her. “I don’t understand. Why now?”
He looked into her eyes. “Because you’ve given me hope. I feel as if I’ve been given the chance to move forward. I’m not stuck in the past any longer.”
Jase brushed a finger across her cheek before his lips met hers and she forgot all about her future heartache. She loved him. She, Hannah Sandoval, loved him, and she would never move beyond him. She would take what he had to give and worry about the pain when he left her. And she knew he would.
He ended the kiss, but stayed close to her. “Are you hungry?”
She cleared her throat. “Yes.”
“Good. I think I saw a little café a few blocks back.” He put the truck in gear and headed down the main street.
At this hour of the morning, the café was pretty much deserted. The sign said they opened at six. It was barely that.
“Sit anywhere you want.” A waitress emerged from the kitchen when the bell above the door announced their presence.
They grabbed a table in the corner, next to the window.
The waitress gave them a curious once-over as she brought them a couple of menus. “You two are early birds this morning. You here for the arts and craft show this weekend?”
Jase snatched at the alibi the woman had willingly offered. “Yes. My wife and I love these shows.”
Hannah tried not to laugh at the image of Jase actually enjoying an arts and crafts show.
The woman smiled at them. “Well, this year’s is going to be one of the best, I’ve heard. You two want some coffee?”
Hannah glanced at Jase and nodded. “That’d be great,” he said.
She waited until they were alone again, before she added, "Somehow I can’t picture you at an arts and crafts show."
He grinned at her. “I can’t say that I’ve ever been to one before, but I might surprise you.”
“I think, if I ever saw you at a craft show that would surprise me.”
He stopped smiling. His gaze held hers. She would give just about anything to understand what was there in his eyes. He reached for her hand. “Hannah…” He started to say something more but the waitress brought their food shattering the spell. He let her hand go and cleared his throat. “Thanks.”
“No problem, hon. If you two need anything, let me know.”
Hannah wanted to ask him what he’d been about to say, but the moment had past. Would she and Jase end up being just a series of missed opportunities like he and Kate had been?
They finished the meal in silence, with Jase continually checking the phone for messages. Something more was in the works than what he’d told her.
“What do we do now?” she asked once they’d left the café.
He finally looked at her. “I’m not sure. It depends on how long we need to stay here. I suppose we should find somewhere safe to stay in case we’re here overnight. But there’s nothing saying we can’t take a look around the town while we’re here.”
* * * *
The cozy group of cabins situated in a wooded section outside of town would be the perfect place to spend a romantic weekend with someone you loved. And she did love him.
If only Jase felt the same way as she did.
They’d spent the day wandering around the town and
trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible, while Jase continually checked for his phone for messages.
When darkness came and there was still no word, Jase found an isolated group of cabins and checked them in under an assumed name. She understood why he chose the single bedroom cottage at the back of the property next to a dry creek. It made for a great escape path should it come to that. Still, the thought of spending a night close to him in cramped quarters did little to ease her broken heart.
Jase hauled in their meager belongings and began checking locks, no doubt mentally mapping an exit route.
The cabin consisted of a living space, a tiny kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.
Hannah sat down on the small uncomfortable sofa. She patted it hard. It didn’t make into a bed. She flipped through the stack of outdated magazines and tried not to think about what lay ahead tonight and in the future.
Would this be the last day they spent together? What happened when the call came and he took her back? Did it end there? She didn’t want it to end. She wanted…
When he was satisfied the place was secure, Jase grabbed the remote, switched on the TV and scanned through the handful of channels.
She was exhausted from the day and all but falling asleep, but the thought of that queen bed and the inevitable discussion concerning it made it impossible for her to bring the subject up.
“You should go to bed. You look as if you could drop right there.”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re not. Go. I’ll bunk in here.”
She didn’t want to sleep. She wanted to… She wanted their last night together to be something she could remember for the rest of her life. She wanted the impossible.
Hannah stood and started to leave him, then stopped. He stood as well. They stared at each other. Everything she felt, all the longings, the need to feel his touch one more time, were all written in her eyes for him to see and she no longer cared.
Jase stepped in front of her, mere inches away. “Are you okay?” She couldn’t answer.
She closed her eyes, but it was too late. He’d seen all of her longings. She wasn’t sure which of them moved first, but then she was in his arms, his fingers threading through her hair.
His lips met hers, gentle and exploring. Hannah responded eagerly. It was as if she were drowning in his kisses. Losing her heart a little more to him with each kiss.
* * * *
His phone chirped to life from his pants’ pocket where he’d stowed it. He’d finally drifted off to sleep on the sofa.
He grabbed the phone and answered the call before it woke Hannah in the bedroom.
“McCoy.” He sandwiched the phone against his ear.
“It’s Aaron.”
Two things registered simultaneously. Aaron was calling with news, and he wasn’t going to like it.
“What is it?” He forced himself to ask.
“We have a positive ID on the body found near Farah. It’s The Foreigner.”
Jase had known this was coming, yet he couldn’t help but feel as if their last hope at solving Kate’s death had died in the desert along with her contact. “What was the cause of death?”
“Single gunshot wound to the right temple. Looks like he used a Glock.” The terseness in Aaron’s tone was palpable.
“What’s the official ruling?”
Aaron sighed into the phone. “Suicide. Just as we suspected.”
Jase ran a hand over his eyes. “I can’t believe it. There must be something we’re not seeing here, Aaron? Kate trusted this man.”
Aaron hesitated a moment longer. Whatever else he had to say was big. “Yeah, I know. We tracked his Jeep some fifteen kilometers away from the body. It was hidden near some rocks. Amongst his possessions was a phone. We’re only starting to go through its contents. We found a couple of numbers from here in the US. They were disposable phone numbers, so we’re not able to track them, but we think it’s the Pakistani men who were following you. Jase, there’s evidence he was working with some very big names.”
“Like?” Jase couldn’t let what Hannah had said about The Foreigner go. She—Kate had believed the man to be a staunch ally.
“Al-Aljazaha.”
Jase blew out a low whistle. Not only was Dhara Al-Aljazaha one of the biggest known weapons brokers in Afghanistan, he was reported to be part of the upper echelon in the former bin Laden camp. Depending on who you tortured the most, Al-Aljazaha was claimed to be second in command and since bin Laden’s death; he was reportedly seeking to unite Al Qaeda once again. He was funding the mission through sales of arms and equipping the terrorists’ cells with his weapons stash.
“Yeah. Like I said, there’s more to come, we’re just getting started. There’s something else you should know.”
Jase held onto his breath.
“There’s some wire transactions. Al-Aljazaha wired money, lots of money in fact, into an offshore account. It was a dummy company, but we traced the owner’s name. It was Kate’s account.”
Jase dropped to his knees and almost lost it. “No way. Aaron, there’s no way Kate was dirty. This is a set up. She’s being set up.”
“Probably.”
“There’s no ‘probably.’ She was a straight as they come. I’d sooner believe you were dirty than Kate.”
Aaron didn’t answer right away. After a moment he said, “I know, buddy. As I’ve said, we’re only getting started. Once we’ve shifted through most of it, I’m sure we’ll find out it was all The Foreigner and that he set Kate up.”
Jase hesitated a second then asked, “Did he do it?”
Aaron understood. “We don’t have the official confirmation, but I believe so, yes.”
He’d wondered what his reaction would be when the identity of the person responsible for Kate’s death finally became known. Yet he felt nothing. His gut was telling him he should be feeling something. Relief. Rage. Regret even. Kate trusted this man and he’d taken her life? It didn’t compute for Jase.
“What about the others. There are more men involved. The Suburban had several people in the back. My guess is they were there at the cabin, but ran when their comrades were killed.”
“Yes. We found an abandoned car at the airport near the ski village. It was registered to a Pakistani national by the name of Omar Bahar. He boarded a plane bound for Pakistan along with two other nationals. My guess is they are the missing men. We’re still trying to obtain access to them so we can interrogate them. The Pakistani government isn’t cooperating.”
Jase couldn’t take it all in.
“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s over, Jase. It’s over.”
So why didn’t it feel over?
Jase cleared his throat. “What happens now?”
Jase turned at the sound of movement coming from the bedroom. She was awake.
“You’re done. You can bring the Sandoval woman home. There’s been no further evidence of a threat toward her, if there ever was one.”
Aaron had hesitated only for a second, but it was enough. Jase knew he hadn’t told him everything.
“There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Aaron blew out a breath. “Yes. Maybe. I’m not sure. More than anything it’s a matter of protocol.”
“Is this is about Travis?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear this.
“Yes. He’s claiming to have evidence that isn’t there. He sent our team on the ground on a wild goose chase that we’re damn lucky didn’t end up in lives being lost, and we have evidence he jumped the gun. There’s really no proof the Sandoval woman was in trouble to begin with. I saw what he saw. The threat wasn’t there.”
“Travis is not the type to overreact. What about the two agents?”
“We’re still investigating, but that appears to be staged. I believe those men were killed to take the focus off something in the investigation. In essence, someone wanted to send us away from where the investigation would have eventually gone. And Travis’ behavior since the missi
on—before that assignment even—has been questionable.”
A shiver ran up through Jase. He remembered Travis’ feeling that he was being set up. “I was there with him the whole time. I’ve partnered with Travis for years. I haven’t seen it. I think you’re mistaken.”
“Maybe, and I hope you’re right, but this isn’t your problem anymore. You’re on your way out. Don’t get caught up in it. Get out, before the stink of this case lands on you as well.”
“Aaron, Travis is a friend. He’s a cowboy and overly gung-ho at times, but he’s a patriot.”
“I’m not saying he’s guilty of any crime—yet, but it doesn’t look good for him. He’s under an internal investigation, and he’s been reassigned to a desk. Let it go. This is no longer your fight. Go. Enjoy your ranch in New Zealand. Put this life behind you. You deserve it. Bring the woman back to Langley. I’ll have our people meet you at headquarters. Then go enjoy your freedom.”
Jase couldn’t wrap his head around everything he’d heard. No way, he believed Travis was guilty of anything. Certainly not of being part of any terrorist threat. And the transferred funds in Kate’s name, well, it was ludicrous. Kate couldn’t be bought. Someone was definitely setting both Travis and Kate up. But for what purpose?
“All right,” he blew out a sigh. “We’ll leave in the morning.”
“Good. See you soon.”
Jase wasn’t sure what made him add, “Wait, there’s something you need to know.”
Jase could always judge the level of Aaron’s annoyance by the length of time it took him to answer. Aaron was definitely angry. “What is it?”
“It’s Hannah. She doesn’t think The Foreigner was involved in Kate’s death, and she won’t let it go without a fight.”
“Has she come up with anything of any value about the identity of the person who might be responsible?”
“No. She still hasn’t been able to see his face, but she’d recognize his voice if she heard it again. Like I said, she won’t let it go. She’s determined to find the truth. She feels she owes it to Kate. She’ll do whatever it takes, even if it means undergoing hypnosis to find the answers she needs.”