O’Shea threw his full attention at Derek. Slowly, an evil glint flickered in his eyes. “I have to.”
Derek had no response but just gripped his SIG more tightly.
“Paralyzed with fear, boy? You should be.” In his excitement, Hannah’s birth father swung his weapon around in wild gesticulations.
As O’Shea continued his rant, stomping around and raising little puffs of dust, Derek grabbed the opportunity. He raised his SIG and fired a shot, but in his nervousness, his hand wobbled at the pull of the trigger. The sound, like a loud firecracker, filled the woods. A rock the size of a soccer ball exploded a couple of feet away from O’Shea.
“Go!” He yelled to Hannah and Susan, gesturing to them to get behind a nearby boulder.
Fragments of rock flew across the clearing. Her birth father jumped into a crouch, looking around wildly for the rock shrapnel. Even though Derek hadn’t hit his mark, for the moment, O’Shea’s attention was off Derek and Hannah.
Suddenly, Derek had the few seconds he needed.
He followed Hannah and her birth mother toward the large boulder, pushing lightly on Hannah’s back to urge her on. A bullet hit the boulder just as they dodged behind and into shelter.
“Keep going! Get to safety.” He pointed to a narrow deer path through the trees in the direction of the parking lot. “Head that way. Get in the car. I’ll catch up.”
Hannah and her birth mother took off, pushing the slap of branches away from their faces and stumbling over downed trees. Derek whispered a quick prayer for their safety, then turned back to locate O’Shea and his henchmen.
He peered around the boulder. O’Shea and his thugs were on the other side of the clearing, seemingly searching among the thick trees and underbrush for the threesome. Before Derek could take off, the thug spotted him. He nudged his boss.
Derek’s chest constricted, and he tightened his hold on his weapon. He wanted to glance back to see if Hannah and her mother were out of sight, but he didn’t want to lose visual contact with O’Shea, either. Without the sound of the crunching of branches and the slapping of leaves and limbs from behind him, he could only assume that they were well on their way to safety.
In fact, an eerie silence filled the woods.
Sean O’Shea stared right at him, menace shining in his eyes. Slowly, he raised his weapon and pointed it at Derek.
His years of weapons training had not been in vain. Derek whipped his SIG up, trained it on the arm that held O’Shea’s weapon, and shot it in the center.
Her birth father screamed out in pain as a large crack tore through the air.
O’Shea and his thugs ducked for cover. A searing pain ripped through Derek’s bicep as he turned to run. He and O’Shea must have fired at the same time, and the man’s bullet had caught him on the same arm. He touched the spot, suppressing a grimace of pain, and found fresh blood. There wasn’t time to deal with that now. Hannah and Susan should be back at the vehicle, and he was desperate to join them and get them all to safety.
He dashed through the woods, dodging trees and leaping over rocks. In his haste, his own noise was so loud that he couldn’t hear if anyone was following him. What seemed like too many minutes later, he broke free of the woods. Susan was huddled low in the backseat of the Cherokee. Hannah sat in the passenger seat. He heard the engine running as he drew closer.
A thick branch slapped him in the face and scraped across his cheek as he emerged through the tree line. A few seconds later, he was at the vehicle. Hannah leaned low over the driver’s seat and pushed the door open. He slid in and threw the vehicle into Reverse. It chewed gravel as it fought for traction. Derek berated himself for not thinking of parking the vehicle in a position for an easy getaway, but there was nothing to do about that now. At least Hannah had found the keys he had left behind.
He pointed the SUV toward the driveway out to the road. In the rearview mirror, he spied Sean and his thugs burst from the woods, guns at the ready. Derek slid the SUV into Drive and hit the accelerator. “Get down!” He hunched over the steering wheel as Hannah and her mother slid down into their seats.
The thug fired off his weapon. Hannah covered her ears at the sound of the crack.
Derek surveyed the interior of the car, but no one was hurt and there didn’t seem to be any damage. The bullet must have hit the back door.
As the vehicle surged forward, loose gravel from the parking area sprayed back onto O’Shea and his henchmen. They threw up their arms to shield their faces, and Derek turned onto the road without any more shots fired.
He settled into his seat and fastened his seat belt as he sped toward the park exit. Hannah and her birth mother seemed to relax into their seats, but Derek was certain they would soon be followed. The wound on his arm throbbed, but it didn’t feel deep. He would get medical care as soon as he was certain of their safety, but there was no knowing when that would be.
He glanced over at Hannah, who wore a wide-eyed, tight-lipped look of panic on her face. “Are you all right? Not hurt?” He moved his eyes to the back to include Susan in his question.
“I’m okay,” Hannah answered. She crossed her arms over her front, as if hugging herself.
Derek had a sudden longing to wrap her in his embrace, to whisper to her that she was safe and secure, to shield her from all of life’s pain. What he had said was true. He did love her. But whether or not there could be any kind of lasting relationship was yet to be determined.
Susan sat silent in the backseat and just nodded. Living a life in fear had probably made her withdrawn and reluctant to open up. But the time would come soon when Hannah would want some answers.
He turned the Cherokee out of the park entrance and onto the state highway that would lead them back toward the city. A little down the road, though, he saw another vehicle, a dark sedan, turn out of the state park. Was it O’Shea and his goons? There were now a couple of cars between them, but they had been on the state highway already when Derek pulled out in front of them.
Now what? His mind raced with possible scenarios, none of them good. How much longer could they go on like this? It was gratifying to have saved Hannah’s birth mother from a life-threatening situation. But now he had another person to protect. Another person to hide. Another reason Hannah’s birth father and his associates would be after them. He needed to look at the situation realistically, of course, but a positive attitude would help as well.
Where could they go? Derek ran a hand roughshod over his hair. He was out of ideas. A fresh FBI Academy graduate on a case by himself? He should have known it was impossible. Sure, the Bureau had believed in him. They wouldn’t have sent him otherwise. But the parameters of his assignment had been simple. Protect Hannah. And he’d let it get out of hand. He’d blazed in, confident of his abilities, and now he’d let everyone down. Including Hannah.
Especially Hannah.
There was no way to make this right.
He’d failed his parents, hiding out of fear for his own life instead of trying to save them. He could have done something—anything—to protect them. But he had cowered in terror as a thirteen-year-old boy. A shudder coursed through him at the memory of them lying dead on the ground, blood pooling, as he’d choked back petrified screams. Now, he was in the same position, against the Mafia again, and he was completely helpless. First, he had failed his mother and father. Now, he was failing the woman he loved.
ELEVEN
Hannah stared out the passenger-side window, worrying a cuticle on her finger. Should she keep a watch behind them, perhaps in her side mirror, to see if the bad guys were sneaking up on them? Or was that Derek’s job? He was the one with both the rearview mirror and the law-enforcement training.
But with her heart pounding up into her throat and making it feel like her brain would explode with the pressure, she wasn’t sure she could jus
t sit back and relax.
In her first year of law school, her criminal law professor had given the class a tip that, at the time, had seemed superfluous. The stress of school then and a law practice after graduation would be tremendous, the professor had said, so it would be important to take some time for deep breathing. It was simple advice. Easy to remember. She had tucked it away in the deep recesses of her mind, fairly certain she wouldn’t need it. But now? Now, it seemed incredibly helpful.
She stared straight out the front windshield and forced herself to close her eyes, trusting Derek to keep a lookout. She took several deep breaths, holding each while she counted to five.
There had been so much information to digest in such a short period of time. She was adopted. Her life had been in danger at the time of her adoption, and it was in danger again now. The letter and the handmade doll from her birth mother, who now sat huddled in the backseat. Her birth father was trying to kill her and probably her birth mother, too. No wonder she was overwhelmed.
Derek reached over and touched her arm. “We’ll be fine.”
She only nodded in response. She appreciated his reassurance, but the lines creasing around his eyes belied his own concern.
And what about her father, Willford McClarnon? She had spent a fair amount of time resenting him. He had held information from her deliberately. And yet, he had had his reasons. It was true that their social circles were rather snobby and judgmental. Her parents were completely right about that. They also had claimed they hadn’t told her that she was adopted because they needed to protect her. She had been doubtful at first, but hadn’t that protection proved to be a necessity? Trouble had still found her, but how much worse would it have been if she had gone digging for information years ago without Derek as her protector?
Whether or not she felt it in her heart at that moment, didn’t she have an obligation, as a Christian, to forgive? No one ever said it would be easy, but God commanded it. That feeling of love and closeness may take a while to reach her heart. But at that moment, right then in that vehicle, she would choose God’s way and forgive her father. It was a solid feeling that warmed her to her core.
Whether the decision not to tell her was right or wrong, she couldn’t determine. But a review of the years she had spent with both her adoptive father and mother confirmed that they had loved her, and still did love her, wholeheartedly. A new appreciation for his love and care welled up in her, forcing a few tears to spring forth. She swiped them away with the back of her hand.
She opened her eyes and took one last deep breath, turning to offer a reassuring smile to her birth mother. But Susan cowered against the far back door of the vehicle. She had drawn herself down and into the seat as much as possible, and a frightened look haunted her eyes. How long had she lived like this? Wherever she had been, she was good at hiding if it had taken all these years for O’Shea to find her.
Hannah’s heart ached at the idea of a life of fear and constantly looking over her shoulder, and she reached out in between the front seats. Susan stretched out to gently clasp her hand for a brief moment, then shrank back against the door. Maybe, if they all lived long enough, there would be time for a relationship later.
For a moment, she watched her birth mother watch the scenery whiz past the window, and thanked God again for her adoptive parents and the solid upbringing they had given her. They had had their difficult moments, but no one was perfect. Only God was perfect, and He had known what He was doing when He gave her to Willford and Evelyn McClarnon.
And what about Derek? He’d proclaimed right there, in the heat of the moment, in the line of fire, in front of both of her birth parents, that he loved her. Was it true? She had thought, in high school, that he loved her, although he had never said it quite exactly like that. It seemed to be implied many times. But then he had left, and she thought she had been wrong. Maybe she hadn’t been wrong. Or was it all a ruse to throw off her father and his intended attack? To take the attention off of her? Their kiss had been genuine, though, filled with emotion straight from their hearts.
She glanced at his profile, his strong jaw showing a determination that most wouldn’t want to tangle with. Did she love him? Of course she did. She had loved him in the past, ready to confess it if he did first, although he never had. But their love for each other didn’t mean that a relationship, a marriage, even, could work. His job didn’t lend itself to a wife and family. And now everything had changed as well because she had knowledge that she had been adopted.
The side mirror showed a dark sedan approaching at a steady rate. A minivan was between them, but the sedan was definitely driving fast. Her heart thumped erratically in her chest. Was it them? She forced herself to look back out the front windshield. Derek was driving. He would know what to do.
A moment later, his hand enveloped hers. A heady warmth emanated up her arm and into her heart, giving her an extra dose of courage she didn’t know she had. What did it mean, this affection? This touch? Just then, she wasn’t sure she cared. She didn’t have the stamina for any further examination of their relationship, or lack thereof. She simply closed her eyes, soaking up all the comfort and strength he was willing to send her way. And she prayed. Prayed to understand and accept.
Hannah felt the car jump forward as Derek hit the accelerator. Wherever that dark sedan was, apparently Derek wanted to get some distance between them. Maybe now was the time to ask her birth mother a few questions. She could gather some information and distract herself from the danger at hand.
“Susan?” Hannah turned toward the backseat and caught her mother’s startled eye. “Is it all right if I call you Susan?”
The woman nodded.
“Can I ask you about our history together? What happened with my birth father, and why did you give me up for adoption?”
Susan stared out the window for several moments, and Hannah wondered if perhaps she wasn’t willing to tell the story. But then she sighed heavily and turned her mournful gaze back to Hannah. “You know by now that your father is a part of a Mafia family.”
Hannah nodded and waited for her to continue.
“I fell in love with him when I didn’t know his family. I had no idea what he was. We met at the mall, hanging out at the video arcade with our friends. Before long, we were together all the time, behaving in ways we shouldn’t have.” Another sigh. “I know now that behavior was wrong. But it wasn’t long, and I was pregnant. When I found out who his family was and what their so-called business was, I was horrified. But I was stuck. I was having his child and had no way to support myself, let alone a child, if I left him. As you probably know, it’s not that easy to leave a Mafia family anyway.” She chuckled, a sound of misery rather than mirth.
“I’ve heard.” She glanced at Derek, who nodded his affirmation.
“So we got an apartment together. He always seemed to have a lot of money, which was fun. But he was also gone a lot, and he never talked about his work. I had no idea what he did in the hierarchy of the family.”
“What did he think of your pregnancy?” Hannah’s abdomen twisted at the notion that her own biological father didn’t care if she was alive or dead, but she had to hear the answer.
“I don’t know. He never talked about it. He didn’t ever express excitement, but he gave me money for the doctor’s appointments. Maybe if I’d stayed, he would have loved you.”
It seemed clear what his intentions were now, and they didn’t involve any kind of love. But Hannah didn’t want her birth mother to feel any more guilt, so she kept silent. “Don’t blame yourself. You did what you thought was best at the time.”
“In the end, I didn’t feel like I had any choice.” She hugged her arms around her middle. “When you were not quite a year old, you toddled into our closet and got too curious about a fireproof safe that Sean normally kept locked. I had no idea what was in it and never thoug
ht about it much. But that day, you found it unlocked and pulled everything out before I found you. You were sitting on the floor in the closet, holding a leather-bound journal, flipping through the pages and happy as could be to see the paper turn.”
“Was it something important?”
“I’ll say. You’d found his kill log, the journal where he kept the details of the hits he’d carried out for the family. I don’t know how I had the presence of mind, but I bundled you up and we ran to the copy store. I used their self-service copier and made a photocopy. At home, I tried to replace all the papers as they must have been, but I hadn’t seen it before you pulled everything out.”
Susan’s eyes blazed as if she were reliving the panic. “Of course, he found out, probably when he got into the safe again and it wasn’t arranged the same. Suddenly, I was rarely alone. The family began monitoring me closely, and I knew I needed to escape, especially with you. I wanted to protect you from your father and a life controlled by an organized crime syndicate.” She sagged back into her seat and the light disappeared from her eyes, as if she was exhausted from telling the sequence of events.
Hannah turned a little more toward the back and spotted the dark sedan still following. It was closer, but she couldn’t make out the people inside. She didn’t have much time to get Susan to tell the rest. The poor woman looked tired of talking, but Hannah was determined to get as much information as she could before it was too late. “So what did you do?”
“I staged my own death. At least, that was my goal. I’d seen police shows and read books, and I just did the best I could at providing evidence. I chopped off some of my hair to leave in the car, and there ended up being blood in there as well. The blood was truly an accident. I set up my car to crash into a ditch. When I was jumping out of it as it went off the road, I scraped my head and my arm. Obviously, I never convinced Sean. He’s a smart man. But at the time, I was away from him. And I’ve evaded him for more than twenty years.”
Deadly Disclosure Page 15