by Vicki Hinze
Maybe that’s why he hasn’t said he still loves you.
She groaned and heaved yet again.
It wasn’t just him. It was all of them. How would these people who’d brought her into their fold feel about her then?
Jackal. Who had tried to kill them, threatened to kill them all. NINA. Terrorists.
They hadn’t shunned Nora, but they all had already loved her. They didn’t love Mandy. She’d be shown the door and left alone again. Her empty stomach hollowed, threatened to again rebel, and the urge to weep slammed into her.
After a taste of what belonging felt like, she didn’t want to go back to being alone. When it is all you know, well, that’s one thing. But when you get a glimpse of what it’s like to be surrounded by people who take you in, when you belong . . . That changes everything. Getting that glimpse and then being kicked to the curb—she couldn’t handle it. She really couldn’t handle it.
Wasn’t it enough to not know if her legal wedding would be real and produce a real marriage? After their lunch today, after Tim telling her this morning that he wanted her to be happy, she thought they had a good chance of him getting past his bitterness and everything being real, but he still hadn’t told her he loved her, and her parents’ connection to NINA could be why.
They couldn’t have a real marriage if only one of them loved the other. Marriage was hard enough when both partners loved each other.
Did she dare to hope? Really? With Jackal looming and NINA on the fringe?
Oh, I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to go back.
It’d be just her luck to find a place she belonged with the man she loved and for fate to snatch it all away.
Fear that it would swelled inside her, opened a dark, empty place that threatened to suck her in.
On the grounds of the crisis center, the men congregated at a picnic table with benches positioned under a canopy of craggy old oak limbs, certain they wouldn’t be overheard. None of them sat down.
Sam hiked a sneakered foot and planted it on the end of the closest bench. “So what’s the plan, Mark?”
Tim, Joe, and Nick waited to hear his answer.
“I’d rather lose my tongue than say this,” Mark looked at Tim, “but we all know Mandy’s mother or father could be Jackal. Even she suspects them.”
“My money’s on him,” Tim said. “From what Mandy said, her mother was devastated at telling her to break our engagement.”
“NINA operatives are good actors, buddy. That’s worth remembering.”
“They are, and it is, Sam. But there’s the mother/daughter thing going on there, too.”
“Tim’s right, bro.” Joe added his opinion, crunched a crisp leaf between his forefinger and thumb. “Liv was terrified, Mandy said. If she was Jackal, she might fake being scared, but Mandy knows her well. She’d sense the difference and know it wasn’t real.”
“She would.” Tim watched two kids on their bikes make their way down the sidewalk. “Mandy’s perceptive, and they were really close. At odds over Travest, but still really close.”
“I’m with Tim.” Sam kept one eye on the kids. “I can tell when my mom is ticked and just faking it.” He sucked in air between his teeth. “I vote Travest.”
Mark looked to Joe. “Travest.”
“Definitely Travest,” Nick said, tapping at his glasses.
“I think he’s Jackal, too,” Mark said. “But her money worries me. He’s too rigid to risk putting thirty million in Olivia’s name—it was in her name, right, Sam?”
“Yep, sure was—actually, is. It’s still there.”
“Does it go to Mandy now?” Nick asked.
“It’s a Swiss account,” Sam said. “I’m waiting to hear who else’s name is on it, if anyone’s. But I’m doubtful it’s Mandy. She had no idea the money existed. Anyone could see that by her reaction to hearing it.”
“Shocked.”
“Totally.” Joe agreed with Nick.
“We can’t yet rule out third parties,” Tim said. “When will you know about the account, Sam?”
“Omega One is working it now.” He cited a good friend of the team, and especially of Mark. Before being gunned down on a mission, the little sister of Mark’s heart had been an active operative. Omega One had been her partner. “He’s been slowed down by Homeland Security. Can’t say why.”
Nick crossed his arms. “So will we know before or after Tim’s wedding?”
“Before, I hope,” Sam said.
“It doesn’t matter.” Tim put them all on notice. “I’m marrying Mandy.”
“We know you are, Tim.” Mark nodded.
Nick frowned. “You started out marrying her for the mission.”
“I’m marrying her because I love her.”
“Got it. But I have to ask . . . Are you sure it’s what you really want? NINA? Jackal? In-laws who want you dead and can make it happen? Think about it long-term, Tim.”
He hardened his voice to match his resolve. “I said, I'm marrying Mandy.”
“Got it.” Nick held up a staying hand, looked to Mark. “So what’s the plan?”
“Standard pre-op. Security checks at the church and resort, get Jeff and a local team on alert. Pre-position whatever we might need in the way of weapons.” Mark stuck a toothpick between his teeth and held it into place with his lips. “If Travest shows up, we’ll see if he tries anything at his own daughter’s wedding.”
“She doesn’t believe he’ll show up,” Tim told them.
“Easy to see why,” Joe added, parking a hip on the edge of the picnic table. “Jerk’s never acknowledged to anyone other than her and Olivia that she’s his daughter. Never recognized her, acted like he’d never seen her before in his life on the street, and she was just a kid—“
“While he was with his family,” Nick interjected. “She can’t even call him to let him know her mom’s dead. Oh, yeah. He’s a peach, all right.”
“She’ll never need him again.” Seething, Tim vowed, claimed control, then changed the subject. “If he is Jackal, he’ll expect a trap.”
“I’d like to snare him in one,” Sam said.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know enough about him to snare him.” Mark watched a black Lincoln edge down the street. When it moved out of sight, he looked back at the guys. “What do you think?”
“It’s radical.” Tim answered.
“Tell us anyway,” Joe said.
Tim looked from Mark to Joe then back again. “We let Travest come to his daughter’s wedding . . . and we let him leave after it.”
“What?” Sam looked shocked, and ready to spit nails. “You crack your head or something, bud?”
“No. Just listen,” Tim went on. “We let him come and go and we keep him on our radar.”
“On Omega One’s radar.” Mark nodded. “That could reveal Phoenix.”
“Exactly.” Tim lifted his hands. “It’s not perfect, but it’ll have to do until we gather irrefutable evidence one way or the other. I’d hate to accuse the man of being Jackal if he isn’t, and, if he is, then I’d like to expose him and Phoenix. This gives us a shot.”
“Good point. Falsely accusing him would make for poor in-law relations—even with him.” Nick grunted. “More importantly, Mandy should have a nice wedding.”
“She should,” Tim said. That she’d forfeited something she treasured so much to protect him and the team . . . It got to him every time it crossed his mind. “Travest could be Jackal. After Raven, we know NINA is capable of using anyone. Even Olivia. I’m praying hard she isn’t Jackal. I think that would break what’s left of Mandy’s heart. But, either way, I’m not certain her mother is innocent. Thirty million in liquid assets without a traceable source creates a lot of doubt.”
“I hate to agree, bro, but I do.”
Nick groused. “Either way, Mandy’s heart gets broken again.”
“What’re you saying?” Sam asked.
Tim lifted his left hand. “Her mother’s Jackal.” He lifte
d the other. “Her father’s Jackal—and her mother knows it.” He shrugged. “Either way, Mandy’s heart’s broken. Again.”
Sam let out a whistling breath. “She ain’t thought that far yet. But she will.”
“Oh, yeah.” Joe said.
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about it.” Mark took a long swallow from a canned soda. “Though I agree she deserves a nice wedding.” He let his gaze drift. “I put myself in her place and I don’t know if I’d be able to walk away from Lisa like that. I like to think I would—if I didn’t and she died, I’d never forgive myself—but . . . I just don’t know if I could do it.”
“She’s a strong woman.” Tim knew it, but he hadn’t known how strong. Now that he did, he wished she’d had no reason to be.
Sam tugged his cap down over his eyes. “That jerk of a father messes this up for her, and he’s going to regret it.”
“If at all possible, we shed no blood on her wedding day, Sam.” Tim held up his fingers signaling eyes-on: he was watching. “That’d really upset her.”
Joe pursed his lips. “She could figure it’s a bad omen.”
“Sure about that?” Nick cocked his head. “She might think the jerk deserves to hurt a little. He sure has hurt her and her mom for a long, long time.”
“Revenge isn’t her style,” Tim said. He’d love to vent a little righteous indignation on Travest’s head but it would offend Mandy’s spiritual sensibilities.
“There is one thing we can do,” Tim said. “About her getting heartbroken, I mean.”
All gazes swerved to him, including Nick’s. “What?”
“Given the circumstances, we do all we can to see to it she has a wedding with happy memories.” More and more Tim had come to understand Mandy hadn’t had many happy events in her life. He hated that, and he resented it. “If we’re given a choice.”
“Sounds good to me, buddy.” Sam shoved back his cap.
“Definitely.” Joe popped a fresh piece of gum into his mouth.
Mark lifted his can in mock salute. “That’s it, then. Priority one. If possible, we do everything humanly possible to make it a good-memory day.”
Grateful for their support, Tim dared to hope they wouldn’t be forced into fighting a war at the wedding. He tapped his soda can to Mark’s. “To Mandy.”
Chapter 9
Charles Travest spent Saturday tying up loose ends.
Freedom away from his family couldn’t come soon enough. He’d thought about making this break from them for years—and from NINA. But only in the last year had he gone from dreaming and thinking about it to planning his escape. Being careful wasn’t enough. NINA tolerated no mistakes and it rewarded those who cut-and-run the same way it rewarded disloyalty: death.
He wasn’t ready to die. Not now that he finally had a chance to live!
Driving down the lonely, dark stretch of highway, he adjusted the radio to play softly in the silent car. Soothing music that would help settle his jangled nerves. He’d gotten enough cash to last him a lifetime, cut a deal with a former unsavory but talented client to get him a new identity, and he’d completed the requirements for that new identity to practice family law throughout the Pacific island chain. The attorney general couldn’t touch him. His wife couldn’t touch him, even if she should somehow find him. And his investments were protected. All set, and excited; eager for his new beginning. More than eager to leave this old life behind and shake its dust from his shoes.
A wistful feeling slid through him. He’d planned the new beginning with Liv, but she’d made that impossible. He wished she hadn’t, but if she had to betray him, better that she did it before the break rather than after.
He double-checked his rearview to be sure he wasn’t being followed. Nothing but darkness behind him. He blew out a cleansing breath, let himself calm down. Traffic didn’t exist on the back road, at least not at the moment, leaving him feeling isolated and alone. Content. Finally, content.
And yet the green dash lights cast an eerie glow that whispered a warning. It sent a chill up his back. His skin crawled in the same way it had when Mandy had phoned him at the office.
His stomach clenched. He was there a total of fifteen minutes and that would be exactly when she called. He hadn’t planned on going in when anyone else was around, but with the unexpected developments at home, he’d had to be flexible and drop in to buy himself a little more time and to clean out his office safe before his wife got around to locking it down legally, too. She’d already jerked the noose on everything else. Fortunately, she didn’t yet realize she was too late.
Mandy phoning at just that time, and his dumb luck of being there to receive her call, had seemed like a bad omen. He feared it had been, but it couldn’t be. He refused to accept that; he’d been methodical, cautious, implemented backup plans to his backup plans. Of course, it wasn’t a bad omen. Everything was going to work out fine.
The internal alarm niggled at him again.
Maybe she had thrown a wrench into his clean getaway. Okay, but if so, how? In what area? She didn’t know anything about anything. Had Liv left her something? He hadn’t seen anything at the house, but he hadn’t gone through every sheet of paper or every file folder in her cabinet, either. She might have mailed something to Mandy. Liv was malleable, but when she made her mind up, she found a way to accomplish what she wanted.
That Mandy might have something that could interfere with his plans infuriated him. Crazy woman would use it. She’d been nothing but trouble since St. Augustine. A constant bone of contention between him and Liv—and she’d always been a thorn in his side. Daring to phone him at the office on a Saturday, no less. Idiot. What if NINA . . .?
No. No. Don’t go off the deep end. NINA had no way to connect Jackal to Charles Travest, and no way to connect Charles Travest to anything or anyone. He’d been meticulous.
So Mandy had called. At least, she’d had the sense to refuse to give his staff any information. Oh, he’d bet his eyeteeth that she’d wanted to; she had to be totally ticked-off about him not showing up for Liv’s funeral. But Mandy had restrained herself. Good thing, too. No doubt the result of her mother’s warnings about consequences. “You taught her well, Liv.”
A little empty hollow seized in his chest. He missed Liv. She had made his life bearable. If he hadn’t had her to escape to on Tuesdays, he could never have lasted all these years with his blackmailing wife and ungrateful kids. He couldn’t have successfully faked being happy. It was amazing really, how much one person could influence your whole life.
Now she’s gone.
And it’s your fault.
She was gone, and part of the fault was his, and he’d take responsibility for it, but he wouldn’t accept all of it. Liv herself was partly to blame, too. She’d gone too far, backed him into a corner. From the start, he’d been clear. If their relationship ever came down to the point of it’s-you-or-me, you—whoever you happened to be—was going to lose. She knew that and pushed him anyway, and she’d lost.
Yet he had lost, too.
And so had Mandy.
Mandy. This was all her fault really—with Liv and him. She was the reason Liv had pushed him too far. If after St. Augustine Mandy had been civil and not gone crazy about him being married, and if she hadn’t hooked up with that Shadow Watcher in the first place, things would have been fine. But, no. She wouldn’t or couldn’t just take the news in stride. Stubborn, selfish woman. She had been full of outrage and indignation, and created all the problems for them.
Yes, every bit of the problems. She had berated Liv about his wife and kids and then she had brought Tim and his team—NINA’s nemesis, for pity’s sake—right to Liv’s door. Stupid, stupid stubborn woman.
Oh, yeah. Mandy had created all their problems. She’d wrecked his life and caused her mother’s death. It was her fault. Every bit of it.
Anger swelled inside him and churned. How he hated that girl. Who did she think she was to dare to judge him?
> Before St. Augustine, she’d been like a puppy, willing to do anything to get his attention, panting for a single kind word from him or any sign of approval. But after that day on the street, and the subsequent blowout between her and her mother, Mandy had avoided both of them. She’d been in the same house with Liv, but never again shared what was on her mind or any emotion with either of them. Polite but distant. Civil but detached. She built her life on her own, away from them in both mind and heart.
That suited him fine. But Liv? Liv had been crushed and never had been the same. And after Mandy had ended the engagement and severed from that Shadow Watcher . . . Well, that’s what really had sealed Liv’s fate. Why couldn’t that stubborn idiot just have gotten over the guy, put him behind her, and gone on with her life?
No, instead she had to ruin all their lives. Selfish twit.
Stop it Charles. Stop it—now. This is no way to start a new life. They’re all out of your way now. Forget it. Build something new. Something that’s all yours. Something . . . good.
Determined to do just that, he turned up the radio to block out the internal dialogue in his head then took the next exit and headed down the clover toward the little southern Alabama town of Pineville.
When he reached it, he smiled. Barely nine o’clock on a Saturday night, and the town slept as if it were two in the morning. The islands, he imagined, would be a lot like that. Quiet. Peaceful. Remote. The perfect place for a man who wanted to get lost to actually do it and stay lost.
He looked around. Thickets of hurricane-twisted pines, some magnolias, and a ton of scrub brush. A light here and there, set back off the road in the distance. Homes were at least a football field from the roadway. He rode on into town. Pineville wasn’t much good for anything but losing yourself. A couple traffic lights and stores, a spatter of houses here and there, and not much else. Unlike the islands, it lacked the laid-back allure and the promise of any sophistication. That was essential to him.
Another half-mile up ahead, a yellow neon sign flashed Open 24/7. He closed in on it and saw the thick metal poles holding the sign up out in front of a two-pump gas station with an attached café. A cup of coffee sounded good.