Proof of Life: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 4)

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  “Well, we can continue to come out here to the gun range to shoot. I know he likes basketball, and Tyler might be willing to sacrifice his tickets so the two of us can go to a game sometime. What else does he enjoy?”

  “He enjoys gaming. I know you have several systems, so it’s just a matter of finding out which games he likes. He likes to skateboard, but I realize that’s more of a summer sport. I think he might enjoy seeing more of what you do at BlackThorpe.”

  “Okay. Thank you for the info.” He sensed someone coming up behind him and glanced back to see that Jordan was headed their way. He held the gun as Alex had directed him and had a pleased smile on his face.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  DID YOU KILL all the bad guys?” Rebecca asked as Jordan sat down in the chair across from Alex.

  “That was a blast.” His cheeks were flushed and his eyes sparkled. “I can’t wait to tell Robby all about it.”

  “So you think you’ve had your fill for today?” Alex asked, pleased to see the excitement on Jordan’s face.

  “I think so.” Jordan met his gaze for what felt like the first time since their discussion a week earlier. “Will I be able to do this again?”

  “I think we can arrange that,” Alex said. He gestured to the gun that Jordan had set on the table in front of him. “You ready to get that cleaned and put away?”

  Jordan nodded and, over the next few minutes, they cleaned both guns and put them and the ear protection away. Once they were done, Alex asked, “Would you like a quick tour of the compound?”

  Rebecca glanced at the time on her cell phone then nodded. It didn’t take too long to show them the gym area where Jordan was impressed with the workout machines they had available there. After checking out the gym, they headed to the basement and the passage that led to the living quarters in the adjacent building. There were a handful of people around, a few who recognized Alex and stopped to chat.

  “There is more to the compound, but it’s best seen in summer since it’s out on the acreage the company owns,” Alex said as he gestured to the windows of the cafeteria that faced the back part of the compound.

  “Do they train out there in winter?” Jordan asked.

  Alex glanced down at him. “Yep. We have a lot of people who come here specifically to do winter training. The people we work with need to be able to function in all kinds of weather.”

  “Melanie doesn’t work here, does she?” Rebecca asked.

  “No. She’s at a different location not far from here. I can show it to you on our way out. Maybe Melanie can arrange a tour for you one day. She’s done a great job making the BlackThorpe Wellness Center what it is today.” Having completed the tour, Alex said, “It’s getting late. Did Melanie mention anything about dinner?”

  Rebecca shook her head. “I think she and Tyler had something planned for this evening. But I’m not sure about Adrianne.”

  “Well, would you like to grab a bite to eat since it’s nearly time for supper?” Alex asked the question, knowing there was a good chance that Rebecca would decline. But he was at that point where he was willing to take any chance to try to move things forward.

  “Yeah, I’m starving, Mom. Can we go out to get something to eat?”

  Though Alex was glad for Jordan’s support, he didn’t want Rebecca to feel as if she was being ganged up on. Thankfully, she just smiled and nodded, and soon they were on their way out of the building to his truck. They only had the one vehicle since Alex had decided it would just be easier to swing by the house to pick them up when Rebecca had called to ask about going to the range. After they had climbed into his truck, they had a short discussion on where to eat then he pulled through the gates of the compound and turned toward the highway.

  When they got to the booth in the restaurant of Jordan’s choice, Alex settled on one side while Jordan and Rebecca sat across from him. It didn’t take too long to order or to get their food. Thankfully, Jordan seemed to be in a mood to talk which meant Alex was able to learn a little more about his son. Even Rebecca chimed in with a few things that gave Alex additional insight into their life in Chicago.

  “So have you managed to talk with Connor lately?” Alex asked after she mentioned a bit more about what her brother was currently up to.

  “I called him the other day, and it went right to voicemail.” Rebecca shrugged. “That’s not an unusual occurrence with him. But I’m hoping he’ll get back to me soon since he had mentioned at one time coming to Chicago for Christmas. If we’re going to be here instead, I’m not sure what he will do.”

  Alex leaned forward, his arms braced on either side of his plate. “You know that he’s welcome to come here as well. The more, the merrier.”

  Rebecca smiled, and Alex suddenly remembered how much he had loved to coax smiles from her. She had always been a bit shy. It had been that shy smile with her big blue-green eyes that had first captured his attention. She’d asked him a question about something in a class they had together even though she was a junior and he was a senior. He’d had to ask her to repeat the question because he’d been so captivated by her smile. When he finally got up the nerve to ask her out on a date, he’d gotten another shy smile that had, unfortunately, slipped away too quickly as she’d explained that her parents would not allow her to date in high school. After that, he had tried to find ways to spend time with her at school until she finally caved, and they’d started to date in secret.

  He’d gotten to know her brother a little bit when Connor had hung out with Alex and his group of friends on occasion. But his main focus had been on Rebecca. And now here he was, almost seventeen years later, trying to get Rebecca to smile for him again. It seemed to be as important to him now as it had been back then.

  “Well, if or when he gets hold of me, I’ll pass on the invitation,” Rebecca said. “I really would like him to be home for Christmas, but his schedule doesn’t always allow for that.”

  “When was the last time you saw him?” Alex asked.

  It was Jordan who answered with a wide grin. “He flew us to Hawaii last winter to spend some time with him.”

  “Yeah, it’s been almost a year since that trip.” Alex saw the sadness in Rebecca’s eyes and realized how fortunate he was to have his family so close.

  “I’ll certainly be praying that he gets hold of you in time to join us here for Christmas,” Alex said, wishing he could do something to bring the smile back to Rebecca’s face.

  Once they were finished their meal, they left the restaurant and headed back to the house. When they got there, Rebecca and Jordan said good night and went upstairs to their apartment. Alex wished he could have prolonged their time together, but he was thankful for the time they did have. Besides, with him having cut out of work early, he no doubt had emails and messages he needed to follow up on.

  But as he climbed the stairs to his suite, all Alex could think of was what he could plan that would include all three of them again.

  The next morning, Alex was at the office early. After grabbing a cup of coffee, he settled behind his desk. He stared out the large glass window next to him and once again wondered where Alana might be. Then, strangely enough, the thought popped into his head that Connor was also out there somewhere. Though they weren’t connected, Alex prayed that both of them would soon be in contact with those that loved them.

  A knock on the door drew his attention. He looked over to see Eric standing there with a file in his hand.

  “Do you have a minute?” Eric asked as he stepped into the office.

  Alex nodded then took a sip of his coffee. “What’s up?”

  “Would it be possible to have a meeting with everyone first thing this morning?” Eric asked, tapping the file against his leg. “I have come across a very faint lead for Alana. I’d like to share it with the team to get their thoughts on it.”

  Alex set his mug down with a thump. The hot liquid splashed onto his hand, but he ignored it. “A lead? What kind of lead?”

 
“Is it possible you could wait till we gather everyone? It would be easier to just present this once.”

  Though Alex wanted to know all the details right then, he nodded and proceeded to send out an urgent message through their intra-office messaging system. He wanted to be excited about the lead Eric had, but there was apprehension on the man’s face which caused the pit in Alex’s stomach to grow. Abandoning the coffee mess on his desk, Alex walked with Eric to the board room and waited for the others to arrive.

  It didn’t take long for the rest of the team to show up, their faces reflecting different levels of anticipation. Marcus, as usual, showed very little emotion at all, while Than’s excitement was clear in the smile on his face. Alex hoped the lead didn’t end up in disappointment once again. The only one not present for this meeting was Justin. There was no sense in getting his hopes up until they had a better idea of what Eric had found.

  Once the others were all seated, Alex stood beside his chair and repeated what Eric had told him earlier. Then he turned the meeting over to the man and sat down, hoping that they were at the beginning of the end of the situation with Alana.

  “I’ve been looking for even the smallest connection to Alana’s ex.” Eric opened the file he held in his hand. “As I combed through these connections I found one that held some promise. What we needed was to find potential places where Alana could be held. Her ex has several properties in his name which we have investigated to no avail. I then moved to properties his father owned. Again, we were able to rule them out as places where Alana might be. While investigating his mother’s past, however, I discovered that her parents divorced when she was young. Her mother remarried and her husband’s parents had a property in rural Tennessee. That property had been left to Craig’s mother by her stepfather.”

  Eric pulled several pieces of paper from his file and handed them to Trent. He took one sheet and passed the rest to Alex. Soon everyone in the room had a copy. Alex stared down at it, taking in the familiar angle of a satellite photo of the property.

  “Not even going to touch the convoluted familial relationships involved in this,” Marcus began. “What exactly are we looking at here? What makes you think that this may be where Alana is being held?”

  “I realized it was a long shot, but at this point, I figured that we needed to be grasping at straws. I did a little research on the address and discovered that the electricity to that property had been turned on just days after Alana was taken.”

  “Just electricity?” Than asked. “Wouldn’t they have needed water as well?”

  Eric shook his head. “With a rural property like this, it’s likely that they have a well on the grounds. Any water they needed would be pulled from that. I know it seems like a stretch, but I’d really like to send a team of guys down to watch the property for a few days.”

  “Were you able to find out who requested that the power be turned back on for that house?” Alex asked. He was trying very hard not to allow his hopes to rise, but he wasn't very successful.

  “I had Trent uh…tap into their system to see if he could see who was billed for usage at that address. It came back to a corporation that is owned by Craig. It’s possible that it’s a vacation cottage and someone was planning to use it over the holidays, but I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s something more significant for us.”

  “I agree,” Than said. “It’s the best lead we’ve had in way too long.”

  “The question is, do we take this lead to the FBI or do we check to see if there is any substance to it first?” Eric asked.

  “We send our guys down there first.” There was no room for argument in Marcus’s tone. “We have the resources, and this case means more to us that it does to them. We will sort out the mess afterward if this does end up leading us to Alana.”

  “Okay. Eric, pick five guys to go down there with you,” Alex said, glad that they were finally moving in a positive direction. “I want coverage of the house tied into us here. We’ll have someone monitoring on this end twenty-four hours a day.”

  Eric nodded. “I know who I want to have with me. Are we going to tell Justin?”

  “No.” Once again Marcus was firm with his answer. “Until we know more, we don’t tell anyone that doesn’t need to know.”

  Marcus got to his feet, which signaled the meeting was dismissed. Though he was confident that Eric knew what he was doing, Alex found himself walking with him to his office. Trent and Than were there with them.

  For the next hour, they worked over the plan for surveillance. A call was made to prepare the BlackThorpe jet for immediate departure, and the men who were going to be accompanying Eric were notified to prepare and meet at the airport.

  When everything was in place, the four men stood together in Eric’s office and prayed for the success of the mission. And then it was out of his hands. From this point on, all Alex could do was watch and pray as events unfolded several states away. He hoped that there would be a quick and positive resolution to the situation. More than anything he wanted to bring Alana home to Justin.

  ~*~*~

  Rebecca told herself that the disappointment she felt when Alex texted to say he wouldn’t be at the house for dinner was solely for Jordan. She did feel bad that Jordan wouldn’t have the opportunity to spend more time with Alex. But try as she might, Rebecca couldn’t escape the knowledge that some of that disappointment was on a personal level.

  As she put together the ingredients for chicken and dumplings, Rebecca knew that she had brought this on herself. Allowing the memories of their past to take up residence not just in her mind, but in her emotions, had opened her up to feeling more for Alex now. Add to that her decision to put off the divorce and give the situation a chance, and her disappointment was as much for herself as it was for Jordan.

  When suppertime finally rolled around, Adrianne, Melanie, Tyler, and Ryan were there to share the meal with her and Jordan. As usual, Adrianne was fairly quiet, but the other three and Jordan made up for it. Midway through the meal, Rebecca’s phone rang. She recognized the ringtone as the one she’d given Connor and quickly jumped up to grab the phone off the counter.

  “Excuse me,” she said to the group at the table. “I’ve got to take this.”

  She hurried into the living room where the Christmas tree glowed in the darkness. Without bothering to turn on any other lights, Rebecca tapped her phone to accept the call as she sank down into an easy chair.

  “Connor! It’s about time you called me back.”

  “Sorry, sis. I was on a job that took me out of contact for a while. How are you doing?”

  Rebecca sat for a second, staring at the Christmas tree, and wondered where to start. She supposed the beginning was the best place. “I’m doing okay. But there’s been a few changes since we last talked.”

  “You get a boyfriend? Get married? Get pregnant?”

  Rebecca chuckled. “None of the above. Well, sort of none of the above.”

  There was a beat of silence before Connor growled, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Well, remember how I’ve never identified who Jordan’s father is?”

  “Uh, yeah. Best kept secret of the century. So what’s happened? Somebody spilled the beans?”

  Rebecca sighed. “Sort of. Someone took it upon themselves to tell Jordan.”

  “I don’t understand. Who else knew who his father was? I mean you told everyone that it was just some random guy. That you didn’t remember his name. Or how to contact him. Oh, and just for the record, I never bought that. So are you going to tell me who it is and how Jordan found out?”

  Tucking her feet up under her, Rebecca relaxed back into the chair. “My best guess is that the person who told Jordan found the marriage certificate.”

  “Say what? A marriage certificate?” Connor gave an audible huff. “You can stop dropping these bombs anytime you want.”

  “There’s just one more bomb. Alex Thorpe is Jordan’s father. And my husband.”r />
  The silence on the other end of the line seemed to drag on forever before Connor spoke again. “You married Alex Thorpe and then had his baby? I don’t get it. If you’re married, why wasn’t he around when you had Jordan?”

  This was a part of the explanation that Rebecca really didn’t want to share, but Connor was her brother and he deserved to know. Speaking slowly, Rebecca relayed all that had happened back when she’d found out she was pregnant. She found herself adding in the information she had just learned during the conversation she and Alex had had with Jordan. Alex’s reasons for why he’d asked her to do what he had.

  When she was done talking, she waited for Connor to respond. Uncertain how he would take the news that one of his friends from high school was actually the father of his nephew.

  “First of all, I can’t believe that you were able to hide the fact that you were dating Alex from all of us. Never figured you for a rebel… Well, until you turned up pregnant, claiming no knowledge of who the father was.” Connor sighed. “Seriously, though, I kind of understand where Alex was coming from.”

  Rebecca was shocked that Connor would take Alex’s side. “You do understand what I said, right? He wanted me to abort Jordan.”

  “I am in no way saying that he was right in asking you to do what he did. What I’m saying is that I understand his mindset. We see a lot of things, traveling into different parts of the world exposes us to evils that the average person living in their comfortable home with their jobs and kids will never be able to comprehend. It’s scary to think of bringing a defenseless baby into a world that has the capacity for such evil. And yes, I’m sure the situation with his sister being kidnapped only added to the mess that was in his mind.” Connor paused. “I can almost guarantee you that once he had some time to think about it, Alex changed his mind.”

  “What?” Rebecca didn’t even want to consider that that might have been a possibility. Alex hadn’t said that during the conversation with Jordan, so maybe Connor was wrong in his supposition.