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

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  “Becca, he was young, no doubt scared, and worried about bringing a child into a world that he knew was not all sunshine and roses. I’m sure his response to what you told him was in the heat of the moment. I bet if you asked him now if he had changed his mind, he would say yes. Because the Alex I knew cared deeply for his family. Once he had time to think about it, I’m sure Alex would have told you that he was wrong and that he wanted you to keep the baby. Did he try to get hold of you again after that conversation?”

  Rebecca pressed the heel of her hand against her eye. She had a sudden pulsing pain in her head.

  “I don’t know,” she said in a ragged whisper. “I deleted our chat program, changed my phone number and shut down the email address he had for me. And then we moved to Chicago.”

  “So you never had any more conversations after he told you to abort the baby?” Connor asked.

  Rebecca was grateful for the darkness of the room as a tear trickled down her cheek. “I was so young, Connor. That wasn’t how he was supposed to react to the news that I was carrying our baby. I didn’t think for a minute that he would change his mind. He had seemed so determined. It was like he was totally different from the man I married, and it scared me.”

  “Ah, Becca. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I wish you’d told me sooner.”

  Rebecca sniffled as she nodded even though she knew Connor couldn’t see her. “We are here with him now. After Jordan discovered who he was and where he lived, he came to find him. Things are a bit tense.”

  “I can imagine that’s a bit of an understatement,” Connor said. “How did Alex take the news?”

  “The way Jordan found out about him has been concerning, but Alex has taken it in stride. The tension mainly comes from telling Jordan the truth about what happened. About why Alex hasn’t been in his life up until now.” Rebecca sighed. “He didn’t take the news that Alex had asked me to abort the baby too well.”

  “I can imagine that’s true, knowing Jordan like I do. However, I do think that he’ll come around in time. But how are you doing?”

  “I’m doing okay. I didn’t think this day would ever come, to be honest, but now that it has, it’s a bit of a relief. Everything is still up in the air, though. I think Alex would like me to consider moving back to the Twin Cities so that he’s closer to Jordan, but I’m not willing to make that big of a decision just yet.”

  “Yeah, that is a pretty big decision to make, though at least with your career and Jordan being homeschooled the transition wouldn’t be too bad.”

  “Yes, you’re right about that,” Rebecca agreed. “But we both have friends in Chicago and it has been our home for the last fifteen years. And there’s still the matter of the marriage that needs to be cleared up.”

  “The marriage? Are you telling me that you never divorced Alex?”

  “Yep. At the time, I was too scared that he would find me and discover that I kept the baby. And to be honest, in my mind back then, he’d suddenly become a very different person than the man I’d married. And that person scared me. If he could so easily dismiss our child’s life, what else might he do? So, at the time, fear and just not knowing what to do kept me from filing for divorce.”

  “Well, that was your excuse then. What’s been your excuse for the past few years?”

  Rebecca sat for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. “Still fear, I would imagine. If I were to file for divorce, I figured I’d have to reveal Jordan’s presence. And if I did that, I didn’t know if he would then file for custody. Or worse yet, he’d reject Jordan…again.”

  “I guess the reason you’re such a good writer, is that your imagination is really crazy. You certainly managed to imagine scenarios where Jordan was at risk. Do you still feel that way now?”

  Rebecca shook her head, then remembering Connor wasn’t there with her, she said, “No, I don’t feel that way at all. Alex hasn’t made any demands where Jordan is concerned. He has asked if I’ll allow him to be a part of Jordan’s life, and of course, he asked about us moving here, but he’s made no outright demands on either of us.”

  “That sounds about right. Alex always was a pretty standup guy.”

  Not wanting the conversation to turn toward all of Alex’s positive qualities, Rebecca endeavored to steer it in a different direction. “Well, enough about my soap opera of a life. What’s been going on with you?”

  Connor chuckled. “Nice try, Sis. You know I can’t talk about a lot of what I do. However, there is something that I can share.”

  “Are you going to be able to make it home for Christmas?” Rebecca asked excitedly.

  “Well, I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like you’re going to be home for Christmas.”

  “Oh.” Realizing what she’d said, Rebecca sat speechless for a moment. “You know how it is. Anywhere Jordan is, is home to me. Alex told me that you’re more than welcome to join us here for Christmas. In fact, he seemed rather excited at the idea. Would you be able to come here?”

  “I most definitely would,” Connor agreed readily. “And not to put any pressure on you, but it would be really helpful if you would decide where you’re actually going to end up.”

  “End up?”

  “Yep. I don’t really want to try and land a job in Chicago if you’re planning to pull up roots and move to the Twin Cities.”

  Rebecca gave a squeal of excitement. “You’re coming home for good?”

  “That’s the plan. I finished my last job, and now I’m just going through debriefing and preparing to leave the company. I should be finished all of it before Christmas. I’ll be packing up my stuff here and shipping it home. I suppose for now I’ll have it shipped to Chicago, but if things change, I can always ship it on from there.”

  The idea of having her brother close by again after so many years was a huge answer to prayer for Rebecca. Of all of their family, he was the one she’d always felt closest to. To think that he’d be home now and not off risking his life was a relief. “I honestly don’t know where we’ll end up, but if we do move here, you can just ship all your stuff along with ours.”

  “Well, now that we’ve both shared the big news of our lives, I’d better scoot. I just got back a few hours ago and got your message. Now I need to go take care of some paperwork and a few other things before I call it a night. I’ll call you again soon. I love you, Becca.”

  “I love you too. Your news has made me the happiest girl in the world. I can’t wait to see you and hug you again.”

  Rebecca stayed in the chair for a few more minutes, shivering against a bit of a draft. Her emotions were all over the place. Once again. For someone who tried to not let their emotions rule them too often, Rebecca had certainly been fighting with hers ever since she’d called Jordan to find out where he was. As her conversation with Connor replayed in her mind, Rebecca realized there were a few things that she would need to rethink over the next few days.

  It sounded like Connor thought it might be a good plan for her and Jordan to move to the Twin Cities. Knowing that he would most likely come with them, the idea suddenly held a lot more appeal. Rebecca realized that she hadn’t wanted to be on her own in an unfamiliar city. If Connor made the move as well, it would make the adjustment a whole lot easier.

  With a smile on her face, Rebecca left the living room and returned to where the others were still gathered around the dining table. No one questioned her about the call as she slid back into her seat and finished up her now cold dinner. She’d talk to Jordan about it when they got back to their apartment. He was no doubt going to be as thrilled as she was at the prospect of Connor finally putting down roots close by.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  AS SOON AS Alex made it to his room, he quickly set up his laptop on his desk and logged in to see the images that were being fed to them through the cameras worn by the surveillance team. He’d hung around the office long enough to hear that the team had reached their location. It had been difficult to set up since it was a rural property
with no buildings around. In the end, the guys had had settled within a grove of trees. They would take turns moving to the edge of the grove to maintain a constant surveillance of the property.

  With winter upon them, the days were shorter so the sun was already setting by the time they’d arrived. Surveillance now was done using night vision goggles and cameras. Alex had taken the time to drive home as they were setting up camp, but now they were feeding live images back to the command center. He made sure the sound was turned up and walked to his bedroom to change out of his suit.

  While he was glad to be home, Alex could’ve done without hearing Rebecca tell somebody she loved them and couldn’t wait to hug them as soon as he’d walked in the door. It was the one question that he had so far not been able to bring himself to ask her. Just because he’d chosen to remain uninvolved over all these years didn’t mean that she had done the same. While it gave him a bit of a sick feeling to think that might be the case, right then there was nothing he could do about it. If, in fact, she was involved with someone else, moping around wouldn’t change anything.

  Right then, he needed to focus on the situation with Alana. He would deal with things with Rebecca once they determined whether this was a valid lead or not.

  After pulling on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, Alex sat down in the chair at his desk and stared at the images on his laptop screen. He’d looked through enough night vision goggles over the years to be able to determine what he was looking at. Unfortunately, the house appeared deserted from where they sat. There was no movement in or out of the building. He tried not to feel discouraged, knowing things could change in an instant.

  Conversation between the surveillance team members flowed from his speakers. Most of it had to do with the setup of their camp and the logistics of the surveillance. Each of them was miked and would remain so for the duration of their time in Tennessee.

  On occasion, Alex missed the adrenaline rush of being part of something like this. He participated in training events at the compound that would often involve working alongside the BlackThorpe team against another visiting team. Those scenarios would sometimes involve surveillance and searching for the enemy. But this situation with Alana was the most high-stakes surveillance they’d conducted in a while.

  Hearing a tap on his door, Alex pushed back from his desk and walked over to open it. When he saw it was Adrianne, Alex stepped back to let her into the room. He shut the door behind her and motioned for her to follow him to his desk. The meeting earlier that day hadn’t involved her and Melanie, mainly because this wasn’t something that fell under their responsibilities at the company. Also, the fewer people that knew, the better. Not that he didn’t trust his sisters, but at the time, seeking them out to update them hadn’t fit into his day.

  Adrianne gestured to his laptop. “What’s going on?”

  Alex pulled another chair around to face the laptop then sat back down on his own. Adrianne sat in the one next to him, her brow furrowed as she stared at the monitor.

  She shot him a quick look. “Is that an active mission? Did one of them get into some trouble? You don’t usually monitor these things, especially from home.”

  “Yes, it’s a surveillance mission.” Alex debated telling her the details. If this turned out to be nothing, the fewer people that knew about it, the better. But she was his sister, and she knew how much Alana’s disappearance had affected him. “Eric found a potential lead on Alana. The team is down there now checking it out.”

  Adrianne’s eyes widened as her gaze went back to the screen. “When did this all happen?”

  “Eric came to me this morning with a possible lead. We met with Marcus and the others who would be involved in the surveillance after that. Once we determined it was worth pursuing, Eric and a team of guys headed down there.”

  “Where exactly is down there?” Adrianne asked, wincing as a particularly colorful phrase came through the laptop speakers.

  Alex reached out and turned down the volume a bit before answering her. “They’re in Tennessee at a property that is owned by Craig’s mother’s family.”

  Adrianne listened, her gaze locked on the flickering images on the screen, as Alex laid out all the details of the mission.

  “Tyler and Melanie didn’t mention anything about this at supper. Do they know what’s going on?”

  Alex shook his head. “We kept the information limited to those who would be directly involved. If we need more help, we’ll let others know.”

  They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, both of them listening and watching. Alex sensed that like him, Adrianne struggled with allowing herself to become too hopeful.

  “Did you grab something to eat on the way home?” Adrianne asked.

  “No. I came straight here. I wanted to be here when they started actively surveilling the house.”

  “We had chicken and dumplings for supper. It was pretty good.” Adrianne got to her feet. “I’ll go grab you something from the kitchen.”

  Before he could say anything more, she’d exited his room, leaving the door open a small crack. Alex turned his attention back to the screen, recognizing Eric’s voice as he spoke with a couple of the men. It appeared that they were going to try approaching the house to use infrared goggles. That might give them a better idea if someone was in the house.

  The fact that the building remained dark even after the sun had set didn’t mean too much. Someone determined to stay hidden would most likely cover windows so that no light escaped. Infrared, however, would reveal heat sources that they couldn’t otherwise see with the naked eye.

  This could be a turning point in the investigation if it revealed one or more heat sources within the house. Alex felt his muscles tense as the men began to make their move. He almost wished that he’d stayed at the command center, but he had also felt the pull of being with Rebecca and Jordan. He could always go back to the office, but since he was already set up here and things were beginning to unfold, he figured he might as well just stay put.

  It didn’t take long for the men to come back with the information that there appeared to be no heat signatures within the house. That included light fixtures or anything that could have given off heat.

  “I still think we have a valid lead here, guys,” Eric said, his voice strong and steady. “It’s entirely possible that this house has a basement or some sort of crawl space underneath it. If that’s where Alana is being held, we wouldn’t be able to pick up the heat signature for her since the ground would block us. I’d like to wait at least another day or two to see if there is any activity around the house. Craig could be staying elsewhere, but he’d need to come back here at least every couple of days.”

  Alex sighed. All of that was assuming that Alana was still alive. And that Craig actually cared enough to still take care of her. He leaned back in the chair and rubbed a hand across his eyes. And as he’d been doing throughout most the day, he once again prayed. For Alana wherever she was. For the safety of his men. For wisdom for Eric to know what moves to make.

  The door pushed open and Alex glanced over to see that Adrianne had returned with a tray. He moved his laptop over slightly so that she could set it on the edge of his desk. When his stomach rumbled at the enticing warm aroma, Alex realized it had been a long time since lunch. And even then it had been a quick sandwich eaten while they continued to discuss the mission. Eric and his crew had already been on their way at that point, but Trent had continued to dig into the property and its surroundings.

  “I’m going to head to my room,” Adrianne said. “Let me know if something comes up. No matter what the time.”

  Alex nodded as he lifted a spoonful of food from the bowl. Once she disappeared, he began to eat in earnest. He was pretty sure that he’d have his laptop set up on the bed beside him when he decided to finally go to sleep. No doubt the excitement of something happening would come through the speakers and wake him up.

  Once he’d finished the bowl of chicken and dump
lings and eaten the brownie Adrianne had added to the tray, Alex felt marginally better. Since nothing was happening with the men aside from the surveillance, Alex decided to take a quick trip down to the kitchen with his dirty dishes.

  He was surprised to find Rebecca and Jordan still there, seated in the breakfast nook with Melanie and Tyler.

  “I didn’t even know you were home until Adrianne came looking for food for you,” Melanie said as she slipped out of the booth. “What are you doing holed up in your room?”

  “I’m just monitoring a mission that we have going on right now.” Alex looked over the table and met Rebecca’s gaze. “I assume you are responsible for the supper?” When she nodded, he said, “It was very good. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Rebecca has just been telling us that she finally heard from her brother Connor and that he is planning to join us here for Christmas,” Melanie said with a smile.

  Realizing that was probably who he’d heard her talking to, Alex felt a little chagrined. Thankfully, he hadn’t made a big deal out of it. “That’s good news. The more, the merrier.”

  “Also, Mom and Dad want us to go to their place for supper sometime this week,” Melanie said as she began to take the dishes off his tray. “I told her I’d check with you guys and let them know.”

  Alex leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “A lot depends on the status of this mission. I would like to monitor it until it’s finished, but at this point, we don’t have a definite end date.”

  “Okay,” Melanie said without argument. “I’ll let Mom know. Chances are she’ll be happy with whoever comes as long as Jordan’s there.”

  Alex glanced at his son and saw a grin spread across his face. “That is no doubt true.”

  Realizing he was probably going to be up for a few more hours, Alex turned to grab a mug from the cupboard. He poured himself a cup of coffee from the still warm carafe and took a sip.