The Hidden Years

by Susan Kearney

  As the wind picked up, the sailboat heeled over and the captain, who spoke a little English, instructed Cassidy and Jake on how to trim the sails. When they seemed set on a course, Cassidy went down to the galley to prepare a meal—not that she was hungry, but they needed to keep up their energy.

  She found soup, bread, cheese and wine. Jake came down and helped light the stove. The tiny galley seemed homey after the horrible event they’d just witnessed.

  “Oh, Jake.” Cassidy flung herself into his arms, needing to hold him close. “Did those people die because of us?”

  Jake held her fiercely. “We didn’t set that fire.”

  “You know what I mean. Did they die because someone was after us?”

  “The CIA doesn’t work that way.”

  “But our mole might.”

  “It’s possible it was an accident.”

  She believed there was a good chance the mole knew their intention to go to Israel, since that had been the ferry’s final destination before heading back through the Greek islands to Turkey. The mole had tracked them to Istanbul. And when the bodies and survivors’ names were listed, the mole would know that Jake and Cassidy had survived.

  They may have temporarily escaped. But they were by no means safe.

  “I’m scared.”

  Their dinner forgotten, Jake kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her mouth. “We’re going to be okay, Sunshine.”

  “I’m afraid of losing you.” She finally admitted her fear to him. She hadn’t wanted to feel like this about another person, not ever again. She’d lost her mother, then her father. And the pain had left her drifting like a boat without an anchor. Now she had Jake. He was her anchor, but what would happen if she lost him?

  Is this what held her back from loving him? Was this what was confusing her? The thought terrified her so much she almost pushed him away.

  But he held her too tightly. “Hey, I’m right here.”

  If she could help it, she wasn’t going to run anymore. Not from her feelings. Not from him. She wondered if she had the ability to change as she wound her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. “You aren’t close enough.”

  “Is that so?”

  She peered around his shoulder and looked at the man sailing the boat. He sat beside the tiller, facing forward, an unlit Turkish cigar clamped between his teeth. “Do you think the captain would mind if we tried out our cabin?”

  Jake handed the man a plate with bread and cheese and a glass of wine, then turned back to her. “He should be fine.”

  Cassidy’s heartbeat skyrocketed at the tender gleam in Jake’s eyes. Their brush with death today had made her more reckless, bolder. She might still be unsure about the future, but she’d never been so sure of anything in her life than what she wanted right now. Surely she and Jake belonged together. All she wanted was to spend the next few hours proving it to herself. And him.

  Making love in the forward cabin was an experience Cassidy would never forget. The bow not only gently bounced up and down, but rolled with each gust of wind. And to top off all that motion, it keeled over on its side at a forty-five-degree angle.

  Just taking off each other’s clothes became an adventure in exploration and balance and anticipation. Cassidy needed to feel his flesh against hers, needed to hear his heartbeat, needed to kiss the salt spray from his lips to convince herself that she was finally doing the right thing, that Jake was part of her future.

  They could easily have died today, and she needed to celebrate that they were unhurt, together, alive. Each caress of his flesh against hers commemorated the occasion and was a celebration of life. Of love.

  She pushed away her doubts, knowing she loved this man who had unquestioningly followed her premonition, this man who protected her and sheltered her and cared for her with a gentle ferocity that made her feel good about herself.

  As he nuzzled her ear and tiny shimmers of pleasure stoked a fire deep inside, she recognized that the passion they shared was rooted in friendship. She adored Jake Cochran. She respected him. And her heart swelled with the pleasure he gave her as his hands expertly strummed her body and made it sing like a priceless guitar.

  As a windy gust sent the boat rolling, Jake’s hands steadied her. She looked up at him in the dim cabin light, saw concern for her comfort war with his own unbridled need, and she drew him down between her parted thighs.

  “Come with me, Jake,” she murmured, already shifting herself to maximize their pleasure.

  To keep all doubts at bay, she wanted him to take her hard and swiftly to match the roaring wind in her head, the cresting sea of desire in her heart. Threading her fingers into his hair, she pulled him close, breathed in his masculine scent.

  His voice was tight with emotion. “I want you, Sunshine. I can’t hold back any longer.”

  She wrapped her legs around his hips. “I’m right there with you, Jake. I’m ready.”

  She thought she was prepared for the storm of emotion. Still he stole her breath away. And she went over the edge with him, hurriedly, hungrily, happily.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Their sailboat arrived too late to catch the Kusadasi ferry to Israel, so they ended up chartering a small plane to fly them to the Egyptian-Israeli border. There they joined a group of Bedouins traveling across the border and entered Israel wearing their Arabic clothing. They took public buses northward and finally holed up in a small hotel just outside Jerusalem.

  They’d been lucky to find a room, for it was tourist season. The ancient city was holy to the world’s three major religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. A modern, thriving and bustling city, with many tourists visiting the ancient sites, Jerusalem welcomed all faiths. Jake and Cassidy could once again look like American tourists without standing out in a crowd.

  However, their ability to sneak into the country didn’t assuage Jake’s concerns. Burak had set up this meeting, but either the Turkish agent had betrayed them or someone had learned of his plans. Worldwide newspaper headlines about the ferry disaster in Istanbul now declared that the explosion had been set by terrorists. So Jake had to assume that someone had infiltrated Burak’s group and knew about the coming meeting.

  It would be safer to change the meeting place with the Israeli, Ari Ben Goldstein. But Jake had no way to contact the man or change the arrangements. He could do no more to warn him than he could warn his sisters. Although he tried not to worry about his siblings, they popped into his mind all the time. He wished he could assure himself they weren’t in danger, that the bodyguards he’d hired had been unnecessary precautions.

  Right now he could only be very careful and worry about the immediate danger. Although they’d arrived later than expected, the meeting with Mr. Goldstein was set for the following day in a restaurant within blocks of the Wailing Wall and Dome of the Rock.

  He’d repacked his mother’s diaries, pictures and certificates in a backpack with other necessary gear. “Ready?”

  Cassidy had just stepped out of the hotel bathroom. She’d twisted up her hair, still wet from her shower, and secured it with a few pins. She’d dressed modestly, in a long-sleeved blouse and long skirt, in case they needed to enter any Muslim sites. While it wasn’t necessary to cover her head, she’d wrapped a shawl over her hair. Dark sunglasses helped complete her disguise.

  Jake opened the door and led her down to the hotel lobby and the taxi stand. “I thought we’d take in the sites, stroll through the Armenian and Jewish Quarters if we have time. But first we need to scope out the restaurant.”

  He had a few supplies he intended to hide around the premises, since he suspected he might be searched by Goldstein on the way into the restaurant tomorrow. The taxi dropped them in a large square crowded with tourists speaking Hebrew, Arabic and English. Many people prayed at the Wailing Wall, one of the holiest of Jewish sites, where it was believed that Jewish head priests once talked to God from a nearby temple.

  Crowds waited in a long line to visit Dome of the
Rock, the golden domed Mosque on the site where Muslims believed Muhammad ascended to heaven. Arabs controlled the crowd, who were subjected to a metal detector and a search of any handbags before being allowed to enter the holy site.

  Jake turned the other way. The last thing he needed was a search. Not with what he was carrying.

  Once again he considered calling off the meeting by simply not showing up. Although he intended to see his mother’s killer brought to justice, he didn’t want Cassidy or himself to die. But whoever was after them wouldn’t let them go. They’d proved it by killing Donna and probably blowing up the ferry.

  If he and Cassidy ever wanted to stop running and lead normal lives, they had to discover why the information his mother had left him was so important. And if that meant attending the meeting, he would go—only, he intended to have a few surprises of his own.

  Jake found the restaurant without much trouble. And already he sensed danger. For one thing the facility’s cashier and bar were even at street level, but to reach the dining area, one had to descend a circular flight of stairs into the basement. The stone walls and floors here looked as if the Crusaders had built them. However, there was only one entrance.

  The tables were glass, the chairs Lucite, foiling his plan to tape a weapon to the table’s underside.

  A surly waiter ignored them until Jake called him over. Then the dark-haired dark-eyed man introduced himself as Joshua, but acted as if serving customers was beneath him. Something about the waiter’s face seemed familiar to Cassidy, but she’d never been to this country before and thought it unlikely they could have met. Jake asked for water three times before the waiter finally brought them a half-filled carafe of lukewarm liquid and one ice cube per glass.

  “What do you think?” Cassidy asked as she surveyed the menu.

  “I’d prefer a more open spot. Once we come down here, we’re as good as trapped.”

  Her eyes filled with alarm, she reached out and patted his hand. “There have to be some advantages.”

  “Yeah, all for the enemy.”

  “Okay. Let’s wait until tomorrow and hire someone to bring Mr. Goldstein a note.”

  “That says what?”

  “That the meeting has been compromised, that we need to set another time and location.”

  “And how will he know the note’s from us and not a trap?” Jake shook his head. “This may be our only chance. I don’t suppose I could talk you into staying at the hotel, could I?”

  He expected her to refuse. But a thoughtful gleam entered her eyes. “Would I be endangering your life by coming with you?”

  Jake told her the truth. “Possibly. I can move faster alone. But if you stay at the hotel, you’ll be vulnerable and I’ll be worried.”

  Joshua approached with menus and Cassidy peered over hers at Jake. “Then you better arrange for plans B and C because I’m going with you.”

  JAKE WAS NO CLOSER to having any answers the next morning. They left for the restaurant in sunshine that seemed to mock him. From a bench across the street where he and Cassidy parked themselves to wait, he watched the workers unlock the doors and open the restaurant, and he took a good look at everyone who entered and exited.

  When Joshua entered, Cassidy plucked the sleeve of Jake’s shirt. “Our waiter’s face seems so familiar. Do you recognize him?”

  Jake tried to match the face to any of the agents outside the Saunderses’ house in Jacksonville. But it had been dark and he’d never gotten a good look at them. He shook his head. “No.”

  He hadn’t slept much last night, worrying about whether he should keep Cassidy with him or ask her to stay behind. In the end she’d made the decision, saying that if she was going to be in danger, she preferred to be with him.

  He wished he could take that as a vote of confidence in their relationship, but while they’d advanced from flirtatious glances to kisses to making love, he couldn’t read her emotions and was no surer of Cassidy’s feelings about him than he’d ever been.

  She liked his touch, enjoyed his company, trusted his judgment, but not once had the word love crossed her beautiful lips.

  Now was not the time to dwell on their future relationship, and he forced himself to put those personal considerations on hold. Instead, he spoke to her softly. “After we enter the restaurant, go to the ladies’ room and retrieve the gun Burak’s people gave me. I taped it under the sink yesterday.”

  Cassidy nodded. “Then I hand it to you under the glass table when the waiter takes our lunch orders.”

  “Wait until Mr. Goldstein is distracted, because anyone can see your movements through the glass.”

  “Got it.”

  Jake had tried to prepare Cassidy for every contingency, but of course that was impossible. Most likely, if anything went wrong, they would have to think fast and run. He had passports and cash and his mother’s papers on him. Yesterday he’d mapped out several escape routes, but he hoped running wouldn’t be necessary. If they were forced to flee up those stairs, they would have no cover at all until they reached ground level. They’d be targets. Vulnerable.

  But his enemy would have the same problem. No cover. No easy places to hide weapons. Only one entrance and exit.

  CASSIDY HAD NEVER BEEN so nervous in her life. Jake acted as though they were about to enter a trap. She sat beside him on the bench, watching the minutes tick by on her watch, trying to distract herself with the unfamiliar scents and sights of Jerusalem. But not even the multitude of people speaking many languages or the interesting aromas coming from the cafés could distract her from thinking about Jake. About what they were about to do.

  She knew he’d done everything he could think of to ensure her safety, even buying her a bulletproof vest to wear under her blouse. Repeatedly he’d warned her to keep her head down if shooting broke out, telling her a head shot was the likeliest target a trained assassin would choose.

  Just the idea of ducking bullets made her fingers tremble, and she held her hands tightly in her lap so Jake wouldn’t notice. Not that he’d taken his gaze off the restaurant’s open front doors since they’d arrived.

  Waiting was the worst part. She desperately wanted to get this meeting over with. Stomach churning, her legs stiff from the inactivity, she broke into a light sweat.

  Finally Jake stood. “It’s time.”

  Together they walked into the restaurant. The meeting time had been set early, and they almost had the place to themselves. Cassidy made her trip to the ladies’ room, retrieved the gun and placed it in her purse. Since they hadn’t been searched, their plot seemed silly. Jake could have walked right in with the weapon, and now she had the unenviable task of slipping him the gun, which she did as she rejoined Jake, not even waiting to be seated at the table.

  Joshua ignored them at first. She saw Jake using the delay to study the room once again. Eventually the waiter ushered Jake and Cassidy to a table downstairs, where two gentlemen waited.

  Ari Ben Goldstein, a distinguished silver-haired man with a military bearing and sharp blue eyes, introduced himself. “I was a friend of your mother’s,” he said to Jake. Then he turned to the second man. “This is David Karstairs, a CIA agent.”

  Jake stiffened as the American agent held out his hand. “It was my understanding that we would meet only with you.”

  “David is trustworthy,” Ari assured him. “I trust him with my life.”

  Jake finally shook the man’s hand. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  “We’re not all bad guys,” David murmured. “However, someone inside our organization is after you. I’m here to help.”

  Cassidy instinctively liked David, yet wondered if she was being naive. She recalled Donna’s senseless death, the deaths of innocent people on the ferry, and shuddered. Lately telling their friends from their enemies had become next to impossible. The killing needed to stop. The secrets needed to be exposed. And Jake’s mother had given them the hard evidence to put the traitor behind bars. His mother m
ay have died, but her evidence had lain in Cassidy’s father’s attic all these years. Cassidy’s phone call had alerted the mole that the old evidence against him had been discovered, and the mole had been on their trail ever since.

  Cassidy knew that the one person in this room she could count on was Jake. She had no doubts about his loyalty, and that fact bucked up her tattered courage.

  “I understand you were supposed to have been traveling on the ferry that exploded in Istanbul,” David told them as they all took seats around the table. “You’ll be happy to know that Turkish authorities apprehended the man responsible for planting the bomb. Unfortunately before he could name any accomplices, he swallowed poison.”

  Another literal dead end.

  Jake sipped his water, seemingly in no hurry to show the men the documents. Cassidy hoped she wouldn’t have to eat. She couldn’t swallow a bite.

  Jake thrummed his fingers on the table and spoke to Ari. “Can you tell me what you and my mother were working on right before she died?”

  Ari shook his head. “Most of the operation is still classified, but I’ll tell you what I can.” He waited until the waiter had delivered menus and departed before speaking. “Your parents and I were working on a joint CIA-Mossad project. And we suspected a leak on the Israeli side. However, your mother thought the leak came from the CIA. She may have been right. Except for your father and myself, our entire team was killed, including your mother. I helped your father run for his life and take on a new identity to protect himself.”

  “He died in a car accident a week after my mother’s death,” Jake told him.