In Search of Truth

by Sharon Wray

  And Alex’s truth? He’d felt sorry for her.

  After the hubbub over Isabel’s disappearance, they’d packed up their gear and left the isle just in case any cops or firetrucks arrived. Although, given the Savannah PD’s indifference to the isle in the past, Alex would be shocked if any cops showed.

  While the details were being handled, Alex also knew that their actions today were superficial. Until they dealt with the emotional issues, nothing was going to change.

  Remiel wasn’t going away.

  “The Prince may have won this round, but Remiel didn’t lose,” Alex said. “According to Zack, Isabel took the witch’s examination’s appendix and the Pirate’s Grille when she kidnapped Allison. Now they, and Fenwick, are missing.”

  “The treasure’s been found.” Luke used his fork to point at Alex. “The Prince has it.”

  “As far as the world’s concerned, Henry Avery’s treasure is still out there. That means those documents will bring in a lot of cash. There’s no reason for the Prince to buy them since he has the treasure. But another buyer would be eager to pay…thousands?”

  “I read online that together they’re worth millions.” Luke stabbed a sausage and ate it in one bite. “The question is, what will Remiel do with that money?”

  Cain laid his head on his arms on the table. “Can we sleep now?”

  Zack entered the room and beelined for the coffee. Once he had a full cup, he sat. His scorched hair hung around his shoulders, his dark eyes had a grayish veil over them, the lines around his mouth looked like someone had cut them out with a putty knife.

  He’d showered and changed into jeans and a black T-shirt. White gauze covering cuts on his arms were a startling contrast to his dragon tattoo. He had butterfly bandages on one eyebrow, and his knuckles were bruised and swollen. “Allison and Emilie are both asleep.” He nodded toward Alex. “In our room.”

  The men started asking questions and it wasn’t until they realized Zack hadn’t said a word that they went quiet. They had a friend—Doc Bennett—who doctored on the side. Kells and his men were just some of Doc Bennett’s off-the-books clients. Doc Bennett had already checked Pete out and praised Rafe’s combat medic skills.

  Zack drank his coffee and started answering. “Doc Bennett says Emilie is in better physical shape. She’s dehydrated and has some cuts and bruises, and she’s exhausted. Although I have no idea what she suffered with the Fianna, so that’s a wait-and-see situation. Allison is dealing with smoke inhalation and dehydration. With rest and IV fluids, she’ll recover as well.”

  The men offered a collective sigh of relief.

  “How did this happen?” Nate asked. “How did Emilie end up on her way to Remiel and how did Allison end up in that church with her stepfather and Isabel?”

  “Tracking device,” Luke said. “I did a sweep of Allison’s car once we got it back to the gym and found it under the back wheel well.”

  “What about Garza?” Pete asked. “Has anyone heard from him?”

  Nate shoved eggs into his mouth. “Garza is at the station and as we suspected no one was around to call in the fire. The Savannah PD, as well as the rest of the State of Georgia, has a hands-off attitude toward that Isle. The Prince took care of the guard Isabel killed, and there’s no word on Fenwick.”

  “Isabel?” Cain asked. “If she’s still out there, we have to find her.”

  “Agreed.” Nate used his executive officer voice. “Once the women recover and we sleep, we’ll come up with a plan.”

  “No.” Zack stood and looked at each man directly. “Since Kells fired me, and I’m no longer part of the unit, finding Isabel is all on me.”

  * * *

  Allison rolled over in a soft bed and opened her eyes. The room was dark and not just because the lights were off. The half moon shining through the window told her it was nighttime.

  Blinking lights came from the machine next to the bed. She was still hooked up to an IV as well as the pulse/blood oxygen monitor. Before the doctor had checked her out, she’d insisted on taking a shower and washing her hair. It wasn’t until she was rinsing the shampoo that she’d felt dizzy and nauseated. Luckily Zack had been close by to catch her and carry her to bed. Unfortunately, that also meant she’d fallen asleep with wet hair. Now it was a snarled mess.

  She sat up in the twin bed in the tiny room and took off her oxygen cannula. She could make out duffel bags on the floor and an empty twin opposite hers. What she didn’t see? Zack.

  She pulled the meter off her finger and got out of bed, holding on to the IV pole. She wasn’t brave enough to take the IV out by herself. Her feet hit a wood floor and the AC’d air left chills on her arms. She wore two hospital gowns. One tied in the front and one tied in the back. Beneath that she wore nothing.

  After using the bathroom in the hallway, she was determined to go downstairs and find Zack. Except with every breath, she felt queasy.

  “Whoa.” Zack came upstairs and hurried over. Carefully, so he wouldn’t dislodge her IV, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. Once he placed her beneath the blankets and adjusted the IV pole, he laid down next to her. Because they were in a twin, she ended up curled around him.

  “How’s Emilie?”

  “She’s downstairs eating. She was scared, but now she’s angry.”

  A sentiment Allison understood well.

  “I explained as much as I could about Remiel and the Fianna and why we couldn’t go to the police. Surprisingly, she was okay with that. Fortinbras took decent care of her. He also told her a lot of what was going on—what happened to my men in Afghanistan—and how if she went to the cops, they wouldn’t believe her. And if the cops did believe her, it would put me, my men, and herself in even more danger.”

  “She’s okay with all of that?”

  “She agreed to keep quiet but gave me hell for not telling her about what had happened to us in Afghanistan and that I was dishonorably discharged. I reminded her it was classified. Still, she called me an obfuscating lout. I left the room before she threw a plate at me.”

  Allison laughed for the first time in…she couldn’t remember. She had so much to say to him but her eyes refused to stay open.

  He tucked her next to him, making sure her head was on his chest so she could listen to his heartbeat. “You need to rest.”

  She yawned. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “For not telling you about the UVA position. For allowing you to find Emilie while believing I might leave you. I shouldn’t have left the house with Alex. I wanted to save you.”

  “Shh.” He kissed her head. “You found my sister and the treasure. As for the rest, we’ll work it out. I’ve always liked Virginia.”

  She chuckled, coughed, and closed her eyes, loving his warmth and his heartbeat.

  “Allison?” His breath tickled her head. “Will you marry me?”

  She raised her head. Even in the dark, she could see his glittering eyes. “Are you sure?”

  He rolled until she was on her back and he was over her, propped up on one arm. His free hand smoothed stray hairs off her face. “Yes. I’m sure I’m asking you to marry me.”

  She couldn’t hide her smile. “I’m afraid I may hurt you.”

  “I’m afraid I won’t be enough for you. That makes us even.”

  “You will always be more than enough for me.”

  “No matter what happens, I will never leave you. Never betray you. Never let you go.”

  She touched his face, covered in a day’s worth of stubble. “Yes, Zack. I’ll marry you.”

  Chapter 51

  The next morning Zack stood in front of the window of Kells’s office and stared across the street at the boarded-up T-shirt shop. Although he was relieved Emilie and Allison were okay, he was still reliving the moment he hadn’t pulled that trigger on the guard.<
br />
  Because he almost had. Just the thought of that man hurting the women he loved, torturing the men he’d failed, sent him into a rage. It would’ve been so easy to take out his anger on the unarmed guard. It would’ve been so easy to pull that trigger and prove to everyone he was no coward.

  Then Allison whispered remember your truth.

  Suddenly, visions of everything he and Allison had endured over the last few days, the memories of their lovemaking and their argument before he left to find Emilie, even that night seven years ago at Le Petit Theatre flooded his mind, leaving him two options.

  Pull that trigger or forgive himself.

  He’d suddenly understood that while revenge satisfied a man’s anger, it fed his self-hatred—a self-hatred that led to death and destruction. Remiel exemplified that equation.

  Since a dark side always has a light side, Zack also realized that the act of forgiving oneself was the real test of a man’s courage. A brave man would never fear offering mercy to an unarmed one.

  So his truth? He was a brave man seeking the gift of self-forgiveness. A gift that only came from love. Love for his woman. Love for his men. Love for himself.

  The question now was, where would that seeking lead him?

  Alex and Nate arrived with take-away cups from the coffee shop down the street.

  Zack took one and drank deeply. It was hot and surprisingly not bitter. “Thank you.”

  Nate nodded toward the coffeemaker on the filing cabinet. “Luke has surrendered. No matter what beans he buys, the coffee tastes like sludge.”

  “I’m telling you”—Alex sat on a metal folding chair and propped his boots on Kells’s desk—“it’s the water. The taps in this place put out pure chlorine.”

  Zack took another drink. He wasn’t sure why they were talking about coffee, but he was grateful. Kells came in and Alex lowered his feet to sit upright.

  Nate closed the door and took another metal chair. That left Zack by the window. Alone. And he was fine with that.

  Kells placed the thumb drive on the desk. “Luke and I went through a combination of audio files and images. The audio is between Isabel and Stuart. She’s admitting Remiel set up the ambush that took down our unit in Afghanistan. That he ran the POW camp. She told Stuart about the torture and how, when we”—Kells nodded at Zack—“were given the go-ahead to rescue them, Remiel let the guards go ahead of time.”

  “That’s why there was no fight?” Zack leaned his shoulder against the glass and focused on the cracked sidewalks outside. “Remiel knew we were coming.”

  “Yes.” Kells, still standing, shuffled pages on his desk as if he needed time to think before speaking.

  “Sir?” Zack exhaled before asking, “Did you deliberately drag out the time it took between the men being captured and their rescue?”

  “That’s insane.” Nate almost spat the words.

  “No.” Kells fisted his hands. “Why would you think that?”

  “It’s…nothing.” Zack sighed. Although Mack seemed so sure Kells had been playing games, Mack wasn’t the most trustworthy source. And Horatio’s insinuations? Fianna bullshit. They were always trying to rattle the ranks. Hell, they’d tried to rattle him seven years ago. He just hadn’t realized it.

  “Sir.” Nate stood to pace the small room. “Who told Remiel you were coming to rescue us? Even we didn’t know Remiel was alive and doing all these things until a few months ago.”

  “That’s the million-dollar question,” Kells said. “Few knew about the mission. Zack, Vane, and I planned it. We didn’t tell the other men until we were on our way.”

  Alex tossed his empty cup into the trash. “Did anyone above you know?”

  Kells nodded. “Although we did the planning, we couldn’t execute it without funding or permission.”

  “Your contact.” Zack moved until he stood behind Alex. “The one who negotiated our discharges and kept us out of prison. Did he know about the mission?”

  “Yes. But I don’t think—”

  “With all due respect,” Nate said, “someone tipped off Remiel. It must be someone else who had access to your plans.”

  “I’m not disagreeing with you, Nate.” Kells clasped his hands behind his head. “I’ve been through the list of those who knew about the rescue mission. They all came forward in our favor during those secret congressional investigations. They all approved the discharges instead of prison time.”

  Alex sighed heavily. “That means someone is playing the long game.”

  “Yes.”

  Zack gripped the back of Alex’s metal chair. “When did these people who approved our rescue mission learn about Remiel’s heartbeat?”

  Kells looked directly at Alex. “No one knew Remiel was still alive until after the rescue. I learned Remiel might be alive from evidence found at the POW camp and informed them.”

  “Yet it still took years to get me out?” Alex snorted. “Thanks.”

  Zack gripped Alex’s shoulder until he threw it off.

  “Sir.” Nate sat again and leaned his forearms on his thighs. “Anything else on that drive?”

  Kells handed Nate a stack of papers. “Financial statements. Stuart Pinckney gave Isabel money in a secret account. Probably for an emergency getaway.”

  Nate sifted through them. Since Nate was a math guru, most of the unit’s financial matters went through him.

  Alex stood. “If that’s all we get for letting Isabel go, it’s a bum deal.”

  “Why?” Nate looked up from the pages. “We have Isabel admitting—”

  “Admitting what?” Alex waved an arm at the map of Afghanistan covering the wall. “That Remiel ambushed your men and held them in a POW camp? That’s awful, but it’s not something that can be prosecuted. Your men aren’t in prison because they lost a battle. They’re in prison because they’re taking the blame for the Wakhan Corridor Massacre.”

  “Which Remiel did not admit to.” Zack picked up the thumb drive. “Isn’t that so, sir?”

  Kells nodded. “Isabel’s admission doesn’t absolve our men still in prison. She doesn’t mention the Wakhan Corridor Massacre at all.”

  “Everything that’s happened in the past few days is meaningless,” Alex said. “We found the treasure, gave it to the Prince, and got shit in return.”

  Zack returned to the window and used his fist to rub the center of his chest. His burned skin itched, and every muscle felt like it’d been stretched and snapped back into shape hundreds of times.

  Yes, as far as his men were concerned maybe all the trouble in the past few days had been for nothing. But he couldn’t say that about himself. There was so much in his heart that wasn’t about his unit or Remiel’s war or the never-ending cycle of lies he and his men had been told.

  Allison was healing and she’d agreed to marry him. Yet since she’d woken the second time, she’d been distant. She’d agreed to wear his ring—which he hadn’t gotten yet—then said she wanted to wait to get married. That it was too soon after Stuart’s death. While she might be right, Zack knew there was something else. She seemed happy yet…she was putting him off.

  And she wouldn’t tell him why.

  Zack shook out his arms and flexed his fingers. His body hummed with a restlessness he couldn’t name or ignore. “Now what?”

  Kells came over to the window. “I didn’t mean to fire you. I was…frustrated and angry and worried about the men. I took it out on you.”

  “No, sir.” Zack spoke directly. “You were projecting. And if we’re going to talk about this, we’re going to be honest.”

  Kells’s gaze darkened. “Excuse me?”

  “You might’ve been worried about everything going on. But that’s been happening for years. You took out your anger and worry on me because I spent the last two months in Charleston watching over Allison. You assumed because I once ch
ose a woman over my men that I was doing so again. You blame me because I didn’t take my A team to join Nate’s. You blame me for the ambush, as if my being there would’ve changed the outcome.”

  Kells stared at Zack with such palpable anger that Zack could feel the heat.

  Zack pointed to the thumb drive on the desk. “While I will regret, for the rest of my life, not taking my own team into the hot zone, it wouldn’t have changed anything. I had no way of knowing that Theresa/Tarragon was Remiel’s niece and that he was getting me out of the way. I had no way of knowing that our teams were about to be ambushed and sent to a POW camp.”

  The room was silent.

  Zack wasn’t backing down. He’d made mistakes, but he was done feeling guilty about them. He was ready to move on with his life, even if it meant leaving the unit.

  Could he do that? Could he walk away from his friends? His brothers? While they were still upside-down in this war between Remiel and the Prince? “I’m moving to Charleston. Maybe Virginia.”

  Kells’s chest deflated. “Excuse me?”

  “You fired me.”

  “I didn’t—”

  “You did. I’m not in the army anymore. None of us are. We’re playing at being a unit. We’re desperate to cling to what we had, to be what we were, but we’re not. We’re never going to be reinstated in the army. Our discharges will never say honorable. Our lives, as they are now, will never be our own.”

  “We still have a chance to reclaim what we once were. You have to remember—”

  “I do remember, sir. That’s the problem. This past week has been nothing but remembering. And I remembered that I want to be a man who can be proud of his work, love his woman, and raise a family.”

  “I never said you couldn’t do that. You can marry Allison. Hell, Rafe, Nate, and Cain are married.”

  “That’s not what I mean, sir. I’m sorry you miss Kate. And since you’re going to find out anyway, you should know I saw her in New Orleans. She’s as lost without you as you are without her. But taking your anger out on me—on us—is wrong. Kate didn’t leave you because she stopped loving you. She left you because she loves you but couldn’t bear the weight of these secrets anymore.”