by Linda Verji
Eyes wide with shock, Aiko cut in, “You volunteer at the VA Clinic?”
“What?” A small smile played on Caroline’s rouged lips. “Don’t I look like the type?”
No, she didn’t. But Aiko didn’t want to be rude so she said, “You just seem like a busy lady.”
“You make time for the things that matter.” The other woman shrugged.
“I’m sure the soldiers there really appreciate it.” Aiko gave a rueful chuckle. “Now I’m the one feeling like I’m not doing enough to support our forces.”
“I think you already did your part.” Caroline paused for a moment then her eyes lit up. “But if you’re interested, there’s a way you could help out.”
“Sure. Anything,” Aiko responded eagerly.
“Every year, me and a few other ladies from the club organize a funds-drive to raise money for the clinic. Usually we have about fifteen committee members, but this year we haven’t met our quota yet. It would be awesome if we could get another member – and a veteran at that.” Before Aiko could refuse or agree, Caroline rushed on to say, “I promise it’s nothing hard. Just the planning. We have some kids from the local college to do the running-around and heavy-lifting.”
Aiko’s heart told her to say yes because this was a very worthy cause. But her mind was screaming, wait, wait, wait. Judging from Caroline’s background, it was very likely that the ‘ladies from the club’ would be in the same social strata as her and wouldn’t appreciate someone like Aiko pushing her way into their group.
Then again; what if she was judging them by their cover just as she’d judged Caroline before today?
“Okay.” Aiko smiled. “I’ll do it.”
“Excellent.” Caroline grinned. “We’re having a meeting on Saturday at three in the afternoon, my house. Do you think you can make it?”
“I’ll find a way.” Given she had a business to run, kids and a fiancée to care for, her extended family to check up on, and Lincoln to worry about, it would be tight but she’d find a way.
When she and Caroline finally separated, Aiko’s first instinct was to call Damián and tell him how successful lunch had been. She even picked up her phone and scrolled to his number, but then she stopped. With all the tension between them, he probably wouldn’t even be excited for her. Her good mood immediately plunged like an anchor.
She wanted the tension between them to end, she just didn’t know how to end it. Conflict gurus claimed that the only way to end a conflict was to talk about it, but what did you do when the other party wasn’t even interested in talking? Last night, Damián had gone to bed as soon as they’d tucked the kids in. By the time Aiko came to their room, he was seemingly asleep. This morning she’d tried talking to him and all she’d gotten was grunts and one-word answers. To say she was frustrated was an understatement.
Her phone rang just as she was getting into her car. A glance at the screen revealed that it was Brenda calling.
“Hi, Brenda.”
“Hi. Please tell me you’re near Lincoln.” The woman rushed on, “I was talking to our senior pastor today and I told him that I wanted him to pray for Lincoln so that this amnesia thing can be cured. Pastor said that he had to lay his hands on him for the prayers to be effective. I’ve tried calling Lincoln so we can organize how he can fly down here but he’s not picking up his phone.”
It took a minute for Brenda’s words to register but when they did Aiko’s heart immediately began to beat faster. “Lincoln isn’t here. I thought he flew to Baton Rouge with you on Monday?”
“No. Why would he be here? He dropped me off at the airport then-” The woman suddenly started crying, “Aiko what have you done to my son? What have you done to my son?”
“Calm down. I haven’t done anything to him,” Aiko yelled over the woman’s wailing. “And I’ve spoken to him every night since you two left. I even spoke to him last night so wherever he is, he’s obviously okay.”
“Find my son, Aiko.” Brenda kept chanting. It took a while for Aiko to calm her down enough to end the phone call so she could call Lincoln. His phone was obviously on, but he wasn’t picking up the phone. The nervous flutters in her stomach increased with every missed call. She was on the verge of dialing nine-one-one when her phone beeped the arrival of a message.
It was from Lincoln. “I’m held up somewhere. Let me call you in an hour or so.”
“Are you okay,” she typed back quickly.
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Your mother says you’re not in Baton Rouge. What’s going on?” she fired back.
This time the message was slower in coming but finally her phone beeped. “I’ll explain later. But I promise I’m okay.”
“Don’t forget to call. We need to talk about this,” she shot him the last message.
“Okay. Take care.”
She supposed that she should’ve been satisfied with the messages but she couldn’t help the worry that kept biting at her nerves. Why would Lincoln lie about going home? Where exactly was he and what was he doing? Brenda asked the same questions when Aiko called her to explain the details of her exchange with Lincoln. Aiko had no answers.
HE’D EXPECTED TO get caught in his lie but not this soon. Lincoln hadn’t even figured out what he was going to tell them because there was no way he was confessing the real reason he’d lied. Not until he knew the whole truth himself. Which is why he was in San Diego, on the second floor of Triton Building, home of Gamble & Lee law offices. To learn the truth.
“Is Partridge going to be long?” Lincoln asked as he leaned against the massive reception counter.
“I’m not sure,” the reed-thin, auburn-haired, female receptionist said. “He’s having lunch with a client so he might be awhile. I can take a message if you like.”
“No.” Lincoln shook his head. “I’ll wait.”
He limped back to the guest area. Settling on the sectional sofa, he picked a magazine. He began to flip through the magazine but his mind really wasn’t on the words or pictures on the pages. It was on the task at hand.
The last few days leading up to his leaving Montgomery had been hell. The dreams and the panic attacks had gotten worse, as had the fear that any moment now the bubble he was currently in would burst and he’d end back in North Korea. What made it worse was that he didn’t know who had orchestrated his release and why.
His nightmares kept taunting him with the threat that this was just another Machiavellian scheme by Ryang. That all this was temporary and any moment now he’d be dragged back into that hellhole having been tortured with a taste of freedom. To make it worse, the nightmares now included Seraphina and Aiko. Every time he ended up in his little dirty cell, they were beside him crying for him to save them.
That was the last straw. He couldn’t take it anymore. It was one thing to dream of being tortured but to have his little girl being hurt was too much. Finally, he’d decided that the only way to stop the nightmares and make sure he and his family were safe was to find out who had rescued him, how and why. He had to make sure that they had no intention of taking him back.
It was fortunate that Lincoln was a patient man because it turned out that the receptionist was right. Partridge took his sweet time getting back to his office. More than an hour elapsed before the elevator doors opened and the man in question appeared.
Kevin Partridge stood about six-three, brown-haired, weighed perhaps two hundred pounds, with broad shoulders. Ruby-red suspenders ran down the front of his starched white dress shirt. Conservative gray cuffed suit pants hovered over gleaming black-tasseled shoes to match the gray jacket that was draped over one arm while in his other hand held a black briefcase. Everything about the man said successful lawyer. Nothing about him said former special-ops. Yet he was both.
At first Partridge did not see Lincoln. His full attention was on the receptionist. “Jessica, did Kensington Global send their financial and operational records?”
“Not yet,” she answered. “But
I’ve spoken to their Operations Director, and he says they’ll be here by the end of the day.”
“That’s what they said yesterday,” Partridge grumbled. “Push harder. Tell him that if we don’t have them, we can’t submit their bid.”
“Okay.” Jessica nodded. Partridge started to walk away, but she called out, “Sir, you have a visitor.” She pointed behind him to Lincoln.
Partridge turned. “Oh, is it…”
The words died on his lips when his gaze landed on Lincoln. For a moment, the two men mutely stared at each other. It was Lincoln who broke the silence. “I thought you said that the only suit you’d ever wear was the one they buried you in?”
Partridge swallowed hard before saying, “Ware?”
Lincoln rose to his feet with a smile. “Yes, it’s me.”
“You’re fucking alive.”
“Looks like it.”
“How – how-” The man looked lost for words as he gave Lincoln a lingering head-to-toe once-over.
“I ask the same question every day,” Lincoln returned. Another long staring contest then Partridge strode forward and the two men met in a warm embrace.
“You’re really fucking alive.” Partridge pulled back to stare at Lincoln again. “I need a drink.”
“You look like you do.” Lincoln grinned.
Partridge shook his head as he turned to the receptionist. “Jessica, we’ll be in my office. Make sure no one disturbs us.”
Partridge led Lincoln past the reception into a massive hallway with several doors. Partridge stopped at a thick wooden door with a plaque at the top bearing Partridge’s full names and credentials and pushed it open.
“You’ve done well for yourself,” Lincoln complimented as he followed the other man into the large contemporarily furnished office.
“Yeah, well. The last five years have been good to me. But you-” Partridge gave Lincoln another once-over his eyes lingering on Lincoln’s hand. “You look-”
“You can say it.” Lincoln laughed as he held up the hand with the missing fingers. “I look like shit.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say that.” Partridge walked over to the leather settee at the far end of the room, beckoning Lincoln to take a seat next to him. Speaking in low tones as if afraid that he might be heard, he said, “We thought you died with the others. I mean what the hell happened?”
“I got captured.”
“So you were still in North Korea?” Partridge asked. When Lincoln nodded, his eyes widened. “For the whole five years?”
Lincoln shrugged. “Time flies when you’re getting tortured.”
“Fuck, man.” Partridge’s breath came in a long shocked gasped. He leaned back against the seat. “How the hell did you get out?”
“I guess someone out here finally decided to look for me. I was hoping it was you or one of the others.”
“No, it wasn’t me. And it certainly wasn’t Davidson. As for the others-” Partridge leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially, “Davidson and I were the only ones who got out. Everyone else –they all…” He let the words drift off, but Lincoln knew what he meant.
“Man.” Lincoln sighed as a wave of sadness overwhelmed. “I can’t believe they’re all gone. I really thought the diversion worked.”
The mission had been going well up until the ten-man unit tried to get into the internment camp where Song Keun-suk, a local biologist specializing in weaponized diseases, was being held. It seemed the North Korean forces had been warned in advance of an intrusion because the American unit had barely scaled the walls to the house before the alarms started blaring.
The unit found themselves being pursued on enemy soil, and soon the North Koreans were gaining on them. In a last ditch attempt to save his team members, Lincoln decided to separate from the pack and drive the North Koreans towards himself by firing his gun so that everyone else could escape. Lincoln knew that his sacrifice would likely lead to his death, but it didn’t matter. In that moment, all he cared about was making sure that his friends survived.
“It worked for a few minutes, and we even got off-ground.” Partridge said. “But then they shot us down just as we were about to cross their airspace. The only reason Davidson and I even survived is because the South found our helicopter first.”
“Where’s Davidson?” I asked. “I tried to find him but his family have no idea where he is.”
“Yeah, he just walked out one night. I heard he was living on the streets in DC, tried to find him but I haven’t had much luck so far.” Partridge suddenly exclaimed, “Shit,” and looked at his watch. “I’ve got a client who’s supposed to come in at three. Do you mind if I take a minute to call him and postpone the meeting?”
“You don’t have to postpone the meeting. I can leave.”
“Are you sure?” Partridge eyed him keenly.
“Yeah, we can always talk later,” Lincoln said agreeably. Now that he knew it wasn’t Partridge who’d organized for his release his mission here was done anyway.
“Okay then.” Partridge grabbed a notepad and pen from the coffee-table and handed them to Lincoln. “Give me your address and I’ll drop by after I’m done with that meeting.”
“Sure.” Lincoln jotted down the name of the motel where he was staying.
Rising to his feet, Partridge said, “I’m really glad you didn’t die there, Ware. You were too good a soldier to go down that way.”
Lincoln left Partridge’s office feeling disappointed. He’d really hoped that his old army buddy might know something about how who had orchestrated his release. Thirty minutes later, he walked into his small room at the motel. He lay back on the bed staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out where to go from here.
Obviously he’d have to go higher up the chain. The problem was that he knew very little about the chain. Most of their orders had come from their immediate commander, Benet, and according to Partridge he’d died in the downed helicopter. This was becoming more of a treasure hunt by the minute. Worse, Lincoln didn’t even have Xs to guide him in the hunt.
The sudden sound of muffled footsteps rushing towards the door cut into Lincoln’s thoughts. He sat up quickly but barely a second later the door crashed in. Instinct leading the way, Lincoln scrambled for the window but even before he reached it, a cold male voice ordered, “One more step and it will be the last one you ever make.”
Lincoln froze in position, even as his heart thumped rapidly
“Turn,” the man behind him ordered. “Slowly.”
Lincoln did as instructed and came face to face with three men, all in dark suits, pointing their guns at him.
CHAPTER 17
By the time Aiko walked into the house later that evening, Damián had everything ready. If everything went according to plan, by the end of the night their relationship would be back on an even keel.
Aiko came to a stunned stop at the doorway of their bedroom when she saw him.
“Okay, what’s going on?” Her gaze wandered over him taking in his navy suit and the matching navy shirt that was open at the collar. “That is not what you were wearing when you left this morning.”
“No, it’s not.” His lips widened in a wide grin. “But it’s what I’m wearing tonight for dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“Dinner.” He nodded. “You and I. Tonight. We have reservations at Chez Amelia. We haven’t done date night in a while, and we’re way past due, don’t you think?”
Damián had decided that this was the best way to implement Josiah’s advice. What was more romantic than an impromptu dinner at a nice restaurant? The easy ambience of the restaurant would also provide the perfect vibe for them to talk out their issues.
Frowning, Aiko asked, “What about the kids? Homework? Dinner?”
“Gertie can handle it. I’ve already talked to her.”
“Well, I wish you would’ve talked to me too before making plans that involve me.” Her eyes shadowed with reluctance as she pressed her fingers to her forehead.
“Look Damián, I’ve had a really busy day and I’m-”
“Aiko,” he cut her off. Taking several steps to close the distance between them, he murmured, “We need this.”
For a second it looked like she might protest but she sighed and said, “Okay. But it better not be Winston in the kitchen. I only had salad for lunch so I’ll need something better than his burnt steak to fill me up.”
Damián laughed. “Don’t worry. Jean Martin moved him back to dishwashing after that incident.”
Her face fell. “Well, now I feel horrible for complaining. It wasn’t that bad.”
“Yes, it was.” Damián leaned forward to kiss her. “I’ll wait downstairs while you change.”
“I won’t be long,” she said.
Twenty minutes later she came down the stairs. His heart almost dropped to the floor when he saw her and every thought in his head disappeared. Dear God. Her red dress was the perfect hue to set off her dark skin; it dipped enticingly between her voluptuous breasts and clung to each inch of her curvaceous figure in a display that literally made Damián’s mouth water.
“Wooow.” Zoe and Seraphina’s oohs and aahs more than expressed what he felt.
As he met Aiko’s gaze, the smile in her thickly lashed brown eyes made his heart slam against his ribs in a funny little extra thump.
“You look-” He cleared his throat to eliminate the cobwebs that seemed to have taken the residence there. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you,” Aiko said but her attention was immediately drawn from him by Zoe who was pacing around her in wide-eyed admiration.
“Can I get a dress like this one?” The girl’s eyes widened even more as her voice took on a wheedling tone. “Please. Please, Mummy.”
“Oh, you whipped out that Mummy, huh?” Aiko laughed. At Zoe’s pout, she said, “I’ll think about it.”
The next moments were spent giving the girls the rules of behavior for the night then saying goodbye. Eventually Damián managed to drag his fiancée from their kids and into his car. The ride to the restaurant was quiet. Aiko seemed unusually pre-occupied with her thoughts. When she wasn’t staring outside the window in silence, she was staring at her phone.