Out of Sight (Project Athena)
Page 21
She didn’t know how she felt about that. Part of her thought maybe it’d be best for everyone if the agency just dissolved away. But then, there were a lot of really evil people in the world, and maybe clandestine means were the only way to appropriately deal with them. She didn’t know the right answer, might never know.
Daniel petted Pegram when the pup ran up to his side. When Pegram scurried off again, Daniel reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out an envelope. “I still don’t know if your father is alive, but I pieced together scraps of intel and think this might be a good place to start looking.” He extended the envelope to her.
She rose from the chair and took it, afraid to hope. She opened the envelope and pulled out an airline ticket. “Moscow?”
“Yeah. Word is X is holding an important prisoner in a remote area of the Gyda Peninsula. Or at least they were two months ago. We can’t seem to get more immediate data than that.”
“Thank you.” The words came out strangled.
Daniel stood. “I wish I could guarantee this will work out the way you want, but I can’t.”
“I know. But it’s more than I had twenty minutes ago.”
Daniel pointed to the tickets. “You have another week before the flight. I figured we needed to heal a bit more before we tackle some more bad guys.”
“We?”
“Yeah. You didn’t think I’d let you go alone, did you?”
“Is this an agency mission?”
“Yes and no.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning missions are temporarily on hold and I’m not getting paid, but I have friends at the agency who will help us in any way they can.”
“Your boss?”
“Let’s just say he was overruled.”
Jenna smiled. She would have loved to overhear that conversation. She looked back at the tickets again, hardly believing the printed words. Moscow. Who would have ever thought?
“The photo of my father, it was fake wasn’t it?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe. But I believe he may still be alive. I’ve seen nothing to the contrary.”
She had to hold on to what hope there was and follow whatever leads presented themselves.
“Has Kevin said anything more about...us? Are there others?”
“He was told there were two others besides you two, though he doesn’t know who they are. His father told him about some military experiments done on five soldiers, something called Project Athena, and those soldiers passed the ability to make themselves invisible to their first-born children. All except one, that is. Rennie didn’t inherit it from his father for some reason.”
“That explains the hostility.”
Daniel smiled. “I think you’ve won him over though.”
She wasn’t banking on that.
Quiet settled between them for a few moments.
“Did you know about the experiments, why I am the way I am?” she asked.
“No. The only reason Kevin knew was because his father thought it would help protect him.”
“He was obviously wrong.”
“We’ll look until we find the answers to all your questions.” He pointed to the plane tickets. “But for now, let’s tackle one obstacle at a time.”
She wanted to argue that she wanted all the answers now, but she no longer believed he had them. That he was willing to help her find them had to be enough.
He turned back toward the porch steps. “Get some rest. I’ll be back in a week.”
“Daniel?”
He turned toward her. “Yes?”
She held up the tickets. “Thanks.”
“You earned it.”
Jenna looked out to the yard where Pegram was chasing one of the cats, a wide doggie smile on his little face. “And thanks for saving Pegram.”
“The little guy was doing a decent job of saving himself. I heard he took a chunk out of one of those guy’s hand.”
She smiled at that, then turned back to Daniel. She pointed at the healing knot on his forehead. “I’m sorry about that. When I woke up in that basement, I wondered if they’d killed you.”
“No, surprisingly enough. Just left me lying in the dirt. I would have probably laid there a lot longer if someone manning the camera feed nearby hadn’t seen what happened.” He looked at her for a disconcerting few seconds. “They just wanted you. When I woke up, I thought I’d never find you. And then...then I heard you. I didn’t know where you were, but I heard you calling for me.”
A shiver ran over her skin. “I thought you couldn’t read minds.”
“That’s never happened. Before, it was always images, feelings. But I heard exactly what you were trying to make me hear.”
She stared at him, trying to digest how incredible her life and everyone in it had become. “Thank you.”
He smiled. “You said that already.”
“It doesn’t seem like enough.”
“Actually, there is one other thing you could do for me.”
“What?”
He walked toward her, one careful step after another. “You can satisfy my curiosity.”
Daniel didn’t give her time to answer. He backed her against the wall of the house and kissed her, kissed her until she was certain she’d suffocate and not mind doing so.
When he backed away, it took her a few seconds to focus. By the time she did, he was descending her steps. When he reached the driver’s side of his car, he gave her one of his crooked smiles, looking quite satisfied with himself. “I’ll see you next Saturday.”
She watched him drive away and realized she was still clasping the house siding.
Daniel. Russia. An X hideout filled with serious terrorists. Good Lord, she was in trouble.
****
Thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoyed it.
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Trish Milburn lives in the South with her husband and spends what little free time she has reading, watching TV and movies (Is that her TiVo smoking?), hiking, taking road trips and valiantly fighting the weeds in her flowerbeds.
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