Her stomach turned and her hands trembled as the visual of the gruesome discovery flooded back to her. She hadn’t suffered their fate but was haunted by the memory of it. Will it ever fade?
“Phoebe, I don’t know what else to do.” Tears rolled down Deanna’s face. She knew what she wanted to do, but if her parents found out, they’d have a fit. “I can’t keep hiding. It’s not what we planned.”
Deanna wished she could hear her best friend’s voice one more time. Phoebe had been the logical thinker. Actually, she’d often described Phoebe as fearless. Deanna’s parents were overprotective and had never let her travel out of the country without them. Phoebe had gone with her to deliver the news about joining the Literacy Corps to her parents. It had taken a lot of persuasion, but Phoebe had sold them on the idea. Everyone had known it was their opportunity to make a name for themselves. We sure did. Just not in the way we thought we would.
Her life felt empty, without purpose, now. But Deanna’s name was associated with that tragedy. That was why she was doing this. It wasn’t legal, and her parents would freak out if they knew, but taking on a false identity so she could go back and continue what they had started was the only way she was going to truly heal. She needed to do this. Not only for herself but for Phoebe and everyone one else who’d lost their lives that day. I’m going to show them they didn’t win.
It was all lined up. Her parents believed she was going abroad on a retreat for a few months to relax and find herself. That kept them from trying to block the trip. It was tough being the daughter of a well-known and powerful man. Her father had a way of changing people’s minds who otherwise would have supported her decision. That meant she had to do something dangerous and turn to some extremely unscrupulous individuals for help. After providing a hefty fee, they delivered everything she required: a passport, visa, and ID. Now all she needed to do was board a plane and get back to what she loved. Helping those in need.
With her bags in the trunk of the rental car and plane tickets in her purse, there was nothing left to do but say goodbye one more time. The wind blew and she closed her eyes, still unaccustomed to the colored contacts she was wearing. Her eyes were already irritated from her tears earlier. She was going to look like a hot mess at the airport, and surely security was going to question her appearance. It was going to be an easy sell. She was heartbroken and was going to miss her family. At least something I say will be true.
Rubbing her irritated eyes, she could only imagine what her mascara looked like. But what did it matter? She was alone, and no one would know who she was anyway. With what she was about to attempt, looking bad should be the last thing she worried about. She’d get a prison sentence if she was caught. Mom and Dad would love that.
Regardless of the potential consequences, she was not going to be stopped. Time to take my life back. It’d been three years, and she wasn’t about to let another day go by without doing something. She knew Phoebe would never have let anything stand in her way, and she wouldn’t either.
She could stay all day and mourn her friend, but that wasn’t what Phoebe would’ve wanted. There were people out there who needed help. It was her duty to do what she could. Not just for herself, but for Phoebe as well. Getting up off the ground, Deanna looked again at her friend’s name etched permanently in granite: Phoebe Promise Turchetta. A beautiful name for an even more beautiful person. Placing a kiss on her fingers, she laid her hand on the headstone. “I promise, Phoebe, they’ll never forget who you were and what you were about. I’ll make sure of that.”
“And who are you to do that?”
Deanna gasped as the deep, harsh voice startled her. She hadn’t heard anyone approach. As she spun around, filled with panic, she lost her balance and had to steady herself on the headstone. His large stature only made her tiny frame feel even smaller. The expression on his face was enough to make a grown man shake in his boots. She could tell he wasn’t a groundskeeper, but who he was wasn’t clear either. All she knew was her presence there didn’t please him. “I’m . . . I’m . . .”
“Your name!” he barked.
Trying to compose herself as she stood upright, she said, “I’m De—” He had her so flustered she almost gave her real name. It was the first time she’d encountered anyone with her new look, and she almost blew it. “Alice. I’m Alice Wilcox.”
The man arched a brow and looked her over from head to toe. “You don’t seem so sure about that.”
The discussion of her name was closed as far as she was concerned. “The question is, who are you?” She tried to sound as bold and confident as he did, but even as she uttered the words her bottom lip trembled.
He didn’t answer her. Instead, she once again was questioned. “Why are you crying?” Those words normally would offer comfort, but his tone was gruff and filled with accusation.
Deanna huffed. “I don’t believe it’s any of your business.” Then she tried to walk past him. When she thought she was in the clear, he reached out and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him again.
“Why do I feel like I know you?” He held her close, his eyes searching her face.
She wanted to flee, yet there was no escaping his steel grip. It wasn’t meant to hurt, only to restrain. Not that I like that much better. Meeting his cold stare, she said, “I hear I have one of those faces. Now if you don’t mind getting your hands off me, I have someplace I need to be.”
He didn’t release her immediately, and she feared his questioning was about to intensify along with his grip. As she prepared herself, he let go of her arm. He didn’t say another word and let her walk away. Her pace quickened with each step as she made her way back to the rental car. As soon as she was inside, she threw it in drive and peeled away from the curb. If she was trying to act as though his sudden appearance did not affect her, she was failing miserably.
Deanna gripped the steering wheel tightly as she turned onto the freeway and headed toward the airport. Her flight was leaving in a few hours. It wouldn’t be long before all this was left behind.
Chapter 2
Another time or place and Rafe would’ve taken more time to appreciate the view. There had been something about Alice that captured his attention. She wasn’t his usual type. He liked his women tall, busty, and blonde. She didn’t fit any one of those.
If it hadn’t been for overhearing her comment, he likely would’ve taken the time to introduce himself and find out who she was. It’d been obvious she’d been close to his sister, enough to know what Phoebe’s favorite flowers were at least, but there was something not right. Phoebe had been gone for three years. Not a day went by without feeling the loss, but she was his baby sister. Why would this woman be so distraught? Who were you to my sister?
Not knowing Phoebe’s friends was a reminder that he’d been distant from her. He could come up with a million reasons why, from being deployed more often than not to the difference in age. The truth was, Rafe had built walls around himself intentionally. It was how he’d been able to focus on what he’d been trained to do. Close personal connections might have made him second-guess himself. That could’ve been detrimental to him as well as to his team. The price was losing a sister he barely knew.
That probably explained why he was so angered when he overheard Alice talking. The anger hadn’t been meant for her as much as for himself—until Alice’s unusual behavior. She hadn’t just been surprised by his presence; she’d been in sheer panic mode. Her bloodshot eyes had jumped wide open as though she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t have done.
If he’d had more time, he was sure he’d have figured it out. Granted, he wasn’t known for being the friendly type, but her reaction had been over the top. Alice had practically run from him. The way she’d hauled tail as she peeled down the road told him she’d been trying to hide something.
With the faint smell of rubber still in the air, Rafe stood there calmly. By the look on her face, she’d anticipated him chasing after her. What
she seemed to have forgotten in her distress left him with more than he could’ve gotten out of her by detaining her further. With a slight grin, he bent down and retrieved the purse laying amongst the flowers. He’d seen it even before she bolted out of there and easily could’ve mentioned that fact. It would’ve been the gentlemanly thing to do. I’ve never been accused of being one of those.
He felt a slight twinge of guilt he normally wouldn’t have. But this woman cared enough about Phoebe to have been crying at her grave. Snooping through her things because his gut told him something was off didn’t feel right. He could easily drop the purse off at a local police station and let them rummage through it. But this wasn’t about doing the right thing. She somehow had been connected to Phoebe, which meant she knew his family. He didn’t like the fact he knew nothing about her. Anyone this close to his family wasn’t someone he wanted keeping secrets. And yours is about to be revealed.
He wasn’t beyond going through someone’s personal belongs whether it be their home, auto, or computer. He did whatever he needed in order to obtain necessary intel. That’s what people paid him to do. He wasn’t hired because they didn’t want to get their hands dirty, but because he knew what to look for, what didn’t belong. Therefore he and his team were highly sought after, but he wouldn’t work for just anyone or any cause. Rafe turned down many offers others in his field would’ve jumped at. He wasn’t motivated by money; there was no honor in that. For him, it’d always been about doing what was right. The only thing that had changed was how he went about it. Since starting Turchetta’s Promise, he wasn’t bound by the orders of a commanding officer. The only orders he was concerned with were the ones he gave to his team.
He had to admit he would be disappointed to find anyone working for him doing what he was about to do. But this was personal and definitely illegal. There had been a time when such things had mattered to him, but before anything else, protecting his family was what mattered most to him now.
As he fished through her purse, he pulled out what caught his eye first. Flipping open her passport, he confirmed the name matched the one she’d given him. Rafe also noticed it was newly issued. The world had changed, and more people were choosing not to travel outside the country. Wish Phoebe had been one of them. Something inside of him was glad there wasn’t a stamp in her passport. She was tiny and looked fragile. A woman like that should be home. Safe.
Rafe quickly squashed any thoughts about her except the one at hand. Opening her wallet, he pulled out her driver’s license. He didn’t like what caught his eye. Issued on the same date? Even the pictures were identical. He’d learned long ago not to believe in coincidences. I knew it.
She wasn’t Alice Wilcox, but who was she and why the heck was she crying over Phoebe’s death? Pulling out the remaining contents he came across plane tickets. Moreira. It felt like a knife twisting in his gut. That’s where Phoebe was when she’d been killed. What in the world are you going there for?
Rafe jammed everything back inside the purse and sprinted to his Jeep. Her plane was due to leave in less than an hour. He knew she wasn’t boarding without her ID and passport, but he didn’t want her to leave the airport either. I bet your address is just as phony as you.
As he sped down the highway, he called Gabe. There was a time difference, and it probably was the middle of the night there. He didn’t care. This was important, or at least it was to him.
“What’s wrong, Rafe?” Gabe said in a groggy voice.
“I need you to do a search for me. I want everything you can find on Alice Wilcox. I’ll text you a picture of her passport and license.”
“Wilcox? I thought the next job was with the Noble family? What does Wilcox have to do with that?”
Nothing. “Gabe, just get me the information.”
Gabe’s grumbling echoed over the phone. “Sure thing. Not like I don’t have my hands full already.”
Rafe didn’t like the sound of that. “I thought everything was under control.”
Gabe chuckled. “You spent the last six months in Tabiq. What gave you the impression this place would ever be civil?”
He wanted to believe Bennett had all the manpower he needed to keep the scumbags from taking charge again. It was sad that it probably came down to money tipping the scale, just as it had in the past. “Who else is there?”
“Stone has his entire team here, and Alex Henderson arrived last night with his brother Dean.”
The Henderson name carried a lot of power in Tabiq. Mostly out of fear. He’d never met Dean personally, though rumor had it the guy wasn’t one to take being pushed around lightly. But he’d come to know Alex, and he’d proven to hold to his word. Rafe was convinced the Hendersons were dedicated to doing whatever needed to be done to right the wrongs their father had done there. It’s going to take a lot more than money. Maybe a miracle.
He hated thinking like that, but he’d seen too much in the Air Force. Changing learned behavior took years. And when it came to people who had nothing to lose, it was nearly impossible. Rafe had to hand it to the Hendersons. They were moving one of their manufacturing plants to Tabiq. Giving the people of Tabiq a place, an opportunity, to make an honest wage was a good start. The question was, could they convince other businesses to take such a chance? It takes more than one man to move a mountain.
That’s exactly what went wrong in Moreira. Phoebe and the others had been trying to support a country whose economy had crumbled. There was only one legal source of income remaining: the Literacy Corps who had been trying to bring attention to what the people faced. They got attention, just the wrong kind.
He hoped that wasn’t going to be the case for Tabiq. But to so many people Tabiq, like Moreira, was considered small and inconsequential. Not to Stone or the Hendersons, and definitely not to us. Rafe knew Gabe’s attention needed to be on Tabiq.
“Keep your head down and let me know if you think the team is needed.”
“Will do. I’ll send the information once I have it,” Gabe replied before ending the call.
Rafe pulled over and sent a group text to his team. “Keep your bags packed and ready.”
His brother Renzo, who was second in command, responded. “Roger. Tabiq?”
There wasn’t anything definitive to tell. If his gut was right, there might be trouble in Moreira that no one knew about yet. I hope not.
He knew his brothers, as well as the rest of the team, trusted him. Rafe never reacted without taking everything into consideration. Anything less would risk lives, including his own. “Undetermined.”
“On standby,” Renzo replied.
Pulling back onto the freeway, he headed toward the airport. Looking at his watch, he knew he was running out of time. Rafe knew the other members of the team would drop everything with a moment’s notice. He hated thinking about pulling them away from their families again so soon. Until the Turchettas, they’d seemed to have found a way to have a life outside of their service. That’s not me. Family came with a complication he didn’t want. A distraction he couldn’t afford.
That’s exactly how he viewed women: a distraction. The brief encounter with Alice, or whoever she was, reiterated that fact. Rafe had enough going on already. There was a job waiting for him that was going to have to wait longer now. His plate was overflowing with things in crisis. He wanted to head back to Tabiq and back up Stone, but his gut was telling him he was going to be headed elsewhere.
He didn’t need to hear back from Gabe about Alice. Just the knowledge that she was heading to Moreira troubled him. It wasn’t fear that felt like a knife to his gut, but guilt as he thought about the place his baby sister took her last breath. The place where she needed me most, and I wasn’t there.
The only thing that had prevented him from rushing to her aide had been his duty to the Air Force. Neither he nor his brothers had been allowed leave in order to do what the government wouldn’t do. Hearing the words diplomacy or negotiations ticked him off. There was no reasoning wit
h these people. They were out to make a political statement. There was only one way to settle it. Show them they messed with the wrong people. That’s what they’d been trying to do since leaving the service.
It sickened him knowing Phoebe and the other women could’ve been saved. Yes, it would’ve required breaking some international laws. Who the heck cared? The evil jerks that entered their camp, killed unarmed men, and then held the women in some sick ploy to get media attention hadn’t thought one iota about the rules of engagement. If anything, they intentionally used the rules to their benefit, knowing dang well the United States would abide by them. Because we have honor and respect for human life, and they have neither.
Rafe wished there wasn’t a need for services like Turchetta’s Promise provided. It’d be nice to hang up his guns, but that wasn’t reality. He didn’t need to wait for a call. Any time he turned on the television it slammed him in the face. It was going to take people like them to stand up for justice. Without the concerns of being court-martialed for disobeying orders.
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