The Last Target (Love Inspired Suspense)

by Christy Barritt

  Rachel just wanted to go back to headquarters and hide in her room. On the other hand, maybe she needed to hear George out, find out what he’d been thinking. Finally, she nodded. “Okay. I’ll talk to him.”

  A moment later, Denton brought a handcuffed George to the SUV. He shoved him into the front seat. “We patted him down. He’s got nothing on him,” Denton told Jack.

  George—thirty-something, short and wiry with a shaved head that hid a receding hairline—turned toward the backseat. Sweat covered his brow, and his gaze looked almost frantic. “Rachel, are you okay?”

  “Am I okay? I’m fine. What are you doing, George? How did you know I was here? What were you planning to do?”

  “Rachel, you disappeared. Your office was blown up. I knew something was wrong.”

  “How’d you know I was at the zoo today?”

  “You told me that you’d be here today the last time I talked to you. I decided to see if you would show up. What’s going on? Who are these goons?”

  “They’re not goons, George. They’re protecting me.”

  “What’s going on, Rachel? I know something’s not right. I just want to help.”

  Rachel glanced over at Jack, and his look made it clear that he was leaving the decision what to share up to her. She drew in a deep breath and prayed that God would help her to find the right words. “I can’t discuss it right now, George. But some very dangerous people want me dead. Those people are being tracked down right now.”

  “I want to help.”

  “You can help by just letting people believe that I’m okay. We don’t want the media to catch wind of this. We just want the people behind these attacks to be captured before they can do any more harm.”

  His gaze fell on Jack. “Don’t I know you? Afghanistan, right?”

  Jack looked out the window at Denton. “Get him out of here. We’ve caused enough of a scene already. We need to get Rachel and Aidan to safety.”

  “Rachel—”

  “We’ve got to go, George. I do appreciate the fact that you were looking out for me. Thank you for that.”

  “But—”

  Before George could say anything else, Denton pulled him out of the SUV and slammed the door.

  Rachel lay in bed, reviewing the events from the day. How could she not? She’d felt so much relief, followed by adrenaline rushes, then confusion and more paranoia.

  Who would have thought that George Anderson of all people would have shown up at the zoo? That he would have remembered that she mentioned going there today for Aidan to receive his award?

  Rachel thought he had good intentions—although Jack hadn’t been so sure. George had always tried to keep an eye on her since Andrew died. Jack thought it was way too suspicious that George had shown up today. He’d been quiet for most of the ride home, looking even more tense than usual, if that were possible.

  She remembered the look that George had given Jack before he was ushered out of the SUV. George thought he knew Jack from Afghanistan, and Rachel thought Jack looked familiar. Rachel still felt certain that Jack knew more about Andrew than he let on. Why wouldn’t he tell her? It didn’t make sense.

  Rachel had a feeling that there was a lot about Jack Sergeant that she didn’t know. Would she ever know? He wasn’t the type to easily open up. He was probably the type of man who didn’t like to open up—the exact type who was terrible in a relationship.

  Then why did she find herself picturing what it would be like to have a future with Jack? Was it because her emotions had gotten the best of her today? When Jack had held her hand, when he’d stood close, put his arm around her waist, it had stirred up something inside her.

  No, she chided herself. She was being foolish. Even if Jack were the type she was interested in, there was still the issue of his job. She didn’t want to lose two husbands before she reached thirty. Then there was the small issue of his emotional closure. She couldn’t even dream of a relationship with someone who wasn’t willing to share his life with her. She’d only end up unhappy and miserable. Besides, exactly what had happened with his ex-wife? He’d said he screwed up. What did that mean?

  She shook her head. She shouldn’t even be thinking such thoughts. Instead, she listened for a moment to Aidan sleep, at the even sound of his breathing. Despite everything that had happened today, she was glad they’d gone to the zoo. Glad he’d gotten the award he’d worked so hard to achieve.

  A sound perked her ears. She sat up in bed. Was that her door leading to the hallway clicking open?

  She watched the light underneath her door, which was already faint at best, waiting to see if a shadow might pass by.

  She held her breath, hardly wanting to breathe lest the sound interrupt her careful listening. She waited for a footfall, a creak, the turning of the doorknob.

  Why would someone be in her room here at Eyes? That wouldn’t make sense. She was safe here. Jack had promised her.

  She remembered her purse, the feeling that someone had gone through it. Could the terrorists have breached security here? It was possible. Jack himself had said these men were brilliant, not simply cave-hoppers without a plan. They had resources, he’d said. Money. They could look like any of the men who worked here. That’s what she feared the most. How they might blend in.

  Her heart began racing, the rhythm pounding in her ears.

  Her eyes remained on the bottom of the door.

  Nothing.

  She shook her head. She was just imagining things. She had to be.

  Her shoulders sagged for a moment as she realized her foolishness.

  Until a shadow passed beneath the door.

  Someone was in the living room, she realized.

  TWELVE

  She grabbed her cell phone from the bedside table and held down the 1. It only rang once. Jack sounded alert when his voice came on the other line.

  “Someone’s in my room,” Rachel whispered, her throat straining with each word.

  “Rachel?”

  “I don’t want them to hear me.”

  “Stay where you are. I’m on my way.”

  Rachel saw the shadow move again. Subtle, like ink spreading through water.

  Or was she seeing things? Were her eyes playing tricks on her? She could hardly breathe, hardly move.

  Her eyes shot across the room. Was Aidan okay?

  She could still hear his steady breathing and make out his small outline in bed. She breathed a short-lived sigh of relief, but they weren’t out of danger yet.

  Jack would be here soon. He’d help them.

  But what if he didn’t get here in time?

  Fear scrambled across her skin. Panic sent off alarms in her head. Her lungs felt like someone pressed down on them.

  Jack, get here soon. Please.

  She heard another click from the other room. The light brightened under her doorway. A soft knock sounded at her door. “Rachel, it’s me, Jack.”

  She scrambled from the bed to the door, thankful she’d worn sweats and a T-shirt to bed. She threw the door open and saw Jack’s massive frame filling the doorway. Without thinking, she threw her arms around him. He seemed stunned a moment before his arms encircled her also. She found comfort for only a moment in his strong arms, his steady heartbeat.

  What had she just done? Was she having crazy fantasies that their little act at the zoo today was the real deal? As quickly as she hugged him, she stepped back and straightened herself. “Sorry about that.”

  In the darkness, she couldn’t see his expression. But she did feel his arms slip from around her and she missed them.

  “It’s clear. There’s no one in your room.”

  “There was someone.”

  “Luke is searching the perimeters of the building now, looking for anyone suspicious. We’re also looking for Simon.”

  “Simon? Isn’t he supposed to be outside my door at all times? Did something happen to him?”

  Just then, someone filled the doorway to the hall. Simon. “Wha
t’s going on?” Rachel heard the uncertainty in his voice.

  “Where were you?” Jack demanded.

  “I just had to take a quick bathroom break. I’ve only been gone five minutes, max.”

  “It was five minutes too long, Simon. Rachel said she heard someone in her room.”

  His eyes widened. “That’s impossible. The door is locked. I would have heard someone coming down the hall. I would have noticed something.”

  “We’ll talk about it later.” Jack looked back at Rachel. “Does anything look different to you here?”

  Her gaze scanned the room. She kept most of her things in the bedroom area with her and not in the living room. She spotted some coloring books, puzzles, crayons, the letters she’d been writing for her nonprofit. Everything appeared as she’d left it. She shook her head.

  “You’re sure someone was in here?”

  “I saw the shadows passing under the door. I heard a click.” But was she sure? Why did she doubt herself so easily?

  “Could the shadows have been Simon stepping away from his post perhaps?”

  Rachel pulled the arms of her sweatshirt over her hands before crossing her arms over her chest. “I suppose.”

  She glanced back at Aidan, thankful he was sleeping so peacefully still. “Maybe I’m…maybe I’m losing it. I don’t know.”

  Jack’s hand came down on her shoulder. “Why don’t you close the door so we don’t disturb Aidan?”

  She gently pulled the door closed, though not all the way. She still wanted to be able to hear if he woke up and needed her. Jack motioned to Simon, who stepped outside into the hallway and closed the door. Then Jack flipped on a small lamp by the couch before sitting her down.

  His cell phone buzzed. He took it from the clip at his belt and mumbled a few things into the mouthpiece. Finally, he thanked Luke and snapped the phone closed.

  “What is it?” Rachel sat on the edge of her seat.

  “He didn’t find anything or anybody.”

  Her shoulders sagged.

  Jack sat down on the couch beside her. “Hey, chin up. That’s good news.”

  “Or it means I’m losing my mind.”

  “It’s normal for people in a situation like this to have heightened senses. I’d rather you be on guard than lackadaisical.”

  She sighed and leaned back into the couch. “What am I going to do, Jack?”

  “What do you mean?” He settled back into the cushions also.

  “I can’t live the rest of my life like this. What if whoever is behind these attacks is never caught? When if I’m in danger for the rest of my life?”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  Their gazes caught and Rachel found herself being sucked into the deep blue of Jack Sergeant’s eyes. Her heart pounded in her throat. She believed him. Again. She barely knew the man, but, for some reason, she knew she could trust him.

  She also knew she had to change the subject. She was beginning to feel a bond with him that she shouldn’t feel. He was out of bounds, and she needed to remember that. It was simply a matter of reminding her heart. Her head wouldn’t let her forget.

  She tucked her legs beneath her and tried to clear her head. She wanted desperately to forget about the situation at hand and feel halfway normal for a moment. “What do you like doing when you’re not working, Jack?”

  His eyes flickered toward her a moment, as if surprised. “Not working? When does that happen?”

  Rachel smiled softly. “Surely you have some kind of life outside of this place.”

  “Eyes is my life. But if I wasn’t working so much, I think I still might be somewhat of a homebody. Just staying in, eating dinner with friends, renting a movie, maybe hosting barbecues in the backyard.”

  Rachel smiled. “My parents used to love having barbecues. It became somewhat of a joke in our circle because they probably had one every week at least. They’d invite anybody and everybody—they called it good old Christian hospitality. They had over coworkers from the Department of Agriculture, neighbors, childhood friends.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “It was. I still have all of their old picture albums. I like to look through them and remember those good times. My mom…she had a real gift for making people feel welcome. And my dad was always cracking jokes. I have pictures of myself at those cookouts from the time I was a toddler sitting on my dad’s shoulders all the way up until I got married.”

  “Sounds like you had a great family.”

  “I did.” She swallowed, all too aware of the hole that had been left in her life since they’d been gone. “But not everything was perfect. There’s no such thing as a perfect family, right?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My parents’ jobs were quite stressful, especially in the days leading up to their death. They just seemed to be walking around with the weight of the world on their shoulders.”

  “Did they say why?”

  “Only that some positions had been eliminated and now they had to finish a bigger workload within the same number of hours. Typical office stuff. They said it was nothing for me to worry about.”

  “I guess we all feel like that sometimes about our jobs.”

  “It’s true.”

  “Did your parents like Andrew, Rachel?”

  “At first.” Her heart thudded as she remembered her last conversation with her parents about Andrew.

  “What changed?”

  Her throat burned. Should she even share? She hadn’t talked about what had happened in years. She tried to forget. But did she ever really forget? No. Her suspicions always remained in her subconscious.

  “I found some letters that a woman wrote Andrew.” She glanced at Jack, afraid she might see in his gaze that he felt sorry for her. Instead, she saw that he was listening, really listening. She continued. “I began fearing that he had an affair with someone. I asked him about it once. He said he would explain to me one day, that it would all make sense. Of course, he died before that could happen.”

  “I’m sorry, Rachel.”

  She nodded, trying to maintain her composure. “I tried to justify that maybe there was some other reason a woman would send him letters like that. But then, after Andrew died, I discovered that he had a separate credit card account set up and he was sending large chunks of cash advances to someone…most likely the same woman.” She sighed, as the weight of her burden tugged on her. “I’m still trying to pay it off.”

  “Did you ever find any answers?”

  She shook her head. “No, I didn’t. I try not to think about it, figuring it will do me no good.”

  Jack leaned forward. “Rachel, I’m going to need to see those letters.”

  Her heart thudded. “Why?”

  “Maybe they’re the connection we’re looking for.”

  Jack remembered the reason he was in Afghanistan—the suspicions that Andrew might be selling government secrets. The man would often disappear into town, unaccounted for for hours. He’d been spotted in secret, meeting with some Afghan natives. Later, they’d discovered who the true traitor was. That man, an army ranger, had been tried and convicted of treason. But what if there was some validity to the government’s original allegations about Andrew? Could the letters have any connection or offer any validity to those suspicions? Jack thought he’d cleared Andrew of any wrongdoing, but what if he’d been wrong?

  His heart thudded with sadness for Rachel as he saw the anguish in her eyes. He’d wanted to pull her into his arms and try to provide some comfort. But he couldn’t cross that line. Rachel was out of bounds. He couldn’t let himself forget that, as he frequently seemed to do.

  Looking at her earlier, at the vulnerability in her eyes, he’d wanted nothing more than to lean over and kiss her, to see if the spark that he felt sure would be there was there.

  His ex-wife’s, Jennifer’s,
image flashed in his mind. She’d once been so full of spark and life. They’d started life together full of dreams, determined to make it as a military family. They’d been young, perhaps foolish even.

  Jack had been sent overseas on his first six-month deployment. He called Jennifer often. Each time, he noticed a little more of her sparkle fading. He’d moved her to a new place where she knew no one and then he’d left her. Abandoned her. She’d had a hard time making new friends. She was miserable at her job. She’d begged him to come home.

  He’d only had two months until he was supposed to return. He thought she could wait it out at that point. Finally, he arrived back in Norfolk, expecting Jennifer to be excited that he was finally home. There was no one at the base to greet him when he stepped off of the ship. He’d gotten a ride home. Jennifer was inside, curled up on the couch. She barely acknowledged that he was there.

  He tried to get her help. Asked her to go see a counselor or a doctor even. She said no, insisted she was fine.

  Three months later, he was deployed again, this time for four months. Jennifer decided to go back to Ohio and stay with her parents for this deployment. Jack had thought it was a great idea. She needed to be around people who loved her. He knew deployment was hard, but military couples dealt with it all the time. He hoped to become a SEAL when he returned from that deployment. Doing so, he would most likely be in town for longer periods of time. It would be easier on their marriage.

  But it was too late. When he returned from that deployment, Jennifer had already fallen into the arms of another man. She filed for divorce papers and refused to talk with him.

  He should have seen the signs. He should have done everything within his power to stay home, to be with her. He never wanted to put someone through that again. Even though he’d become a Christian since then, the mistakes he’d made back then still haunted him.

  And Rachel had made it clear that she found his lifestyle way too dangerous for him to be the family man she desired. He could understand. She wanted stability for herself and for her son. What mother wouldn’t want that? It had been hard enough for Aidan to lose a father once. Rachel didn’t want to put herself in a position to have him lose two male figures in his life.