by Debra Webb
Plan or not, with no concern from the second spy, Frank couldn’t waste another minute. Even with Leo Solutions’ support and technology, Sophia needed him watching her back personally.
* * *
NEAR THE STERN with the wake of the high-speed ferry streaming white behind them, Sophia watched Seattle drift farther into the distance. She’d lost sight of Frank, which didn’t worry her, because Halloran and one of his men were with her. Frank could hold his own one-on-one with anyone.
She had yet to get Halloran to admit or agree to anything. She worried it wouldn’t happen at all. The retired general would rightly assume she was wired and would be trying to jam that signal. He couldn’t know about the video feed Aidan and Frankie had managed to get installed on the ferry last night—unless he’d bribed someone else to keep watch. As confident as she’d been for her husband, she was starting to have doubts about success.
“Just tell me why,” she suggested, not for the first time. “We were friends once. You owe me that much at least.”
“It was business,” Halloran said, his voice cold. “You and Frank were merely casualties of an operational success.”
“Cut the crap.” Throwing him overboard was sounding better. “You railroaded my husband for what? A few thousand dollars.”
He laughed. “I know you’ve looked into the accounts.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t find anything that would stick. I’ll hand over everything, Kelly. Just tell me why you chose Frank as the patsy.”
“Hellfire had a stiff admission price,” Halloran said. “You’ll notice the price for betrayal was higher still.” He held out his hand. “Give me the drive.”
She didn’t take her eyes off his weathered face. It made her sick to think how he was touted as a hero, yet he’d sacrificed innocent lives for the sake of lining his pockets with gold. “You haven’t given me any assurance that my family will be safe.”
Another humorless laugh made her cringe. “You were one of the rare gems,” he said. “Frank was lucky to have you.”
Her eyes darted around the deck at the use of the past tense. “He is lucky to have me,” she corrected. “Give me some sign of good faith that if I hand this over you’ll leave us alone,” she repeated.
“What’s better than my word?” he asked. “You can’t expect me to put it in writing.”
She affected a sigh, as if he’d outmaneuvered her. “You know I’m wired.”
“Of course I know,” he said with a slimy smile. “You’re no fool. How else would you prove you haven’t been cooperating with me all along?”
Halloran’s smug expression made her queasy. She supposed, if she let that sick feeling show on her face, he’d think he had her. “Lawyers and investigators picked through my life when Frank was on trial. They know I wasn’t complicit.”
She had to get Halloran to admit to something, preferably the treason or the murder. She pulled the mic and wire from beneath the collar of her sweater, showing him it was disconnected, and dropped it into his open palm. “Why, Kelly? Between you and me and the disabled wire, tell me why.”
“Calling a stalemate, huh?”
She nodded. “You’ll disappear, Frank will be haunted by false charges and I’ll forever be waiting for you to strike again.” She held up her hands in surrender, though she was doing nothing of the kind. “You win.”
“Give me the drive.” For the first time, his voice resembled the man who’d been her friend.
She handed it over, praying the closed-circuit system and the secondary mic running on a different frequency were working properly.
He signaled his spy to come closer. The man inserted the flash drive into a tablet. After a moment he gave his boss a nod that the contents were genuine and moved out of earshot again. “Thank you.” Halloran’s face twisted into a sneer; evidently he believed he had the only remaining evidence she’d gathered against him, along with the new passwords giving him access to his system again. “It was business,” he repeated. “With a little personal,” he said slowly. “I couldn’t believe he turned on me. He saw the numbers, the potential. Through Hellfire, he could’ve given you a limitless future.”
“With blood money.”
“The whole world runs on blood money,” Halloran said, flinging out a hand. “We made this bed we’re stuck in, manipulating this leader for that resource. I did terrible things in the name of your freedom. My pet project wasn’t anything different than what the government has done. What made me a criminal was doing it for personal gain.”
“You actually believe that.” She kept an eye out for Frank, eager to give him the takedown signal.
“I’ve lived it,” Halloran was saying. “Frank’s lived it. That’s what made him such a great fit.”
“Kelly, you can’t really believe that.”
“Don’t take that tone with me.” He snatched her elbow in a hard grip and forced her to look out to sea, away from any passengers. “A report doesn’t convey with any accuracy the things we’ve seen and done in the field. I did plenty of good out there and then I took control. Made things even better. Only God will tell me if I went too far.”
Sophia felt more than qualified to tell him he’d gone too far, but it would fall on deaf ears and an empty conscience.
“You have what you need. Take your hands off my wife.”
At the sound of Frank’s voice, Sophia nearly cheered.
“I’ll do whatever I please,” Halloran said, twisting around and using Sophia as a shield.
“Keep that up,” Frank said to him. “Give me a reason to do what I so desperately want to do. Right now. Right here.”
Furious at Halloran’s pointless actions, Sophia didn’t bother to struggle. There wasn’t much he could do here on a crowded ferry. Had he overlooked the two hundred witnesses milling around?
“Let my wife go.” Frank took a menacing step closer. “Or you can take a swim right now.”
“Your hands are as tied as mine, General Leone!” Halloran shouted the name. Faces turned their way with varying degrees of concern and irritation. “I control all of it now.” He shoved Sophia hard, the deck railing biting into her bruised ribs. Frank took a step, and Halloran whipped out a knife and pressed it to her throat.
“Stay back,” Halloran yelled.
People around them gasped and moved back. Some pulled out phones and started recording, while others urged children to a safer distance. Sophia wanted to laugh. Knives were a respected weapon but hardly a challenge to the Leone family. Frank had given countless young soldiers classes on knife combat and defense.
“This is ridiculous, Kelly,” she said. The man was coming unhinged. “You have everything you demanded.”
The ferry’s minimal security team was already approaching. There was nowhere for Halloran to run.
She exchanged a look with Frank, hoping he understood and trusted her judgment. “What was the plan, Kelly? Take the evidence and bribe your way across the border?”
Frank nodded his support of her tactic. “Uncut rubies,” Frank answered, holding up the belt wallet.
“Give that to me!” Halloran couldn’t hold her and take the rubies. Something had to give.
Taking advantage of his indecision, Sophia plowed an elbow into his ribs as she pushed away the knife with her free hand. The second she was clear, Frank lunged, slamming Halloran hard on the deck. Security closed around them. Focused on Halloran, the security team didn’t see Halloran’s spy draw his gun and take aim at Frank.
Sophia shoved Frank, knocking him into one of the security guards. As the men stumbled and scrambled, the spy fired. The bullet missed Frank and hit Halloran in the chest. Sophia rushed to the man who’d put them all through hell, determined to keep him alive long enough to clear Frank’s name.
Time blurred as paramedics arrived,
nudging her into Frank’s solid embrace. The ferry reached the island and slowly the passengers were cleared one by one to disembark. Halloran and his last two loyal spies were taken into custody and ushered back to Seattle by a hydrofoil.
Through the combined support of Sophia’s connections, the Colby Agency and Aidan’s international contacts, she and Frank were transported by helicopter to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, where an army CID special agent took their statements. When the formalities were completed, the special agent confirmed Engle, Lowry and Farrell would all remain in federal custody, along with their associates.
By nightfall, Frank was declared officially alive and cleared to go home, no longer a murder suspect. In the coming days, his service record would be set straight and he would be absolved of any and all crimes. Though they were asked to remain in the country until the paperwork was complete, the special agent addressed him by his proper rank and ordered an official car to take them home.
“Home,” he mused, his voice full of wonder, as they stood side by side waiting for the car. “I’d almost given up on the idea.”
It had started to rain and Sophia wanted nothing more than to be at peace with her husband watching that rain from the little bistro table on her front porch. “Come home with me,” she said. “At least for tonight.”
“Sophie...”
“What is it?”
“Did you hear from Frankie? Was she there today? Too ashamed to speak to me?”
Sophia smiled up at him. “She wasn’t there. Knowing your wishes, Aidan and I had other people onboard for any needed backup.”
He rubbed his eyes and swallowed hard. “Thank you.”
Her heart ached for everything he’d endured. “Come home with me, Frank. We’ve had enough hotels for a while. I think you’ll like what I did with the house.” She’d asked Frankie and Aidan to wait for them there. “There’s a perfectly tidy guest room if—”
He moved so swiftly she lost her breath as he kissed her soundly. “I won’t sleep if I’m apart from you.”
The earnestness in his blue eyes melted her heart.
The car arrived and she took his hand when he seemed frozen by uncertainty. “Then come home, Frank. It’s past time.”
* * *
FRANK KNEW SHE was up to something. She had that look in her eye, the same look he’d seen on his fortieth birthday when she’d surprised him with a party at the office. He didn’t deserve a party tonight. Not after he’d shut out the two people who meant the most to him in this world. He wasn’t sure he deserved to stick around, to maintain any sort of contact.
His choices had hurt all three of them. Would they truly be able to overcome it?
“I should stay at a hotel,” he murmured, terrified he knew exactly what Sophia was up to. The idea of seeing his daughter again scared him more than Halloran’s potential escape. How could he face Frankie? How could he ask for her forgiveness for all he’d put her through? “I wouldn’t know where to start explaining to her.”
He watched the rain-soaked streets flash by under the streetlamps.
Sophia’s hand slipped into his. “You knew well enough where to start with me.”
“That was different.”
“Why?”
He couldn’t articulate it, couldn’t push the words past the lump in his throat. “Maybe after the wedding. I shouldn’t intrude.”
“Oh, what a ridiculous thing to say.” Her fingers dug into his a little too hard. “And selfish.”
He turned away from the gloomy view. “Selfish? I’m trying to do the right thing here.” He attempted to tug his hand free, but she wouldn’t let go.
“Then do the right thing.”
He was surprised to see no judgment in her deep brown eyes, only peace, affection and an underlying understanding.
“She loves you,” Sophia said. “Planning the wedding has been a delicate balancing act because she’s so happy with Aidan and so sad you’re not around.”
“She can’t possibly still need me. You’ve told me repeatedly how capable and independent she is.”
The car turned into Queen Anne, and he felt his heart rate speed up, knowing the moment of truth was nearly upon him.
“Frank,” she urged gently, “no matter how independent or capable, a girl always needs her father.” She raised his hand to her face and rubbed it against her soft cheek. “If you bail now, you’ll do irrevocable damage.”
His wife’s assessment scared him. Was it selfish to want to put this off another day?
“She understands mission and classified information,” Sophia continued. “Trust her. Trust me.”
“I do.” He trusted her more than he’d ever trusted anyone. Loved his girls. “I love you. Both of you.”
“We know.”
“The idea of hurting you, of adding to the damage I’ve already done...” He ran out of words again.
Sophia shifted closer, her thigh rubbing along his. “You did what was necessary. Do you honestly think we’d fault you for it?”
“Dolcezza, you’re too good for me.” The car stopped on a neighborhood street and he looked around. “Queen Anne?”
“Just as we planned,” she said, her eyes bright.
“I was convicted of treason,” he said, stunned. “Why hang on to our dream?”
“I suppose it was my way of hanging on to you, my love. Come inside and let’s be a family again.”
Before he could protest or beg for more time, the front door flew open and Frankie raced down the steps, heedless of the wet weather. She nearly careened into the sedan in her haste to wrench open the door.
“Daddy!”
Frank climbed out and found himself tugged into his daughter’s embrace as the soft night rain washed away the last of his guilt and trepidation. He held her tight in his arms and Sophia joined them in a group hug.
The nightmare was truly over. He was home and nothing would tear him away again.
Chapter Fourteen
Saturday, September 27, 6:30 p.m.
Frank’s heart pounded as he waited for his daughter to join him at the back door of the lovely estate where she would exchange vows with Aidan in the garden in mere minutes. He’d thought this day out of his reach. To be reunited with his family, to feel whole inside and out—well, the reality of it was still sinking in.
He’d never been happier, except on the day he’d exchanged vows with his remarkable wife, Sophia.
Frankie peeked around the corner, then rushed forward, a glowing vision in her mother’s redesigned wedding gown. She lifted her veil to kiss his cheek, bouncing a little on her toes. “You’re radiant,” he whispered, kissing her cheek in turn. A stronger voice was out of his reach. “Aidan will be speechless.”
“Not too speechless, I hope,” Frankie said, her eyes sparkling with absolute joy. “He has some important words to say.” Her gaze dropped to the bouquet in her hands before she raised those warm brown eyes, so like her mother’s, to his once more. “I’m so thankful you’re here, Daddy. This day wouldn’t have been the same without you.”
He placed her hand on his arm when the music changed for her entrance. They heard the rustle of movement as guests got to their feet. “Thanks for your faith in me, sunshine.”
She took a deep breath and gave his arm a little squeeze. “Let’s go before they send out a search party.”
They started down the aisle, as stately as they’d rehearsed, each step taking him closer to the moment when he would give away his daughter, his only child, to the man of her dreams. He knew his first look should’ve been to double-check the groom’s reaction, to be sure the young man was up to the task to love, honor and cherish Frank’s baby. Instead, his gaze landed on his wife, the woman who had embodied all his dreams from the first moment he’d laid eyes on her over three dec
ades ago.
Somehow he managed to give his daughter to her groom and take his seat beside Sophia without tripping over his lines or his feet. He had to assume the ceremony was perfect, as the moment overwhelmed him and he didn’t hear much of it. Thank goodness, there would be video. In what felt like a matter of seconds, the minister pronounced Frankie and Aidan married.
As the guests were ushered toward the reception, Frank couldn’t stop smiling as the families were posed this way and that for official pictures. At last they were done and heading back up the lawns to join the reception in the estate ballroom.
Sophia slipped her hand into his. “Congratulations, darling. We did it.”
He wasn’t sure if she referred to the dangers they’d survived or reaching this milestone as parents. Not that it mattered. They were together and they’d get to enjoy the next stage of their lives together. Just as they had planned.
Still, he felt as if the moment needed a bigger gesture, some way to symbolize his return to the man she trusted with her heart and her future.
Sophia stroked her free hand over their joined hands. “Will you walk with me a minute?”
He smiled. “You should know by now that I’d walk with you anywhere.”
She smiled back. “To hell and back maybe?” she queried. “Yes, I noticed.”
To Frank’s surprise, Sophia led him to a quiet, meditation garden. At the far end a waterfall trickled merrily down over a clever tumble of rocks. Flowers spilled over the edges of big planters, and benches flanked a reflecting pool in the center.
As if on cue, the minister stepped in front of the waterfall, Victoria and Lucas in his wake.
“I’d marry you all over again, Franklin Leone. I thought it would be a nice gesture if we renewed our vows.”
Nice? He thought it would be perfect. “I’d be honored, dolcezza.”
She twisted off the wedding rings she’d just started wearing again and put them in his palm. He gave his ring to her and they stepped forward.
