Dani decided to be grateful.
Adam’s attention meant a lot to her and she appreciated his help. She refused to allow herself to be suspicious of his motives. She’d seen him angry, she’d seen him tenderly care for Simon, and she’d seen him come after her with a desperation in his eyes that had stunned her. A desperation to make sure she and Simon were safe.
She turned on the machine and listened to it start up with a quiet hum. She liked her new house. A small rental in a nice neighborhood. Adam was right. It fit her and Simon. No bad memories came with it. Only the promise of the future. A good future.
Outside the sun shone bright, deceiving one into thinking it was a warm day while the temperatures hovered just above thirty.
All should be right with her world now that she didn’t have to worry about Stuart or Kurt or Joe or Jenny or anyone trying to kill her.
And yet it wasn’t. All wasn’t right.
Because something was still very, very wrong.
But what?
She realized it was the letter. The one that Kurt wrote and left in the bag with the other items. Her subconscious had been working on it, and the more she thought about it, the more she didn’t believe Kurt wrote it.
But he had to be the one who wrote it. Who else could have? And for what reason? Dani sighed. She was just going to have to accept that her husband had pulled the ultimate practical joke from the grave.
It was over.
The hairs on the back of her neck spiked and she froze.
And slowly turned to come face-to-face with a woman who looked familiar, but one she couldn’t place. Dani lifted a hand to her chest as though that would calm her racing pulse. “Who are you? Why are you in my kitchen?”
“I was looking for you.”
“Most people knock when they want to enter someone else’s home.” She could feel her pulse beating at the base of her throat. She reached for the cell phone she’d left on the counter.
“I’m not most people.” The woman moved closer.
Dani’s fingers closed over the phone. “Wait a minute, I recognize you. You came to see me after Kurt died.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“To put the plan in motion.”
Dani blinked. “What plan?”
“Do you know who my father was?”
Dani pressed one button and hit Send. The woman still stood on the other side of the counter, the raised bar hiding Dani’s actions. She looked for a weapon, but the woman’s hands were by her side so she couldn’t see one. But that didn’t mean she didn’t have one.
Confused, Dani frowned. “No. I don’t even know who you are.”
“I’m Julie Faraday. Gordon Faraday was my father.”
Dani gasped with shock. “I’m so sorry! I heard about his death. It was terrible.”
“Is that all you can say?”
“What else can I say that would help?” Dani tried to soothe. The longer they stood there, the more agitated the woman became. “What can I do? What do you want from me?”
“I want you to know.”
“Know what?”
“Know that your husband and his stupid practical joke killed my father. Your husband murdered my dad and all he could say was ‘Gotcha.’”
Dani held out a beseeching hand. “Please … I don’t understand.”
“Then let me explain it.” She lifted her right hand and pointed a gun at Dani’s face.
Adam heard Dani’s voice and another woman talking. She’d called but hadn’t answered his hellos. Adam frowned, wondering if she’d dialed the number accidentally. With his feet propped up on the desk, he’d been contemplating calling her to ask her if she and Simon would want to have dinner with him.
Just as he was about to hang up, he heard her say, “Why don’t you put the gun down?”
His feet hit the floor with a thud and he stood to bolt over into Blake’s office. With a jerk of his hand, he motioned for Blake to follow.
Blake lifted a brow, but must have sensed his urgency as he stood and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. “You drive,” Adam mouthed and punched the mute button.
“Where?” Blake asked.
“Dani’s new place.”
Blake nodded and together they hurried out to Blake’s red truck. Adam put the phone on speaker.
Dani was talking, her voice a little shaky, but firm. “I can’t change whatever it was that Kurt did.”
“My father was deathly afraid of snakes after being bitten last year. Almost seven months ago, several of his friends at the FBI threw him a birthday party. Your husband put snakes into a box—” Her voice cracked.
Adam looked at Blake. “Faster.”
“—and when my father opened that box, all those snakes popped out all over him and he had a heart attack and died.” Tears dripped down Julie’s cheeks and Dani’s heart went out to the woman even as she prayed Adam was on the way.
“But I didn’t have anything to do with that,” she whispered. “My husband was an evil, evil man. If he found a weakness in someone, he preyed on it. He did the same thing to me and our son.”
Doubt flickered in Julie’s eyes. Then hardened. “For six months I’ve planned my father’s revenge. Do you know, I went up to that office and pumped those agents for information?” She gave a hiccuping laugh. “Ralph was more than willing to let me ask questions and talk about my father. He thought I needed to, that it was therapeutic. So I made it a point to go to his office a couple of times a week. Other agents felt sorry for me and told me stories about my father. Like his suspicions about Kurt Harding and how he’d gone to his superior and said he shouldn’t get that promotion.”
“I’m so sorry,” Dani whispered.
“I planned it all, you know. I planted the letters. I set up the safe-deposit box, everything. A couple of weeks before my father died, I was at the office waiting to go to lunch with him and overheard a conversation between Peter Hastings and another agent about some plates they needed but couldn’t get their hands on. And Peter said that whoever had those plates was dead. At the time, it didn’t mean much, but later, as Ralph filled me in on more details, I realized how to set everything up. I wanted Joseph Duncan dead. He was as bad as your husband. All he cared about was money. He stood there and watched my father die. He didn’t even care! Ralph said he even laughed. Laughed!”
Dani prayed Adam was listening. “But your father died the same day as Kurt. How did you put it all together so fast?”
“It wasn’t hard. Ralph was at the hospital with my dad when I got there. We were both grief-stricken. He talked and I listened. And the more I listened, the angrier I got. It didn’t take long to plan everything. I had time because I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, could hardly do anything except plan. Within a few days, I had it all laid out.”
Dani’s mind spun, reeling with the information. “Did you plant the letter in my end table?”
“Yes, and the safe-deposit key, and I sent letters to Joe and that witch down the street, Jenny. And Stuart—” She gave a derisive laugh. “Stuart was so blind with his infatuation for you, I didn’t know if he’d even care about the letter, but he did.”
“And you impersonated me at the bank.”
“You wrote checks for bills and put them in your mailbox. All I had to do was steal one and practice your signature, get a fake ID with all of your information on it, and I was in.”
She made it sound so easy. Dani blinked and forced her mind to work.
“But why hurt me? I didn’t have anything to do with your father’s death. I was scared of Kurt and only stayed with him because I was afraid he’d kill me if I left him.”
“Why hurt you? Because you bought the snakes.”
Dani blinked. “How did you know that?” She could almost hear the woman’s teeth grinding.
“Because the receipt was mixed in with the disgusting creatures. Your name was on it.”
“Kurt sent me into the store. I have a debit
card that he allowed me to have and use occasionally. But I only bought them on his order.”
“Then I guess that was one order you should have disobeyed.” She lifted the gun higher and raised her other hand to steady the weapon. “Now you can join him.”
The gun cracked. Dani dove for the floor, expecting to feel the bite of a bullet. She waited for the pain. Instead she heard a thud and, pulse racing, looked up to see Julie Faraday on the floor, a black hole between her eyes.
Adam’s tense face appeared in the window that had been shattered by the bullet.
Dani placed her hands over her face and cried.
ONE YEAR LATER
Adam watched Dani pour herself a cup of coffee. “You want to sit outside on the balcony?”
“Sure.” She offered him an easy smile and followed him to settle into the three-seater swing.
“It’s Christmas Eve.”
“Yes, it is. And it’s a lovely sixty-five degrees.”
“Unbelievable.” He let out a contented sigh, sank down beside her, and took a sip of his tea. “We’re going to my parents’ for lunch tomorrow, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
“And your mom’s coming?”
“Yes.” Dani’s mother had moved one neighborhood over from Dani, and Adam knew she was loving the proximity. She and her mother were closer than ever. Her happiness reflected on her face.
“Where’s Simon?” Adam asked.
“Playing that game with Mitchell. I would fuss about him spending too much time on it, but he’s doing math, for goodness’ sakes.”
“You do realize he’s probably got a genius IQ, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“It’s going to take a lot of energy to keep up with him.”
She gave a low laugh. “Yes, I’m aware of that too.”
Adam cleared his throat and looked down. She must have sensed his nervousness. Or something. “Adam?”
“Yes?”
“Are you all right?”
“Why do you ask?”
She frowned. “Because you’re acting a little weird.”
He stood and walked to the rail of the balcony. “That’s because I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.”
“About?”
He turned to face her. “Us.”
“Us. Okay.”
He couldn’t read her. That fact scared him to death. He was going to have to jump off the cliff without a safety net. “Dani, we met in a crazy way.”
“Yes.”
He found the seat beside her again. It was easier than standing on shaky legs. “But I’m glad you found us. Found Operation Refuge, and I’m glad God brought you into my life.”
Dani leaned forward to kiss him. A long, sweet, lingering kiss that he wanted to deepen and definitely prolong. Instead he pulled away and cleared his throat. “Okay, as much as I enjoy it, stop distracting me. I’ve got stuff to say.”
She blinked and tilted her head. “All right. Sorry.”
Adam groaned and leaned over to plant another kiss on her lips. “No, no. Don’t be sorry. Just … listen.”
“Sure.” She smiled up at him, curiosity burning in her gaze.
He took a deep breath. “Dani, I love you.”
She smiled.
He stopped. “What’s that smile mean?”
“It means, I know you love me. You’ve loved me for a long time.”
Adam gaped. Dani laughed and tapped his chin. He shut his mouth, then opened it. “Well, yeah. Practically from the moment you walked into my office.”
A cloud settled over her face. “I was another woman that day. Broken. Scared—”
“Strong, a fighter.”
“I didn’t feel strong,” she whispered.
Adam wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You were. Still are.”
“Thank you for giving me time. Time to figure out my life and get it back on track. Time to spend with Simon and just—be. Thank you for not pushing. We both needed the space and the time to heal and figure out what it means to live and not be afraid every moment.”
“And if you need more time, I’ll wait.”
Dani shook her head. “I don’t need any more time. I know my heart.” She placed her hand against his chest. “And I know yours.”
“I love you, Dani,” he said again. This time with more confidence.
Tears flooded her eyes and she blinked to hold them in. “I love you too, Adam.”
“And I love Simon like he’s my own.”
“I know, I’ve seen it.”
“And so,” Adam signed, “why don’t you come on over and join us, Simon?”
Simon stepped out onto the balcony, the sheepish expression on his face betraying his eavesdropping. Dani shot him a frown and her son shrugged.
Adam pulled Simon down next to him and grabbed him in a loose headlock. When he let go, Simon grinned and gave Adam a light punch on the arm.
Men. Dani sighed. But then smiled. How she loved these two.
Adam signed, “Ready?”
Simon nodded.
Dani lifted a brow. “What are you two up to?”
Adam shoved his hand in his front pocket and pulled out a small box. Dani gasped. Then noted the fine tremor in his fingers as he popped it open to reveal a gorgeous square-cut diamond. She gulped and looked into his eyes, absently noting Simon’s gleeful expression.
“Dani, I know I’m nothing fancy and I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my past, but this last year has been one of the best in my life because you and Simon were a part of it. I was ready to marry you eleven months ago, but knew you needed time. So, if you’re ready, I’m ready.”
Dani couldn’t speak through the lump in her throat. Could barely see through the tears in her eyes, but she managed a nod. Adam slipped to the floor in front of her and removed the ring from the box. He took her left hand. “Will you marry me?”
Dani blinked. Felt a tear slip down her cheek. Looked at the ring and the man behind it. Thought of all the reasons she should say yes. Then tried to think of why she should say no.
Adam’s hand tightened on hers. “You’re scaring me, Dani.”
She took a deep breath. “I’m trying to think of a reason to say no.”
His face fell and he lost all color. He started to pull away from her and she clasped his hand tighter. “But I can’t think of a single one,” she whispered. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He slid the ring on her finger, then grabbed her to place a firm, hard kiss on her lips. He gave a low, shaky laugh. “Don’t torture me like that ever again.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“So, when are you getting married?” Simon asked.
Dani shuddered from all the emotion rolling inside her, but turned to Simon. “You knew about this?”
“Of course.”
“Of course,” she murmured.
Adam shrugged. “I couldn’t ask you without getting permission from the person you love most.”
She leaned over and kissed him again, then smiled. “One of the people I love most.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the finger that now held his ring. “To forever?”
“Forever.”
“Thank goodness,” Simon declared. “Now, I’m starving, where are we going to eat?”
Prologue
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH
ATLANTA, GA—CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL
“It’s time,” the voice said. “Remember what we told you.”
CDC employee Anwar Goff wanted to rip the small piece from his ear and stomp it into oblivion. But his tormentors had been very clear about what would happen if he did so. “If at any time we can’t hear you, they will die. Ask for help, they will die. Write a message, they will die. Use your phone, they will die. Am I clear?” So Anwar left the earpiece alone and slipped from the bathroom. His footsteps echoed on the tile flooring as he walked down the empty hall.
CDC Building 18 had shut down about an hour ago. An
war moved with slow, hesitant strides that all too quickly ate up the distance between the bathroom and the Biosafety Level 4 lab. Sweat threatened to drip into his eyes and he drew his left arm across his forehead.
With shaking fingers, he swiped the key card, and the first set of doors opened, then closed behind him. For a moment, he just stood there, trembling. “God, help me,” he whispered, then moved once again.
“God can’t help you. Only I can,” the voice whispered, then gave a small laugh. Evil clung to the words and Anwar clamped his lips shut.
Once inside the changing area, he set his briefcase on the bench next to the lockers and drew in a deep breath. He couldn’t help the stifled sob that slipped from him as he opened the third locker from the left.
Don’t think, just do it. Within seconds he was in protective clothing, complete with mask, gloves, and gown.
Next, he rolled the combination on the briefcase to unlock it. With short, sluggish steps, Anwar left the changing room and approached the next set of doors. He swiped his card again. The doors opened with a soft whoosh and he stepped into the BSL-4 lab.
His target lay in the locked freezer just ahead. Muttering another prayer, he crossed the room, opened the freezer door, and found what he’d come for. He paused and swallowed hard as he simply stared, feeling paralyzed. Helpless. For the past seven years, he’d worked his way up the ranks of the CDC, gaining the confidence of his superiors. And now all of his hard work had brought him to this.
“We’re waiting. Your family is waiting.”
He thought of his wife and two teenage children. With another deep breath, he reached into the freezer. Carefully, he transferred the tray that held the one-inch-long plastic vials topped with the plastic screw caps. The vials sat in seven little white cardboard boxes. One by one, he removed the boxes and placed them in the black case. There they would be kept frozen by the dry ice during transport.
Anwar snapped the briefcase closed and rolled the combination to lock it.
He’d done it. He’d really done it. Tremors raced through him as he glanced at the clock on the wall. He had very few minutes to spare, but he wasn’t quite sure his legs would be able to carry him back through the two sets of doors. He didn’t move. Couldn’t. He simply couldn’t do this. “I can’t do this,” he whispered.
Nowhere to Turn Page 26
