Uncovered by Truth
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Books by Rachael Duncan
Uncovered by Truth
Copyright © 2015 by Rachael Duncan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form of by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes, if done so constitutes a copyright violation.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.
Edited by:
Nichole Strauss with Perfectly Publishable
Interior Design and Formatting by:
Christine Borgford with Perfectly Publishable
Cover Designed by:
Marisa Shor with Cover Me, Darling
TO MY HUSBAND, STEVEN.
FROM THE PIER TO HERE.
NO MATTER HOW many times I end up in this shithole, I will never get used to the heat. I wipe the sweat off of my brow as I look out the window of the humvee at the hell that is Afghanistan.
“Keep your eyes open, guys,” I hear our captain say over the radio.
“Roger, that,” I reply. We’re in our trucks getting ready to roll through Waziristan, a dangerous area known for hiding insurgents. But the only way to get rid of the bad guys is to go where they are. So that’s what we’re doing. We’re drawing them out of their hiding places so we can take them out.
Fuckers.
“How’s that baby girl of yours, Schwartz?” I ask the other sergeant on the team who’s sitting beside me. He and his wife had a little girl right before we got sent out.
His whole face lights up at the mention of his daughter. “She’s perfect, bro. She just rolled over yesterday.”
I smack him on the back a few times. “That’s great, man. Real gr—” I’m cut off by a deafening explosion that jostles the vehicle, bringing it to a screeching stop. The ringing in my ears is so severe I can’t even hear myself think. Fuck! What’s going on? I look around, trying desperately to get my bearings from the shock of the blast, but all I see is the dust and sand the humvee kicked up, coming to a sudden halt. My hand goes to my head as I try to shake myself out of the fog the blast has created.
I know we didn’t take a direct hit, but a lot of times you don’t have to. “Everyone alright?” I yell over the chaos. I hear the faint sounds of popping in the background and know we need to get out and check on the other guys.
“Yeah,” the other three guys call out one by one.
“Okay, let’s see what the damage is to the other two trucks ahead of us.” We pile out of the truck, making sure to check our surroundings and stay covered from any hajis hiding up in the mountains. The dust has settled some, which allows me to get a view of the other trucks. “Cover me!” I yell. After getting a thumbs-up from my team, I take a deep breath and sprint to the next vehicle. Shots rain out all around me, hitting the dirt inches from me each time.
“Son of a bitch!” I yell out at no one in particular. I make it to the truck in front of us and quickly assess the damage. The truck is a little beat up from the spray of the blast, but nothing major. The vehicle ahead of this one, the one leading the convoy, isn’t so lucky. I sprint toward it as I see fire engulfing the front of it. I need to get everyone out of there before they’re toast. Again, shots fire down on me, but I keep going.
The driver is slumped forward, his head resting on the steering wheel. “Carter! Carter!” I shout at him. The smoke coming from the fire blows in my face, causing me to cough. Flames flicker in the corner of my eye and I know we don’t have long before this blows to shit. He moves just enough to let me know he’s alive. “Let’s go, buddy. You gotta get out of here. Can you walk?” I duck down when a loud ping sounds out next to me, startling me.
“I think my leg is busted up a little.” He winces in pain, his breaths labored as he speaks. I look down at it, and busted doesn’t quite explain it. It’s mangled beyond recognition from the shrapnel that tore through it. He’s probably going to lose his leg. I look in the truck to assess the other guys. Smith is in the passenger seat and is all fucked up. Half of his body is missing, having been blown off from the hit. His eyes are open, but they’re completely vacant. Knowing he can’t be saved, I’ll come back for him last. The two guys in the back start moving around, but are still disoriented.
“Okay, let me get Hernandez and Walker out. Give me a second.” I go to the back door and see that there’s blood all over the seats and I know they’ve sustained injuries too.
“How are they?” My captain asks as he runs toward me.
“Not looking good. Carter has a fucked up leg, sir.”
“You help them out, I’ll grab Carter,” he says to me.
“Roger, sir.” Turning back to Hernandez and Walker, I see they’re already moving to get out, the initial shock wearing off. “You guys good to walk?”
They nod, “Yeah!” Hernandez shouts.
“We need to run to the other truck, okay?” Again they nod before stumbling out. “Alright, let’s go!” The three of us take off toward the other vehicle leaving the captain and Carter. The adrenaline coursing through me has my senses on high alert. I hear the crackling of the flames at my back, and the popping of the bullets being fired; I feel the stifling heat that suffocates my body, and the beads of sweat rolling down my forehead and blurring my vision when it gets in my eye; I smell the stench of burnt tires and gunpowder as it fills the air. Through all of that, I have one goal: get these guys to cover. It becomes clear Hernandez is hurt more than he’s leading on. He’s limping pretty bad and hardly moving. “You go on, Walker!” I turn and drape Hernandez’s arm over my shoulders and help him get the hell out of here.
“RPG!” I hear someone yell from the other truck. I don’t have time to react, not that I could outrun it anyway. The RPG hits the first truck and the blast sends Hernandez and I flying. Pain radiates through my body and I roll over knowing I’ve got to get the hell up before I get shot. I cough a few times, the force knocking the wind out of me momentarily.
“Are you okay?” My head feels like it’s under water making the question sound muted and muffled. Schwartz comes into my focus as he starts to drag me out of the open.
&nb
sp; “No! Get Hernandez!” I shout at him.
“Hernandez is dead! Let’s go!”
“Okay! I can walk!” He lets go so I can get up. Right when I do, a cracking noise zips past me. I look at Schwartz and see blood gushing out of his neck. Seconds later, pain rips through my arm.
“Fuck!” I don’t look at it. I don’t have time. I throw Schwartz over my shoulder and run as fast as I can for the truck. My legs are moving on nothing but pure adrenaline and determination. “We need air support!” I yell to the guys I’m running toward. Right at that moment, another blast explodes, hitting the truck I was headed for. We are so fucked.
MY EYES FLY open and that’s when I remember where I am and the events from today come rushing back.
Being taken outside of Elizabeth’s house.
The phone call where she sounded so scared.
The pistol to my face.
I’ve had a lot of close calls where I didn’t know if I’d live or die, but I can say I’d never been more terrified in my life. The thought that I’d never see Elizabeth again was damn near crippling. Right before the big guy pulled the trigger, he aimed it at the wall behind me. I didn’t have time to feel relieved since he hit me in the head right after and knocked me out.
Fuck. My head is pounding and my wrists are starting to burn from being tied behind my back in this chair. Despite the pain, my first concern is Elizabeth. Panic starts to set in as I wonder where she is and if she’s okay. Cal is a dangerous man and I’ve got to get her the hell out of there before she gets hurt.
“Ah, how nice of you to join us, Mr. Matthews. Seems you were having a bit of a nightmare.” The sound of his voice makes my fists and jaw clench, wanting so damn bad to beat the shit out of him.
My eyes zero in on him, pouring every ounce of anger and hatred I can into my stare. “What can I help you with, Mr. Fitzgerald?” My voice is impassive, but I’m boiling over on the inside.
“Right, let’s get down to why you’re here. I have something that I need you to help me with. Something I think you’ll be good at given your set of skills from your time in the service.”
I spit on the ground, the taste of blood filling my mouth. “Why would I help you do a damn thing?”
“Because if you don’t, someone you care about will die. And by someone, I mean Elizabeth.”
A cold chill runs up my spine at the thought of her getting hurt. Knowing I have no choice but to play along for now, I say, “I’m listening.”
“You’re going to kill Bill Hutchison.” He looks down at his chest and wipes at some nonexistent lint on his lapel.
I let out a humorless laugh. “And why would I do that?” I’m calm on the outside, but the situation is slowly sinking in. Maybe my cover hasn’t been blown and this is something else completely.
“Because I told you to. I thought we’d already gone over the stakes and what will happen should you choose not to comply,” Cal says.
“Okay, let me rephrase. Why do you want him killed?” I know who Bill Hutchison is. He’s running against Cal in the primary election and is ahead of him in the polls, which is exactly what the Bureau wants. We needed a strong candidate who has a chance of beating Cal. But I don’t want him to know I have this information. So for now, I’ll keep my cards close to my chest and play dumb.
“You don’t need to worry about the details, just worry about how to get the job done.” He stares at me impassively, his face at odds with the request he just made. You would think he’s asking me to pick up some milk at the grocery store or something.
“For me to plan effectively, I need to know who he is to make my job a lot easier.” I already know the answer, but I want to hear him say it.
“He’s ahead in the polls and right now it’s mathematically impossible for me to beat him in the primary elections. Once he’s eliminated, I won’t have any more . . .” he pauses, looking up at the ceiling as he finds the right word, “obstacles. You see, Mr. Matthews,” he says as he leans in closer to me. “I’m a very determined man. If there’s something in my way, I simply remove it. Take you, for example. You come along and suddenly Elizabeth wants a life filled with love. She can’t leave me. I won’t allow it. So I take you out of the equation and she’s back to being her robotic self who waves at the cameras and lets me fuck her hard at night.”
I pull on my restraints and arch my back, trying to get loose, eager to get my hands around his throat for talking about her like that. “You better keep your fucking hands off of her!” I yell at him while the rope around my wrists starts cutting into my skin.
“You don’t get this done, and me burying my dick inside of her will be the least of your worries.”
“You just wait, motherfucker—”
“I’d watch it if I were you,” he warns. I can’t let my emotions get the better of me right now. I have to keep a level head and get through this or I won’t be able to help her.
Taking a deep breath, I quit fighting and say, “And you want me to, what? Walk up to him and put a bullet in his head?”
“No, that could be linked to me since it’s no secret you were my wife’s bodyguard. I need you to do what you were trained to do; kill someone from a long distance without being detected.” I’m sure he’ll just let me walk away when it’s all done, too. Yeah, right. “Just remember you’re doing this for Elizabeth. You fail, she dies. It’s simple,” he says with a shrug. With that, he turns to leave.
“Wait!” I call out after him. He stops but doesn’t turn. “Are you going to have one of your goons with me at all times?” I can’t have someone trailing me if I’m going to report all of this back to headquarters.
Cal slowly turns to face me. “Of course I am. Do you think I’m dumb enough to let you run around unsupervised?”
“Then this isn’t going to work.” I look him dead in the eyes, trying to give off a level of authority while I’m tied up to a chair.
“Excuse me?” Anger flashes in his eyes quickly before he masks it.
“I can’t do my research and plan a hit with a tail. Look at these guys.” I nod my head in their direction. “They don’t exactly scream discrete. If I’m going to be sneaking around undetected, I need a little latitude. If I get busted, it won’t take much to connect me to you.”
He’s silent for a minute thinking about what I’ve said. His jaw ticks a few times and I know this doesn’t make him happy. “Then don’t get caught.” His voice is low, no doubt meant to be a threat. “If anything goes wrong—if I think you’re doing anything suspicious—I won’t hesitate to take that bitch out. Am I clear?” I grind my teeth to keep from saying something stupid, but hearing him talk about Elizabeth like that pisses me the fuck off. It’s a good thing I’m tied up right now because I would be beating the shit out of him if I wasn’t.
I nod. “Crystal.”
“Good, get to work. I want you to give my guys daily reports on your plan and progress.” He doesn’t wait for my reply as he turns and walks toward the door. He pauses and turns back to me. “Oh, one more thing.” Looking at one of the big guys, he nods his head in my direction. He approaches, pulls back his fist, and punches me in the stomach. I hunch over in pain as much as my restraints will allow. The wind is knocked out of me and I cough uncontrollably. “That’s for fucking my wife,” Cal sneers. My head snaps up as I struggle to regain my breath.
He comes back over to me. “Don’t look so surprised.” His hand rests on the back of my chair and he leans into my face. “I know everything Elizabeth does. Everything. I hope you enjoyed sampling what’s mine, because it’ll be the last time you ever touch her again. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Fuck you.” I pull at the rope tied around my wrists needing to get up and strangle this asshole.
“No, thanks. That’s what I have Elizabeth for.” A sadistic smile takes over his face.
I buck wildly at the thought of him touching her. “I will kill you, motherfucker!”
He throws his head back, his cold chuckle cut
ting through my rage. “You’re not in any position to make threats, Mr. Matthews.” With that, he walks out.
My blood boils just beneath the surface of my skin and I know if I don’t get my shit together quickly, this will get bad, and that ultimately puts Elizabeth in danger. After several seconds, I let out a slow breath and some of the tension coiled tightly in my body with it.
This is definitely not an ideal situation; I just hope I can get enough space to accomplish what I need to without blowing my cover. So far, it looks like he has no idea I’m an agent and I need to keep it that way. If he finds out, I know for sure my ass is done, and Elizabeth will likely die too. The thought of her hurt turns my stomach.
So many things start running through my head as I try to formulate some kind of plan quickly. I’ll need to find a way to contact my boss as soon as possible to let him know what’s going on. While living at the Fitzgerald residence, I would send a short text every night letting him know what I was finding out. Luckily, Cal was gone a lot, giving me the opportunity to search his office here and there. I’ll give him credit though, the bastard is careful. I wasn’t able to find anything concrete to link him to the charges we were going after.
“Bruce, you grab him while I pull the car around,” one of the big guys says. I don’t recognize the name and make a mental note to report it later. Bruce walks over and starts to untie me from the chair.
Before he finishes, he looks at me and says, “You try anything and you’re a dead man. Understand?”
“Yep,” I reply. Once my hands are free I bring them around to my lap and rub my sore wrists. They’re really red and raw from the friction of the rope, and my fingers start to tingle as the blood returns to them. Bruce yanks me up by my arm, which causes me to stumble a little since my body is so stiff from sitting in one spot for so damn long. “Where are we going?” I ask once we’re outside and they’re shoving me into the backseat of a black car with windows that are just as dark.
“We’re taking you to the apartment where you’ll get started,” the other guy says.
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