by Ivy Nelson
Her dog? She loved that dog. Adara usually traveled with Hamilton. Something was definitely wrong.
“I’m afraid I’m just as in the dark as you are Mrs. Hanover. But I’ll try my best to get to the bottom of it. I promise.”
He glanced at his clock. Darci and Bradley wouldn’t be leaving town for their Italian honeymoon for another couple of hours.
He picked up his cell and dialed Darci’s number.”
“Hey, Mrs. Givens,” he said when she answered, just to make her giggle. It worked. “I need to talk to your husband for a minute. Mind handinghim the phone?”
“You have his number. Why call me?”
“Maybe I just wanted to talk to my best friend for a minute. Jesus woman.”
She laughed. “Hold on a minute. He went to get us something to eat. We’re already at the airport.”
They spent a few minutes chatting while she waited for Bradley to return. Finally she passed her husband the phone.
“Hey man, what’s up? Did you talk to Adara?”
“Not exactly. I mean she basically sent me away and wouldn’t open her door last night. Something’s off. And this morning it got even weirder. Leslie Hanover called me. Adara asked her to take care of Hamilton.”
Bradley whistled. “That is completely unlike Adara. She loves that dog. I know she’s asked for space but she’s practically screaming for an intervention. I think you better check on her again. I’ll have my phone on in Italy. Call me if something is really wrong. I’ll do what I can from there,and as soon as we get back we’ll be right there with you for whatever she needs.”
“Thanks man. I think I’m going to go back over there and demand that she see me. If she’s even home.”
The couple said their goodbyes, and he ended the call. Most of the details of his promotion were taken care of, so after letting his new administrative assistant know that he was taking off for a couple of hours, he headed back to Adara’s house.
Her car was gone. He knocked on the door. No answer, but then, he wasn’t expecting one. Memories of the first time he’d spent the night came back to him and he made his way to the backyard. She’d shown him where she kept a spare key back there. Of course, he’d scolded her for keeping a key outside but now he was glad for it. Counting stones in the flowerbed, he picked up the fourth stone from the right. Sure enough, the shiny piece of metal stuck up out of the dirt. He brushed it off and inserted it into the lock.
The living room and kitchen seemed normal when he looked around, nothing was out of place and it was tidy the way it always was. Her bathroom was next, there he found her contact case and toothbrush missing. In the bedroom, he found it. On the shelf in the closet— where most of her clothes appeared to be missing—sat an envelope with his name on it. With trembling hands, he picked it up and pulled out the folded sheet of paper.
Michael,
I’m sorry it had to end like this but I have to leave. After I caught a glimpse of who you really are last night, I just don’t think I can do it anymore. I’m not sure I can face Bradley anymore either, so I’m going to leave. I don’t plan to return. Just know, that I enjoyed our time together. Please know that I’m doing what I think is best in this situation. Maybe I’ll go back to Arizona. Please don’t chase me. I need to do this.
Yours,
Adara
The paper wrinkled in his fingers as he clenched his fist around it. He read the note again. Arizona? That didn’t seem right. She’d gone to school there, but he thought she mentioned her parents being in a nursing home near D.C. so she could keep an eye on them. Was she leaving him a clue? It was a damned odd one if she was. Something was still off. She hadn’t seemed terrified or disgusted with his lifestyle at all last night. What had happened to change her mind? Had Damion in fact cornered her in the bathroom? His mind was running a million miles a minute as he tried to think of what could have possibly gone so wrong that Adara felt the need to uproot herself and leave town for good. The investigator in him was on high alert. He surveyed the room one more time. On the bed, he spotted a DCMPD T-shirt she had borrowed from him once. This was her way of saying goodbye.
Bitterness swept in as he fingered the faded letters on the tattered shirt. This was it then. She was really gone. Maybe she really was disgusted with his lifestyle. He crammed the letter she had left him in his pocket and gave in to the anger that had been brewing since he’d read it.
Fuck it. Fuck her. Maybe he’d been a fool to pursue a re lationship with her to begin with. One girl and settling down wasn’t his thing. At the club, he was popular with the unattached subs because he would play with them all, no strings. Exposure wouldn’t be open tonight or he could go and find a sub to play with so he could forget Adara Kent for good. Maybe Jemma, or Ashely, they were always up for some no strings fun, maybe even together.
He stalked toward the front door and nearly tripped when his foot connected with the dog bowl. A small smile spread across his face. Hamilton had never been a huge fan of him when he’d spent the night, but he was a loveable dog who wanted to protect Adara, who treated him like her child. Damn it. Something still didn’t feel right. But there was little he could do. Kicking the dog bowl aside, he slammed the front door and sped out of the driveway to head back to work.
### Adara stood in line at the airport ticket counter clutching cash and a passport, a single carry-on suitcase sat in front of her. It felt like she had been waiting for hours. This was her second airport. After taking a late night flight to Chicago and spending the night in the airport, she now stood in line to buy a ticket to Canada. Finally, the ticket agent motioned her up to his counter.
He was a jovial fellow. “Where are we flying today?” he asked.
Adara rattled off the information for the flight to Ontario that she had looked up. The agent asked for her ID. Trying to keep her hand steady, she handed him her passport. He smiled kindly at her.
“You have a lovely name Miss Kent. Let’s get you a ticket to Canada.”
The agent printed her boarding pass and pointed the way to the security gate. “You better hurry, the flight will board in twenty minutes.”
Adara thanked him and wheeled the carry-on case in the direction of the security checkpoint.
The TSA agent looked over her documents and waived her through to the long line at the metal detectors and body scanners. All she had to do was get to Canada, she told herself. Once there, she had a friend who could get her a new identity and a place to crash while she figured out what the hell to do. Her parents really had some explaining to do. Not that they could, she shook her head as she laid her suitcase on the conveyor belt, slipped offer shoes and stepped up to the TSA agent controlling the line going through the body scanner.
Beyond the checkpoint, she felt much safer as she made her way to the gate to wait for her flight to board. Her phone told her there was about ten minutes to spare. It probably wasn’t safe to keep her current cell phone, but she planned to ditch it in Canada and get a burner phone. Burner phones were still a thing right?
Fifteen minutes later they still hadn’t begun the boarding process. Two TSA agents entered the gate area and spoke to the agent at the desk. The gate agent picked up the intercom phone and spoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re the lucky flight that has been randomly selected for extra screening. We love our TSA agents for keeping us safe don’t we?” Adara rolled her eyes at the overly cheerful employee. “If you would please pay attention to our instructions closely so that we can get you through the process as quickly as possible, we can still get you to your destination on time. You’ll need your ID and boarding pass. Please only get in line when your boarding group has been called. We’ll begin with those who need extra assistance and then move on to group A, B, and so on.”
Adara glanced at her group number. D. For dead last.
The process went quickly enough and the agent only had to remind people twice not to get in line if their group hadn’t been called. When they got to
D, Adara was ready to go. She smiled at the TSA agent as she handed him her ID and Boarding pass. They scanned both. Instead of turning green, the light stayed red. Adara’s heart rate picked up. Probably just a glitch. They scanned the pass again. Still red. They studied the monitor intently. One of the TSA agents and the gate agent asked her to step aside so they could continue the inspection. It’s probably just because I bought my ticket so last minute, Adara told herself.
A third member of the TSA joined them, he was wearing a suit. That couldn’t be good.
“Miss Kent, could you come with me?” the man in the suit asked. The small bubble of panic that formed, exploded in Adara’s stomach.
This was bad. “What seems to be the problem?”
“It would be better if we spoke in private. And it would be best if you came quietly Miss Kent,” the man said with a stern gaze.
She nodded and followed the two agents. Her legs felt like rubber and she stumbled in her heels as she tried to keep up. It may not have been wise to wear them, but she was trying to appear like a woman on a business trip, not a woman on the run from… Whatever she was running from.
The agents placed her in a room and asked her to wait while they got their supervisor. They still wouldn’t tell her what the problem was. Sweat was dampening her blouse, and she pulled out her cellphone and flipped to Michaels number. She stared at it repeating the number over and over again in case they took her phone. Normally, her first call would have been to Bradley, but he was in Italy. Her next best bet was Michael. As much as she hated to admit it, he might be a better call than Bradley anyway, he was a police officer after all.
What felt like hours later, someone came in to talk to her. She didn’t let them finish their introduction.
“You want to tell me what the hell this is about? I’ve missed my flight and you’re going to make me miss a very important meeting in Canada,” she lied, hoping she sounded confident and pissed off.
“I do apologize Miss Kent. Or should I say Miss Hadawi?” The man eyed her carefully, gauging her reaction as she spoke.
Confusion filled her. Hadawi? “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” she said truthfully. Why would he think her name was Hadawi?
The man slid a folder in her direction. She scanned the document it held. It was an alert that someone named Adara Hadawi, with ties to an internationally wanted terrorist named Faisal Hadawi was leaving the U.S. for Canada. Adara shook her head. Were they saying she was related to this monster? Surely not. This hardly seemed real.
She stuck to her guns.
“There must be some mistake. I’m Adara Kent plain and simple.”
The man didn’t look convinced. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “We have some questions ma’am. The tip we received was very credible. While it is true,you’ve never come up on our radar before, we have to follow this lead and make sure you’re not connected to a terrorist organization.”
It hit her then. Whoever was watching her had orchestrated this because they knew she wasn’t following their instructions. Well, they certainly had a flair for the dramatic.
“Jesus Christ. Until four months ago, I worked for Senator Sean Atleigh. You really think I could be part of a terrorist organization while working for a sitting senator? She didn’t bother hiding her incredulity.
“I’ve seen crazier things Miss Kent. May I see your identification please?”
Her fingers trembled as she handed him her passport and D.C. drivers license.
“Born in Arizona?” the man asked.
She rattled off her date of birth, Social Security number, and the city she was born in. Technically, if what her parents told her was true, the city of birth was a lie but on paper that’s where she had been born. There was no way she could admit that bit of information, she just hoped he didn’t see the panic in her eyes. She took a deep breath trying to steady her nerves.
“Am I under arrest? I still don’t understand what is going on here. My name is Adara Kent. I’ve never heard of this ‘Faisal’ person and I can assure you I have nothing to do with a terrorist organization. There must be some mistake.
“You’re not being charged with anything yet, but we are detaining you.”
“Then I would like to make a private phone call please.”
The agent stood and headed for the door. “Be my guest.”
She pulled out her cell. A text was waiting for her.
Maybe next time you’ll follow our instructions. With shaky fingers, she tapped her way to Michael’s number and waited as it rang. “Adara?” There was surprise and perhaps a bit of hope in his voice when he answered. “Michael. I need you,” she whispered.
Chapter 3
Shit
This was not good. Michael had no idea how he was going to get Adara out of this sticky mess. None of what she had blurted out on the phone made sense but he knew he had to get to her quickly. He grabbed the go bag he always kept packed—a habit from his undercover days—and headed to the airport. A quick check online told him there was a seat on a flight leaving in just over an hour. He could make it if traffic didn’t screw him.
Forty-Five minutes later, he was at the airport in the ticket line. He paid for the ticket to Chicago and made a dash for the security checkpoint. The line was slow and his flight was boarding in fifteen minutes. It would be a miracle if he made it on time.
Thankfully, miracles do happen and they delayed the boarding process. Maybethat didn’t actually count as a miracle but Michael was thankful nonetheless. Twenty minutes later, he settled into his first-class seat—it was the only kind of ticket left.
“Hang in there Adara,” he said out loud as the plane took off. He had no idea what he was going to do when he got there but if he could get her released into his custody, she could at least explain what the hell was going on and they could make a plan from there.
When they landed in Chicago, he tried to call her cell phone. It went straight to voicemail. Airport signs pointed him to the main security office where he explained that he was a police officer there to pick up a witness who had been detained. It was a lie. One that could cost him his job, but damn it, he didn’t care right now. After she brushed him off last night, he had been convinced something was wrong. Now his suspicions were confirmed. Even if she had really wanted to end things with him, that is not how she would have done it. Luckily, his badge was enough confidence to get him in touch with the Homeland Security agents questioning her.
“Detective Silas, what is the nature of your case involving Miss Kent?” one of them asked.
“That’s confidential, but she is a key witness in a case I’m working and without her help, acriminal will be put back on the street.”
“We’ll need to confirm that with your chief,” the agent said.
Thank God for his recent promotion.
“I am the chief.” He pulled up the D.C. Metropolitan Police website and prayed it had been updated. Thankfully, HR was on top of things and his face was under the title Chief of Special Investigations. “As a chief in the D.C. Metropolitan Police, I think I have a right to detain this witness and question her. She will remain in my custody and you are free to interrogate her in D.C. if necessary.” He spoke with all the authority he could muster and prayed Homeland wouldn’t put in a call to the Chief of Police or the mayor of D.C.
Luck was on his side. They needed to get Adara out of the airport and him taking custody seemed like a pretty good deal to them.
“If you’ll come with me Chief, we’ll have you sign the necessary paperwork to take Miss Kent into custody.”
Once the paperwork was signed, Michael was escorted to the room where they were holding Adara. When he walked in, he took on a professional demeanor and spoke before she could.
“Miss Kent, you’ve been released into my custody pending a formal interrogation by Homeland Security. I’ll be escorting you back to D.C. so you can testify in the case in which you are a witness in.”
> To her credit, Adara managed to keep the confusion off of her face and only nodded her agreement.
“If you’ll come with me, we’ll be driving back to D.C.” He kept his tone even but inside he was itching to get out of this room as fast as he could. The look on the Homeland agent’s face told him he was out for blood and the glimpse at the folder on the table told him this was a very serious matter and Adara was in deep shit. They needed to get out of here and start figuring out what the hell they were going to do.
“Driving?” Adara questioned as she stood. “Isn’t there a flight we can take?”
Michael simply shook his head.
“Can I at least get my bag? The TSA agent kept it when they detained me.”
Michael turned to the Homeland agent with a questioning stare. The man went to check on the bag.
When the door was shut, and they were alone, Michael whirled on Adara and hissed, “Jesus Christ Adara, what the fuck have you gotten yourself into?”
The poorgirl looked like she was about to burst into tears. “I don’t know. I mean, maybe I have an idea? I don’t know. It’s a long, complicated story.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing we have a long drive ahead of us.”
Just then the agent returned with her bag and Michael rushed them out of there as fast as he could.
“Slow down Michael I’m wearing heels,” Adara whined behind him. He turned to find that she was falling behind.
“Sorry. I just want to get you out of here before they change their minds about releasing you to me.”
A few minutes later, they were standing in line at the Hertz rental counter where Michael rented a compact car for their drive back to D.C.
“I don’t understand what just happened,” Adara said when they were pulling out of the parking structure.
“I saved you from going through a damn Homeland interrogation. Terrorism? Really Adara? Do you know what kind of trouble you’re in right now? If I’m going to be able to help you, then you need to start talking right now.”
