by Mary Alford
“What was it?”
She hesitated, and he reached for her hands and clasped them together in his. “Please, let me help you.”
The feel of his fingers entwined with hers sent an infusion of warmth flowing through her. She slowly nodded. She so desperately needed his help. “We were exchanging stories about the war. I told him some things Eddie mentioned to me and then he said something about the battle that resulted in your...disappearance, almost as if he’d been there himself, but that’s impossible, because Eddie told me there hadn’t been any military backup...” She stopped and looked at him.
Reyna could see this troubled him. “How did a former marine know about a failed secret CIA mission? Unless he was on a fishing expedition for someone. Did you ever see him again?”
She shook her head. “No. Something about his aggressive behavior sent up warning signals. I stopped going to my church because of him. He called a couple of times after that, but I didn’t answer. I don’t know how he got my number...” She stopped. “I guess that’s a really silly question. He probably had it on file somewhere.”
“I’m sure,” he said, glancing up at a group of people passing by.
“There’s more,” she added suddenly.
“Like what?”
“To start with, right before Eddie died I received a package in the mail. There was no return address. When I opened it, I found the watch Eddie’s grandfather gave him when he graduated high school. There was a note inside that read, ‘Take care of it for me.’ Jase, Eddie never took that watch off. Needless to say, that scared me, so I tried to reach Eddie but couldn’t.”
“Maybe he just wanted to keep it safe,” Jase reasoned. “A war zone can be pretty violent.”
“That’s what I thought until I found out Eddie was killed a few days later. Then there’s the fact that it took more than three months for the military to release Eddie’s belongings.” She recalled the callous way they’d delivered her husband’s possessions. “I came home from work one evening and there was a box sitting on my porch with Eddie’s name on it. It took over two and a half months before I could bring myself to open it without falling apart. When I finally did, lots of things were missing.”
“Such as?” he pressed.
“Eddie’s phone. His tablet. Some personal items. There was a picture of us taken while we were on our honeymoon at Virginia Beach. Eddie kept it with him always. Even his wedding ring was missing, along with some letters I wrote to him shortly before he died.” She paused for a moment. “There were only a few articles of clothing, his tags inside. But that’s not the scary part. Shortly after I reported Eddie’s missing belongings to the military, those men showed up at my doorstep late one night.”
“That’s when you left your home?”
“Yes, that very night. They scared me to death, Jase.” Her lower lip trembled and she bit down on it. She’d seen some pretty frightening things as a doctor, but what had happened to her that night kept her awake at night. “I was terrified I’d lose my freedom if not my life.”
Jase squeezed her fingers. “I can imagine.” The strength she felt in his callused hands helped her continue.
“They told me if I didn’t produce the laptop soon they’d be back and have me arrested for treason and I’d never see the light of day again—or worse.”
Anger flared in his eyes. “That was a bluff. They have no authority over you. They were trying to frighten you.”
“Well, it worked. I knew I had to leave. I borrowed Sara’s car, found the laptop and headed for Colorado.”
Suddenly wary, Jase looked at the growing number of people milling around. Tourists were pouring into the town and it was becoming harder to determine who might be a possible threat. In the short time they’d been talking it had started to snow again.
“We need to go. This place is getting crowded. Let’s get the laptop and get out of here while we still can.”
* * *
Jase stopped in front of a store window and pretended to glance at the items on display while carefully studying the people passing by. He was trying to make sure they hadn’t been followed from the café. To call less attention to themselves they’d decided to walk the short distance to the storage facility.
So far, no one around them set off his internal radar.
He glanced at his watch. “The place should be open by now.”
Over the noise of the crowd, it was impossible to hear much. They turned the corner onto another street and he was happy to see there were fewer people.
“How did you and Eddie meet anyway?” Jase asked, mostly to keep her mind off the possible danger they faced. Eddie had once told him they’d met very young.
Reyna didn’t seem to mind the distraction. “I was in first grade and Eddie was one grade ahead of me. My family had just moved to Stevens. I was the new kid in school and I was incredibly shy. Eddie took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. We became inseparable from that moment on. We were in junior high when he told me he was going to marry me.”
“And he did.” He smiled down at her.
“Yes, he did.” Something dark and turbulent entered her eyes. “Back then he was so carefree. He loved life so much, but in those last few months before he died, Eddie changed drastically. I barely recognized him.”
“How so?”
“When he came home on leave before the final mission...he’d lost weight. He wasn’t sleeping. He was restless.” She sighed wearily. “Whenever we’d go out anywhere, he was constantly checking the rearview mirror as if he thought someone was following us, and when we were home, he’d make at least a dozen trips to the living room window, looking for...something. He was petrified, Jase.”
None of the behavior Reyna mentioned sounded like the upbeat man Jase remembered. “Did he say what he was so afraid of?”
“No, and I begged him to tell me what was going on, but he said he couldn’t. It was best I didn’t know. He spent hours in the garage. I asked what he was doing but he wouldn’t say.” She glanced up at Jase. “And he talked in his sleep a lot. He had terrible nightmares where he kept repeating someone was killing off the original members of the Scorpion team. He said it wasn’t what it seemed. Do you have any idea what he meant?”
His expression froze in place. If only he could answer that question. He glanced ahead of them, but really he was right back in the war zone reliving those last few fateful missions as he had so many times before. Searching for answers just out of his grasp.
“You do know what he meant. What happened, Jase?” she pressed. She’d seen something in him. He’d given it away. One incident in particular stood out in his mind. It still haunted him. Like it or not, Reyna was just as embroiled in this as he was. She had the right to know everything.
“We were deep in enemy territory, searching for stolen weapons,” he said in a barely audible voice. “This was sometime before Eddie joined the team. We’d set out on foot. The team spread out in groups. We had drone footage confirming the weapons were in a warehouse less than eighteen hours earlier.” He took a breath, let it out slowly.
“Abby and I circled to the back side. Benjahah, our Afghan guide, was with us. When we raided the place, we took fire.” He scraped a hand across his face. “Benjahah...he simply disappeared. I thought maybe he was hit because he was there one minute and then...he wasn’t. We ended up capturing five insurgents. A handful escaped. The scary part was the weapons that had been there a short time earlier had disappeared into thin air.”
She stared at him wide eyed. “Where did they go?”
“My guess is someone knew we were coming. They made sure the weapons disappeared. We were wrapping up the mission when I spotted Benjahah coming out of the woods. The same direction as some of the men who escaped had gone. He was out of breath and looked guilty as all get-out.”
“Did you confront him?”
“I did.” Jase’s mouth twisted bitterly. “He said he’d become surrounded by the enemy and he couldn’t
escape so he hid because he was scared they’d capture and interrogate him. In the past, Benjahah was fearless. I could tell he was lying.”
“Unbelievable,” Reyna huffed.
“Yes. I started thinking back to before that mission and I remembered how many times Benjahah had simply disappeared for a few hours while we were inactive. He said he was visiting friends, but I think he was meeting with his terrorist contact.” He shook his head. “Anyway, it wasn’t too long after the incident that members of our team began to die. First, it was Thomas and Mason. Both were killed during a failed weapons mission.” Back then, Jase had still believed their deaths had been in the line of duty.
Losing two agents so suddenly had left a hole in the unit. Jase had recruited Eddie to fill the void.
“After Thomas and Mason died Eddie joined the team. Soon after, Benjahah left the team. He said he wanted a change. I found out later that he died in an enemy attack outside of Beirut.”
Reyna gaped at him in amazement. “Do you think he was part of what happened to the team? Why would they kill him if he was helping them?”
“Maybe he became too much of a liability so he had to be silenced.”
Reyna shook her head. “So you think Eddie was right. Someone was systematically taking out members of the original Scorpions.”
He cleared his throat. “I believe so. After that final attack that killed so many of our team and shattered my leg, I was airlifted to a military hospital stateside. Kyle met me there and told me my days were numbered. The people responsible for taking out most of the team hadn’t been successful in killing me abroad, but they weren’t going to stop until they completed their mission.” His face blanched as he forced the words out.
“I remember how shocked Eddie was to learn about your death,” Reyna told him. “He was so certain you would recover. When we found out you’d died from your injuries, he took the news very hard.”
Jase tried to read Reyna’s reaction but couldn’t. Did she think him a coward? “Kyle came up with the plan to fake my death. If it hadn’t been for him getting me out of the hospital when he did, I believe I’d be dead now.”
He saw the shock in her eyes. “It’s true, Reyna. The day before I...disappeared, someone came into my room pretending to be a doctor. I was in bad shape and in and out of consciousness. Kyle just happened to stop by. He’d been keeping a close eye on me. The man claimed he was there to administer a new medication.”
Jase could see he had Reyna’s full attention.
“Kyle suspected the man was lying. The more he questioned him, the cagier he became. Kyle attempted to take him into custody, but the man went crazy. He shoved a food tray cart in front of Kyle and managed to escape.” Jase raked a hand through his hair. “That made it real for me. One way or another, Jase Bradford had to cease to exist. Kyle had a friend, a doctor who worked at the same hospital. He signed my death certificate. Kyle made the official announcement and then he smuggled me out of the hospital one night and took me to a cabin in Montana for rehab. Later he arranged the memorial service.”
“Oh, Jase.” Reyna reached out and gently cupped his jaw. “That must have been horrible. I can’t imagine what you went through.”
It was horrible. Still today, the thought of how difficult that trip had been, traveling thousands of miles when he was so severely injured. Well, he knew God had been there with him every step of the way.
He covered her hand with his. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. We ended up holed up at a run-down motel for a couple of weeks until I was able to make the hike down to the cabin. I stayed at the cabin there almost two months healing...physically.”
That time stood out in his mind as dark and dismal. “I never would have made it without Kyle.”
Reyna looked up at him, her face softening with empathy. “I know exactly what you mean. After Eddie died, I couldn’t stand being in DC any longer so I moved back home to Texas. I bought a house in a quiet neighborhood, yet even with the change, I couldn’t move on. It was as if I were simply marking time. I felt so alone.” Her lips trembled ever so slightly as she spoke. “Then, a few weeks after I moved in, Sara came over and introduced herself. She was new to the neighborhood, too. We became good friends. It was as if God sent her into my life. We helped each other grieve. Her husband had died in a car accident some years before so we had a lot in common.”
Reyna and Jase started walking again. Up ahead, Jase spotted the storage facility and tugged Reyna into the entryway of a vacant store. “I think I should go in alone just in case. They’ll be looking for you. There’s still the chance they don’t know I’m alive, and even if they do, you said yourself my appearance has changed,” he added when she hesitated.
It hurt to see the distrust in her eyes, yet he understood. She’d been through so much. Her reluctance to let go of the one piece of the puzzle keeping her safe was human, but he needed to find out what was in those files if he was going to help her.
“I promise I’m on your side.” He tried to reassure her. “I know it’s hard but you have to trust me.”
She stared into his eyes for the longest time, searching for reassurance. Finally, she must have found it because Reyna dug into the bag and retrieved the key. “It’s number sixteen.” She handed it to him.
“Thank you. Stay here. If I’m not back in ten minutes, or if you spot anything out of the ordinary, duck inside one of these tourist shops and slip out the back door.” He took out the Land Cruiser keys and handed them to her along with his phone. “Go back to the Land Cruiser and get out of town. Don’t wait for me. I’ll find you.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
Her concern for him wasn’t earned and it humbled him. He silently prayed to one day be worthy of it. “Reyna, I can’t let anything to happen to you. I won’t. Don’t worry about me. Just promise me.” He gripped her arms and held her gaze. “Please, I have to know that you’re safe.”
“Okay,” she said a little breathlessly.
Swallowing hard, Jase reached down and framed her face in his hands. She was so beautiful and she looked so worried he’d give just about anything to ease it away for her. As he continued to gaze down at her, his pulse pounding in his ears, he realized the desire to protect her went far deeper than loyalty to his friend.
“Jase?” she whispered.
Dropping his hands to her shoulders, he tugged her closer. She went into his arms willingly, and, as he held her tenderly, the warmth of her was a painful reminder he wasn’t dead, after all.
She stared up at him in wonderment. Did she feel it, too? Jase leaned down and touched his lips to her forehead. She closed her eyes and sucked in a shaky breath. He wanted this moment to go on forever...but too many obstacles stood in the way. And even though danger might be dogging their every step, he knew the biggest hurdle of all was the thought of opening his heart to another woman. He had barely survived losing Abby. He wasn’t sure he could go there again.
Reluctantly he let her go and had started to leave when she grabbed his hand. “Jase, wait.”
He turned back to her, a whisper of a smile playing on his lips.
“Please be careful. Please come back to me.”
A wave of raw emotion swept through him. Her soft, plaintive words held more promise than anything had in a long time and he latched on to it like a lifeline.
“I will.” He clutched her hand tight and then let it go.
FIVE
Reyna hadn’t felt this way in such a long time and that scared her. It reminded her of the things missing from her life. She’d been frozen since Eddie died, her heart encased in grief. There was a time when she couldn’t imagine finding another man attractive, but she definitely was attracted to Jase Bradford. Was it simply because of his connection to Eddie? The danger they shared?
It’s too soon, her heart cried. I’m not ready to let you go yet, Eddie. I miss you terribly.
It hurt to think about moving forward. Living again. These past six mo
nths had been a nightmare of long days filled with aching loneliness, and now someone wanted her dead. She had to stay focused. Forget about what Jase had awakened in her.
Without him close by, Reyna’s nerves screamed to life. Several passersby glanced her way curiously. She ducked her head, trying not to call undue attention to herself. It was Saturday and a relatively nice fall day in Colorado in spite of the snow flurries. It had tourists coming out in droves to enjoy the treasures of this quaint mountain town.
Reyna could just see inside the storage facility from where she stood. A man seated at the counter watched the security monitor closely.
She focused on the phone. Five minutes had passed. A prickling of unease went through her. She had rented the locker from an older woman who told her she’d lived in Eldorado all her life and had worked at the facility for almost ten years. So who was the man? Maybe he was the actual owner.
Still, it didn’t feel right. He didn’t seem to fit. Reyna strained to get a closer look. He certainly didn’t appear to be a local. He wore a dress shirt and pants that didn’t fit with the job and he kept checking his watch. The second Jase had walked in, Reyna was pretty sure she saw him text someone. Was she being paranoid? She certainly had reason. She remembered the letter she’d mailed to Sara. Had she unknowingly sealed both their fates by sending it? If the men were monitoring her calls to Sara, chances are they were examining her mail, also.
Nine minutes gone. “Get out of there, Jase,” she hissed under her breath.
