by Liz Shoaf
Chloe sent Ethan a beseeching look, but he grinned and called her dog to accompany him. Maybe she’d send a virus to his computer and make it crash. As soon as the front door closed, Betty started the interrogation.
“Chloe, I don’t understand why you didn’t come to us when you witnessed the murder.”
Chloe turned her head away so she wouldn’t see the look of disappointment on Betty’s face. “I told you what happened, how I witnessed the murder.” She looked up into Betty’s loving countenance. “I didn’t want to get turned in as a person of interest so I can find out who the killer is before I get all involved in red tape, but there’s another reason.” Chloe swallowed hard. “The killer threatened Stan.”
Her adoptive mother’s jaw firmed and she lifted her chin. “I’ll not allow anyone to hurt you or Stan.”
Tears sprang forth. Chloe stood, wrapped her arms around Betty and whispered in her ear, “You might not be my birth mother, but you’re my real mom in every way that counts.” It was a pivotal moment in their relationship. It was the first time Chloe had ever called Betty “mom.” She pulled back and looked into Betty’s forgiving and loving eyes. “I’ve recently come to realize that I’ve been running my whole life. Maybe from fear of abandonment, I don’t know, but I’m sorry it took me so long to trust that you would never leave or give up on me.”
Betty pulled back with a determined twinkle in her eye. “Now that we’ve cleared that up, what’s going on with Ethan?”
Chloe stepped away and played dumb. “You know what’s going on. He’s helping me find the killer.”
Betty tsked again. “Baby girl, I saw the way you looked at each other.” She gave Chloe a look that only a mother knew how to give. One that made her want to spill her guts. Well, she might as well go for it. Betty was like a pit bull when she wanted to know something. She never gave up and it would be better to handle it now, while Ethan was outside.
“I like him, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Betty raised a brow.
“Fine. I could probably more than like him, but...”
“But?”
Chloe sighed heavily. “As you guessed earlier, I haven’t told him what happened when I was sixteen.” Betty started to speak, but Chloe jumped ahead. “It’s simple, really. Ethan is a black-and-white sort of guy, and a law enforcement officer to boot, and me, well, I have a sordid past.”
Betty shook her head, but Chloe put a stop to the conversation. “Let it go. It would never work between the two of us, even if whatever there is between us got to that point.”
Betty turned contemplative. “Have you kissed him?”
Embarrassment caused heat to crawl up her neck, and she didn’t answer. Betty got a faraway look in her face. “The first time I kissed Stan, I knew he was the one. We’d been friends for a long time, but I didn’t know I loved him until that moment.”
Chloe had heard the story many times, but this time it placed an image in her mind of her kissing Ethan and she couldn’t shake it off.
Stan came to the rescue. “Betty, I could use another Tylenol if you don’t mind.”
Betty focused her attention on her injured husband. “Let me run upstairs and grab the bottle.”
After she left the room, Stan patted a place on the sofa beside him and Chloe sat down.
“We have plans to make.”
Chloe studied him carefully. His pallor was a shade lighter than it should be, but he looked okay. “You sure you’re all right?”
“It burns like fire, but it’s getting better as we speak.” Stan adjusted himself on the sofa.
“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
He grimaced. “I’ll be fine.” His voice filled with grim determination, he locked his jaw and looked at her. “There’s a reason I’m not going to the hospital and we’re keeping you away from the police.”
Chloe’s gut started burning. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what Stan had to say, but she gritted her teeth. “Tell me.”
“Chloe, when the FBI asked your parents to help, the director came to me because I work in the cyber department. We’re pretty much ignored and considered geeks, unless the field agents need our help. I handled it myself since the director made the request personally. We thought the recruitment went unnoticed.”
He took a deep breath. “We know the killer is connected to your parents because he brought up your mother when you were talking to him via your computer at the orphanage, and we know they hid the disc. Only a few people knew they helped the FBI in Kuwait all those years ago.” He breathed deeply and took her hand in his. “Chloe, no matter what happens, just know that we love you.” Moisture filled his eyes and Chloe swallowed a lump in her throat. “We’re family, and nothing will ever change that.”
Chloe squeezed his hand. “I love you guys, too.” She thought about the bullet that had grazed his chest and anger ripped through her. “And we will stop whoever is doing this. I absolutely refuse to lose anyone I love to this greedy person.”
TWENTY
Ethan’s eyes locked on Chloe when he entered the room. He’d never seen her look so vulnerable. He had only caught the last of their conversation.
“You two okay?”
Chloe cast him a grim look. “We will be when we catch whoever is hurting the people I love.” When Ethan grimaced, Chloe asked, “What are you thinking?”
He sent her an apologetic glance. “Our earlier theory about someone recruiting your parents for a second assignment is a good one.”
Chloe lifted her chin and Ethan’s heart somersaulted. Her body was stiff with tension and her eyes were troubled, like she was waiting for another piece of bad news when her life had already been filled with horrific things.
“Spit it out, Sheriff. I can take it.”
He knew she could take it, but a person her age shouldn’t have to deal with so much, most of it when she had been so young.
“What if they weren’t asked. What if they were coerced?”
Stan groaned as he tried to straighten up, and Chloe forced him to lean back on the sofa, made sure he was okay.
“It makes sense,” Stan agreed with Ethan.
Chloe jumped off the sofa and started pacing the floor. She stopped, took a deep breath and faced Stan.
“What if they were in on it?” Her voice wobbled, and Ethan wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and take away her pain, but he held himself in check.
Stan shook his head. “No, Chloe, they only helped us that one time because a man’s life was at stake. Your parents were good people.”
Chloe cleared her throat. Ethan realized she was holding herself together by a thread.
“You can’t know that for sure.” She swallowed. “They left me behind when they went on mission trips. Loving parents would never do that.”
“We don’t know anything for sure, but we know where to start looking,” Stan said.
“Uncle Henry?” Chloe prompted.
Stan grinned. “You know the old sayings ‘follow the money,’ and ‘there’s always a paper trail’?”
Ethan nodded.
“Well, there’s a better saying in my department. There’s always a cyber trail and we’re going to follow it. Whoever found out about Chloe’s parents helping the company had to have snooped in the FBI files. That’s where we’ll start. I think the two of you should stay with Henry. He was there when I recruited Chloe’s parents, and he knows how to move around in the system without detection.” Stan grinned. “He hacks into our system daily, but because he’s a trusted former employee, I let him get away with it.”
“I have two questions,” Ethan said. They both looked at him expectantly.
“One, do you completely trust Henry?” They both nodded. “Okay, is what Henry will be doing legal?”
Chloe and Stan glanced
at each other, then Chloe rose from the sofa. She took one of Ethan’s hands in hers. “It’s legal because Stan will authorize the search. Listen, are you sure you want to stay involved in this? We can handle it from here.” A deep feeling of loss engulfed him, then punched him in the gut as he stared into her vulnerable brown eyes. In that instant, he knew he’d do whatever it took to keep Chloe safe. He wasn’t willing to go beyond that thought. He just knew he had to do it or he’d regret it the rest of his life.
He pulled his gaze away from hers and looked at Stan. “Tell Betty we’ll be at Henry’s, and keep yourself safe.”
Stan nodded his approval. Betty came rushing into the room with a bottle of Tylenol and a glass of water but stopped in her tracks and smiled when she saw Ethan’s and Chloe’s hands joined.
Stan intervened. “They’re going to Henry’s.”
Betty looked like she wanted to argue, but Ethan figured she’d lived with an FBI agent long enough to go with the flow.
“Let me pack you up some food. It won’t take but a moment.” Chloe dropped Ethan’s hand and Betty folded her into her arms. Ethan heard Betty whisper, “Please be careful.”
As they prepared to walk out the door fifteen minutes later, Ethan’s stomach rumbled and Chloe snickered. He handed her the sack filled with food. “Let me go first. You and Geordie stay behind me.”
She snorted. “I have more weapons than you do. Maybe I should go first.”
He was so glad to hear the sassiness back in her voice that he ignored the taunt. He scanned the area with an experienced eye and motioned for her to hustle to the car.
They loaded up Geordie and were soon out of Stan’s neighborhood and on their way to Henry’s high-rise in the city. He smelled something good and glanced at her. She was stuffing some kind of bread into her mouth. His stomach rumbled again, and she took pity on him and handed him a piece.
“My mom makes the best lasagna anywhere around.”
Ethan took a bite of the bread and savored the taste of butter and garlic melting in his mouth. After swallowing, he grinned. ‘That’s the first time I’ve heard you call her ‘mom.’”
Chloe dug through the bag, making it evident she was avoiding his gaze. He looked back at the road.
“Yeah, well, a lot of things are changing.” She peered in the rearview mirror and tensed. “There’s a truck gaining on us.”
Ethan looked up and saw a truck barreling toward them. “Hold on,” he yelled before cutting the steering wheel sharply to the right.
* * *
Chloe braced herself right before the truck rammed into the back of their car and their vehicle spun out of control. Geordie started barking wildly and Chloe closed her eyes, and then they hit a concrete median. The impact flung her forward, the airbag exploding in her face. The car shuddered, then stilled. Tangled in the nylon fabric, she frantically fought the material until she forced herself to stop and breathe. Sliding the knife from her sleeve, she cut the fabric away, and what she saw horrified her. Ethan’s airbag hadn’t deployed. He was bleeding from the head and looked unconscious. He groaned, and she released a pent-up breath. He was alive. She heard a whimper from the back of the car that assured her Geordie had also survived the crash.
She was so fixated on Ethan that she didn’t realize her door had been torn open until two pairs of hands greedily grabbed her, trying to pull her from the car. Knife in hand, she struck out wildly. One man yelled, but she was dragged out of the vehicle. Before she had a chance to fight back, she slipped the knife back into her sleeve just as someone slapped a cloth over her mouth and nose. Chloroform, was her last thought before she passed out.
* * *
Chloe awoke slowly. Her brain felt foggy, like it was stuffed with cotton. A sense of self-preservation kept her eyes closed until she gathered her bearings. The recent past came rushing back with tidal-wave force and she swallowed a gasp. Ethan! He had a head injury. How serious was it? And Geordie! In the car, she’d heard him whimper, but was he okay? In that moment, she knew she loved Ethan. Her past no longer mattered. She was willing to take the risk. If he walked away after learning the truth, there was nothing she could do about it, but she was ready to lay her heart on the line.
What if he didn’t live long enough for her to tell him how she felt? Panic gripped her chest, but all of a sudden, without warning, a gentle, loving peace stole over her, and she breathed in and out very slowly. It reminded her of a feeling she’d had right after her parents died. Like someone was wrapping their arms around her and telling her everything would be okay. She had rebelled against the feeling all those years ago, but now she embraced it. Without moving her lips, Chloe prayed for the first time since her parents had died.
Lord, I know I haven’t been in touch for a very long time, but if You can find it in Your heart to forgive me, I’m asking that Ethan and Geordie will be okay, and that justice will be served today.
She lay there a moment longer, savoring the warmth until a voice pulled her out of the loving bubble she’d been wrapped in. She firmed her resolve. The killer had her, but he wasn’t going to win.
“Miss Spencer. You can open your eyes now. I know you’re awake.”
Before lifting her lids, Chloe tested her hands. They were tied, and so were her feet. She opened her eyes and found herself bound to a desk chair. She took note of her surroundings before peering into Thomas Brady’s wild eyes as he braced both hands on the sides of her chair and leaned over her. They were in some sort of an office building. There were some desks scattered around, but no windows. Only a few lights were on, and another man stood in the shadows. She had to stall until she could figure a way out of this situation because no one knew where she was.
“I don’t understand,” she said in a soothing manner. “Why are you doing this? I thought you were Stan’s friend.”
A fire lit his eyes, and for a moment she thought he was going to slap her, but he stood and crossed his arms over his chest. The fire turned to calculation.
“You’ve been a hard woman to find, Miss Spencer, tucked away all those years in that orphanage.”
“So you said.” Hatred flared in his eyes, but then his lips twisted into a cruel smile. She realized he wanted to tell her what he’d done. Show her how smart he was. His next words proved her right.
“We’re a lot alike, you and I.” He leaned over her and spittle came out of his mouth when he talked. “We have both lived in the gray area of life.” He backed away again and started pacing in front of her.
“You see, it started years ago, when Stan was promoted over me. I had been with the FBI longer than him, and he got my job.” He stopped and twisted toward her, and Chloe leaned away from him.
“That job was mine and Stan stole it.” He paced once again. “I kept my eye on things, did a little research, and found out about Stan contacting your parents to help them get that fool of an agent out of Kuwait. That’s when I realized what a fantastic opportunity I had stumbled upon.
“I waited six months after your parents helped Stan, then approached them, all in the name of helping their country, of course. I had them do a few small things for me, just to make sure they were up to it, then I went for the big score. Their instructions were to steal a disc vital to the safety of our country, and that was actually true. I had solid information from a friend of mine in the CIA about a large amount of money being transferred to a splinter group near where your parents were working. As missionaries, they were able to move in and out of small villages with ease. But then things started to go wrong.”
His face turned a mottled red. “I monitored and rerouted all your parents’ phone calls and movements, preventing them from contacting Stan when they finally realized something was wrong. That’s when I knew they had become suspicious, when they tried to contact Stan.”
“They were innocent,” Chloe hissed, and he pivoted toward her. “They didn’t know you w
ere corrupt.” Chloe closed her eyes. She wanted to weep for all the wasted years blaming her parents and turning her back on God. For all the wasted time she’d considered her parents selfish for leaving her behind while they helped other people. She’d been so wrong about everything.
She opened her eyes and jerked back when putrid breath hit her in the face.
“You want to know how I convinced them to do what I wanted, even after they figured out what was going on?”
Chloe just stared at him.
“I told them if they didn’t help me, I’d make sure their beautiful little girl would go to the heaven they so firmly believed in.”
Chloe gasped. “No,” she whispered. It was too much. Her parents had died trying to save her.
Thomas stood straight again. “Then the innocent missionaries outsmarted me. They gave me a blank disc, same as their daughter did. But I made a grave error in judgment. I got rid of them before I checked the disc.”
He got in her face again. “I won’t make the same mistake now. I’ll have the information on that disc before you die.”
She needed to buy more time. “I could have died in the crash and you wouldn’t have gotten anything. And why wait so long to come after me?”
He all but snarled. “The men I hired to bring you in almost cost me my money by causing you to crash. They have paid for their mistake. They were only supposed to kidnap you and bring you to me. The reason it took so long for me to come after you is that you’re a wily little thing. I looked for years, but couldn’t find you. Your parents hid you well, but recently, I stumbled onto an old secure file. It took a long time to figure out the password, but once I got in, I discovered a wealth of information. Stan had buried the file deep, but I beat him.”
Thomas sounded pleased with himself.
“Because of the trouble you got into when you were sixteen, there was a complete file on you from the time you were in the orphanage until Stan adopted you and changed your last name.”
