2. Daisy #2
She slides over the map with a bunch of triangles on it.
“The first three abductions are Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, and Glacier. When you connect them, they form an almost perfect triangle. Not exact, but close enough. The same goes for the next three: the Grand Canyon, Redwood, and Grand Teton. They, too, form a triangle.”
I study the picture. “Petrified Forest, Joshua Tree, and Zion. Rocky Mountain, White Sands, and Sequoia. Saguaro, Mesa Verde, and Carlsbad. They all form triangles. Huh! Why didn’t I ever see that before?”
“No one did. It looks random when you simply look at the locations,” Grace says with more enthusiasm than I expected.
“In the last two years, there was a kidnapping at Yellowstone and another at North Cascades. Daisy, if this pattern sticks, the third location could be either Crater Lake in Oregon or Lassen Volcanic in Northern California based on distance.”
“We’d like you to leave tomorrow for Crater Lake,” Roger tells me.
The look in his eyes is one of excitement and anticipation.
The rest of the team doesn’t know that he was one of the agents who were investigating this from the very beginning.
After the CIA took over. I know it hurt him deeply that he couldn’t see it through to the end.
I’m sure the same can be said for the current Director of the FBI, Robert Finnegan.
“Owen and Scott will be scouting the areas around Lassen Volcanic. Whoever finds something worth pursuing first, the other team will join up.”
Grace adds another piece of information to the mix.
“As far as we know, the kidnapper hasn’t returned to any of his previous abduction sites, nor has he ventured east of Texas.
With one exception. Six weeks after you escaped, there was a similar kidnapping at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
It’s the only anomaly, and it coincides with your kidnapping.
This might be our only chance for the next three years, Daisy. After this, the cycle starts over.”
Faith gets up and walks around the table to hug me from behind.
“When—not if—the time comes, we’ll be there.
Owen and Scott are only a few hundred miles away and can get to you within hours until the rest of us arrive.
There’s a reason why Roger accepted only brief assignments for us over the next month.
It’s because we’ll be waiting for your call with our bags packed and raring to go. ”
My eyes moisten with tears as I look at each person in the room; not as team members, but as family.
These people would die for me, just as I would for them.
Then I lock eyes with Roger; an understanding passing between us.
“You said ‘teams,’ as in plural. As far as I can tell, I’m going to Crater Lake solo. ”
Roger adjusts his tie and meets my gaze head-on. “You’re not going solo. In fact, your partner is already on his way and has made the arrangements.”
“Who’s my partner?” I ask hesitantly. “And don’t you dare say who I think you’re going to say!”
When Roger remains silent, our sweet Grace jumps on the figurative grenade. “Angel Conway!”
Angel Conway. Faith’s brother and the man I kissed while his sister was being held captive by a cartel leader.
It was the first time I’d ever felt a connection with a man and dreamed of something more.
I’d made a vow to myself years ago that relationships would be on the back burner until my mission was complete.
After kissing Angel, I thought that maybe I might have met a man who would be by my side as I finished what I’d started.
A man willing to support me. Then he had to open his mouth when Faith found out about our kiss.
He’d said it was “in the moment and meant nothing,” or something close enough to that.
It hurt in a way that made me feel cheap and devalued.
I rise slowly and go over to the cases, removing one of the longer ones.
I open it up and lift the NSR556TLR D&M from the foam cutout to examine it.
Once my inspection is complete, I replace the gun and shut the lid before grabbing a case full of the smart simunition rounds.
The simunition rounds are tipped with a paralyzing agent and have just enough force to penetrate the skin without causing significant injuries.
“All right, I’ll go. My bags are packed.
But I’m taking these with me,” I say, lifting both cases.
“You need this tested in the field, right? Well, I know exactly who to test it on. Since I’m not allowed to kill Angel for being a bonehead, knocking him out with a paralyzing agent at 300 meters is the next best thing. ”
I take the case and the box of ammo before heading toward the door. I turn around and give one last parting comment.
“The best part about it is that Angel will never see it coming. And trust me. He has it coming.”
Roger raises his finger in the air. “Not so fast! At no point will you shoot Angel to ‘test’ the prototype weapons.”
I frown. “Why not? It’s harmless.”
Faith bursts out laughing. “While I’d love to be a fly on the wall while you incapacitate my brother, he’s actually a pretty decent guy.
A doofus, but a good guy at his core. Would you really subject him to the ridicule of my other brothers, and my parents for that matter, simply because he’s an idiot for not realizing how perfect you are for him? ”
I bite my lower lip and pretend to contemplate the question before giving my best friend the answer she least expects. “Yes, I absolutely would.”
“Then so be it,” Faith says. “Promise me one thing first.”
“What’s that?”
She chuckles. “Please get a picture. If there’s no proof, then it never happened.”
Roger slices his hand through the air. “There will be no paralyzing a CIA agent, or taking pictures of him bound, gagged, or whatever else you would do to him while immobilized. We’re Southern Knights. We’re held to a higher standard.”
“Are we really, though?” Jeremy asks. “I’m pretty sure that if we’d gotten a picture of Scott and Grace covered in mud during the last assignment, it would be on the ‘Wall of Shame.’”
Jack nods. “We should continue the tradition that the Shining Knights started. Any proof that you ‘mucked’ up should be memorialized for posterity.”
Roger sighs. “Fine, but not at our hands. Taking out a CIA operative with simunition rounds and then drawing pictures on his face is out of the question. Are we clear?”
“I make no promises,” I say, hating that Roger seems to know me so well.
The truth is, Angel is a good guy. He just might not be the guy for me.
I need someone who has a spine and is willing to stand up for himself.
He’s tried to apologize, but that doesn’t change things.
To him, I was a mistake. To me, he was the promise of a future I’d long since forgotten.
He wasn’t just a man I kissed. Angel was…
is someone who fights for those he loves and cares about.
I just wasn’t worth the fight.