Chapter 6
Sabrina
Sabrina woke disoriented, memories of gunfire and chaos from the previous day flooding back as she recognized her surroundings. The smell of coffee and something cooking drew her to the kitchen.
Walker stood at the stove, his back to her as he flipped pancakes with mechanical precision.
Attraction pulsed through her, but she pushed it away. He was only here because she'd reached out to Reed.
This was a mission.
"You cook?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice.
He glanced over his shoulder. "SEALs are resourceful."
"I don't remember you cooking at the lake house."
A ghost of a smile crossed his face. "We were teenagers. We lived on chips and soda."
The simple exchange felt surreal after yesterday's terror.
He held a plate out to her.
Sabrina accepted the plate he offered, suddenly aware of her hunger.
"I spoke with your mother early this morning," Walker said as they ate. "Secure line. She's safe, staying with friends. I didn't tell her where we are."
Relief washed over Sabrina. "You did? What did she say?"
"She said she loved you. She said that I should take care of you and she was glad I was with you. But she doesn't know anything."
Sabrina processed this. "I don't think she does know anything."
Walker nodded. "Reed's sending equipment. We need to start putting the pieces together." Walker's expression turned serious. "I also had him send the complete file on your father's death. The real one, not the sanitized version."
Sabrina's fork paused halfway to her mouth. "What do you mean, 'the real one'?"
"Police investigations get classified for various reasons. Reed has access." Walker hesitated. "I thought you deserved to know the truth."
She set her fork down, appetite gone. "What truth, Walker?"
"Your father didn't just have a bullet in his back. He had three—execution style. And there was evidence of interrogation before his death."
The room seemed to tilt. "Interrogation? They tortured him?"
Walker nodded grimly. "I'm sorry."
Anger filled her. "All this time they told me it was a robbery gone wrong. I knew there was something more." She slammed a fist onto the table.
"Someone wanted information from him," Walker said quietly. "The question is, what information?"
Sabrina pushed away from the table, moving to the window.
Outside, the forest seemed too peaceful, too removed from the ugliness they were discussing. "I need to know everything, Walker. No matter how bad."
He joined her at the window, maintaining distance between them. "We'll find the truth. But I need you to be prepared—we might discover things about your father you never knew."
She met his gaze. "He was my father. Nothing will change that."
Walker nodded. "Then we start with his company. The rugs."
"What about them?"
"Import-export businesses are perfect covers for intelligence operations. Items coming in and out of the country, legitimate reason for international contacts."
Sabrina shook her head. "You think my father was a spy?"
"Not necessarily. But he might have been moving more than just rugs." Walker turned from the window. "Did he ever take special interest in particular shipments? Specific clients?"
She thought for a moment. "There were high-value rugs he always handled personally. Antiques, he said. And certain clients he would only deal with himself."
"So you deal with them now?"
Adrenaline pulsed through her. "Actually, I haven't even thought about it until now. But, I do know where those files were."
"Names?"
"I'd have to check records, but they were mainly in Eastern Europe and the Middle East."
Walker's expression sharpened. "We need those records."
"They're at my father's study."
Walker frowned. “Your parents’ home is definitely being watched.”
She looked upset. "So we can’t go there?”
"Not necessarily." Walker pulled out his phone, typed briefly, then showed her the screen. It displayed a floor plan of her parents’ home, with security protocols listed.
Sabrina's eyes widened. "How did you—"
"Reed's company designed your security system three years ago. Your father insisted on it—said he wanted the best."
"I didn't know that."
Walker's expression softened. "There's a lot your father kept from you. To protect you."
Sabrina processed that information. "Like he kept us apart? Because he was sure that we couldn't be together."
Walker's face closed off instantly. "Was he?"
She nodded.
He winced. "Ouch.”
"Or was it part of whatever he was involved in?"
Walker hesitated and Sabrina could tell he was bugged.
She was clearly bugged.
"We focus on the present," Walker said firmly. "The past won't keep you alive."
The sound of an approaching helicopter interrupted them.
Walker moved swiftly to the window, hand moving automatically to his sidearm.
"It's Reed's team with supplies," he confirmed, watching the helicopter touch down in the clearing.
Two men unloaded several cases, then departed without approaching the cabin.
Walker retrieved the cases while Sabrina watched from the doorway.
Inside was equipment she couldn't identify, along with laptops, weapons, and clothing.
"Battle station," Walker explained, setting up a laptop. "We start by reconstructing your father's activities for the six months before his death."
For the next several hours, they worked side by side, Sabrina providing company information while Walker cross-referenced with intelligence databases Reed had provided access to.
"Look at this," he finally said, pointing to the screen. "Your monthly shipments from Turkey increased three-fold in the year before your father's death."
"That was a new partnership with an artisan collective," Sabrina explained. "Dad was excited about it, he said it would transform the business."
Walker typed rapidly. "And these shipments all cleared customs with minimal inspection. Diplomatic clearance."
"That's not unusual for high-value antiquities."
"It is when the diplomat in question was expelled from the U.S. three months after your father's death." Walker showed her a news article. "Suspected intelligence activities."
Sabrina felt her world tilting again. "You think my father was working with foreign intelligence?"
"Or against them." Walker pulled up shipping manifests. "These weights don't match standard rug sizes. Too heavy."
"What are you saying? That there was something hidden in the rugs?"
Walker nodded. "And I think your father found out. That's why he reached out to Reed's security firm."
A memory surfaced in Sabrina's mind. "That's right. I do remember when Dad installed a new security system in his study. I thought he was being paranoid. I didn't know it was your brother's company."
"Not paranoid. Cautious." Walker stood. "We need to get into that study."
"How? My parents' house will be watched, even with mom gone."
He shrugged. "Then we become something unwatchable."
"Like what?"
"Like ghosts."