Chapter 11 #2
She caught the hint of suspicion in the way he said that, but she would not let him off that easily. “As you want my money to find your dad.”
He grunted.
Though it hurt that he did not agree or see the similarity, it was okay as long as they worked on this together. She could admit to needing the help of another, of someone capable. “So, now what?”
“We get rest.”
“Is it dangerous to just…sit here?”
His silence proved unnerving as she lay there, staring at the back of the front passenger seat. “I wouldn’t tell you to rest if it was dangerous.”
Amazing the reassurance that gave Cove. But her mind was not ready to rest. “So, after sleep—what then?” Where would they go? Whose dad did they focus on first? “They took Papà, and your dad is…” She shifted her gaze to him. “Where would we start?”
“I know where my dad went missing, been there. No help.”
She liked his definitive, determined answer. “What did you find in my papà’s office?”
He peered back at her from the front. “What?”
“You broke in—”
“Technically, didn’t break in,” he said. “The whole house was wide open for the party.”
She rolled her eyes. “Does that really appease your conscience?”
“Yes.”
It amused her how casually he answered, never moving, his mouth barely shifting beneath that answer. “Did you find what you were after?”
He considered her, then looked out the windshield again. “I work with a…partner. With a USB I plugged in, he uploaded a root kit onto your dad’s laptop so he could access everything on it. He’s now trying to find out what your father knows about my dad.”
“You really think he knows something?”
“Hope so.”
“What was your plan after brea—doing that?”
He shrugged. “Been trying to figure that out.” Again, he dragged his hand over his mouth and seemed to sag in the silence. “Honestly, the leads have been drying up…”
“So desperation had you enter the villain’s lair.”
Achilles gave her a scowl. “You call your dad a villain?”
“No,” she balked with a disbelieving laugh. “But that is what you believe, no? That my papà is a villain?”
“I would not use that word,” he said dully, “but your dad was with mine before he vanished.”
Was there an accusation in those words? Or was she just feeling defensive of Papà? “How do you know he was?”
“A photo. Same location, same day as the explosion.”
“What explosion?”
“The one they say evaporated my dad.”
Cove fell silent, stunned at his words. “The American government has proof an explosion took your dad’s life?”
“Supposedly.”
“And you…” She had to be careful—she was dependent on this man for survival and angering him would not help. His valuable skills were crucial to helping her stay alive. “You don’t believe that because…?”
“Just like you know your dad, I know mine.” Challenge lit his words and eyes.
“He’s been doing ops for the better part of three decades now.
Everything I know, he taught me.” He stared forward, arms folded.
“Besides, there was no body and no proof he was in the vehicle when the RPG hit. And your dad is still alive, so…”
She wanted to sit up, look him in the eyes, but her heart and head ached too much, thinking about her own father being dragged to that helicopter.
It took a great level of audacity to go against the word of an entire government and military to find a father who could very well be dead.
Their fathers had been together… “What if—”
“Don’t.”
“But why would they say—”
“Is your dad guilty of paying the Houthis to clear out the Yemeni port to protect his interests there? Or what about—”
“Your point is taken.” Annoyed he would shove that in her face, she tried to slow her racing heart.
Not give in to the anger sprouting roots through her chest. But she couldn’t argue it—he had a valid point.
She could not prove her papà’s innocence no matter how much she believed in him.
“Do you think the men who took my papà killed him?”
Quiet seconds droned by without an answer, awakening a perilous alarm. He thought Papà dead? Had she lost both her parents now?
“No,” finally came the deep rumble of his answer. “If they wanted him dead, they would’ve done it there. Not take him.”
A fiery breath freed itself from her hold as relief staggered through her.
“Get some rest. I’ll stand watch.”
Considering him for a long second, she realized that even though he knew their fathers had met at some point, he did not argue about her defense of Papà. Even though the possibility—remote possibility—existed that Papà had been with his dad when he went missing.
But…what did that mean, that Papà had seen or been with this man before whatever happened?
How would they find answers—or their dads?
They had no clues. Only conviction. It all seemed so impossible.
Weariness strangled her, sapped the strength from her limbs.
She closed her eyes to prevent more tears.
She had cried more today than she had in the last year.
Defeat pushed her into the greedy claws of sleep.
Filled her dreams with vivid, cruel images of Papà dying, of a funeral overtaken by gunmen.
Of her falling into a void where Mamma and Papà grasped to catch her but missed.
And most bizarre—of her racing down a black corridor, holding hands with Achilles, then being trapped in a cistern and him kissing her with their final breaths.
Gunfire erupted.
Cove jerked upright with a shout, panic rending her sleep. Desperate for purchase on where she was, she searched the darkness. Sweating, gasping, she clutched at her chest and sat up, all the facts rushing at her like that nightmare.
Her gaze flicked to the driver’s seat. “Achilles…” Her tired, bleary eyes searched the shadows…
He…he wasn’t there. Alarm jammed her spine straight and injected a blazing concoction of alarm and panic into her veins.
“Achilles?” The plaintive desperation of how she called for him as she peered through the holes and cracks of the windshield made her pulse jump.
She shifted to the door and opened it. Eased out, listening—straining to hear him. His movement. “Achilles?” she whispered into the…
Wait. It was not dark. The realization drew her gaze up through the broken stable roof to where she saw— “Blue sky,” she whispered, stunned. It was day.
How long had she slept? But more important—where was Achilles?
Why was there daylight and no Achilles?
Her heart jumped in her chest as she hurried around the truck, hand tracing its hood as she eyed the stalls and moldy, dirt-strewn watering trough at the end.
“Achilles!” Cove crept along the stalls, peering into each one and finding nothing but mice, more dirt, and mold.
She whirled around and returned to the truck.
With each step as she hurried to the opposite end that had the large door that didn’t quite close, she felt her control on her panic slipping.
He wasn’t here. Which meant… “He left me.” Somehow, speaking the words made them real. Ignited her fears. “He left.” Why would he leave her?
Because you have nothing to offer.
That raw wound haunted her again. She had nothing to convince Brendan at uni to stick around. Nothing to recommend herself for the internship beyond good grades, which everyone had. With Papà missing, she had no access to anything that would be of benefit. No phone she could use, no money in hand—
“Money!” She pivoted and raced back to the Cruiser.
Yanked open the door to grab the backpack.
But…where was the backpack? She scoured the floorboard of both the front and middle rows.
“Santo cielo!” Pivoting, she shoved the hair from her face.
Pressed her heel to her hand. “That monster stole the money!” Looked in the back of the Cruiser, then again the front, as if another perusal would reveal some miracle she’d missed the first time.
Disbelief choked her. “You na?ve, foolish girl!” She had trusted this man, put her life, heart, and money in his hands… And he’d disappeared. Left her in a stinking stable!
Though she couldn’t blame him for leaving, she cursed her stupid, trusting self.
With a growl, she fought tears and more panic.
“I would not have left him behind, no matter how rude he was. Or how gorgeous.” Hands on her waist, she squeezed her eyes shut to stave off the tears, and tilted her head back, looking at the sky.
“I cannot believe he abandoned me!” She huffed, air struggling through her lungs.
“That is what you get for trusting a gorgeous hunk.”
Movement to the side startled her. Extracted a yelp when she saw someone standing just inside the stable door. “Achilles.”