Authors: Vicki Hinze
He was getting closer, not ten feet away. The red haze went out. Jarrod had turned off the laser.
Foster kept coming. “We both know you aren’t going to shoot me, Sara.”
“I will.” She licked at her dry lips. “I swear it.”
“You won’t. Now put that damn thing down before you hurt yourself.”
“Stop!” she screamed. “I don’t
know
for sure. Not for
sure.
”
Still, he kept coming.
Sara fired.
A stunned look crossed Foster’s face, then it went lax, and his knees folded. “Sara
. . .
”
Sara paced in the hallway outside the briefing room. Inside, General Scott was interrogating Foster.
“Sara,” Jarrod said from a metal chair against the wall. “Sit down, honey. You’re pacing a hole in the carpet.”
“How can you be so calm?” She lifted a hand and slapped at her thigh. “What if Foster wasn’t working with them? I shot the man, Jarrod.”
“With a stun gun.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her onto a seat beside him. “Look, I know this rattles you. But you had to shoot him, honey. You couldn’t take the risk. If Foster’s clean, we’ll soon know it. If not, well, we’ll know that, too.”
“He was going to leave, Jarrod. To just walk out.”
“I know.” He looked away, toward the window, then back at her. “No one likes being put in this position, okay? You deal with it as best you can. Sometimes you’re right, sometimes you’re not, but you’re all right as long as you act in what you consider to be the nation’s best interest. You did that, and that’s all you can expect from yourself.”
“I just don’t want to malign the man.”
“I understand.” He clasped her hands and let her see the truth in his eyes. “I really do understand.”
He did; she could see it in his eyes, and never had she loved him more.
The briefing room door opened, and General Scott walked out.
Jarrod stood up. So did Sara.
The general faced them. “We’ve concluded the interrogations,” he said, his stern expression drawing down the lines on his face. “It appears that I owe you an apology, Dr. West.” He looked her right in the eye. “You tried to warn me about this technology, but I didn’t listen. I accept responsibility for it.” His eyes filled with self-loathing. “Now, I have to live with it.”
“I’m sorry.” She was, for all of them. But General Scott had faced this apology with dignity. She admired that.
“At least it was a successful mission, and none of the team were seriously injured.” Jarrod offered the general solace. “We got them, the technology is safe, and we lost no lives.”
“But we did lose lives, Major.” Regret filled the general’s voice. “Those of the damaged men at Braxton.”
Sara couldn’t stand the wait another second. “Is Colonel Foster innocent or guilty?”
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Compassion burned in the general’s eyes. “He wants to talk with the two of you, and I agree that he owes you personal explanations.” The general nodded toward the briefing-room door. “Take all the time you need.”
“Thank you.” Sara moved toward it.
“Dr. West?” The general’s voice stopped her.
She looked back at him over the slope of her shoulder. “Yes, sir?”
“Your country owes you a debt of gratitude,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “So do I.”
Sara’s heart softened. Scott was hard but fair, and an admirable man. “Consider it a token repayment for military services rendered all my life.”
Admiration shone in his eyes. “You’re welcome, Dr. West.”
Sara walked into the briefing room. Jarrod followed behind her.
Sitting at the head of the table, Foster rubbed at his chest. “I can’t believe you shot me, Sara.”
“Be grateful it was just a stun gun.” Unsure whether or not she should feel guilty, she twisted her lips. “I did warn you I wasn’t sure, but being a hard-ass, you wouldn’t stop.”
“I wanted to see what you would do,” he said easily.
“Well, now you know.” Jarrod held out a chair, and she sat down in it, then looked back at Foster. “Were you in with them, or under deep cover?”
Foster cocked a brow. “What do you think?”
“I think I’m sick of games.” Her voice rose to match her temper. “I think for you to do what you do, you have to be innocent. I know I want to hear it from you.”
Jarrod’s eyes glittered. “If he were guilty, General Scott would never have left him alone in this room, Sara.”
She lifted her chin. “I want to hear him say it.”
Foster leaned back in his chair and said nothing.
Jarrod leaned forward, laced his hands on the tabletop. “Owlsley was frustrated by research restrictions. Fontaine by the lack of research funds. So the two teamed up. Fontaine would hide Owlsley’s mistakes at Braxton if Owlsley would share research funds to give Fontaine some fiscal relief. So why did the damage go from heavy to light and then back to heavy?”
“Because Owlsley had to push the envelope.” Foster leaned back in his chair. “He was running out of time.”
Jarrod grunted his opinion on that remark. “Couldn’t he get an extension on his contract?”
“It wasn’t the contract he was fighting,” Foster said. “It was death.”
“Owlsley is dying?” Jarrod’s brows shot up on his forehead.
Foster nodded. “He has cancer. This technology is his family, his legacy to the world. He wanted to complete it before dying. To him, leaving it behind proved his life had mattered. He had mattered.”
Sara’s chest went tight. She tried to find compassion. To understand the powerful forces driving a man facing death with no one to mourn him. But he had left devastation and destroyed lives. David, Brenda, and Lisa had been irrevocably changed. Lou, the rest of the men at Braxton, and their families had been irrevocably changed.
Compassion swelled in her, but not for Owlsley. For his victims. He had the rare opportunity to reverse tragedy and stop pain, yet he chose to cause more. “He could have slain the dragon,” Sara said, a tremble in her voice. Her eyes burned, and she blinked hard. “Instead, he slew innocents.”
Jarrod cleared his throat. “What about Fontaine? Tell me he didn’t do all of this just for money.”
“No,” Foster said, straightening in his chair. “Fontaine believed in Owlsley’s research. Truly, its potential is remarkable. Fontaine believed that, long-term, implementing this technology in the field would save lives. But aside from the money and the technology’s potential, Fontaine owed Owlsley. They had been together in the Desert Storm conflict. Fontaine took a direct hit. Everyone thought he was a dead man, but Owlsley came up with an experimental procedure that saved Fontaine’s life. Fontaine won a Purple Heart with a cluster in that campaign, and Owlsley won enough respect to get the contract for his research.”
Jarrod dragged his teeth over his lower lip. “An ally for life.”
“Understandable,” Sara said. “So what happens to them now?”
“Fontaine will be court-martialed, and Dr. Owlsley tried in a civilian court, though we expect he’ll die before we complete the investigation and release him to civilians for trial.”
In other words, they’d never release Owlsley and jeopardize the technology. Like his victims, he would be sequestered for the duration of his life. “And Mrs. Fontaine?”
“Very astute, Sara.” Foster smiled. “She’s been working with us.”
So he could tell the truth when he chose to do it. Sara looked down at the table and then lifted her gaze to Foster. “Why didn’t you stop this sooner?”
“Civilian law requires hard evidence. It took time
to gather it.”
Jarrod sighed. “And more time to make sure you had total control of the technology.”
“That, too.”
General Scott came back into the briefing room and took a seat. “Are we up to speed?”
Foster and Jarrod sat back down.
“Yes, sir,” Jarrod said.
Foster’s eyes glinted. “I think Sara’s still debating on whether I’m guilty or innocent.”
General Scott hiked his brows. “I’ve learned to value Dr. West’s opinion.” He swiveled his gaze to Sara. “What do you think?”
Sara stared into Foster’s eyes and spoke softly. “I think that until all of this happened I never understood how many sacrifices a man or a woman in uniform has to be willing to make. I understand now. Jack Foster wasn’t just willing, he made those sacrifices. This wasn’t about him getting a promotion.” That had been in progress before he’d recruited Sara. “This was a selfless act. A sacrifice he willingly made for you and me, to make sure the technology never fell into the wrong hands. Because Dr. Owlsley wasn’t in the system, the colonel had to use extraordinary measures. Ones that cost him a few good men, which, I suspect, troubles him deeply and always will. Those measures endangered him and cast doubt on his integrity.” Sara looked from the general to Jarrod, then on to Foster. “I think his was an act of honor, General Scott. And if necessary, I’ll devote my life to proving it.”
Foster’s expression didn’t change, but the gleam in his eyes warmed.
“That won’t be necessary, Dr. West.” General Scott claimed her gaze. “Colonel Foster has been cleared of any wrongdoing.” He stood up. “Jack, it’s my privilege to inform you that not only will you be getting your star, you’ll also be getting a commendation for your handling of Operation Red Haze.” Scott extended a hand to the colonel. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you, sir.” Foster stood up.
General Scott left the room, and Foster turned to Sara. “And thank you, too.”
“You’re welcome. But if you need my help in the future, you’d better play straight with me. We could all have been spared a lot of needless agony.”
“I was trying to keep you out of the line of fire.”
Sara grunted. “You were trying to keep me in the dark.”
“To protect you.”
“To protect Shadow Watchers.”
“Them, too.”
Sara sighed. “So what happens to my patients?”
“They’ll be cared for by Shank.”
“Not good enough.” Sara gave Foster a negative nod. “I want their families notified and given access to them. It’ll be good for the families and for the patients. And I want Shank and the rest of the staff given the freedom to leave Braxton whenever they choose.”
“I’ll agree to your request on the staff, though I’m not sure how we’ll secure it, but I can’t give outsiders access to Braxton, Sara. It’s dangerous for them and for the patients.”
“There’s an alternative,” Jarrod interceded. “Transfer the patients. They’re all low-risk, and none of them will be able to return to active duty”
Foster rubbed at his chin. “I can do that.” He looked at Sara. “Give me two days. I’ll have them transferred to facilities near their families.”
“How will you explain this to the families?” Sara asked.
“Mistaken identity,” Foster said. “But there won’t be a reason given for their conditions. Those will officially and forever be listed ‘cause unknown.’ We will provide counseling to help everyone adjust.”
Sara didn’t like it, but this was as good as it was going to get. Announcing to the world that the U.S. had this technology would be a huge security risk. And in this case, tight security was warranted. “Will I be canceled?”
“I’d be a fool to order that.” Foster didn’t hesitate or flinch. “Never know when I might get into trouble again and need you to pull me out.”
Jarrod chuckled. Sara shot him a glare, then sniffed. “I’ll want hazardous-duty pay. Lots of it.”
“That can be arranged.” Foster headed toward the door. “Jarrod, why don’t you take a couple of weeks’ leave? I think you could use the time off.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I’m grateful to both of you.” Foster walked out, then closed the door behind him.
“That man is a real piece of work.” Sara turned to Jarrod and hugged him hard.
“Forget Foster,” Jarrod said, hugging her back. He kissed her until she slumped against him, then let out a satisfied sigh. “Do you have affairs, Sara West?”
She looked up at him. With his history, marriage and commitment were akin to curses, but he’d come around. Eventually. He was the one, and she’d bet her name badge that they ended up married with a house in the suburbs, and two or three kids. Better yet, she’d bet her heart. But that commitment was going to take a little time and a lot of trust. “Not usually.” She slid her hands up his chest and circled his neck. “But in your case, I’ll make an exception.”
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