Authors: Leigh Bale
A feline smile spread across
Hooper’s face. “Jabbaar has proven useful, although he failed to find your
brother’s file.”
Jabbaar. So, the man had a name
after all.
“Did you and Andrus set up the
ambush in Afghanistan?” Mac’s voice vibrated with controlled anger.
“Of course.”
Toni sucked in a furious breath.
“You got all those men killed.”
Hooper’s eyes narrowed on her and
she saw not one shred of remorse.
“I had to. Your brother discovered
what Andrus was up to, but he didn’t know Andrus worked with me. Until he knew
who to trust, Eric sent the file to you, to keep it safe.”
Mac’s jaw tightened. “That day you
came to see me at the cabin, you weren’t investigating the ambush. You weren’t
there as a friend. You were feeling me out to see if I knew anything about the
secret file.”
Hooper showed a smug smile, looking
very pleased with himself. “Of course, Mac. I knew if I bided my time, you’d
lead me right to it. And you did.”
“We were friends once. You’ve been
to my home. And yet, you got every man on my team killed. And for what? A key
to an encrypted file of bogus data. How much did the Taliban pay you to betray
your country? Thirty pieces of silver?”
Hooper shrugged. “Let’s just say
I’m gonna walk out of here, get on a plane to South America, and live the rest
of my life sipping piña coladas on the beach.”
Mac’s grip tightened around his
cane. “Not if I get my hands on you, first.”
“Tsk-tsk,” Hooper taunted. “Such a
temper, Mac. But you know who I am, now. Surely you realize I have to kill all
of you.”
Toni’s heartbeat tripped into
double-time. They’d been through so much. Surely God wouldn’t let this evil man
kill them. And she prayed. Fervently, over and over again. Begging the Lord to
help them.
“The U.S. military won’t be the
only ones hunting you,” the Colonel drawled. “The Taliban will kill you when
they find out the encrypted data you sold them is phony.”
Hooper glared at the Colonel, his
face turning an angry shade of red. “I don’t believe the briefcase was a plant,
Colonel. You’re saying that to buy some more time. But it won’t help you. Now,
give me the key. My people will discover if it’s real or not. You won’t be
around to tell any tales.”
A loud noise came from down the
hallway, the sound of smashing wood. Hooper glanced at the door.
Now! Now, they must act.
Toni gripped her sister’s arm,
pulling her free of Hooper’s grasp. Mac reached for the gun, jerking Hooper’s
hand up so he couldn’t fire on them. Cara’s shrill screams filled their ears as
the girl scurried over to her grandmother, huddling on the sofa like a
frightened rabbit. Before Hooper could react, Toni stomped the sharp point of
her heel down on his instep. The agent howled and she drew back her arm and
jabbed her elbow into his abdomen.
Hooper doubled over, waving the gun
wildly. The Colonel ducked and Mac dodged sideways as a deafening boom exploded
in the room. The shot smattered a hole in the wall where Mac had been standing
moments before. Plaster and small particles rained down on Bernice and Cara’s
heads.
Mac swung his cane like a club
across Hooper’s wrist. Hooper screeched with pain and the gun went flying. It
thudded to the floor, skidding across the hardwood until it stopped at Toni’s
feet. She pounced on it as the Colonel slammed his fist into Hooper’s abdomen.
Mac wielded his cane like a baseball bat, striking Hooper across the face.
Blood spurted from the CIA agent’s nose as he fell back, knocking over a small
table and lamp. The sound of shattering glass filled their ears.
Toni pointed the gun at Hooper’s
head. Her hands trembled visibly, but she felt the heat of anger swelling over
her entire body. “Stop! Don’t you dare move, or so help me, I will shoot you.”
Hooper froze, his eyes wide and
wary. “Now, you don’t want to do that.”
“Oh, yes I do. Get your hands up
where I can see them,” she ordered with so much vehemence that Hooper actually
cringed.
Alarm glimmered in Hooper’s eyes as
he lifted his hands high in the air. “Don’t shoot me. Please.”
“After what you’ve done, I dearly
want to kill you. Believe me. Go ahead. Give me one more reason.” She spoke
low, her pulse racing with adrenaline.
“Toni.”
Mac called to her, but she didn’t
look at him. His voice reached her as if through a tunnel.
“Toni, give me the gun,” Mac spoke
close beside her. “Come on, sweetheart. Eric’s memory is worth more than this.”
Mac…her comforter, her rock. She
trusted him with her life. She loved him. It no longer mattered what the
ballistics tests proved. All she knew was that her brother had died because
Derek Hooper had set up an ambush to get him killed. By the grace of God, Mac
had survived. It wasn’t his fault. He’d tried to save Eric’s life and she could
never blame Mac for her brother’s death.
She stepped sideways, veering
toward Mac, not once taking her eyes off Hooper.
Slowly, carefully, she handed the
gun over to Mac. His warm, strong fingers curled over hers, taking the weapon
from her grip.
“I’ve got it, Toni. You can let go,
now.”
She did, turning to face him.
Giving him her complete trust. Tremors of shock and emotion caused her entire
body to shake with reaction.
Mac’s gaze bore into Hooper like a
high powered drill. “Hooper will never hurt anyone again, I promise you that.”
From across the room, Toni heard
her grandmother exhale a deep sigh of relief.
“Colonel, call the FBI.” Mac’s
hands didn’t waver as he kept the weapon trained on Hooper.
The Colonel gave a short laugh.
“I’ll do even better than that, Mac.” He walked over to Cara and Bernice,
taking each of their hands in his, speaking to them with compassion. “Don’t be
frightened, ladies. You’re safe, now. But we’re about to be invaded.” He
glanced at Mac. “Don’t shoot anyone, Mac.”
“Colonel, what’s going on?”
A SWAT team erupted through the
doorway. Cara shrieked and almost climbed the wall until Toni went to huddle
with her sister and grandmother on the couch.
At least fifteen men dressed in
Kevlar helmets and black flak jackets surrounded them, waving submachine guns.
They shouted orders, securing every corner of the house.
“Take him. He’s the traitor.” The
Colonel jutted his chin toward Hooper.
In a matter of moments, FBI agents
yanked Hooper’s arms behind his back and clapped his wrists in handcuffs. Blood
ran down his face, staining his shirtfront. He glared at Mac as they dragged
him toward the door.
“You should have been killed, too.
I wish you’d died with your men,” he jeered.
Mac didn’t get the chance to react.
Toni walked over to the man, drew back her fist and slugged Hooper in the nose.
“That’s for Eric.”
Hooper yowled with pain, but the
handcuffs kept him from clutching his face. Two armed agents interceded,
pulling Toni back before she could do more harm. She didn’t know what had come
over her. She’d acted without thinking, knowing it wasn’t a Christian thing to
do. But it sure had felt good.
The Colonel chuckled. “Good job,
Miss Hamilton. Where he’s going, he won’t need any fancy suits. The prison
population doesn’t like traitors.” The Colonel jerked his head toward the door.
“Get that scum out of here.”
The agents dragged Hooper outside.
Mac pivoted on his cane and reached
for Toni. She rushed into his embrace, burying her face against his shoulder.
She stood there several moments, absorbing his warmth, feeling his steady
heartbeat beneath her cheek.
“It’s gonna be okay, now. Your
family is safe,” he assured her, lacing his fingers through her hair.
“Oh, Mac, if you hadn’t been here,”
she croaked. “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
“Shh, I’m here.”
She drew back and looked up at him,
ignoring the tears streaming down her face. What were a few tears when the man
you loved said something like that?
Mac faced the Colonel. “Sir, are
you going to explain all of this?”
A deep laugh shook the Colonel’s
chest. “With pleasure. Come with me.”
Toni stepped away from Mac. As they
followed the Colonel outside into the front yard, Toni embraced her sister. The
girl clung to her, sobbing. Grandma joined them and they wept with happiness.
“Are you all right? Did he hurt
you?” Toni asked.
“No, I’m okay,” Cara said.
“I’m so sorry, Cara,” Toni
whispered to her sister. “I love you so much. If anything happened to you, I
couldn’t live with myself.”
“I’m sorry, too.” The girl’s voice
trembled with remorse. “You won’t have any more trouble from me, Toni. I
promised the Lord if he got me away from those men, I’d change. And I meant it.
I love you.”
Overpowering joy swept Toni, so
strong she could hardly absorb the impact. “We both have a lot to be grateful
for.”
“Amen.” Grandma’s eyes glowed with
pleasure.
“Come on. Let’s hear what the
Colonel has to say.” Mac directed them to the front steps.
As they walked into the bright
morning sunlight, they caught the smell of someone frying bacon. Neighbors
crowded the sidewalk, street and front yards. Still wearing their bathrobes and
pajamas, they bent their heads together and jabbered about all the commotion.
Toni watched as NCIS agents put Hooper in a dark sedan and drove him away.
“Hey, isn’t that Jabbaar, the
ponytail man?” Toni pointed at another car parked out front.
Sure enough, Jabbaar stood cuffed
and waiting as three armed officers opened the door and directed him into the
back seat, then closed the door. He sat silent, his expression dark and angry,
long black hair hanging into his eyes.
“It sure is.” Mac glanced at the
Colonel. “How’d you catch him?”
“We’ve had Miss Hamilton’s house
under surveillance for several days, now.” He pointed to where a man wearing a
gray sweat suit stood talking to two NCIS agents.
Toni gasped. “We saw that man
watching my house.”
“He works for us,” the Colonel
confessed.
“I thought you were retired,” Mac
said.
Wilkinson shrugged. “I am. Let’s
just say I’ve been helping the FBI clean up this one little mess.”
“But why was he watching Toni’s home?”
The Colonel pointed at Jabbaar.
“The FBI and NCIS have been after Jabbaar Azizi for years. He works for the
Taliban and provides information to terrorist cells. Azizi has been helping
Andrus and Hooper steal top-secret files. We’re talking treason here. But don’t
worry. Where he’s going, he won’t be troubling you again and our nation will be
safer for it.”
“So, all of this was just to catch
the real spy and a terrorist?” Toni cried in outrage. “Do you realize how you
endangered my family? You could have told me my house was under surveillance.
My sister could have been killed.”
She could hardly believe all this
cloak and dagger stuff.
The Colonel looked away, seeming
contrite. “I’m sorry, Miss Hamilton. We didn’t know who we could trust, nor did
we know they’d come after you.”
“Well, they did. I couldn’t even
get anyone to help me find Cara.”
“I’m sorry about that, too. We had
to intervene with the police. They wanted to help, but we took over the
investigation. We couldn’t tell you that, of course. But we were working on it
behind the scenes.”
Toni shook her head. “And here I
thought they were just inept at doing their job. If you were watching my house,
why didn’t your people stop Andrus from kidnapping Cara in the first place?”
“I’ve been told that an agent saw
Andrus leaving with Cara, but didn’t see anything abnormal. In fact, when
Andrus was spotted at your house, we started wondering if Mac and Andrus were
working together.”
Toni wasn’t satisfied. “You told my
family that Eric died in a routine fire fight. The American people aren’t quite
as stupid as our Government seems to think we are. We still know right from
wrong. If I didn’t think it might hurt Mac, I’d go to the media with this
story.” She bit out the words, filled with indignation.
“I hope you won’t do that,” the
Colonel said. “We’ve been working to secure your sister. We just had to be sure
what we were dealing with.”
Mac held out Eric’s flash drive to
the Colonel. “Is this really a dud, or were you just pulling Hooper’s leg?”
Wilkinson’s eyes hardened. “Oh,
it’s real, all right. But very outdated. It wouldn’t do the Taliban much good.”
He took the flash drive from Mac
and dropped it onto the ground, then proceeded to smash it with the heel of his
boot. Mac watched with a look of fascination.
The Colonel laughed and clapped Mac
on the shoulder. “Thank you, Sergeant. I’ve got to go now, but I want you to
know I’m proud of you, son. I’ll be recommending you to receive a commendation.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Marine Corps award you the Navy Cross.”
“What?” Mac gaped at his CO.
Toni’s eyes widened. The Navy Cross
was the second highest military honor for valor that Mac could receive. Most
marines died to earn such an honor. “Mac, you’re a true hero.”
He frowned, looking awed and
humbled. “I don’t deserve that, sir.”
“Why would you think that?” The
Colonel tilted his head and dawning flooded his face. “Ah, yes. In all the
excitement, I forgot to tell you the other reason I came over here this
morning.”
As he spoke, Wilkinson opened the
door to his car and got inside, smiling. “I received the ballistics report late
last night. The bullet that killed Eric Hamilton came from Lieutenant Andrus’s
gun. No doubt Andrus wanted to ensure that Eric didn’t come out of that ambush
alive.”
Toni shuddered, barely able to
comprehend such evil.
“You’re sure it was Andrus?” Mac
exclaimed.
“Absolutely positive. You and
Andrus carried different types of rifles.” The Colonel’s bushy eyebrows lifted.
“You risked your life trying to save your men and were injured in battle. You
just helped thwart a ring of deadly spies. I’m recommending you for that
commendation and I don’t want to hear any arguments about it.”