Authors: Kimberley Woodhouse
I tried to swallow back my fear. It didn't work. "Zoya?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna go on alone. Will you guys wait here in the back for me? This will only take . . ."
fifty years.
"A little while. I'll be right back." I wheeled up the center aisle.
Lord, help me!
Cole sat at the end of the pew with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He didn't seem to see me as I scooted up beside him.
"Cole? I'm sorry. Really sorry."
Cole's head jerked up. His eyes settled on me. "Squirt—"
"I didn't mean what I said about you being a monster and stuff. Honest. I'm just . . ." My voice choked. "I'm
so
sorry."
"Andie, it's okay." He shook his head and looked forward. "You had a right to say what you did."
"No I didn't! I—"
"Listen, I'm sorry you had to hear what I said about your dad."
"Mom explained to me what happened."
"I knew she would. But I'm still sorry."
"You shouldn't be the sorry one."
"Yes, Andie. I should."
"No, I should've
never, ever, ever
said and thought those things about you. Cole"—I choked again—"I love you. I'm really sorry for what I did. Please, forgive me." I started fidgeting.
Please
. . .
"Andie, I appreciate all that you've said but . . ."
I stared into his dark brown eyes. What was he not telling me? "But?"
"It's not you I can't forgive. It's me."
LEAPER
April 12
Fairbanks, Alaska
2:30 p.m.
"So, please explain to me how they are all alive and in the hospital, when you told me they were eliminated?" Viper's voice was calm but hatred spilled out.
Leaper clenched and unclenched his fists to calm his racing heart. Why he decided this meeting would be better in person, he wasn't sure. "I thought they were dead."
"Well, obviously, you were wrong."
"Yes, sir."
"Do you have any idea what kind of difficulty this now presents?"
"Yes—"
"The press is having a field day with the 'little girl who feels no pain' and her poor widowed mother. Their deaths were supposed to be a tragic accident!" Viper's fist slammed into the side of a bookcase.
Leaper watched the back of his superior as glass and books tumbled to the floor. The rigid set of the man's shoulders. The sheer power emanating from him. There was no way out.
"You guaranteed once Gray was out of the way you could acquire AMI. You also guaranteed you'd have it in time for our next deadline."
"I'm sorry, sir."
"And when I planned a way to speed up your search—a nice, convenient way to rid ourselves of Gray's family—you botched that as well!"
Leaper stared at his one-time friend. Greed and the hunger for power had tainted him. His eyes were dark, almost lifeless. Was this where he was headed as well?
"Your time's up. So I suggest you go to the hospital and take care of our problems."
"Sir?"
Those cold, dead eyes drilled holes into his. "Kill them. All of them."
JENNA
April 12
Providence Hospital
Anchorage, Alaska
5:22 p.m.
Her heart ached. How could Marc have done all this and she knew nothing about it? Is that why Cole didn't trust her? Did he think she knew all this time?
Jenna shook her head. There wasn't time for those thoughts. Someone wanted them dead and she needed to protect Andie. But how? She didn't even know who was after them. Or what, exactly, they were after. AMI, yes, but what
was
AMI?
Jenna pressed her lips together. She had to find out. She had to understand it all. Because she was starting to think that maybe . . . just maybe . . .
The only way to protect Andie would be to find AMI first.
Leaning her head back, she wondered how to accomplish that feat. Cole would help. He would protect.
No.
Her heart had attached itself to Cole, but she wasn't sure she wanted to trust him right now. And his anger at God had been clear. Jenna knew the only way they'd survive was by God's grace.
Moving her leg, she winced. The pain had lessened, but the tight pull of the stitches began to itch. Her fever had finally receded—which made Doctor Baker as happy as it did her—but she was so tired. And weak.
Flipping through the channels on the TV, she searched for the news—and her jaw dropped as a picture of her family flashed up on the screen. Jenna turned up the volume.
"Mrs. Tikaani-Gray and her daughter are still being treated at Providence Hospital in Anchorage. Authorities released earlier today that the family was returning from a post-op appointment in Philadelphia—where twelve-year-old Andrea underwent brain decompression surgery a year ago—when their plane crashed into 17,000-foot Sultana. Andrea's story has been followed by Alaskans for several years as the child has a rare condition . . ."
Jenna flipped to another news station. A picture of Andie stared back at her.
"The media has kept an eye on this 'little girl who feels no pain' ever since learning about her. But even more heartache and tragedy surrounded this family. Even as this little girl underwent brain surgery, her father, Marcus Gray, a highly decorated Army veteran, was killed in a suspicious accident. Authorities are not releasing details, but we have confirmed that the plane's crash in Denali National Park was not an accident. Park rangers and NTSB will continue in their quest for answers. Back to you, Rob."
She punched off the television. Suspicious accident? No one ever said Marc's death was anything more than that—an
accident.
Until Cole. So how did the press get hold of that information? Had she trusted—even given her heart—to the wrong man? Again?
What was going on?
"We're back!" Anesia wheeled Andie into the room. Andie looked up, and Jenna couldn't miss the sadness in those blue eyes. Now was probably not the time to ask about her chat with Cole.
"Hi, Mom."
"Hey, there's my girl." She pasted on a smile and held out her arms for a hug. Visions from her past floated through her mind. Marc with Andie on his shoulders. Marc teaching Andie how to ride a bike. Marc gazing into her eyes on their anniversary . . .
Too many sweet memories to just blot out because of her husband's wrongdoing. Jenna fiddled with the blanket on the bed. Hospitals didn't rank high on her list of favorite places, and having to deal with all this junk on top of being here was beginning to drive her mad. "I want to go home."
"Me too, Mom." Her daughter climbed back into her hospital bed, the wrap on her ankle slowing her down as she fiddled with the IV tubing. "How long will we have to stay here?"
"I don't know. But I plan on asking Dr. Baker when he comes by." Jenna forced her voice to be upbeat. "Things will be back to normal before you know it."
Andie began to cry. "No, they won't, Mom. Not ever."
Jenna opened her mouth to disagree, to offer encouragement. But nothing came out. Because when it came right down to it, her daughter was right. Things would never be normal again.
Not until they found AMI—and got it out of their lives.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
COLE
April 12
Providence Hospital
Anchorage, Alaska
5:45 p.m.
Standing outside the half-open door to Jenna and Andie's hospital room, he couldn't help but overhear Andie's words. They were like a kick to his kidneys.
But she was right.
Things would never be the same for the Tikaani-Gray girls.
Cole took a deep breath and prepared his mind for the task ahead. He cared. A lot more than he ever imagined. But now was not the time to think about feelings. Now was the time to focus on keeping them alive.
With a gentle tap on the door, he pushed it open and walked in.
"Hey, Cole." Andie greeted him, tears still glistening on her cheeks.
He closed the door with a soft click. "Hey, Einstein." He nodded at the others. "Jenna, Anesia. Where's Zoya?"
"She's getting me some M&Ms," Andie said. "They cheer me up."
If only M&Ms could cure every other obstacle that stood in their way. "Well, you might just have to share them with me."
The air around him was thick and heavy, like it held the weight of all their troubles.
Jenna fidgeted, but looked him in the eye. "I'm beginning to know that look on your face, Mr. Maddox. You have something you need to say to us, don't you?"
He watched Anesia sit on the bed next to Andie. "Jenna, we need a plan. To be prepared. I've called in a favor from a friend of mine. We'll have additional protection soon, but there's still a lot to be covered."
Jenna nodded. "Okay. What do we need to do?"
Her eyes were guarded . . . So they both were pulling back. Fine. "We need different cell phones. Disposable ones." He turned to Anesia. "Do you think you could handle that? We all need numbers no one knows about. That way we can communicate without worrying about anyone listening in. One for each of us, you"—he nodded at Anesia—"Zoya, Jenna, Andie, and me."
Anesia's dark eyes held his gaze, a new flicker of trust flashed at him. "Sure. I can do that. I assume you want them registered to a different name?"
Cole had underestimated these women. "Yes, that would be safest."
"I've got a P.O. Box I can register as the billing address," Anesia added.
"Good. And you mentioned you have dogs with you?"
"Yes. The girls' huskies. They're very protective."
"Perfect. We'll want them with us at all times once we leave the hospital. Even before, if I can convince the hospital admin."
Jenna raised a hand. "What exactly are you planning to do? Andie and I are both a little incapacitated."
Cole wanted to take her in his arms, to cradle her close and tell her she didn't need to be afraid. Didn't need to worry. About anything. The longing in his gut so intense, he wanted to kiss her breathless. But judging by the expression on her face, such action or words wouldn't be welcomed at the moment. "We've got to find AMI and get it into the right hands. That's the only way you'll ever be safe."
Something flickered in Jenna's eyes. A look of . . . what? Surprise? Agreement?
"What about the people who are after it?"
"They're getting desperate. The fact that they tried to eliminate you proves that. They figured if they got rid of you and no one knew for a while, they could find AMI before the government knew what was happening. Remember, this is all about money. And power."
Anesia hopped off Andie's bed and walked over to Cole. "So that's why I kept finding footprints around Jenna's property?"
Cole tensed. "Did you see anyone?"
"I thought I did, but I wasn't sure. But the dogs got riled up every time we went over there, which tells me someone they didn't recognize was around." Anesia reached for Jenna's hand.
He walked over to the window again. So they'd been at Jenna's house. They'd probably been inside, searched everywhere. But they still hadn't found AMI. So it wasn't in the house . . .
He spoke to the window, not wanting to look at the terrified, but brave faces, watching him. "At least their plan backfired. Not only did we survive, but the media is involved now."
"You're saying that's a good thing?"
At Jenna's question, he turned to face them. "Absolutely. That brings attention to you. If anything happens to you two now, it won't be viewed as an accident. They won't want the heat an investigation would bring."
"So what do we do now?"
Jenna sounded so weary. And frightened. He studied the faces before him. Jenna's eyes pleaded with him. Anesia's held a healthy respect for the danger they were in. Andie's pooled with tears. No kid should ever have to deal with such horrors.
"I told you we were all experts in our fields. We could take on the most difficult and specialized of missions. Leaper was a paratrooper. He took on some of the riskiest jumps I've ever seen. Shadow was trained in infiltration. The guy was invisible; he could appear and disappear without anyone knowing he'd ever been there. Viper, he was a sniper. He'd take out enemies before they knew what hit 'em, Hacker—Marcus—he could do anything with computers."
"What about you, Cole?" Anesia fidgeted with the blanket on Jenna's bed.
"Explosives expert."
"And? What exactly did you blow up?"
He ignored the question. "As the years went on and Viper decided to branch out, he and Marc came up with some brilliant weapons and defense programs. Viper had the vision, Marc had the know-how to make it happen. Eventually, Viper decided it was smarter to sell those weapons, rather than us going out into the field risking our necks for who-knows-what."
Jenna piped up. "Is that when you confronted Marc?"
"No. At that point, I didn't know any of this. We were soldiers. We did as we were told. We still thought we were on the right side. The good guys. It took a lot more to get me to the point where I confronted Marc." He looked into her eyes, longing for her to believe him. To understand him. "Anyway, a lot of other stuff happened and then Marc seemed completely caught up in this new weapon he envisioned. The program and prototype that has now put us all in danger."
"Amy." Anesia and Jenna voiced at the same time.
"AMI—
A-M-I.
It stands for Advanced Missile Interceptor. In testing it had a 99.7 percent accuracy. But what's so unique about AMI is that Marc programmed it to be a weapon as well. The AMI will target an enemy missile to intercept, and then milliseconds before destroying the incoming missile, it can shoot up to three attack missiles to follow the trajectory—the trail—of the enemy missile. That then destroys the missile's point of origin and everything around it."
Jenna gasped. "
That's
what Marc developed?"
"Yes. It was ingenious."
"And it got him killed." Jenna looked down at the blanket on her bed.
"Sounds dangerous to me." They looked at Anesia, and she crossed her arms. "It could be used against the U.S."
So Jenna's friend was as sharp as she was. "Exactly." Cole looked from Jenna to Anesia, and then dared a glance at Andie. "But like I said, Marc was trying to do the right thing at the end. He may have gotten caught up in the ugliness, but in the end, he died trying to make up for what he'd done wrong."