Sacrifice Love: Saints Protection & Investigations (20 page)

“Yeah, well this one will be the last,” Chad vowed.

“If she’ll let me, I’d like to look at the note,” Luke said. “I could run it through some decoding programs to discern if there was something else.”

Nodding, Chad agreed. Pulling out his phone, he called her. “Hey, baby. Do you have the note with you? Can you scan it to me? Luke would like to run the message through some programs to see if he can discover a code. We don’t know. We’re grasping at straws right now. Okay, thanks. See you, tonight.” Looking at Luke, he confirmed, “She’s sending it to my email.”

Jack, turning back to Mitch, said, “So where are we on the sleeper cells?”

Mitch grimaced, “Fuckers are coming in faster than we can keep up with them. Got a group in Fairfax and Richland, plus about three others in smaller communities. We’re keeping an eye on them. Here’s the part that bites us in the ass—the Mexican drug cartels are sneaking in terrorists from the Middle East, through the Texas border.”

Cam’s eyes jumped up to the screen, a curse escaping from his lips. He spent time in Mexico on a mission to rescue a nurse from a drug cartel. The mission was successful and he was now married to Miriam, the nurse he rescued, but he had seen up close the long arm of the Mexican drug cartels.

“Can you use us?” Bart asked.

“I wish I could, Bart, but with the homemade and professional explosives these people have, I can’t trust that even your skills would not trigger whatever the fuck they’ve got set up.”

The group’s frustration ran high, not used to spinning their wheels and getting nowhere.

*

Dani sat at
her desk, finishing up the latest proposal for the new explosive devices MES produced to sell to the military. She glanced at her watch and was surprised to realize it was almost time to go home. Sending her files to a secure drop box, she forwarded them to Ethan for final approval before digging the note from Adam out of her purse. Standing, she walked to the printer/scanner on the credenza beside her desk. She held the note for a moment in her hands, rubbing her fingers over the words. The fierce anger she felt toward Adam after he was killed had slowly morphed into resignation. And with that came the remembrances of good times. Now, her emotions moved toward complete frustration.

Aaron popped his head around the corner of her door. “Hey, Dani, Melissa’s here and wanted to confirm if you were coming to the company picnic this weekend?”

“I hadn’t really made up my mind,” she confessed. “Does she need to know now?” She watched as his eyes dropped to her hand holding the note.

“She’s in my office, do you have a minute to talk to her before you leave?”

“Uh…yeah, sure.” Placing the note on the scanner, she quickly closed the lid before he had a chance to observe what was in her hand, unwilling to share any of her crazy life with someone from work.

She followed him out and made her way to his office, greeting his wife warmly. The two women chatted for a few minutes, before Dani headed back to her office. As she turned the corner of the hall, she saw Jahfar leaving her office. His eyes met hers and she swore she imagined guilt piercing his gaze.

Aaron came from the other direction with Ethan and met them at the entrance to her office. “Hey, did you and Melissa get things straightened out?” Aaron asked.

Her lips pressed into a tight smile, she forced a pleasant expression on her face. “Yes, thank you.” Turning back to Jahfar, she cocked her head to the side. “Find what you were looking for?”

Smoothly, he replied, “I was looking for you, so now I have.”

Lifting an eyebrow, she waited for him to explain, but he only looked at his watch and said he would talk to her tomorrow. She stared at his back as walked down the hall.

“You okay?” Ethan asked, studying her carefully.

Sucking in a deep breath, she replied, “I may be wrong, but I just don’t trust him.”

Neither man spoke as she moved back into her office. She finished scanning the note and then sent it to Chad’s email.
Luke, if you can find anything from this, good on you!

*

“You’re right,” Marc
said, looking at the note. “There’s not much to go on, is there?”

Even Luke gazed at it dubiously. “I’ll run the words through some decoding programs I’ve got, but you said Adam wasn’t much of a computer techie.”

“At least not the Adam I knew.” The idea that for over a year he did not truly know Adam gnawed at Chad.
If I’d stayed with the ATF, would I have been able to keep Adam from going off the reservation? If he actually did?
Heaving a sigh, he rubbed his hand over his face and stood, stretching his large frame.

“I’m going to take a run, guys,” he announced. “Maybe that’ll clear the cobwebs from my brain.”

“Want any company?” Bart asked.

“Sure,” he replied. The two men changed in the locker room and headed out. Chad was grateful that Bart kept the run challenging, but also stayed quiet so he could process the myriad of thoughts zinging through his mind.
Adam’s note to Dani sounded like the note a man would give to his wife, knowing his life could end at any time. Was that just because of his dangerous job? If so, why leave it in a safety deposit box? Why not with a family member…or stuck in book…or…No, Adam wanted to make sure that not just anyone could get to it. Therefore, there has to be some meaning behind the words. But what? And since the note was in a safety box, why did Adam have to be so cryptic?

His feet pounded the trail, sweat poured off him, his muscles worked hard…but no clue came to mind.
Was it because Adam was afraid that someone might find the key besides Dani, so he didn’t want to speak plainly?
Finishing the run, Chad decided he did not think that Adam had the ability to plan something so intricate.
Not the good-time Adam that I knew!

*

Dani drove down
the driveway to Chad’s house sitting in the woods. She sat for a minute in her car, looking around.
How many moves have I made in the past year? Ugh!
Noting the few blooming dogwood trees dotting the woods amongst the cedars and pines, she had to admit she appreciated the view. She knew Chad had been working on house projects and she loved the results. The house was beautiful…
a good place to raise a child?
She waited to see if the ensuing panic would set in, but it did not. With her hand on her belly, she said, “All right, little one. I’m trying to do the best thing here for all of us. Honest, your mommy’s never been so flighty in her life. I was always the calm and steady one. Rational to a fault.” Sucking in a deep breath, she stepped out of her vehicle and walked to the front door.

“Well, for now, this is home, baby, and I pray it’s the last move we have to make!” Stepping inside, her eyes landed on her cherished rocker sitting in the living room, where Chad had placed it. She had been avoiding it—the memories too painful after her miscarriage and then Adam’s death. Now, the time seemed right to enjoy the comfortable chair. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, she walked to the rocker and settled down in its comfort.

Leaning her head back after taking a long swig, she closed her eyes. “Even your daddy wanted me to be right here in this rocker.” Her mind roamed over Adam’s note once more, but soon she rocked herself to sleep.

Chad came in an hour later, smiling as he pulled up and saw Dani’s jeep sitting in his driveway. This was where he wanted her…where he had always wanted her. Stepping inside, he viewed her sitting in her rocking chair, head leaning slightly to the side, sound asleep. Thinking of the note, he realized Adam may have come home from work and seen her in the same position. Instead of feeling envy, he felt a kinship with his former friend who had tried to the do the right thing for Dani when he insisted they marry.
Your motives were good as always, buddy, but sometimes your actions were completely fucked up.

Seeing Dani stir, he pushed all thoughts of Adam from his mind and moved over so when she awoke, he would be the first thing she saw. Kneeling in front of her, he yearned to reach out to touch her thick auburn tresses. Her hair was what had captured his attention when they first met, until getting closer and having her green eyes focus on him. He had been lost ever since.

Her eyes fluttered open, a second of confusion on her face that blended into a beautiful smile when she looked at him kneeling in front of her. “Oh, I must have fallen asleep.” She reached her arms above her head in a long stretch. “I keep wanting to take naps, but can’t at work.”

Finally able to allow his fingers to move through her silky hair, he bent forward, kissing her lips. “I’ve read where that’s common in pregnancies. So you nap whenever you want, babe.”

Standing, they walked into the kitchen together. Dani looked around and asked, “Do you mind if I make supper?”

Chuckling, he replied, “I don’t know a man alive who wouldn’t love to have a meal cooked for him.” Sobering, he added, “But I don’t want you to wear yourself out.”

“Nah, the nap did me good.” Opening a few cabinets and the refrigerator, she was surprised to see them well stocked. Looking over her shoulder, she asked, “Do you always have this much stuff?”

“I went shopping when I hoped you were coming and made sure to buy everything I could. I mean, I do eat well…and a lot, but I tried to get anything you might want.”

Smiling, she pondered for a moment, then pulled out a package of chicken breasts and pasta. “How about chicken parmesan? I’ll go light on the garlic. I find it kills me with indigestion since I’ve been pregnant.”

Kissing the top of her head, he said, “Sounds great. I’ll shower and be out to help you.”

Her eyes followed him as he walked out of the room, admiring his body. Giggling as she shook her head, she turned back to the dinner preparations.

Sitting at the table an hour later, she said hesitantly, “I guess I need to let my parents know where I am.”

Chad halted his fork halfway to his mouth. “Uh yeah, babe. Is there a problem with that?”

“I just didn’t want to worry them.”

“About…?”

“Everything. My place being searched, Adam’s note, staying here for protection—”

Interrupting, he asked, “Is that the only reason you’re staying here?”

She caught the expression on his face, a cross between irritability and vulnerability. Laying her hand on his muscular forearm, she felt the muscles tense underneath her fingers. “No, that’s not the only reason. It’s just that we were going to go slow and then everything crazy happened, and here I am. My parents know we’re together, but not about me being out of my house. They trust me, but …” she leaned back in her chair, “I must look like a complete ditz to someone on the outside. First widow, then pregnant, three moves in as many months…”

Placing his hand on hers, he replied, “Dani, anyone who knows you, knows you’re not a ditz.” He caught her eye roll and added, “Tell you what. Why don’t we go visit them together? Let them know where we stand. They need to know I’m committed to you…and to the baby.”

“Really?”

“Babe, I’d do anything for you. But the trip will be as much for me as for you.” Seeing her look at him, a question in her expression, he said, “I need to talk to them. About me…about who we were and who we are now. They need to hear that from me.”