Sudden Recall (8 page)

“Just a stray following us. She's shaken up, but other than that I think she's fine.” Beside him Sienna nodded. “She's fine.”

“Good.” Nina sounded relieved.

Parker smiled as he looked toward the side window. This woman wasn't going to give him any slack if Sienna got the slightest scratch. He would get the full force of her ire in return for any harm that came to her friend.

That kind of love was hard to find. Though Parker had looked plenty—and even thought he'd had it for himself a couple of times. The fact that Sienna had it with her friend was a very good thing, and he was happy for them both even if maybe a little jealous.

If he and Sienna ever got to the place where they could try again to find a relationship, would he be brought into their fold? He couldn't see how it would happen immediately, but maybe after a time he would feel like part of their makeshift family.

Parker shoved aside the train of thought and said, “What did you need?” He would support Nina's effort as much as he could.

“Karen doesn't want me to interfere, but I sent her on a tangent. I want to meet up with you guys. Where are you headed?”

Parker explained about Sienna's uncle's ranch.

“That's the best idea I've heard in a year.”

Parker had another one. “Can I send you the picture I took of the man following us?”

“Definitely.”

If she could get an identity for them, it would put them a step closer to figuring out the mission Sienna had been on and what was on that flash drive everyone wanted.

Parker hung up and went in his phone gallery for the one he'd taken of the man. Sienna jerked the steering wheel hard to the right and pulled over. She put the SUV in Park with the front right wheel on the sidewalk. When Parker looked up her attention was on the phone.

Before he could ask, she said, “I know who that is.”

EIGHT

“W
ait a second.” Sienna frowned. “Let me gather my thoughts. You look mad. Did I not do the right thing, hitting his car with yours? I was acting on instinct. Was that okay?”

She couldn't see that too much damage had been done to Parker's car. The man who'd been following them, on the other hand, his car was crumpled all down one side. She was pretty sure she'd popped one tire. He wouldn't catch up to them anytime soon.

Parker shifted the phone in his hand. She knew he wanted to talk about the photo, but she had to get past this moment first. The memory was still piecing itself together in her head, and she needed more time.

The adrenaline of the moment rushed through her. It fired synapses and made her feet jittery. She tapped the steering wheel even though they were still parked on the side of the road in the middle of the day. Someone driving past would think they were up to something or in trouble.

“Sienna.”

She glanced at him.

“There's no reason to second-guess yourself. Don't worry about the truck—it's not a problem. Trust what you learned with the CIA, even though you don't remember it. It's like muscle memory. Buried in there is everything you need to keep yourself safe.”

She hadn't even thought of that. Could she really have all those spy skills she saw in movies? Escape and evade tactics, or whatever they were called. Did Sienna have those, buried somewhere in her brain? And why didn't he act like that was a good thing? Parker was upset about something, or his mouth wouldn't be pinched like that.

His gaze was like a laser that pinned her to the driver's seat. “You did what you thought was necessary to save my life, right?”

Sienna nodded. Her only thought had been to keep that man from shooting him. Parker was obviously trained, but tell her nervous heart that in the moment. She'd only been thinking he couldn't get hurt. That she wasn't going to allow it.

“Go with that.”

He knew. Sienna looked away, because he knew exactly why she had hit the other man's car.

The warmth of his fingers touched her chin. Sienna let him turn her head until she saw a matching warmth in his eyes. Had anyone ever looked at her like that before? “Parker.” His name was a whisper from her lips.

His face filled her vision as he shifted in his seat. His lips drew closer to hers until they were only a hairbreadth apart. Why did this seem so familiar? So comforting? Like everything she had ever wanted, and the only place she wanted to be. The peace of being wanted—needed. The comfort of strong arms.

And for some reason...she'd given it up.

“Why did I walk away?”

Parker sucked in a breath and backed off.

“I want to know.”

He was pulling away, and she was going to lose this connection—the chance to find out what she'd done to them. Why on earth would she have given him up? “I want to know why I chose to leave.”

He stared out the front window. “You chose not to come.” All warmth had evaporated out of his voice, leaving only a lack of emotion she didn't like at all. Why was he doing that?

Parker sighed. “We were supposed to meet up at the airport in Atlanta. We'd talked about nothing else for days, and when the time came...you never showed. You left me standing there, alone, for four hours, waiting for you to show up.”

She'd hurt him.

“I'm sorry.”

He speared her with his gaze. “For what?”

She didn't know why she hadn't been there, but she could still be sorry for the pain she'd caused him. Was she so heartless that he wouldn't accept an apology for the obvious way she'd blown him off? No. If anything, Sienna thought she might have too much emotion.

Either she didn't know how to divorce her circumstances from her heart and how to compartmentalize the mission and her personal life, or Parker was the one person in the world who blew through her defenses and left her wide open. It was like he'd flooded every part of her since he pulled up behind her in his truck.

She had to know which.

Sienna prayed for courage to accept the answer, whatever it was. “So I just...never showed, and then nothing? I didn't give you any kind of explanation?”

“It wasn't that you'd been hurt. Whatever put you in a coma came later. I know that much.” Parker paused. “You did send me a message.”

“I did?”

“Karen showed up at my apartment two days later.”

Sienna studied his face, but he wasn't giving away anything.

“She said you chose the mission—your work—over us.”

Sienna shook her head. “Why would I do that?”

Parker's eyebrows lifted. “You just did.”

“That makes no sense.” She could hardly believe she'd chosen whatever there was at work over this man beside her. Karen had to have the answer. Sienna would get to the bottom of it just as soon as this was over.

* * *

“It doesn't matter now, it's done.” Parker's heart didn't agree, but he wasn't going to let Sienna know that.

Just as soon as she remembered why she hadn't shown up, she would be leaving again. If he let her back in his heart now, he'd only have to try and dig her out when she walked away. Again. It had been painful enough the first time; he didn't know if he could handle another.

He was weak.

For all his physical strength, on the inside Parker was just like his dad. He was going to spend the rest of his life pining for a woman who didn't want him. Not that he had any intention of drowning his sorrows in a bottle. So far he'd made sure he never even got into a position where he might fall into drinking just to try and numb the pain. But that only meant he was left with that aching, gnawing wound Sienna had inflicted.

He unlocked his phone so the photo was on-screen again. “Just tell me about this. You said you knew who this was.”

He had to get something from her, and at this point the job was all there was between them. Her last mission. Her memories. Her answers.

And when it was done, he was going to be the one who walked away.

He would have to. It was the only way Parker was going to survive. Enough of all this unspoken back-and-forth between them. They were nothing but acquaintances with a past she didn't even remember. He should take a page out of her book and choose his life—and his sanity—over her. Thank you, and goodbye.

Sienna studied the picture. He tried not to let the vulnerability he saw on her face penetrate, but it was tough. He had to steel himself against all that she was. Every single part of her beckoned to him like a lighthouse. But lighthouses were meant to keep people away from disaster. And that was what Sienna was to him. She was the potential for a disaster he was never going to recover from.

Parker lifted the phone. “Who is this?”

Her lips moved, her voice a whisper. “Thomas Loughton.”

Sienna clapped her hand over her mouth.

“You remember him?”

She frowned. “I don't know. I have his name, those two words in my head. Other than that, nothing. I couldn't tell you the first thing about who he is, or why he might be following us.” She shook her head. “How did I know that? I don't know you. I don't know Nina. How do I know this guy?”

Parker shrugged like it was no big deal, though it stung to hear her say she didn't know him. While he could bring to mind every single word they'd ever said to each other, she didn't remember him at all.

He blew out a breath and let go of his spiraling thoughts. He opened his browser and did a basic internet search for Thomas Loughton. The results made his eyebrows lift.

“Newspaper article. ‘Former NSA analyst Thomas Loughton was recently fired under suspicion of espionage. He was questioned by an internal review board, but no formal charges were brought. Disgraced, Loughton returned to his childhood home in Connecticut but hasn't been available for interview since.'” Parker glanced up at Sienna. “That was eighteen months ago.”

Her eyes were wide. “The NSA?”

“That's what it says. Which begs the question why a former NSA analyst suspected of what I would guess is leaking sensitive information is following us.”

“Me.”

“What?”

It was like she was trying the idea on for size, getting a feel for processing the details in her brain in the hope it would jog more memories loose. “He's following me.” Sienna glanced out the front window. “The NSA. Thomas Loughton.”

* * *

Sienna could see the question; it was on his face. But there was so much swirling in her head, what was she supposed to think? She'd remembered something! Sure, it was only one name, but Sienna wasn't going to miss the opportunity to celebrate this victory.

The fact that she didn't remember anything else was frustrating to say the least. It wasn't like that one memory had opened the floodgates and everything came rushing back. Unfortunately. She knew God wouldn't just hand over everything she wanted right there in the moment. Often there was something to learn that she never would have grasped if He simply gave her what she asked for.

Parker fiddled with his phone again.

“Should I keep driving?”

“One second. I want to make another call.” Parker held the phone out and it rang on speaker so she could hear it, too. Sienna shot him a grateful smile. He stared at her mouth for a second.

“Hello?”

Parker blinked. “Yep.”

“What?” The voice through the phone was Nina.

“Nina, it's Sienna.” She frowned at him. “And Parker.” Was he losing his mind?

Parker shook his head. “We're here. We have a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

Sienna's lips curled up. Her friend was a hoot, but she was glad Parker was taking the lead on this. She was exhausted and hungry. She looked at the dash. It was way past lunchtime.

“Do you know if any of this has to do with former NSA analyst Thomas Loughton?”

Nina gasped. “She remembered?”

“Only his name.” Sienna couldn't get too excited about that. “Nothing else.”

“That's good. That's really good.” Nina let out a frustrated groan. “But Thomas Loughton? If he's the seller, then this is worse than I thought.”

“What do you know about him?” Parker asked.

“Not much more than office rumblings. Loughton, during his tenure with the National Security Agency, downloaded their encryption algorithm on to a flash drive. It's the key that lets you into their computer system. Anyone with a log-in ID and password and that flash drive can hack the NSA from anywhere in the world. It would only work for a short time before they caught on, but you could still do serious damage in that brief period. And if you were smart, you could move locations and send everyone on a wild-goose chase while you brought them down from the inside. Every agent and every asset we have in every country would be in danger.”

“And Loughton stole it?”

“Yes,” Nina said. “Most figured Loughton's intention was to give up everyone in covert operations by selling the flash drive to the highest bidder and then retiring to some non-extradition-treaty country and living the high life in paradise. This thing puts all of us—our identities and our missions—in jeopardy. It puts our secrets in the hands of the bad guy with the most money. I only figured it was a rumor. I never believed it was based on truth, since no one ever found any evidence he'd really done it.”

Parker said, “But if it's true, then...”

“The NSA and the CIA must have covered it up because they knew everyone would go crazy trying to get their hands on it.”

“What was Sienna's part in this?”

“We always gave each other all the details of our missions, in case one of us was ever compromised. Or burned.” Nina was silent for a moment. “Except this one. But she must have been tasked with getting it back.”

Sienna didn't know if she even wanted to remember what had happened to her. “Loughton is on our tail now, so he must be trying to get his hands on the flash drive.”

“We still don't know who the buyer was going to be,” Nina said. “But I think Thomas Loughton must have been biding his time, waiting for you to remember where you hid it, so he can get it from you and sell it for real this time. He must still want his retirement money.”

Beside her, Parker shook his head. Did he wish he'd killed the man in the gas station? If he had, this would be over. Thomas Loughton would be dead and no longer a threat to them. But neither would they have any answers, the buyer's identity or the truth about what had happened.

His mouth worked back and forth, and then he said, “The ranch is still our best chance at finding the flash drive.”

“I can meet you there,” Nina said. “Give you some backup in case Thomas shows.”

Sienna nodded. “That would be good.” More because she would get to see her friend than because they needed help. Maybe seeing Nina would loosen more memories.

Parker set a plan with Nina and then ended the call.

Sienna started the engine. “I want to finish this mission.” Parker turned to her, but she kept talking. “It's the only way I'm ever going to remember, and the only way I'll be able to move on from this. I want my life back.”

With the bad memories would come the good—and the answers about what had happened between her and Parker. She wanted to know so that she could make her choice about him again. Whether that meant she fell for him in a forever way or if it meant she walked away for the second time, Sienna didn't know.

But she wanted the chance to find out.