“It’s slim.”
“Slim is okay. It means there’s still a chance. And from where I’m standing, there’s more than a small chance.”
“Truly?”
He rested his hands on her shoulders. “Look, I know you’re exhausted, and it’s been a good day, so let’s not end it on a bad note. I’m just saying impossible things happen all the time. Did you think Ben would ever become a Christian?”
“Never.”
“And yet he did.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Text me if you need anything?”
She nodded again.
“Can I kiss you good-night?”
Sabine tilted her face. Doug touched his hands to her cheeks and placed a kiss on her forehead. Her eyes drifted closed.
“Good night, Sabine.”
TWELVE
D
espite how tired she was, Sabine woke early. After a shower and a cup of bad hotel-room coffee, she decided to look at Ben’s computer. When she found the file, she shot up to rush across the hall but saw the clock. She should probably wait until six before she sent him a text.
Within seconds, she got a reply.
Hallway. Breakfast.
They rode in silence to the basement level where the restaurant was. It was quiet since it was so early, which was good because what she had to tell him was important. The laptop loaded while Doug poured and doctored two cups of coffee.
He sat, a frown creasing his forehead. “Isn’t that...?”
Sabine nodded. “I got Ben’s laptop from the storage unit when we left Seattle.”
“Did you get any sleep?”
She shrugged. “I got to thinking about the guy in my house and what he might have been looking for.”
“Good thing this was in the storage unit.”
“That was Ben. He didn’t like being vulnerable.” Sabine sighed. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out.
Thankfully Doug chose not to pick up on it, instead motioning to the computer. “I’m assuming you found something.”
Sabine tugged the small netbook around so they could both see the screen. “He has files of newspaper articles and police reports from the night—” Her voice gave out.
“The night your mom killed your dad.”
Sabine nodded. “It’s like he was looking for her before he died...for months. He has pictures that look like surveillance photos.”
She clicked on a picture of a woman older than Sabine remembered, but still much the same. Dark hair, thick and completely straight, cut to her chin so it framed her face. Sunglasses were pushed to the top of her head, and she had one foot in the back of a limousine like she was getting in or out.
“She looks like you.”
Sabine’s whole body froze. “What?”
“Or you look like her, however that works.”
“I’m nothing like her.” She pointed to the screen. “That woman killed the only father I’ve ever known. For all we know she’s responsible for Ben’s death, too.”
“I’m sorry. I should have thought before I spoke. If there’s any resemblance, it’s purely genetic.” Doug rubbed his eyes. “Is there something here that makes you think your mom killed Ben?”
Sabine’s energy deflated. “Strictly speaking, no, but I can’t ignore the past. She did try once already. Then there’s the fact that he was investigating her when he was killed, digging up buried history. I guess now that I’ve thought about it, the idea that she’s involved in all this won’t leave me alone.”
“Then we should check it out. Is there anything that will lead us to her?”
“Just the places she’s been. Ben didn’t know what name she’d been using all these years, so it would be hard to track her electronically.” Sabine leaned back in her chair. “I can’t believe he never told me that he was looking for her. I can’t even ask him what he was thinking. Maybe he didn’t remember what happened the same way I did. He was four years younger.”
“It’s possible he was trying to find her out of curiosity. Maybe he wanted to get some closure. He never said anything to me about her or what had happened back then. He kept a lot of things close to his body armor.”
Doug scrolled through files while Sabine sipped her coffee. Her stomach rumbled, and he squeezed her hand, though his eyes didn’t stray from the screen. “Get some breakfast.”
Sabine walked to the buffet, picked out cereal and yogurt, mixing the two together with a spoonful of strawberries while Doug studied the photos and muttered.
She sat next to him. “What is it?”
“That’s Spain, three years ago. Two days before Sheikh Amad Fashti was murdered in his hotel room. Two Delta Force operators were killed that day.” Another picture flicked onto the screen. “This is January of the following year.”
“Where is that?”
“Prague. The week before a hotel was bombed, killing more than a hundred people.”
Sabine frowned. “That means something to you.”
“It shouldn’t fit. Maybe it’s nothing.” He scrolled through more photos. “I wonder if Ben realized.”
“Realized what?”
“The Raven was behind all of these incidents. And your mom was apparently right there.”
Sabine was about to eat another bite, but paused. “That terrorist you’re trying to find?”
“More like international criminal. We’re not sure where the Raven’s allegiances are. It’s easy to call bad guys
terrorists,
but it’s not always accurate. Life isn’t usually that cut-and-dried.”
“What does the Raven have to do with my mom?”
“Maybe it’s nothing.”
Sabine leaned forward. “Or...”
“Maybe your mom is the Raven.”
His words were like being slapped. Sabine jumped out of her seat, ready to defend her mom’s honor, and then remembered what she’d seen her mom do all those years ago. She closed her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose. There must be something in every person that made them think the best of the people they came from, regardless of whether it made sense or not.
Doug laid his hands gently on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and said, “For her sake, I hope she isn’t.”
He pulled out his phone. “We’ll figure this out.”
Doug walked a few paces away. “Yes, sir, I do.” He paused a second and then barked out a laugh. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
He listened for a while and then nodded. “Understood.”
When he came back over, he was smiling, like a thousand pounds of weight had been lifted from his chest. “They’re already here.”
“Who?”
Four guys came in. They were all different body types and had different styles, a fact that had caught her eye before. This wasn’t a team cut from the same mold. Each of them was an individual with different skills. The team all scanned the room as they entered. Ben had done the same thing. It didn’t matter if they were at a restaurant or walking a street after dark. Safety in the face of constant threat was paramount.
Three of the men she’d met before—Barker, the big Texan; Hanning, the lady’s man; and Franklin, whose mom had the best potato salad recipe ever. The fourth was new to her, which meant he was likely “California,” the man Doug had spoken to during their escape from the hotel in the Dominican. All of them had bruises on their faces and hands.
They’d been in a fight.
* * *
Doug felt like he’d been punched. His team had gone without him, and they came back looking like this? Not that he’d have been able to change the outcome of the mission. It didn’t matter that he would have come back looking the same way; it just mattered that he hadn’t been with them.
He swallowed the feeling and crossed the room to meet them with a lot of handshaking and some gentle back-slapping.
The new kid, Perkins, who they all called “California” because he dressed like a surfer, looked like he’d been knocked around in a school-yard fight. Barker’s breathing was shallow, probably because the Texan had tight bindings on his broken rib. For once Hanning didn’t look like he was ready for a photo shoot for a male clothing magazine, and Franklin’s inconspicuous-banker look was disturbed by the white bandage over his broken nose.
His team was back. That could be said at least. They were in one piece, which meant the night could have gone a whole lot worse.
“Sit down, all of you. Before you fall down.”
No one sat.
Beside him, Sabine shook her head. “You boys look like you need a nap.”
“No way.” Hanning’s chin lifted. “The team is ready and raring to go.”
Doug snorted. “Good for you, but you’re in luck. It’s downtime for the lot of you.”
“Downtime?”
Doug nodded. “As of right now, all of us—me included—are officially off the search for the Raven.”
Barker moved and Doug braced for it. “I don’t believe—”
“Sergeant Barker.” Doug moved until his face was an inch from his teammate. “You will sit down before you fall down and you will hold all questions and comments until I have finished what I am saying. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Sergeant Major.”
“Good.” Doug gestured to the table and they all sat. Sabine moved away and pulled out enough cups for the men. His heart swelled that she thought to take care of them. “As far as the Raven is concerned, the attempt to dispose of the team was so much of a success and you were all injured so badly that we’ve been forced to call off missions for the time being. It’s vacation for the lot of us. In the meantime, we’re switching to alternate identities and we’re going to finish this.”
“You want the Raven to think we’re out of commission.”
Doug looked at Barker, who took a steaming mug from Sabine. “I’ll give you a moment to catch up, since you have a concussion, but yes.”
“Why? We’re just now getting close. We’re actually onto something if the Raven has resorted to trying to get rid of us. So why stop the progress we’re making?”
“Because if the Raven thinks he’s bested us to the point that we’re giving up, that makes for him to feel added confidence. And confidence makes you cocky. We leak it that we’re all recovering from injuries, and once that happens it’s only a matter of time before he makes a mistake. One that we will monopolize to the fullest extent of our capabilities. The decision has already been made.
“In the meantime, the CIA knows Sabine has resurfaced. They can’t wait to get their hands on her. We all want to find out what the Raven has to do with Ben’s death. With what Sabine has found on Ben’s computer, we’re now closer than ever. Our job is to keep Sabine safe until we can unravel what’s going on. Then we can finally get the Raven.”
* * *
Sabine felt the tap on her shoulder and turned from putting her cereal away. It had taken everything she had not to shout at Doug for making it sound like she couldn’t take care of herself. Then she saw he was trying to hold the team together with the sheer force of their respect for him.
Still, she couldn’t help saying, “You do know I’m standing right here.”
The four of them grinned at her and she smiled back. “Are we done with business now? Can I say ‘hello’?”
Despite the fact that Doug had limited his interactions with her to small talk when they had met at team barbecues, the team’s acceptance of her had been swift and complete. They didn’t hesitate to joke around and make her feel like part of their makeshift family.
Barker swept her up in a bone-crushing hug that lifted her feet off the floor. The Texan’s arms were like hams.
Sabine grimaced. “Can’t breathe.”
He set her down. “Sorry. It’s been a long night, but it’s good to see you.”
“All right, all right, give the woman some room,” Hanning cut in. He kissed her hand. “Mademoiselle.”
“Aaron.” She nodded, mostly to appease him so he would let go of her hand. Hanning always wore designer clothes and could have doubled for a movie star with his blond hair and blue eyes.
Doug was suddenly there, his shoulder in front of hers. “Let go, Hanning. Give her some space.”
Franklin adjusted his glasses, the middle-aged banker look firmly in place, despite the broken nose. “So good to see you, my dear.”
“You, too. How’s your mom?”
He shrugged. “The same.”
The fourth man hung back.
Doug waved him over. “This is Perkins. He’s—”
She nodded. “Ben’s replacement.”
“We don’t make replacements. California’s our newest team member.”
The name fit. He really did look like a California surfer. “But he fills what was Ben’s role, right?”
“Technically, yes,” Doug answered. “He’s a good kid.”
Perkins shot his team leader a look. “Not a kid.”
The kid really was adorable. She had to remind herself he was likely at least thirty, so not more than five years younger than she was. She shook his hand and then turned to Doug. “So what’s the plan?”
“The guys eat while we fill them in on what you found on Ben’s computer and figure out where to go from here.”
Sabine waited until the whole team heaped plates with food and sat back down. “How’d you guys get here so fast, anyway?”
Barker grinned around a mouthful of pancakes. “Our commanding officer made the recommendation that we join you.”
Hanning smiled. “Not to mention that following Doug would probably be more interesting than going on vacation, anyway.”
Perkins pouted. “I still think we should have gone surfing.”
“No, you don’t.” Hanning cuffed him over the back of the head.
Sabine shook her head over their antics. How did they manage to get anything done? Doug caught them up on the contents of Ben’s computer. Hearing the evidence again, she didn’t know what she’d do if the Raven turned out to be her mother. Or maybe her mother was just an unwilling pawn in all this. And what about the woman she’d seen kill Christophe Parelli? Sickness roiled in her stomach. She could have been watching her own mother kill someone—again.
If her mother really was an international criminal who discovered that Ben was tracking her, she might have thought he was about to expose her. Perhaps Ben was killed because he had revealed himself, and it meant their mom was finally able to finish what she had started all those years ago, the night she had killed their dad. If that was true, Sabine was left with a truckload of incentive to find her mom and get justice for her brother.
Whether her mom was the Raven or not.
The idea that Ben kept secrets tainted her memory of him in a way she hated. The need to settle this was like a rock in her stomach that wouldn’t go away. Surely justice for her brother would get rid of it. And yet there was something in all this that made Sabine think she might never find peace.
Her life was far too mixed up to ever be all the way straight again. She would continually be looking over her shoulder, watching for that moment when everything crashed down again. She would always and forever hesitate before trusting her own judgment.
Doug pushed his chair back and stood. “Let’s hit the road.”
Sabine grabbed the laptop. “We’re leaving?”
“The team is going after the Raven. I have a place you can be safe in the meantime.”
“You’re going to stick me with your dad while you take down Ben’s killer? Doug—”