Disillusioned Read online

  Not really.

  He lowered himself into the chair beside her, his own cup in his hands.

  “You looked a little chilly,” he said.

  “This is perfect. Thank you.” Hoping her gratitude could be heard in her voice, she raised her coffee.

  He’d remembered: she liked cream and two sugars. She wouldn’t drink it any other way. Sometimes it was the small things that meant the most.

  “I just checked the browsing history on Jack’s computer,” Kade said.

  “And?”

  “There was a recent search on how to build bombs.”

  Her stomach sank. “What? Why . . . ?”

  He stared straight ahead, his jaw set. “Do you think Bobby is planning something?”

  She shook her head. “He wouldn’t do that. You know he wouldn’t.”

  “There were bomb-making materials in your basement.”

  “Someone planted that stuff there.”

  “Why would they?”

  “To make us look guilty!”

  “Then what about the computer search?”

  She wanted a good rebuttal, but she had none.

  “I plan on bringing in a friend of mine to help here,” Kade said. “If we’re going to find answers, we’re going to need to be mobile. My friend can stay here with Bobby and offer a second set of eyes.”

  “How do you know you can trust him?”

  “I trust very few people, Nikki. Tennyson’s a man of his word. I’d never ask him here if he wasn’t.”

  “If you trust him, so do I.” Her words surprised her. Maybe they were making progress. She leaned back and let out a resigned sigh. “This is all a mess, isn’t it?”

  Kade glanced at her. “I’m here for you, Nikki. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

  Silence fell between them, and Nikki tensed, wondering if this was the moment Kade would ask about Pierce. Certainly he’d heard enough now to start putting together the pieces. He wasn’t dumb.

  “It would be the perfect evening for a bonfire, wouldn’t it?” Kade asked, staring at the fire pit in the distance. “I’d start one, but I don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to the property.”

  Nikki released the breath she held. He hadn’t brought up Pierce. Thank goodness. “Probably wise.”

  They stared silently at the fire pit, at the ashes and a few remaining pieces of charred firewood. Nikki wondered if Kade was thinking the same things she was. Her mind had traveled back in time nearly nine years ago, to a much happier place. A place where her family was complete and healthy, and she’d felt like she had the whole world ahead of her.

  “Remember the night we met?” Kade asked softly.

  She smiled. He was remembering the same times, relishing the same memories.

  “I do.” Bobby and some other SEALs had planned a bonfire on the beach of Chesapeake Bay. He’d invited Nikki and cajoled her into coming. She’d really had no desire, but Bobby had insisted that she’d been studying too much and needed some fun in her life.

  She’d just gotten her degree in linguistics, but had gone back to get a master’s in business. She’d figured she could teach English as a second language as a missionary to help support herself—maybe even use her degree to be the director of an overseas organization. Her education had also appeased her father, who thought she should be an interpreter for the UN.

  Kade had been at the bonfire. The initial attraction between them had exploded like fireworks on a clear night. They’d been inseparable in the four months after that.

  “I’d never met anyone like you before, Nikki. Everyone else was drinking and acting like fools. You were sitting there staring at the fire, and I could tell there was something different about you.”

  “You mean I was a stick in the mud?” she joked, remembering how out of place she’d felt.

  Kade had worked hard to prod her from her spot, but when he finally realized she wasn’t moving, he’d sat down beside her. As they’d talked that evening, she’d told him she wanted to be a missionary. He’d told her about his year in the Peace Corps. They’d talked about changing the world one person at a time; about how there was more to life than living for your own pleasures; about the forgotten virtue of sacrifice.

  Everyone else had eventually left the beach, trickling away to sleep off the alcohol. But Nikki and Kade had sat there and talked all night. He had never made a move, never acted smarmy or like he needed to impress her. They’d stayed and watched the sunrise together.

  “Would you believe me if I told you I’ve thought about you every day since we broke up?” Kade asked.

  She shook her head, not even having to consider her response. “No, I wouldn’t.”

  “It’s true.”

  She glanced over at him and frowned. “Kade, I’m not expecting anything, so please don’t feel like you have to make amends—”

  “I don’t.”

  She did a double take, trying to read him. “I know you’re just being a friend to Bobby.”

  “I’ve been wanting to explain myself for years now. But I knew if I saw you, all of my resolve would crumble. So I’ve stayed quiet. I never wanted it to be in these circumstances.”

  Her heart sped up for a moment. As much as she might deny it, she needed to hear what he had to say. She’d had so many questions about what had gone wrong. There was so much she didn’t understand about why they’d ended.

  She thought she’d put it behind her, but seeing Kade again had brought it all to the surface.

  She heard movement behind her. She peered over her shoulder and saw Bobby standing there, a perplexed, manic look on his face.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Listen.” Bobby raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot. “I think I remembered something. I know you don’t trust me, but I need you both to listen.”

  Kade braced himself for whatever Bobby had to say.

  “As I was lying in bed, I turned the TV on, hoping it would help me relax. Instead, there was a baseball game on.” Bobby ran a hand over his face again and dropped into a wicker chair. “It brought these memories back.”

  “Baseball did?” Kade clarified.

  “That’s right. Like I said, these men never planned to release me, so they spoke openly about their strategies around me.” He paused, swallowing hard, his gaze meeting both Nikki’s and Kade’s. “You guys, I think they’re going to attack at a baseball game.”

  Kade and Nikki exchanged glances.

  “What do you mean, Bobby?” Nikki asked.

  “Hear me out. What’s more American than baseball? The stands are full at this time of year leading up to the World Series. What better place to plan an attack?” Bobby’s head dipped as he let out a sigh. “At least I’m pretty sure.”

  Or was it that he was paranoid? Kade kept the question to himself. He wanted to listen first; he’d make judgments later.

  “Is that what they specifically said?” Kade asked. “They were going to attack at a baseball game?”

  Bobby shook his head and stared off into the distance as a breeze raked over the area. “I’m trying to remember. I think they talked about base one, base two, and base three.”

  “Don’t you mean first base?” Kade asked.

  “I just keep having flashes of these conversational snippets. I’m trying to make sense of everything. Normally you’d think so, but there was a cultural divide and a language barrier. Plus, there was the mention of a ‘strike zone.’ Whoever their American leader is, they call him the Ace. He’ll signal when everyone else is supposed to get into action. In baseball they call star players an ace.”

  Kade’s pulse spiked. Maybe this was the information they’d been waiting for. “Who is this Ace?”

  Bobby tensed. “I can’t . . . I can’t remember. I don’t think I ever heard his name.”

  “Did they say what kind of attack?” Nikki leaned toward her brother, her elbows propped on her legs and her attention riveted. “Are we talking nuclear
bombs? Dirty bombs?”

  Bobby rubbed his forehead. “I don’t think ARM has those capabilities yet. I think . . . I don’t know. But I think they’re going to bring in several small bombs and have them go off at once. The loss of life will be tremendous.”

  “They said that?” Nikki clarified again, lines of worry forming around her eyes and on her forehead.

  “Not exactly. But they said enough. That’s how they operated in Colombia. They used roadside bombs, and they like the element of surprise. The bombs are the only things I can think of.”

  “Did you remember anything else?” Kade asked.

  “I remember overhearing some of the guys talking. One said there are sleeper cells lying in wait in the US. You know, agents sent over here to blend in.”

  Nikki nodded. “I know what they are. That was an old Soviet Union tactic. But Colombia?”

  “They took their cue from Russia during the Cold War,” Bobby continued. He glanced back and forth between Kade and Nikki. “I know you think I’m crazy, but I’m not. I’m telling the truth. These guys have been planning this for decades.”

  Kade wanted to refute what Bobby had said, but Bobby was right. ARM had indeed been formed nearly forty years ago in response to upheaval in the Colombia government.

  But sleeper cells? It was hard to say if that was within the realm of possibility.

  “And they let you hear their plans?” Kade questioned.

  “Like I said, I was never supposed to get away. It’s not like they let me go when Nikki sent the ransom money. They never intended to.”

  Kade glanced sharply at Nikki. “Ransom money?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, regret washing over her features. “The military told me not to pay it, but how could I not? He’s my brother.”

  “How much?”

  “Half a million dollars.” Nikki became stoic, staring off into the distance now.

  Kade agreed that people were more important than money any day. But the fact that she’d paid only signaled her desperation. Paying terrorists never resulted in the outcome people wanted. Never. “Where’d you get the money?”

  “I used what my parents left me. There was no price I could put on my brother’s life. Money means nothing to me.” She glanced back at Bobby. “But that’s done and over with. I can’t go back and change anything. I want to know more about what they were planning.”

  Bobby pressed his lips together tightly. “Everyone in the world is looking at the Middle East. They’re looking at China and Russia. No one’s looking at ARM. People think about South America, and they think about the war on drugs. They don’t think about terrorism. But the extremists have moved in. They’re serious about what they’re doing.”

  “Why hide this from the government?” Kade asked. “Why not just come forward with the information, Bobby?”

  “I only remember bits and pieces. I didn’t remember the baseball connection until five minutes ago. Every day more comes back to me. I want to remember something that’s credible. I remember hearing them talk about a core group of ARM members here in America. Some are a part of sleeper cells, others are home grown.”

  “Why did you think that teenager in the barn was a part of the sleeper cell?” Nikki asked.

  “His necklace. It was a condor with an American flag in its beak. The guys at the detainment camp wore them. The condor is the national bird of Colombia, and that’s the official symbol of ARM.”

  Kade sucked in a breath. What if Bobby really was onto something?

  CHAPTER 19

  The next morning as they ate breakfast, a knock sounded at the front door. A moment later, Kade ushered someone into the kitchen. Tennyson, Nikki realized.

  He was probably six feet tall with dark hair and striking blue eyes. Something about him screamed “measured.” Maybe it was the way he placed his backpack on the floor or observed everyone in the room. Either way, Kade trusted him, so that would have to be good enough for Nikki.

  “Everyone, this is Tennyson Walker,” Kade explained. “We call him Ten Man.”

  “Thanks for coming,” Nikki said. She tried to manage a smile, but she wasn’t feeling like herself this morning. It was hard to find the words to describe her overall state. She felt beside herself. Out of her mind. Like she needed to be institutionalized.

  All morning, Kade had tried to talk to her, but she’d felt lifeless. The stress was getting to her. The burden of this was becoming too heavy.

  Bobby nodded, pausing as he ate his cereal in order to greet Tennyson. “Hey.”

  “Glad to be of service.”

  “I’m going to brief him for a few minutes on what we know so far,” Kade said. “If you’ll excuse us a moment.”

  Kade had told Nikki that Tennyson was a former navy SEAL and that he would help stand guard over Bobby and be another set of eyes. Maybe his presence would help alleviate some of her stress. Having someone else to watch out for Bobby would be a great benefit in itself.

  After Nikki finished eating, she washed the dishes and thought about going to lie down again. But doing so would only lead to more fretting and thinking and agonizing over everything that had happened. She needed to do something to burn off her stress before she lost her mind.

  As she started toward the office to talk to Kade, she practically had a head-on collision with him.

  “Whoa, where’s the fire?” Kade asked. She started to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm. His eyes were narrow with concern. “What’s going on?”

  She shrugged. “Not sure. I feel like I might go crazy.”

  “Crazy? You mean you weren’t already?” He offered a lazy smile.

  “Very funny.”

  “No, really. What’s going on?” The joking tone left his voice.

  “I’m restless, I guess.”

  He stared at her a moment before squeezing her shoulder. “I have an idea. How about we go for a run?”

  She raised her eyebrows, surprised at his suggestion. “You mean, away from the house?”

  A slight smile crossed his lips. “Yes, away from the house. Not too far away. We can stay on the back roads. Now that Tennyson is here, we have a little more freedom. Getting away from the house for a minute would be good for you.”

  “You know what? A run sounds great. If you think it’s okay, then let’s do it.”

  Ten minutes later, they started down the country road that led away from Savannah and Jack’s house. Nikki’s preference was to run to music, but she never used earbuds. She liked to be aware of her surroundings. As a single woman, she could never be too careful.

  Running was the perfect way to burn off the stress she’d felt since Bobby had dropped his bombshells on them last night.

  The air still felt misty and damp in the morning hours. She could feel the hair that popped out of her ponytail curling around her face with the moisture, and her breath vaporized in the air.

  In other words, it was the perfect weather for a run, full of silence and atmosphere. It was even better that she had someone beside her, keeping her moving at a steady pace. Running was usually solitary for her, whether she was training for a marathon or simply trying to get exercise.

  “So tell me more about Ten Man,” Nikki said.

  “We served a term together over in the Middle East. We were in a village looking for terrorists when Ten Man wandered into a trap. Long story short, I was able to get him out alive. He’s been a loyal friend ever since.”

  “But he’s out of the military now?”

  Kade nodded. “That’s right. Only been out a few months.”

  “Is he a part of Trident?”

  “No. I didn’t want to risk asking anyone who’s connected with my organization to help with this situation. Tennyson has done well for himself. He’s been working as a bodyguard for hire. I trust him, and that goes a long way.”

  Nikki knew that Tennyson’s presence represented a shift in the way they were operating. They’d been hiding out since they arrived, with the exception of
meeting Raz. But with Bobby remembering more and the threat becoming more real, they could no longer afford to only think about their safety.

  “What’s our next move?” she asked Kade. She’d wrestled with her thoughts all night and tried to come up with a solution. She had nothing.

  “I’d say figure out who the Ace is, but that’s too large of a concept. We’ve got to start smaller by gathering as much information as possible on ARM.”

  “Where do we even start?”

  “Hopefully Bobby will remember more details. We’re dependent on him right now.”

  They were dependent on someone who mentally may have snapped. That was great.

  Something cracked in the woods beside them, and Nikki slowed her pace. What was that? Probably just a wild animal, she rationalized.

  But she couldn’t get the image of men surrounding them, guerilla warfare style, out of her head.

  “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

  Kade pushed her behind him, his gaze scanning the trees. “Probably just a wild animal. But let’s head back, just in case.”

  Nikki took one last look at the forest, but saw nothing. Kade was right. It was probably just a raccoon or even a squirrel. It made no sense for the people after them to simply watch their moves. The men chasing them would attack.

  “What if Bobby’s right, and we’re about to be attacked?” Nikki hadn’t wanted to voice the thought aloud, but she knew that keeping it bottled up inside would make her feel crazy.

  “We can’t think that way,” Kade said.

  “We have to think that way, don’t we? We like to think we can live safely inside our borders. That wars are something that happen in other places. But maybe one’s about to happen here.”

  As soon as Nikki got back to the house, she borrowed Kade’s phone and escaped up to her bedroom while Kade took a shower and cleaned up. She sat on her bed and stared at the keypad for a moment. She’d memorized the phone number of the missionaries who’d taken Bobby in. Some kind of internal urging pushed her to call them now.

  When they’d first called Nikki just over two weeks ago, Nikki had thought it was a cruel joke. But then they’d put Bobby on the line. Her brother was alive! He’d escaped. And now he needed her help.