again see her baby daughter, in the realization
that, if she were to die here and now, she’d leave Mark with the false illusion
she’d no longer cared.
Ana huddled forward and let the tears come. For not even the
driving force of the rain, or the fire in her rapidly breaking heart, could
stop them now.
***
Major Carolyn Walker picked up the phone on the secured line
then set it back in its cradle for the fourth time. If she told Neal the truth,
he would kill her. But if she didn’t, he’d make certain her life within Defense
Intelligence was worth nothing anyway.
Carolyn had been given an assignment and promised to handle
it. And so far, when she cut herself some slack, she saw, she’d been doing
reasonably well. Maria’s indiscretions hadn’t been Carolyn’s doing after all.
All blast. Carolyn rammed a fist into the desk,
knowing that was a lie.
What Maria had done before she’d been Carolyn’s
charge had certainly been out of Carolyn’s control. But the nanny’s last
communication, and potentially her most damaging one, had, dammit all, been
made on Carolyn’s watch. And if she were half the officer she pretended to be,
Carolyn Walker would make no excuses, suck it up and face the music!
But, did facing the music mean making an already
dismal holiday abysmal by calling her boss now? How much difference could two
days make? Maria was already in DOS custody, would be restrained from making
further calls or contacts with the outside world. The damage that had been done, was done.
Mark was sure to be beyond grief over Ana. Why add fuel to
that fire?
Because if she didn’t, Carolyn realized, picking up the
receiver for the fifth and final time, and somehow the information she withheld
could have led to the solving of the case sooner, Mark Neal and the DOS would
never forgive her.
***
Ana sucked in her breath and stopped crying. As rain beat
heavy streams down her forehead, she heard a crackle in the darkness.
Then another.
Ana’s eyes frantically searched the night, weighing her
options: run or stay hidden.
Another crackle , this one
weightier- crushing through fallen brambles.
Could be an animal...
Another. Closer.
Rain streaked and an overhead curtains of leaves collapsed under pressure.
A rustle in a nearby tree.
Ana’s heart rose in her throat, as she summoned the courage
to run. Move, she told her paralyzed legs. Move, dammit!
Another rustle- closer still. This
time close enough to see thinly-veiled movement
through a nearby tree.
Ana futilely dug her fingernails into her thighs, willing
her novocained legs to cooperate.
Nothing.
Tears blistered her cheeks and water rushed from her
nostrils, as his shadowy form emerged from the underbrush.
Maybe if she stayed very still.
An outline...a head turning in her
direction.
Ana’s heartbeat hammered her to the tree behind her.
A slow, steady perusal panned in her direction.
No, not here, Ana begged silently, as the form appeared to
scan the edge of the clearing near her feet.
Then, it stopped: a sinister shadow angling toward her.
And Ana’s legs finally did something; they gave way
beneath her, hurtling her into an even blacker darkness.
CHAPTER 17
Mark stared out the large, plate glass window into the
blinding night. Outside, rain pounded, streaking the pane with its fury. In the
distance, the hazy bubble of the illuminated Capitol dome was little more a
vague sketch in the night. Christmas Eve and all of Washington was melting. But not half as fast as Mark’s rapidly drowning heart. Major
Walker had advised him of the situation and he was furious. Not at Carolyn, but
at himself for becoming so reckless. There was a day when even the minutest of
details couldn’t pass him by without notice. But now this . This, and every indication that Ana had been telling the truth these past
several weeks when she’d said she’d no idea why the house had been so
disorganized, no clue as to who’d left open the
that, if she were to die here and now, she’d leave Mark with the false illusion
she’d no longer cared.
Ana huddled forward and let the tears come. For not even the
driving force of the rain, or the fire in her rapidly breaking heart, could
stop them now.
***
Major Carolyn Walker picked up the phone on the secured line
then set it back in its cradle for the fourth time. If she told Neal the truth,
he would kill her. But if she didn’t, he’d make certain her life within Defense
Intelligence was worth nothing anyway.
Carolyn had been given an assignment and promised to handle
it. And so far, when she cut herself some slack, she saw, she’d been doing
reasonably well. Maria’s indiscretions hadn’t been Carolyn’s doing after all.
All blast. Carolyn rammed a fist into the desk,
knowing that was a lie.
What Maria had done before she’d been Carolyn’s
charge had certainly been out of Carolyn’s control. But the nanny’s last
communication, and potentially her most damaging one, had, dammit all, been
made on Carolyn’s watch. And if she were half the officer she pretended to be,
Carolyn Walker would make no excuses, suck it up and face the music!
But, did facing the music mean making an already
dismal holiday abysmal by calling her boss now? How much difference could two
days make? Maria was already in DOS custody, would be restrained from making
further calls or contacts with the outside world. The damage that had been done, was done.
Mark was sure to be beyond grief over Ana. Why add fuel to
that fire?
Because if she didn’t, Carolyn realized, picking up the
receiver for the fifth and final time, and somehow the information she withheld
could have led to the solving of the case sooner, Mark Neal and the DOS would
never forgive her.
***
Ana sucked in her breath and stopped crying. As rain beat
heavy streams down her forehead, she heard a crackle in the darkness.
Then another.
Ana’s eyes frantically searched the night, weighing her
options: run or stay hidden.
Another crackle , this one
weightier- crushing through fallen brambles.
Could be an animal...
Another. Closer.
Rain streaked and an overhead curtains of leaves collapsed under pressure.
A rustle in a nearby tree.
Ana’s heart rose in her throat, as she summoned the courage
to run. Move, she told her paralyzed legs. Move, dammit!
Another rustle- closer still. This
time close enough to see thinly-veiled movement
through a nearby tree.
Ana futilely dug her fingernails into her thighs, willing
her novocained legs to cooperate.
Nothing.
Tears blistered her cheeks and water rushed from her
nostrils, as his shadowy form emerged from the underbrush.
Maybe if she stayed very still.
An outline...a head turning in her
direction.
Ana’s heartbeat hammered her to the tree behind her.
A slow, steady perusal panned in her direction.
No, not here, Ana begged silently, as the form appeared to
scan the edge of the clearing near her feet.
Then, it stopped: a sinister shadow angling toward her.
And Ana’s legs finally did something; they gave way
beneath her, hurtling her into an even blacker darkness.
CHAPTER 17
Mark stared out the large, plate glass window into the
blinding night. Outside, rain pounded, streaking the pane with its fury. In the
distance, the hazy bubble of the illuminated Capitol dome was little more a
vague sketch in the night. Christmas Eve and all of Washington was melting. But not half as fast as Mark’s rapidly drowning heart. Major
Walker had advised him of the situation and he was furious. Not at Carolyn, but
at himself for becoming so reckless. There was a day when even the minutest of
details couldn’t pass him by without notice. But now this . This, and every indication that Ana had been telling the truth these past
several weeks when she’d said she’d no idea why the house had been so
disorganized, no clue as to who’d left open the
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