Page 71 of Elusive Promise

"Tell me about it."

"We started tracking the Brothers of the Earth after they took credit for a bombing on the outskirts of London, at a concert venue."

"I remember that."

"That's when Isaac Naru came up on our radar, and his stepsister, Sara. Sara traveled to Paris, and April thought she was our best shot at getting someone with access to the inner circle, so April followed Sara to France. I was still working on the London angle, so we split up for a time."

"Did April make contact with Sara?"

"Yes. April got a job at the Café Douceur where Sara worked. She and Sara hit it off right away. But then Sara got a visit from an old friend and was suddenly caught up in a love affair with a former boyfriend from Bezikstan—Ben Langdon. April took a wait-and-see approach, wondering if Ben was also part of the group. But as the days passed, April began to wonder if Sara would be of any use at all. She and Ben just seemed to be having a romance. Sara wasn't meeting with Isaac or doing anything that tied her to the radical group. April told me she was about to call it and come back to London."

"What changed?"

"Isaac showed up in Paris. April met him at the café. He was friendly, flirty. She decided to make a play for him. While the group only allows men to be official members, there are lots of women around to support the men."

"I'm assuming it worked. She caught Isaac's interest."

"Yes. She went out with him several times. One night she heard Isaac talking to someone in Hindi about an opportunity to stop time, which is what they claim their bombings are about—to stop time and make everyone realize that there is only one right way." He paused. "April knew she was getting closer to some valuable information, so she turned up her romance with Isaac. She was thrilled when he wanted to introduce her to some of his friends, who had recently arrived from London. He thought she would like them and appreciate their values."

She drew in a breath, knowing where his story was going. April had been acting just like she would have acted in a similar situation. April had been trying to get inside the circle, so she could bring down the terror group. "What happened?"

"She told me to come to Paris—that the London group I'd been following was already there. I had one more meeting with a friend working for British intelligence, so I didn't leave right away."

Parisa was beginning to realize that Jared's motivation probably came from guilt as well as a lot of other emotions.

"The next day, April texted me, saying that the group was taking orders from someone else, and that person was either in Bezikstan or the US; she wasn't sure. She had a hunch, but she had some questions to ask Isaac. They were going to meet at the café that afternoon. I was supposed to be there, too. But I ran late. I was half a block away when the bomb went off."

Her pulse jumped. "Oh, my God. You saw it happen." She put her hand on his leg, feeling the need to touch him, to comfort him in some small way. "I am so sorry, Jared."

"I found April. There was so much blood…" He drew in a breath. "Her eyes were open, but she was shaking all over. I knew she wasn't going to make it. She told me to tell her parents that she loved them, and that she'd been happy in Paris, doing exactly what she wanted to do."

"I told them she could tell them herself, that she was going to be all right. I lied to her."

"You were trying to be comforting."

"I could have used that time to ask her what she'd found out, but I didn't. I probably had two minutes to get a name or two. Instead, I told her to imagine going to her favorite place—which was Yosemite. She was an avid rock climber. This dreamy expression came into her eyes, and it was the last thing I saw."

"You gave her some peace."

"I should have gotten the information."

"She might not have had a name. It seems to me that April was the kind of woman who would have made sure you had a lead if she had one."

"I don't know. I think she was just too far gone."

"Who else died at the café?"

"The manager. The bomb went off in the kitchen area. Some guests were injured, but they survived. And as I mentioned before, Sara called in sick that day. She had to have known what was going to happen."

"You think April was the target?"

"Yes. I believe that Isaac made her as CIA or something, and he decided to stop time and stop her with one fatal blow."

She stared into his eyes, seeing the pain and the anger. "I hope I'm not being insensitive, but I just want to know the whole story. Were you and April in love? Were you involved?"

"No. We were friends and partners. We had worked a lot of missions together. We'd saved each other's life. We'd had each other's back. But it was always about the job for us. April was in love with a guy back home—where she grew up in Montana. He was a rancher, a homebody. She'd had a chance with him, but she'd chosen the CIA instead. She'd wanted to see the world. But there was a part of her that thought that one day she'd go home and marry him and have babies."

"She thought he'd wait for her?"

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