Page 66 of Lethal Game

"Once it's all itemized and documented, you'll be able to get it back," Jason told her.

"I guess that's something." As she looked away from the box, her gaze caught on the desk where there were local magazines flung across the top. That's when she saw a handwritten letter peeking out from under a magazine. She reached for it before she could stop herself, seeing her name and her mother's name at the top of the letter.

"Alisa," Jason said. "You weren't supposed to?—"

"He wrote me and my mother a letter," she said, the letters of her name blurring with the sudden tears in her eyes. She wanted to read the letter, but she also didn't want to read it because she was afraid of what he was going to tell her. She was terrified this was a goodbye note.

"What does it say?" Jason asked.

"I'm not sure I can read it. Would you?"

He took the letter out of her hand, then read her father's words aloud:

"Pamela and Alisa. This is the most difficult letter I've ever had to write. It has been my incredible privilege to love both of you and to be loved in return. Many years ago, Pamela, I asked you to take a leap with me, to trust I was a good person, that I would be a good husband, and to my shocking surprise, you agreed. Your faith in me was inspiring. And then you gave me a beautiful daughter."

"Oh, God," she murmured.

Jason looked at her. "Do you want me to go on?"

She gave him a tight nod, her heart pounding against herchest, her emotions threatening to spill out in angry, sad tears. She wrapped her arms around her waist as he continued.

"Alisa, I know you won't understand. You're probably furious at being left out of such a big secret, but it was bad enough that I burdened your mother. I didn't want you to ever have to wonder about me. I couldn't stand to think of how you might look at me if you knew who I was, how you would see me so differently.After so many years, I believed I was safe, that I was worlds away from the life I once led, and that no one would ever find me. That's why I let down my guard."

Jason paused for a moment and then went on.

"A long time ago, I was a chemist in the Soviet Union, and I was forced to work for the dark side. With the help of a friend, I found my way out and came to the US, where I got a new identity and started over. It was all worth it, especially when I met you, Pamela, when we fell in love and built our family together. I thought I had everything I could want, but then I met Henry."

"Henry?" Alisa echoed, then motioned for Jason to keep reading.

"Henry told me about his research and how close he was to a breakthrough, but he couldn't figure something out. I tried to resist the call of science, but his work was so important and could save so many people that I told him I could help him, but he had to keep my secret. He swore he would. And did. Then one day, by chance, I crossed paths with Tatiana Guseva, someone who knew me from my other life. She had come to the lab to sign up for a clinical trial. I wasn't sure she recognized me. But two weeks later, I thought someone was watching me, watching the house. And then you got ill, Pamela, and someone left me a voicemail that you would get sicker if I didn't meet with them. That's why I left. I'm so sorry, my love. I hope you are well now. I never wanted you or Alisa to get hurt. I thought by putting distance between us I could protect you, but Henry told me they went after Alisa. I'm trying to get help from my contact, but if I don't come back, please know I'm sorry. Please know I love both of you more than life itself. And if my existence brings you pain,then I will end it."

She sucked in a breath. "Oh, my God! It sounds like a suicide note now. What else does it say?"

"I'm still hoping to find a way out."

"And?"

"That's it," Jason said, looking at her. "It's not a suicide note, Alisa."

She felt a minimal amount of relief. "No. It's an in-case-I-don't-make-it-back note, which is kind of the same thing."

"There's still hope. Your father had it. You need to hang on to it."

"I thought you were the pessimistic one."

"I'm a realist. This isn't over. Until it is, think positively." He paused as Nick walked in with a forensics team. "We'll take this with us," he said, motioning her outside.

She followed him through the door, taking several deep breaths of air as Jason stopped to speak to Flynn. They had taken a few steps away from her, so she couldn't hear what they were saying, but she saw Jason show him the letter from her father. Flynn took a photo of the letter and handed it back to him. And then they conversed in low tones for another minute.

Digging her hands in the pockets of her jeans, she looked up at the starry sky, thinking of how many nights she and her dad had sat out on the back deck, and he'd tell her about the constellations.

She'd wondered how he knew so much about the sky, but he'd told her that when he was young, the night sky had felt like a ticket out of his life, a future he could dream about. She had a feeling he could have never imagined his actual future.

"Let's get out of here," Jason said, waving her toward the car.

As they got in, he said, "Do you want to go to the hospital and talk to your mom now?"

"I know I should, but it feels like too much. I can't get into all this with her now. But I haven't been there since this afternoon. She's probably wondering where I am."

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