Page 31 of Sinner's Salvation

“Who are you?” It came out in a hoarse whisper. She needed to know. Needed to know if she could trust him or not.

His gaze never wavered from hers. “Someone who wants to help you.”

Most of the people who’d said that to her over the years had betrayed her. She shook her head. “Why would you want to do that?”

“You mean aside from the fact that you were kidnapped, assaulted, and confined illegally by a member of an American law enforcement agency?” he asked, anger turning his cheeks red and his voice rough. “How about basic human decency?”

She studied his face. Under the anger, there was confidence, conviction, andkindness? She blinked. Why would he be feeling any of those things for her? “Tell me why I should trust you.”

“The man you gave the ring on my left hand to owed you a debt. He’s passed on and can’t repay that debt, but I can, and I will.”

“I think you’re an idiot,” she told him, completely serious. “We could have died. All of us. The bomb and fire probably did kill some people. Is that acceptable to you?”

“No one died. I made sure the building was mostly evacuated by using the smoke bomb first, then the destructive bomb.”

“That soldier I dragged out was injured.”

“They should have gotten you and the kid out earlier than they did.” Evan grabbed her by the elbow to keep her sitting upright. She hadn’t realized she was falling over. “They were stupid to wait so long.”

“It was a huge risk you took,” she hissed. She wanted to yank herself out of his hold, but resisting his help might draw attention to them both, so she let himhelpher.

“It was a calculated risk,” he muttered. “Getting you out was worth it. Besides, you risked your life to save that soldier. You made moral choices and proved you’re a lot more trustworthy than the jackass who kidnapped you. He planned to kill anyone who’d seen you, including those soldiers and myself. I have a recording of Ledger explaining all this to two politicians”

“So, not all the evidence was destroyed?”

“All the evidence about you being more than you seem was destroyed. I have what I need to prove that Ledger is a power-hungry lunatic.”

The man looked so smug, and suddenly, she saw someone else clearly in his smile and the light in his eyes.

“You really do know Bernard?” she asked hesitantly.

“He was my grandfather,” Evan Gunn said. “He changed his last name to Gunn after the war.”

Her first encounter with Bernard Gunnerson was when he was twenty-four years old and wearing a German officer’s uniform. He spoke unaccented German, French, and English, and he’d just talked their small team through a German checkpoint. He’d had the same smug smile of triumph.

Bernard had been her friend when she thought she didn’t need any, and had told him so. He told her he already had a wife and a son, so a friend was all she could get out of him.

He’d made her laugh even when danger had been all around them.

“You must make your wife crazy,” she muttered.

Evan snorted. “In my line of work, you wait until you’re retired for marriage or a significant other.”

“So, there won’t be anyone who would worry if you disappeared or died?”

“Hey, I’ve got a family, just no spouse.” He glanced around, then made eye contact with her and said to her, “My grandfather was a member of the Ghost Army in WWII. He masqueraded as officers and enlisted men from a dozen different units. He was a tailor and artist who could speak fluent French and German.”

“Anyone could have looked up the Ghost Army and the operations they did,” she said. “It’s not a secret anymore.”

“My grandfather gave me a picture of you,” Evan said, maintaining his casual tone. “It’s from WWII.”

“No such thing exists.” She should know, she’d been very careful, had avoided cameras at the time and for a few decades after that. Until she couldn’t avoid them anymore because there were just too many of them.

Evan glanced at her again. “He drew it.”

Hewhat?

“On the inside cover of a manual,” Evan continued. “It’s in pencil and you’ve got a crooked smile on your face.” He tilted his head to one side for a moment. “You look...light-hearted in the picture. Gramps said it was because your particular group of French resistance fighters had just fooled the Germans big time.”

---