Page 44 of Fallout

Destiny enjoyed another chance to smile, even in the middle of everything. She took a moment and closed her eyes, praying silently for the SWAT team. For Violet’s father, George. That the whole situation would be resolved without bloodshed. God’s will would be done, and that didn’t always mean success. Or that there would be no pain.

She knew that better than anyone.

He may have allowed her to be attacked, but that wouldn’t be what He’dwantedto happen. His perfect will would see peace on earth—the kind that would only come in heaven. She asked for that perfect will in this situation, knowing that the faith of a child of God was enough to change hearts. Because unless people submitted to Him, there was only so much He could do—that gray area between God being able to act and giving humans the free will to choose how much power they allowed God to have over them.

She still hadn’t fully worked it out.

Maybe no one ever did. Too many people skewed it the wrong way, to their own ends. Wanting to be the lord over their own lives. They didn’t even acknowledge God, let alone allow Him to lead and direct them.

If He had brought her here, then it was for His purposes. There was something that He would use her situation for. So that she could be a witness for His goodness.

If Jasper was meant to be a part of this, then there was a reason for that, too. She didn’t want him to feel trapped. Though, if she was honest with herself, she did feel trapped, in a way, by what had happened to her. And the baby that resulted. It wasn’t the way a child was supposed to come into the world.

But if God could be seen through her, then her whole goal of going to Africa had been fulfilled. Not exactly the answer to her prayer that she’d expected. But God’s will would continue to be seen as long as this child was alive.

Both of their phones buzzed.

“Simon.” He needed them to come to his station.

“Peter sent him intel.”

Destiny pushed her chair back, and the two pregnant ladies went to the bullpen. She couldn’t even see April because there were so many people by the door. Cops. Vanguard agents. The blinds had been closed, so Samantha wasn’t visible, either.

Simon turned in his chair. “Based on what Peter and Jasper found out from the ex-boyfriend who supposedly beat up April, we looked at her relatives and discovered that the only one living is her father. They’re estranged, by all appearances, and he has no trace of employment. Decades ago, he paid cash for the house she lives in and secured a trust fund for her that pays out monthly. Though, it’s due to run out in three years if he doesn’t add to the balance.”

Clare asked, “Who is he?”

“No record of him in any database. No driver’s license. No indication he was ever employed by the government or started a business on his own.”

Destiny frowned. “How do we even know he exists?”

Both of them looked at her. Clare grinned. “That’s a good question.”

Okay, then. Maybe she was getting the hang of this.

Simon said, “A couple of photos on her social media accounts. None of them had his entire face, but I pieced it together like assembling a fingerprint from several partials. I ran that through the FBI database and got a hit.”

“Who is he?” Clare asked, flipping her phone over and over on her leg. Probably waiting for word from Gage on how the SWAT callout went.

She wasnotgoing to do the same while waiting to hear from Jasper.

Simon said, “He’s got a watch on him, but no one has a name. Only an image drawn by a forensic artist based on a witness sketch of the man who murdered her husband. No one knows who he is, but every lettered agency wants him found.”

Clare’s hand stilled, a white-knuckle grip on the cell. “So, what did April leave on the Vanguard system?”

“A file I still can’t access. But I think she put it there for safekeeping.”

NINETEEN

“Something isn’t right.” Jasper stomped the heel of his boot on the floor to dislodge whatever was under his sock. He held his weapon to his chest with the strap across his body and the barrel pointed down. He stood in the entryway of George Anderson’s house.

The gunfight had been a few warning shots. Thankfully, SWAT had responded in time to prevent any loss of life.

George was good for now, but he couldn’t stay here.

After what had happened with April, the hacker, he couldn’t suggest a safe house apartment at Vanguard. If something went wrong, it would be on him again. But this was Violet’s father.

His SWAT buddy Blake sat with George—who would be his father-in-law soon enough—talking quietly over what had happened. Two other SWAT officers and several patrol cops had four gangbangers against the wall in the hallway, cuffed and waiting for transport.

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