Page 39 of Zero Visibility

“Much better after resting.” She peered at him. “Do you think they’ll find us up here?”

He stopped walking and turned to her. “I don’t know. James is an expert at creating software. The cloaking app he created is one of the best I’ve seen.”

“But?” she prompted and circled her arms around his waist.

“But Legion has all the latest military technology along with CIA and NSA on their side. Who knows what’s in the works.”

Jen tugged him close and stared into his eyes. “Whatever the future holds, we have each other now, and I don’t want to take a single moment of that time for granted.”

He’d never appeared so vulnerable before. “I feel the same way. I love you, babe.” He cupped her neck and lowered his head. The moment his lips met hers, she forgot all about the troubles crowding in around them. Her world was encapsulated in Ben and their child and her heart thundered against her chest at the tenderness of his touch. She wanted this moment to go on forever, but it couldn’t.

When the kiss ended, she leaned her head against his. Neither spoke. Words weren’t necessary.

Ben scraped her hair from her face. “I can’t wait for this to end. I want to have a normal life again.” He shook his head. “I’ve almost forgotten what that feels like, but you and our child deserve that. More than anything you deserve to have a husband who will be there for you. Someone with whom you don’t have to wonder what’s really going on.”

She touched her finger to his lip. “You are the one I need. Promise me, you won’t . . . leave me.” She couldn’t say the worddie.

He took her hand in his. “I promise I will do my best to be there for you and our child.” She wanted assurances he couldn’t give her, and he saw it. “I’m sorry, Jen, but I won’t lie to you again. I can’t promise you I won’t leave you because I don’t know the future. All I know is I want to spend whatever time we have left together.”

She forced a smile. “I feel the same way.”

They started walking again and her eyes marveled at the beauty surrounding her even though the new morning had just begun, and darkness still clung to the countryside. “This reminds me of our time in Alaska,” she said. “We only got to live there briefly but I loved the wide-open spaces of the state.”

He smiled over at her. “Me too. Maybe once this is over, we can go back there again.”

She shook her head. “Let’s go someplace we’ve never been. No memories of the past; just a future empty of anything bad.”

He opened the door to the storage building, and they went inside.

Jen marveled at how much room there was inside. The place was buzzing with activity. They joined James and his people who were installing the computer equipment. Jen couldn’t believe how much technology the team had accumulated, although Ben had told her they had the backing of the CIA.

“Anything new?” Ben asked Cole who appeared to be studying a message on his phone.

“Hum…oh, I’m not sure.” He swept a hand to encompass the vast amount of equipment. “James is almost finished with the installation. The signal’s a little weak, but James has boosters that should help.” Cole’s attention fell on the message he’d been reading earlier.

“What is it?” Jen sensed something was troubling the man.

“I’m not sure what to make of this.” Cole glanced up at them for a second. “I kept my phone in case Victor tried to reach out to me. Well, I just received a message from someone claiming to be with the president.”

“You’re kidding.” Ben leaned over to read the message. “The person says they’re with the president being held hostage. He claims the president is still alive, but his phone was found and destroyed.”

“How old is the message?” Jen asked.

“It just showed up. If it’s real, he’s still alive. For now.”

Without a doubt, If Legion had him, they wouldn’t keep him alive for long.

Chapter Fourteen

“Ican’t believe it,” James murmured, once Cole showed him the message. “Let me do some checking. I can try to locate the phone that sent the message given it’s still on and working.”

“Do it quickly. And have Abby and Brookes on standby. If President Douglas was still alive at the time of this message, we won’t have long to get him out of there before Legion either has him moved . . . or kills him.”

“You got it. I hope to have an answer soon.” James went to work. “But if this is a ploy by Legion, the minute you start trying to locate the phone, they’ll be doing the same.”

Ben didn’t like it. “We need to take measures to protect ourselves. Like hiding the plane. If they stumble upon it, they’ll find us up here and we’re sitting targets.”

“You’re right,” Cole agreed. “Take Lincoln with you. Put the plane someplace accessible, but with enough distance from here that they won’t look for us.”

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