Page 16 of Chinook Winds

He glanced her way briefly. “Not good. It’s starting to feel as if it’s every man for themselves. The police are doing their best to contain the violence, but with the government all but suspended, and everyone terrified there’ll be another attack soon, it’s a losing battle. Looting is widespread.”

“I want to know where Kincaid is hiding out?” Cole said. “With there being no sighting of him for a while, and Collins missing, they appear to be looking to save themselves.”

Or preparing for a nuclear attack.

Kinsley thought about the terrible things she’d read about Collins. He’d scratched and clawed his way back into the country and into a position of power, and no one had any idea he’d fake his own death.

“Does anyone have eyes on Hassanzai yet?” she asked. Hassanzai and Collins were close. She had a feeling if they could locate Hassanzai, they’d find Collins.

James shook his head. “He’s disappeared the same as Collins. The Afghani Embassy plane hasn’t left D.C. They didn’t use it. They’re traveling some other way.”

“Hassanzai has unlimited resources.” Kinsley thought about what she knew about the man. He was powerful. Had the financial backing of his family which had ties all around the world. He and Collins could be anywhere.

“According to Jordyn, there’s no sign of Hassanzai near the location of the cave where we believe the weapons are being stored,” James said and glanced back at Kinsley. “In other words, we don’t have eyes on him. . .yet.”

She smiled. But they would. She had no doubt. If anyone could locate the Afghani, James and his team could.

Danny turned off the road onto a smaller, two-lane path. “This leads to the place where Tom and your guy are staying. It butts up to the James River Face Wilderness. There’s not another place close by. It’s extremely secluded.”

A sense of dread squeezed her in its arms. But if they were found, there would be miles and miles of wilderness to cross to escape.

Beside her, Victor reached for her hand. She realized he’d been watching her. Probably seeing all the concerns flying through her head.

“We’re safe. They don’t know we’re here.”

She forced a smile and wanted to believe him, but Legion had gone to great lengths to try and annihilate every member of Strike Force in the past. Even going to the extreme of blackmailing one of Strike Force’s members to acquire information. Legion had men and women in every layer of government and law enforcement. The intelligence community. They’d been planning their rise to power for years. Anticipated everything that could go wrong. They’d have factored in the current situation with a contingency plan in place, and most likely had already put it into effect.

Throughout all of this, Strike Force was one step behind them the whole way. They couldn’t afford another misstep. Because in Kinsley’s mind, they wouldn’t get another chance to stop this deadly team. This was it.

Chapter Five

He saw her standing by the shore. Every time he came back here, looked at her, he was reminded of the woman who had betrayed him. Sofia. He’d loved her to his own fault. Thought she would have his back no matter what. But she hadn’t. She’d threatened to turn him in to her employer—the people he once worked for. The CIA.

He continued to watch Jamie from the cliffs above. She spotted him and waved, a smile playing on her lips. His Jamie. He’d almost lost her, too, when the unthinkable happened. She’d been taken by a monster. Almost died. He’d moved heaven and hell to bring her back. But the woman who now existed in her body had no memory of him or her past. Good in some ways. Heartbreaking in others.

Collins scrambled down the steep embankment to meet her at the rocky shore. He’d told her he was her father. For years he’d reminded her of the good things that existed between them while keeping the ugly to himself. And now he would be forced to leave her again, when all he wanted was to stay here and be the father she needed.

She hesitated as always in his presence. Most times, she looked at him with a furrow forming between her brows, as if she had no recollection of him or anything he’d said.

Collins leaned over and kissed her cheek. Her dark hair tossed in the wind. Haunted green eyes searched his. He looked for some feeling inside that would confirm the things he’d told her. “How are you?” he asked when she continued to watch him.

She forced a smile. “I’m good. I wasn’t expecting to see you.” There was no real enthusiasm at his presence. He blamed her mother for that. Sofia had turned her against him long before he’d disappeared.

“I had business nearby. Wanted to see you.” He held out his hand to her. “Come, let’s go back to the house.”

At times, he worried about his enemies finding her. She was his only weakness. He’d do anything to keep her safe, even stationing armed men around the cabin to protect her if he didn’t think that might cause more problems than it would eliminate.

She clasped his hand, and together they climbed up the hill to the cabin. “How’s your work?” she asked. She believed he worked overseas in the oil business. Jamie had no idea about his past, thanks to Betty.

“Good. And yours?”

She was smart. One of the brightest minds he’d been acquainted with since her mother. After she’d been taken by a serial killer and almost died, Jamie had developed an unhealthy fear of crowds. Though she didn’t remember the attack, and he’d made her believe her memory loss was because of a car accident, he feared at some point her memories of that nightmare would return.

Jamie had taken to computer programming easy enough and worked from home. Most days, the only person she saw was Betty.

She smiled again. “It is going well.”

They reached the cabin. He glanced out at the ocean as it tossed and turned. As much as he longed to stay here with her, he couldn’t. There were things that must be handled. Duncan for one. But he wished. . . “I can’t stay,” he said and watched her reaction. Nothing. No sign of emotion. She didn’t know him. Over the past five years, he’d spent probably a total of three weeks with her. Not long enough to rebuild their relationship.

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