Page 27 of The Only Reason (The Trident Trilogy 2)

It’s starting to come back to me a little. I remember leaving my house to go jogging. I remember Mason telling me to take my phone. “My house. I think,” I say, looking at Chase and hoping he can confirm that for me.

“Millie, that’s ten miles and mainly uphill. It’s so hot this morning. No wonder you look like you’re about to die. You probably have low blood sugar again. Did you eat before you started? I’ve told you to carbo-load before you jog or you’re going to keep crashing.” He’s made it over to the kitchen, where he’s pouring me a glass of orange juice. He brings it to me with a jar of almonds. He pulls me up by my shoulders until I’m sitting half-way up, propped up on the pillows he’s fluffing behind me. “You need to get some sugar back in your system. Here. Drink. And eat some almonds, too. I’m going to get you some dry clothes.”

As the juice starts to enter my system, my brain snaps out of the fog and I remember the rest of it—meeting with George first at my house and then in his car. I remember what he told me when we were in his car, and it makes me start shaking again. I drop the jar of almonds and watch it hit my lap before it tumbles to the floor shattering on impact—sending almonds flying everywhere.

Chase is walking down the stairs with fresh clothes. He jumps down the last five stairs as the jar hits the ground. He’s running toward me—hopping through the shattered glass and almonds like he’s making his way through a minefield. He finally lands on the couch beside me.

He grabs my shoulders. “Millie!”

I look up at him—tears starting to rapidly form in my eyes. “Chase. Is Dad alive?”

“What? Millie. What’s wrong with you?” He shakes my shoulders gently. “Are you hallucinating? I think I need to take you to the hospital.”

“George told me he was alive.” I start to shake again.

“Millie. What are you talking about? Who is George?”

“My boss from the agency. He was at my house this morning. I just left him. He told me Dad might still be alive—that he was alive after the day of the explosion.”

Chase’s mouth is wide open. He stares at me like he thinks I’ve completely lost it. “Millie,” he says slowly, “are you being serious right now? No. Mack is not alive. You know that. And I don’t know who this George guy is or why he’s telling you that, but I do know, he wasn’t there when Mack died. I was. I watched it happen. Your dad is not alive.”

As my brain starts to focus again, I remember everything George said. “Did you find Dad’s body that day?”

Chase lets go of my shoulders and looks down. “He’s dead, Mills. He’s dead.”

“Answer my question.”

Chase moves to the other end of the couch. He lifts my feet and puts them on his lap as he sits down. “That day,” he says, wiping his hands over his face. “I’ve never told you everything about that day. I don’t think you really want to know.”

“Tell me, Chase. I need to know. Tell me. Please.”

He sighs and looks away from me. “We were clearing a little Iraqi village. Mack peeled off for some reason and went into one of the buildings we were passing. I saw him go in. The building blew maybe twenty seconds later. There’s no way he survived it. All of a sudden, we’re taking enemy fire. We knew Mack was gone. The entire building was reduced to rubble—and him with it. I had to call for an immediate evacuation. A marine unit went in later that day to clear the site. They searched the entire area. There was nothing there. The explosion caused a fire. Everything was gone, Millie. Your dad was gone. He died instantly in the explosion.”

I put my face in my hands and mumble through my fingers, “If you never recovered his body, whose ashes did we dump in the ocean?”

“I’m sorry, Millie. We had to give you something—something to lay to rest.” Chase looks at me—his eyes pleading with me to understand. “They were ashes from a wood fire. Not human remains—not Mack. But he’s dead, Millie. One hundred percent. He’s dead.”

“George said my dad faked his own death. That Yusef Hadzic had started looking for me. Dad wanted to disappear so he would stop looking. If Yusef couldn’t find Dad, he couldn’t find me.”

Chase squints at me as he processes what I just said. “Tell me again who George is.”

“His name is George Chapman. He was my boss at the agency.”

His eyes pop wide open. “Chapman is his last name? George Chapman?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Tall, skinny guy? Black hair with glasses?”

“Yeah,” I say, confused. “Do you know him?”

Chase lets out a long sigh. “Millie. George Chapman was the agency liaison for the SEAL teams when your dad and I were active.”

“What do you mean? Like after Dad died? I don’t think George knew him.”

“He knew him. Really well. He was like that Raine woman is to Mason and his team. He worked with us daily.”

“I’ve talked to George about Dad a lot. He’s never once told me he knew him. That can’t be right.”

Chase stares straight ahead for a few minutes and then turns slowly to look at me. “Millie. Call Mason and get him over here. There’s something happening that I don’t like. We need him in on this conversation.”

“Do you think Dad is alive?” I say, my eyes starting to tear up again.

Chase squeezes my feet. “He’s not alive. I don’t know what George is playing at here, but Mack isn’t alive. I’m sorry, sweetie. Call Mason. Okay?”

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