into the Agency’s helicopter a few hours before, Selena Mission had yanked off her wedding band and given it to him, turning to Robert and demanding he do the same. “These are for Alexis,” she’d said. “She can keep them until we see her again…”
Obeying his wife, Robert Mission had handed over his ring. The scientist had then gripped Gabriel’s hand so hard, he’d left a mark that was still there. Selena hadn’t accepted the truth yet, but the two men knew. The chances of the Missions ever seeing their daughter again were nonexistent, especially if Gabriel was successful in his lies. And he’d better be. Everyone’s lives—including hers—depended on it.
“If she doesn’t show up—” Robert had said.
“I’ll find her.”
“And if she does…”
“I’ll tell her.”
“The story we agreed on.” Robert’s voice left no room for argument.
Gabriel had lied many times in his life, had a lot of regrets, too. He didn’t want to add this one to the list, but he didn’t think he had another choice. He asked the question anyway. “Look, are you sure this is—”
Mission shook his head violently, not even allowing him to finish. “It’s the only way. She’s smart but she’s stubborn, too obstinate for her own damn good. If she has any inkling of the truth—any idea that we’re still alive—she’ll come looking for us, no matter how well you guys hide us. It won’t matter.” He paused. “You’ve got to stop her, otherwise she’ll keep going until she finds us. And you know better than we do what that means…”
Robert Mission’s voice had broken at that point. “She’s…she’s the best part of us, O’Rourke. Please…please make sure she’s taken care of. Promise me you’ll make sure she’s—”
Gabriel had kept his expression stony but he’d nodded and given his word. Then he’d prayed the girl wouldn’t show up.
Obviously his prayers hadn’t been heard. Now he had to take care of business.
“I CAN’T LET YOU GO inside, ma’am, I’m sorry. This is a restricted area.”
“But you don’t understand! I’m looking for my parents. I’m sure you know them—Robert and Selena Mission? They work here.”
The guard pulled his cap down over his eyes, the furry earflaps doing little to keep him warm. In the distance, Alexis’s headlights shone on a fifteen-foot-high barbed wire fence, a low office building barely visible in the empty stretch of loneliness before her. Piñon trees with low twisted branches added their shadows to the scene. She stared at the facility in amazement. When had think tanks become equipped with security like this? The other places where her parents had worked had looked like college campuses.
The guard leaned down. “We’re closed. No one’s working here tonight.”
“But do you know them? Have you seen them?”
He shook his head, his gloved fingers going to his jacket and pulling it closer. “I don’t know anyone who works here. I man the gate when everyone else is off. I’m sorry I can’t help you, but I have my instructions. You’ll have to move along.”
Alexis rolled up her window. There was nothing she could do but turn around and head back into town, her fear and frustration growing. She drove slower than before, the roads slicker and more dangerous than they’d been earlier, a thin layer of ice covering the highway. By the time she reached the house, she was a nervous wreck, her stomach in knots, her hands cramping against the steering wheel. She turned the corner, praying she’d see lights, but the house was as dark as she had left it. A wash of unbelievable disappointment came over her. Where in the world had they gone?
She angled the car carefully into the driveway and shut off the engine, sleet now pinging against the metal roof in an uneasy rhythm. She didn’t know what to do other than try the police department again. She should have filed a report earlier, but she hadn’t wanted to seem foolish. Looking silly was the last thing she cared about now.
She gathered her purse, then opened the car door and dashed to the front porch in the freezing night. Fumbling with the keys she’d grabbed on the way out, she found the right one, unlocked the dead bolt and walked quickly into the entry.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, the shadows inside seemed thicker than they had before, closer somehow, pressing down against her and making it tough to breathe. She wanted to call out but she knew no one would answer, so she didn’t bother. Her fingers found the light switch a second later and she flipped it up. But nothing happened. Her mouth went dry as she tried once more. The darkness remained, indeed, seemed to increase.
She took a step into the living room then stopped abruptly.
A man dressed completely in black sat in her father’s chair. Alexis stared at him in shock, a sense of dread coming over her with such intensity, she felt her entire body go hot, her blood turning to needles as it coursed through her veins. In the space of a heartbeat she was more scared than she’d ever been in her life. She couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, couldn’t do anything but stare at the stranger. An aura of foreboding hung above him like a hangman’s noose.
He looked at her through the gloom and spoke in a low voice. “You’re Alexis.”
Wishing she could answer another way, she nodded slowly.
“I’m Gabriel O’Rourke. I’m here to explain.”
CHAPTER TWO
FROZEN IN PLACE, Alexis Mission stared at him, her eyes filling with fright. She was, he realized, trying to decide if she should scream, run or sit down and listen.
While she made up her mind, he took his own measure of her.
She wasn’t at all what he’d expected.
The obstinacy and intelligence the Missions had told him about shone in the girl’s eyes but they had said nothing about her appearance. She was beautiful…or was she? The shining brunette hair hung around a face with features that didn’t mesh. The eyes were too big, the nose too straight. Her lips were too full as well. Taken one at a time, each component was attractive but she needed to age, he realized, for everything to fit.
Because she was young. Oh, God, she was so young…
Without any warning, she darted toward the phone. He jumped up but she punched two numbers before he could stop her, his fingers around her wrist, his face inches from hers.
She held on to the receiver and looked at him defiantly. Her attitude made him think of her mother. Selena had never let fear stop her, either.
“Take your hands off me and let go of the telephone,” the girl said with determination.
He didn’t answer—or release her.
They were standing close in the darkness, the skin beneath his fingers warm and smooth, her wrist bones fragile in his grip. He could have snapped them without any effort.
“What do you want?” she whispered. “Who are you?”
“I
