Chills & Thrills: Three Novel Box Set (14 page)
Read Chills & Thrills: Three Novel Box Set Online
Authors: A. K. Alexander
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Suspense, #Romance, #Romantic Suspense, #Mystery & Suspense
“You’ve been hit,” I said.
“I’m fine. It’s just grazed.
The plane began to ascend and I started to breathe a bit better. I took Hope’s hand. “It’ll be okay.” I looked at Noah. “We need to look at that. Come on. In the back.”
Ayden’s eyes were trained on us and I shook my head as I could see he was ready to pounce on Noah.
We went to the back of the plane where Noah took his shirt off. He was definitely ripped. I have to admit that I’d be paying attention to that body if I wasn’t cleaning up the blood and taking a look at his injury, which as he had said, was a graze. As I took the supplies from the first-aid kit to bandage him, I finally said what both Ayden and I were thinking. “What happened, Noah?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean? Are you serious? One minute you’re with us standing guard on the boat while we question the scientist, who turned out to be a phony. Then you tell us that you have a lead on where Hope is. Then you’re gone, and the boat we are on gets blown to smithereens, and we don’t see you until we get Hope out of the hotel and you’re going all AK-47 on me with the bad guys, and now you’re here. Oh, and the best part of the whole thing is when I learned that your lovely wife was a double agent and working for Orlenda.”
He hung his head and then looked up at me with intense green eyes. “Jacqueline is dead. I killed her.”
“What?”
He nodded. “I’ll tell you my side of the story and I guess it’s up to you to decide. I left the boat on a tip that Jacqueline had given me. That’s true. But it was a trap. She knew that of the three of us, because of my relationship with her, I would be the easiest to take out first, and that was Orlenda’s plan. They figured that with me out of the way, the two of you would be easier targets. When I went to the meet up, I quickly realized there was something wrong because within minutes of waiting for the contact, I was being shot at. I obviously got away, and tried to reach you guys. I made my way back to the harbor and saw the wreckage. At that point I didn’t know if you were alive or not.”
I could see the emotion in his face and it sent a rush through me. Like Ayden, Noah possibly cared more for me than he’d let on.
“I did what I could to tune into either one of you, and I was getting some signs that you were alive, but you were hurt, weren’t you?”
“Not badly.”
“I had to tune out though because, um… because you and Ayden…”
I felt the heat rush to my cheeks, and I blurted out angrily, “Nothing happened.”
“It’s not my business.”
I sighed and looked away.
“Anyway, with some real effort I was able to get a read on Hope’s whereabouts and that’s when I ran into you. After you left, Jacqueline came after me, and I had to kill her. I shot my wife.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“I had no choice. She was shooting at me. Orlenda is still alive though.”
“I figured.” I had to believe Noah. I needed to, anyway. I really didn’t know what to make of it but we had been a team for so long. I couldn’t believe that he would ever betray us. His story made sense to me. His feelings for me—if they were there, if I had read him correctly—well, at the very least, they left me completely baffled and pretty much a wreck.
I turned back to see Ayden watching us. He was kind of looking the way I felt. I stood and got us some water, handing a bottle to Noah, I said, “What about Hope? Where should we go?”
“Israel.”
I turned around to see Hope behind me. “Israel? Why Israel?”
“You know what I can do, don’t you? We need to go to Israel because I need to take you somewhere. It’s where Orlenda wanted me to take her,”
I looked at Noah. “Where do you need to take us?” he asked.
“A different year. I think it’s 1940’s, but I am not sure yet. There was something found there, and it’s important. If Orlenda can find a way to get there, she will take it, and it will change history. It won’t be good.”
Noah’s eyes widened.
Ayden walked to the back. “What is it? What is there that is so important?”
“It’s papers, but not all of them were found and that lady knows that and she wants them. She wants them for a reason.”
“Why?” I asked.
Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know if you will believe me.”
I took her hands in mine. “I will.”
“Because the papers say when someone very evil will be born and someone very good, and that lady wants the good person destroyed. She plans to take the evil one and keep him.”
I looked between Ayden and Noah. I was not one for apocalyptic theory or Armageddon stories, but to me what Hope was saying sounded like this was what she was referring to, and again, with all that I was capable of doing, there was nothing that I could discount any longer. Although, there had been plenty of evil and good humans born since the beginning of time, so my initial assumption could be all wrong.
“We need to go there. We do,” Hope insisted.
“Okay.” I nodded.
Noah stood and went to the cockpit to direct the flight to Israel.
I hugged Hope close, and I finally told her the truth. “Do you know who I am?” I asked her. She looked up at me. “I’m your sister, and like I told you when I got you away from Orlenda, I promise to keep you safe.”
The tears now came down her face. “Really? You are really my sister? What about my mother?”
“You’ll see her again. I am your sister and I will take care of you.” I knew that I was possibly lying to her about seeing her
mother
again, but I didn’t have the heart to detail out the sordid story for her. Not yet, anyway.
I felt her, for the first time since having her with me, relax. It was like something had been lifted from her—something very heavy. I realized in that moment how badly this child needed to be loved. My sister needed to be loved, and as I had promised to keep her safe, I now promised to myself that I would love her and nurture her.
We sat back down and she quickly fell asleep. I looked at my guys who seemed to be making some sort of amends or pact. That was a good thing as I had no clue what was to come next, but my sense was that we would all need to be on the same page.
“This isn’t over,” I said to them.
Ayden shook his head. “No.”
“Not by a long shot,” Noah agreed. “I don’t know what to think of this, but it isn’t over. I do think we have to see where she takes us.” He nodded his head toward Hope. “We also know there are other kids out there—still imprisoned.
I nodded. “I think we have to go with Hope first. I don’t know.” I sighed.
“We need to go with her first,” Noah replied. “I don’t think the children are in immediate danger, but we will need to find them.”
Ayden smiled. “Well, I for one am always up for an adventure.”
“I think we are going to get one,” I said. “Israel 1940 something. Here we come.” I didn’t exactly know how we were going to get there, but I trusted that my sister did, and I trusted that it was imperative that we go.
The End
To be continued in:
See No Evil
The PSI Trilogy #2
by A.K. Alexander and J.R. Rain
Available for pre-order now!
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About the Authors:
A.K. Alexander
dreamed of being a writer since the age of nine, earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California before tackling fiction. Today she is the author of almost two dozen books—women’s fiction, paranormal novels, mysteries, and thrillers—including her recently re-issued debut novel,
Covert Reich
. A lifelong equestrian, she helps to run her family business manufacturing sports-medicine products for horses. She is a native of San Diego, California, and still lives there today with her family, which includes three kids, nine horses, four dogs, and a cat. A.K. Alexander is the pen name to mystery and young adult author, Michele Scott. She can be found at:
www.michelescott.com
.
J.R. Rain
is an ex-private investigator who now writes full-time in the Pacific Northwest. He lives in a small house on a small island with his small dog, Sadie, who has more energy than Robin Williams. Please visit him at
www.jrrain.com
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The Cartel
by
A.K Alexander
Copyright © 2012 by Michele Scott
All rights reserved.
Dedication
To Dad. I love you and thank you for always believing in me. This one is for you because I know it's your favorite. Here's to being a New York Times best seller!
Copyright © 2012 by Michele Scott
All rights reserved.
This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the copyright owner and/or the publisher of this book, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
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