Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Drake took in the pain in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know you were hoping for better news.”
Samantha Radcliffe looked older than normal. She was a lovely sixty-four-year-old who was always immaculately dressed. Her upbringing was obvious in the way she gracefully held herself. Even in grief. She was always aware that people were watching. “I talked to the lead detective this morning. He confirmed everything you brought to me.”
“Yes, he seemed knowledgeable,” his father murmured.
They’d spoken to a carefully selected Agency employee who had known how to answer her every question. His father had none, though his mom kept trying to prompt him. His father had sat there in his perfectly pressed slacks and expensive button-down and nodded and asked not a question about the woman he’d called daughter.
The records Taylor had forged were beyond perfect. They were so well done, he’d wished they were true. She’d been careful in her every detail, from the way the report would have been written to a spectacularly well-done deep-fake video of the lead detective “interviewing” the woman who’d been cast as the scam artist. Taylor had taken on that role, managing to alter her own features so she looked a bit closer to Julia and not at all like herself. She was a master with a computer, though she’d given some of the credit to her new bestie.
She was getting along well with Jax Lee.
He was fucking jealous, and he knew damn well Jax was in love with his wife and wouldn’t ever think about cheating on her. Drake was jealous because Taylor trusted the man.
He was starting to hope she could trust him.
She’d answered his calls. For the time he’d been gone, she’d only missed one and had texted him explaining she’d been busy proving to Brad that she could take a man down with a hairbrush and a tube of lube.
He’d loved listening to that story.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” He reached over the white linen of the table and put a hand on hers. “I know you’re still holding out hope.”
“But you think she’s dead,” his mom said quietly.
“My darling, if she wasn’t, she would be here with us,” his father replied, closing the folder. “I think it’s time to face facts.”
His mother took a long breath. “I never thought I would be here. You know I’ve talked to many mothers who had to face the fact that their children were gone. I thought I knew what that would feel like, but it’s an ache I can’t express in words.”
She’d always been close to Julia. Julia had been the only good thing to come out of her first marriage, the reason she’d hung on for so long.
His mother had never honestly known Julia. That was one of the reasons he wanted to keep her from ever finding out the truth. There was nothing but misery in that particular truth for his mother.
If she found out about Julia, she would also learn that her beloved second husband—the one she called her truest love—had lied to her all their marriage. Drake didn’t doubt that his father loved his mother, but he was a practical man. His mother had been a good cover for his true vocation. No one questioned the spouse of a senator. The moment his father had married her, doors had opened for him. His place in the CIA had been settled, and his path meteoric.
“I know. I sometimes think finding her body would be a relief.” He knew he would be relieved. “Do you want me to go back to Hong Kong? I can try again.”
Julia’s Agency cover had been that she was a consultant who worked for several multinational corporations, and her work took her around the world. The last place she’d been seen was Hong Kong at a conference.
Her hand flipped over and squeezed his. “Absolutely not.”
“We do not want you to put yourself at risk,” his father insisted. “Even if there was some proof that she was alive, I would want you to be safe. I think the proper authorities should handle that situation if it were to arise.”
Stay away. Let the Agency handle it. He knew what his father was saying, but he was already in too deep. Even if he was willing to hand it over to someone else, there was the problem of Kyle. He wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if he left Kyle all by himself.
His mother nodded in agreement. “I don’t want you to put yourself in a bad position. The State Department assure me they’ve exhausted every avenue in looking for her. That awful woman and her partner…they unsettled me. I had started to normalize. As much as any parent can wrap their minds around the fact that their child is gone. I was ready to admit that she was dead and then that call came and I… Thank you for coming home and helping me through this. It’s been hard.”