She takes another breath, then turns to face me. “I think it’s about that company that I was investigating back in Afghanistan. They’re a humanitarian supplier of food, water, medications, and other supplies in conflict zones around the world.”
Shrugging, I tell her, “Yeah, I remember you saying something about that while you were in Kabul.”
“They were double-billing governments, private donors, and the US military.” Taking a deep breath, she continues, “I found out they were shipping cheap knockoff meds and supplies, forging manifests, pocketing the difference. And when someone got too close to the numbers, they’d disappear. I found a flash drive with a ledger on it. It was partially encrypted. Straight after I left Afghanistan, I had an assignment in Myanmar so didn’t get a chance to do any more research. Then the bomb went off.”
“You actually think they targeted you specifically? That they tried to kill you?”
“I sure felt that way at the time. Since the explosion pretty much put me out of action for months, and I never took up the story again, I don’t know why they’re trying to finish the job.”
“They obviously still see you as a threat. What did you do with the flash drive?”
She meets my gaze now, steady despite the tremor in her voice. “I still have it. When I woke up, I didn’t remember everything. But I had the strongest gut feeling that I needed to get the hell out of there, that I wasn’t safe. Whoever’s after me now is tied to that investigation.”
I step closer, looking into her hazel eyes. “You should’ve told me sooner.”
She nods, clearly agreeing with me. “I was scared,” she admits. “You are literally our lifeline—the only person on Planet Earth in a position to, and willing to, help us. I’m just afraid that you’re getting your club in over your head. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt.”
I throw her an indulgent smile. “We’re a one-percent club, not a troupe of Boy Scouts.”
When she doesn’t answer immediately, I reach out and cover her hand with mine, giving it a little squeeze. “Why don’t you fetch that notebook you keep, and let’s see if we can figure out who might care enough about that investigation to want you dead years later.”
She goes to her bag, reaches her hand between the case and the interior lining, and pulls out the small black notebook. It’s worn at the corners, and the pages are wrinkled from years of being handled too much. Her handwriting fills most of it, swinging between neat and legible to wildly chaotic. There are scattered thoughts and fragments of memories of what happened before her accident.
We cuddle up on the sofa and flip through the pages together.
She starts out by talking about what she can remember of her investigation. It’s clearly written after her accident.
“What happened to all the notes you wrote during your investigation? I know you kept them in a different book. It was leather and about three inches thick, remember?”
“Yeah, someone stole everything from my hotel room while I was in the hospital. The owner said it was abandoned property, and he could do as he liked with it. He told me he’d incinerated it.”
“What a gigantic asshole.”
She flashes me a tired smile. “That’s what I thought as well. Since the other members of my team were all injured too, there was no one left to gather our possessions. My family didn’t even know I was injured until I woke up from my coma and called them. We were never close anyway, so it didn’t make a lot of sense to drag my problems to their doorstep.”
“Darlin’, you’ve been through some serious shit in your life, and I hate that for you.”
Her expression becomes emotional. “I don’t care what I have to go through in life. I just don’t want my daughter to keep living the way we have been—always on the run and looking over our shoulders. Promise me that if anything happens to me, you’ll look out for her.”
I drop the book into my lap and look her in the eyes. “I’ll always be her protector, no matter what.”
She lets out a little sigh of relief and adds, “No one else can end up with her. It’s got to be you.”
“Why me in particular?” I ask the question before I really think about how it’s gonna sound.
Her eyes slide away, and she murmurs, “It’s just that she likes you. I don’t see her getting attached to another man like that.”
For a moment I wonder about her ex, Katie’s father. Where does he fit in all this? I want to ask, but I figure she’ll tell me everything when she’s good and ready. “Fair enough. In the highly unlikely event that anything happens to you, I’ll definitely keep her close. I’m already getting attached to her, she’s a great kid.”
She nods, forcing a smile. “Yeah, she likes you.”
Turning back to the book, I see lots of information sets that all look similar.
Names: Leung, Carver, Hale.
Contractors: REACH, Hydro Relief Inc., Silverline Security, Kestrel Logistics.
Explosion. Field hospital. Missing ledger. Three dead. Five wounded.
