“I didn’t know they were going to kill him! I loved him!”
Struggling with her shock at the unexpected turn, Jessie fell silent.
Bran stepped into Mara’s personal space, forcing her to look up at him. Her eyes glistened with tears. “When did you start planning the setup?” Mara glanced away but Bran caught her jaw, forcing her gaze back to his face. “How long ago, Mara?”
Pain surfaced in her eyes. Bran let her go and she swallowed. “I suppose you could say all my life. I was twenty-three when I came to this country. The people who paid my way also paid for my education, and when my visa ran out, they gave me a new identity. From the beginning they made it clear I owed them a very big debt and that someday they would expect to collect.”
“Go on.”
She shivered. Her gaze seemed to turn inward, to someplace inside. “The debt I owed was the reason I never had children. I always knew the time would come. I didn’t want a family that could be put at risk.”
Jessie hardened her heart. Her father was dead because of this woman. Nothing she could say could justify what she had done.
Bran didn’t back away. “You keep sayingthey. Who are you talking about?”
“A group I was involved with in Yemen. But it was a long time ago.”
“What was their name?”
“They called themselvesjaysh alaslam alyamanii. Army of Islam of Yemen. But they’ve changed the name half a dozen times since then. I don’t know what they’re calling themselves now.”
“When did someone from the group contact you?”
“About five months ago. He said his name was Ahmed. Nothing more. Ahmed said it was time for me to pay the debt I owed. He said it was all arranged. I was to move to Colorado Springs, into an apartment rented in my name. It would only be for a few months, he said. While I was there I would meet a man, a colonel in the army named James Kegan. Ahmed told me to get his personal information. I understood what that meant.”
Jessie’s fury mounted. She ground down on her temper, determined to stay in control. “So you seduced him. You slept with him to win his trust and get him to help steal the weapons.”
The woman cringed. “James didn’t help them! Your father would never have betrayed his country. That was never part of the plan.”
Relief spiraled through her. She felt Brandon’s hand on her shoulder, steady and comforting. He understood the importance of those words.
“So whatwasthe plan, Mara?” Bran asked. “You said you didn’t know the men were going to kill him.”
“No. Ahmed said all I had to do was get close to him, get his personal information. He never said what they planned to do with it, but he made it clear they would kill me if I refused. I owed them everything—my education, my life here, the friends I had made. Everything. James was nothing to me then. It didn’t seem like a high price to pay.”
“Where did you meet my father?” Jessie asked.
“There was a party for one of James’s friends. Someone set it up so I would be invited. I don’t know who, but I was welcomed. I was a schoolteacher. There were single men at the party, military men from the base. As the evening progressed, I sought out your father and pretended to be interested in him. He was a very attractive man, and I found him to be likable and smart so it wasn’t difficult. He asked if he could see me again and I said yes. We started dating. That was part of the plan.”
“Where was this party?”
“Around the pool at the Marriott Hotel.”
“Whose party was it?”
“I don’t remember. It was a big party, lots of people invited. A twenty-five-year anniversary celebration. I don’t remember the couple’s name. Perhaps someone suggested the colonel and I would suit. Which we did.”
“So you slept with him,” Jessie said. “And while he was in your apartment, you stole his personal information.”
She nodded. “A little at a time, yes. But even after I had done what they asked, James and I continued to see each other. I knew I should go back to San Diego before things got any more complicated, but by then I was falling in love with him. After he was arrested and charged with those terrible crimes, I understood what I had done.”
“And a few days later he was killed,” Bran finished.
Fresh tears collected in Mara’s obsidian eyes. Her voice cracked. “If I had known, I would never have done it.”
Jessie felt a fresh surge of anger.Was the woman acting?Or could the emotion possibly be real?
“But you did do it,” Bran pressed. “The colonel is dead because of you.” He leaned over her, braced his hands on the arms of her chair, caging her in. “Now it’s time for you to undo some of what you’ve done. We need to know the names of the people involved.”
