“What was in the envelope?” Archer asked curtly.
“Pictures. Both surveillance and satellite. There were also several documents with large sections that had been redacted. But there was enough left exposed to reveal what the person who left it wanted me to see.”
“Which was…” Donovan prodded, his patience clearly running thin where she was concerned.
“Details of a military operation put into place by your government. There were GPS coordinates, a list of dates, and…names.”
“Whose names?”
“Yours.” She held the man’s deadly stare before looking at the other four men standing with him. “All of your nameswere there, along with extensive military background information on each of you.”
It was the only reason she knew so much about them. Well, that and the endless hours of research she’d attempted to do online. Of course, given who these men were…and what their jobs used to be…that hadn’t yielded nearly as much intel as she’d previously hoped.
“You’re saying someone broke into your home in Kandahar just so they could leave you an envelope full of information on us?” Lucky frowned. “Why?”
“At first, I didn’t know.” Kaamisha shrugged one of her aching shoulders. “I thought the information had been left for me by mistake. That perhaps my name had been inadvertently switched with the actual intended recipient. I put it aside in case whoever it was returned, but three days later, a second envelope appeared. It was filled with photographs taken from the day my mother was killed.”
“Different than the others?” Archer asked curiously.
“Some were from before the shooting began,” she recalled. “Others had been taken in the moments immediately following. They showed…” She closed her eyes against the memory of the pictures. “I suppose I don’t have to spell it out. You were there.” Her lids lifted as her gaze landed back on Donovan’s. “You all were.”
“Because we were under orders,” Chase offered.
The others looked at him before returning their focus back to her.
“Orders that included killing my mother?” She had to ask.
Logan confirmed this with a curt shake of his head. “Your mother had nothing to do with our op.”
He could be lying, but…
“I believe you,” Kaamisha told him truthfully, knowing it may very well be the biggest mistake of her life. “However, someone out there has spent the past three years doing their best to make me think otherwise. Weeks, sometimes monthswill pass, but another envelope always appears. Each one containing more information about your SEAL unit and my mother. Documents and so-called proof that you had been targeting her for suspected terrorist activity.”
“Your mother was never a target,” Logan reiterated sharply.
“I know.” She offered him a hint of a smile. “What I donotunderstand is why someone would want me to think otherwise. Or…” Kaamisha blew out a heady breath. “Or why they have made it so you want to kill me.”
A moment passed before anyone spoke again. When they did, it was Donovan’s deep rumble that cut through the air’s thick silence.
“You think we’re being pitted against each other?”
Kaamisha nodded. “That’s exactly what I think.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Chase gave a quick shake of his head. “We have plenty of enemies, sure, but you…” He motioned toward her. “Why would someone want you dead?”
“Better question is why would they go through all the trouble of creating such an elaborate scheme?” Lucky’s striking blue gaze scanned his teammates’ before landing back onto her. “If taking you out is the goal, why not just send in a sniper to do the job and call it a day?”
“These are the same questions I have been asking myself for months,” she told them. “Why does someone out there want me dead? For that matter, do they want thesixof us dead? I have no answers for these questions. Only that it is so.”
Just then, the jet dipped and bounced with a round of turbulence. The cuffs keeping her in place slid along the metal bar mounted to the wall behind her. Her wrists and arms had no choice but to move along with it.
“Please.” She stared up first at Logan and then to Donovan when the aircraft’s movements became smooth onceagain. “It’s been hours, and my shoulders and wrists are hurting.” A moment of embarrassment fell over her when she added a softer, “And I could really use a trip to the restroom.”
Donovan took a step forward. His imposing figure appeared far more intimidating from this position. Sliding a hand into his right front pocket, he retrieved the key to the cuffs.
He leaned down, inserting it into the tiny keyhole and turning it to the left. A soft click sounded as the metal bracelets were released.
“Thank you.” She offered the attractive man her genuine appreciation.
