“Understood his fear.” She held his stare. “For several weeks now—even before Mr. Akimi’s death—everywhere I’ve gone, it’s as though I was surrounded by watchful eyes. I’d look around, but no one would be there. Or there would be an entire crowd of people, making it impossible to identify the person responsible.”
“If you never caught anyone in the act, then how can you be so sure you were being watched?”
“I felt it.” Kam jutted her chin as if daring him to argue. “Deep within my gut. The hairs on the back of my neck would stand on end, and my chest would grow tight with worry. I know it probably sounds crazy, but I swear on my mother’s grave, I am telling the truth.” She looked away briefly before making eye contact once more.
“What else?” he asked gruffly. Because he was going to need a hell of a lot more than that.
With a quick swipe of her tongue along her bottom lip, Kam followed his one-word command.
“When I got to the place where I was supposed to meet Mr. Akimi, I found him…” She trailed off, her beautiful face falling into a wince as if the memory of that moment was still very much fresh in her mind. “He’d been beaten very badly. Several bones had been broken, and there were so many cuts on his body, I couldn’t even begin to count them all. The poor man was barely alive, and I tried…” Her throat worked a hard swallow. “I put pressure on the worst of his wounds as best I could, but it was too late. There was nothing more that could be done.”
“He talk to you before he died?”
“Only a little. He told me his name, and that the person who had framed me for the attempted murder of your team was an American. He said that this man was in a position of great power within your government.”
“The guy said all that, but didn’t give you a name?” Van frowned.
Yet another convenience he wasn’t sure he should buy.
“He started to, but just before he could, his body began to tremble with these hard, horrifying convulsions. The chair he was bound to shook so hard, I thought…” Her voice cracked with what sounded to be genuine emotion. “I thought it would splinter apart beneath him. But a few seconds later, the shaking stopped. He was dead, and I was left with more clues to a mystery I still don’t understand.”
The official report showed DNA proof that Kam was present either at the time of Akimi’s death or within the immediate moments following. Even Webb had assumed it was left there when either she or someone who worked for her killed him.
But now…
If she’s telling the truth, and she really did try to offer aid, it would explain how her hair got onto his body.
That one piece of evidence—along with other intel he and his team had been provided—was the catalyst for why Van and his team had come looking for her in the first place.
Several minutes passed with him asking more questions. He purposefully threw in a few he and his teammates had already asked to check for the first sign of a misstep. But with each one, her answers always remained the same.
There was no hesitation. No inconsistencies that he could find. Kam answered everything he asked with a calm and clear disposition. As if she truly had nothing to hide.
“I don’t know why this is happening, Donovan,” Kam continued after another long stretch of silence. “I understand why it’s so hard for you and your teammates to believe me, but I would never, ever wish harm to you or your men. And I certainly wouldn’t do something as heinous as to plan a full-blown attack.” Her shoulders shook with a humorless laugh. “I wouldn’t even know how to begin to accomplish something of such magnitude.”
He pulled in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he processed all that she had just shared. Switching gears, Van went back to the other thing that had been bugging him
“Tell me about the alley.” He searched her gaze, more than ready to pick up the first signs of deception. “Why did you approach me the way you did?”
“Because they were watching.” She didn’t so much as hesitate to explain. “Like all the times before, I couldn’t see them, but…I knew someone was there. And if I had acted as though I was asking you for help, rather than following the clues that had been left for me, I feared it would mean both of our deaths.” Kam paused before releasing a soft sigh. “I was telling the truth when I said I do not wish to die, Donovan. And I don’t want you or your friends to die, either.”
She looked and sounded so…sincere. Could this woman really be that good of an actress, or was she telling him the truth?
“I could have killed you so easily.” Van’s brows dipped with another frown. “You couldn’t have possibly known for sure that I wouldn’t.”
“It was a risk I was willing to take.”
“Why?” He had to know.
“The fear I saw in Mr. Akimi’s eyes in those final moments of his life.” Her soft voice cracked with emotion. “I was holding onto him as his spirit left his body, and suddenly, I got this overwhelming feeling deep within my soul. I knew that whoever had tortured him…they would eventually do the same to me. I may not understand why but I did know a quick death by a highly trained Navy SEAL was far better than what that poor man had to endure.”
He stared back at her, becoming lost in her emotional gaze as the greens of her eyes shone with unshed tears. Something shifted inside of him, and when it did, Van knew.
No one was that good of an actor. He’d confronted enough liars in his time to know the difference. And if thiswasn’tthe best, most award-winning performance he’d ever seen, then that could only mean…
She’s telling me the truth.
The thought had only just entered his mind when the pilot’s voice came through the speakers above their heads.
