Fractured Innocence (#2 IFICS) (27 page)

BOOK: Fractured Innocence (#2 IFICS)
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“Tell me what you did with the captives,” she said, her mouth mere inches from his ear and barely louder than a whisper.

“Go to hell!” Dasvoik yanked a hidden knife free and drove it backwards. 

Kaitlyn leapt back, instinctively sinking the knife into his throat. At the same time Dasvoik’s head partially exploded. Blood and gore flew over her. 

Ace ran from the trees his rifle panning the area. 

Kaitlyn pushed the body off her and stood up. “I told you I had him!” 

Ace smirked. “Don’t mention it.”

“I didn’t see the knife.” She acknowledged. “So thank you.”

“I’m sure you would have managed, but I promised Erik, so I wasn’t about to take a chance.” 

Kaitlyn looked down at Dasvoik.  She couldn’t believe he was dead. Now they might never find Aaliyah’s brother. “Do you think there are any left?”

 Ace glanced around. “If there are, I’m pretty sure they scrambled once Dasvoik went down. Jesus, it’s like a war zone up here. How they hell is this going to be cleaned up?”

“Harrington’s working with the local authorities. Dasvoik has been a thorn in their sides for sometime.” Lucas came over the radio she could hear the strain in his voice. “A helicopter is coming in to evacuate the four of you.” 

“Alpha 4 status?” Kaitlyn asked, wiping her face off with her sleeve. 

“He’s stable and will be fine. We’ll make sure you see him soon,.” Lucas said. “Move to LZ1 for pickup.” 

She and Ace immediately began to head in the direction indicated.

“I can’t believe he didn’t tell us the location of the cargo,” Kaitlyn said. 

“About that.” Lucas sounded pleased. “I was able to work a little magic while you guys were climbing the cliff. The sequence was the name of the cargo ship. There were some discrepancies, which is why it didn’t show up right away. Too many fives, and the letter
I
was actually a one. The UN has been notified and is working with the authorities to find the victims. The ones that can be accounted for will be rounded up as quickly as possible. The paper trail is thin, but there is hope for Aaliyah’s brother.”

“You’re a genius,” Kaitlyn said, eyes on her foot placement, as they descended down the rugged terrain. 

Lucas was quiet. She heard the sound of him typing and assumed he was working out the details of the site’s clean up.

Ace cleared his throat, drawing her glance. 

“Kaitlyn, I want to apologize for being an jackass,” he said. “It would be a honor to work with you anytime. I don’t care if there isn’t something quite right about you.”

Kaitlyn hesitated and then held out her fist, careful to emulate the movement the way Erik had with Ace at the house in Maine. 

Ace bumped her knuckles with his own. 

Kaitlyn grinned. She’d saved innocent people, killed a madman and now, knew what it meant to be part of a team.

She’d come a long way since waking up in an IFICS lab months before.

Epilogue

 

Kaitlyn stood back and watched as the little boy slowly exited the plane with Harrington by his side. 

Aaliyah and her parents rushed forward and threw their arms around him. 

Everyone was sobbing. Happy tears. 

Because of the age of the boy, he was not sold off like some of the others into unmentionable trades. A shopkeeper had bought the boy and put him to work cleaning the floors and other menial tasks. From what they were able to find out about the old woman, she had treated him kindly. Apparently she had lost her own son to influenza when he was young and never gotten over the loss.  

Quess said someone must have been watching over the boy, an unseen force, such as a guardian angel. Kaitlyn didn’t know if she believed that, but she did have to admit luck had been on his side. And she was happy for that. 

 Aaliyah had a long road ahead of her. She’d agreed to stay on the compound and finish her schooling. They were hopeful that with more time with Dr. Chambers she would someday be able to lead a normal life. Whatever normal was. Quess had a new friend and Kaitlyn spent time with Aaliyah when she could. She felt a bond to the girl. 

Lucas draped his arm over her shoulder. “We did good.”

“Yes, we did.” Kaitlyn smiled back at him. 

 Erik strode up without so much as a limp.

“How’s the leg?” Lucas asked. 

“Good as new. Nanotechnology’s insane. Those little microscopic robots  were able to repair all the tissue damage,” he paused. “If I’m lucky, maybe one day I’ll have  enhancements like Kaitlyn.”

Kaitlyn looked skeptical, but Lucas shrugged. “You never know...”

Erik lowered his voice. “Any word on who compromised the mission?”

Lucas ran his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “Still trying to figure it out.”

 

The glass door opened and everyone filed inside. Lucas dropped his arm. 

Aaliyah smiled shyly at Kaitlyn and dropped her eyes. 

Kaitlyn eased forward and dropped to her knee in front of the young boy. She looked him in the eye. When he didn’t look away she knew he would be okay. The truly damaged ones had trouble with eye contact. Several of the girls that’d been rescued were virtually catatonic. 

The fact that human trafficking was still alive and well in today’s world was absurd to her. According to her internal computer,
the sale of human beings was the third largest illicit trade following drugs and weapons, but was growing faster than both of these. An estimated fifty percent of the victims were children and eighty percent were women.

How many more men like Dasvoik are out there?
It made her proud to know she was in a position to help people like Aaliyah and Darrius. Reborn as half robot, she had a purpose that was incredible, one she wouldn’t have had, if she’d never met people like Lukas and Mr. Harrington.

“I’m glad you made it home,” Kaitlyn said to the little boy. 

He looked at her for a moment and then a brilliant smile lit his face. He threw his arms around Kaitlyn and squeezed. She squeezed him back and looked up at Harrington, who smiled in return. Anything she had been through to get to this point was well worth the journey. Helping others was what she was made for. 

Kaitlyn stood up, and they all followed the family to the waiting cars. 

Once the door was shut, Harrington handed Kaitlyn an envelope containing her next mission. She felt a familiar tingle run down her spine. 

What would be waiting for them next?

Also by Julia Crane

 

Coexist, Book 1 in Keegan’s Chronicles

Conflicted, Book 2 in Keegan’s Chronicles

Consumed, Book 3 in Keegan’s Chronicles

Anna, spin-off from Keegan’s Chronicles

Lauren, spin-off from Keegan’s Chronicles

Rourk, Keegan’s Chronicles novella

Mesmerized, co-written with Talia Jager

Dark Promise, co-written with Talia Jager

Broken Promise, co-written with Talia Jager

Eternal Youth, co-written with Heather Marie Adkins

About the Author

 

Julia Crane is the author of the YA paranormal fiction novels: Keegan’s Chronicles, 

Mesmerized, Between Words series, and Eternal Youth. Julia was greatly encouraged by her mother to read and use her imagination, and she’s believed in magical creatures since the day her

grandmother first told her an Irish tale. Julia has traveled far and wide to all the places her

grandmother told her about, gaining inspiration from her journeys to places like Nepal,

Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Italy, France and many more. And who knows? Maybe the magical

creatures she writes about are people she met along the way.

Julia has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. 

Find Julia online at
juliacraneauthor.com

Interested in receiving updates on Julia’s books?
Join her mailing list!
She’ll only

email about her books and will never share your information with anyone.

Word-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed Fractured Innocence,

please consider leaving a review where you purchased it. It would be greatly appreciated!

Acknowledgments

 

A special thanks to my family for giving me the freedom to write.

I would also like to thank Amy, Kendal and Lizzy for taking the time to make this novel presentable. 

Eden Crane for the amazing cover.

My Crazy for Crane street team. 

My assistant, Allison Potter, who holds everything together.

My husband for his technical and tactical knowledge.

My fans for all your support which means more then you will ever know.

And the Bloggers who help spread the word—without you, I wouldn’t have made it

this far. Thank you!!!

BOOK: Fractured Innocence (#2 IFICS)
9.6Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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