Operation Zulu Redemption--Complete Season 1 (6 page)

Though she wanted to ask who’d hit her, she couldn’t even go there. Because that would beg the next question. Not, did they know who she was?—but rather, how did they find her? Because if they’d found her, clearly they knew who she was.

The more painful question, however, was—did they know what she’d done? How she’d served as lead on that mission?

“Stop right there!” Sam’s voice boomed through the night.

Rocks crunched.

Annie peeked around the tree. Eased to the side, trying to see over Sam’s broad shoulder and wide stance. There were too many shadows concealing the newcomer. If the wind would just shift…

Annie eased forward.

“Who are you?”

“You the one who called in a shooting?”

Something in Annie’s mind tripped and fell over those words. No, not the words.
The voice
. Her heart skipped a beat. Then two.

“Yeah. You got a badge?”

Annie slipped closer. It couldn’t be him. She hadn’t seen him since…

The breeze tugged back a branch, like pulling back a curtain. Light from Sam’s floodlight on his cottage speared the man’s face. Eyes.

Her breath caught.

Sam snapped his weapon up and tight again. “Hands or badge!”

“Easy,” came the voice again. “I left my badge—heard the call and was at my girlfriend’s. Raced out of there—”

“Then just keep those hands up.” Sirens almost drowned out Sam’s voice. “We’ll wait it out.”

Annie stood beside Sam, who instinctively reached for her. She gave him a reassuring nod, but the whooshing of her pulse in her ears made it hard to hear anything.

It was him. Trace.

A flood of fresh grief rushed through her. Followed quickly by myriad memories. But what held her fast, what told her this life, this possibility with Sam was over, was that he was here. That meant she’d been compromised.

As if the bullets didn’t tell you that?

An SUV pulled into the driveway, lights swirling. “C’mon,” Sam said, tugging her along. “The cops will settle this.”

But with one look, Trace conveyed his message.

It was time to leave.

She nodded as she stepped out of view. The cop quickly ushered her into the back of the cruiser. Sam wouldn’t have anything to do with a passive stance. He wanted to find the person trying to kill them. The next dozen minutes happened in a haze, her grief over having to walk away from Sam strong but her will to survive and not resurrect the past stronger.

Or was it? Would Sam understand?

She snorted. Blinked. Looked up and realized she was alone. More cops showed up, rushing to the lakeside part of the house. Annie opened the door. Stepped out. Glanced one more time at the house. Saw Sam on the balcony and the distant whirl of lights across the lake where cops pored over the terrain looking for the shooter.

Before turning, crossing the road, and climbing into the black sedan, she whispered, “Good-bye, Calamari.”

Téya

Bleak Pond, Pennsylvania

29 April – 1740 Hours

Can I really leave her behind…forever?

Opportunity banged on her front door, rattling the hinges, begging her to step from the storm that had been her existence into the quiet safety and shelter of the Amish.

She never thought this would be her life. Never thought she’d ever be a part of this community. It’d be like a thriller writer penning a Mennonite story of love and romance.

There wasn’t a day that went by without Katie remembering in vivid detail who she really was before she came to live with her maternal grandmother—
grossmammi
—almost five years ago, a woman dedicated to her country: Téya Reiker. Daughter of an
Englischer
father and once-Amish mother. Army grunt who readily joined a Cultural Support Team to put her linguistic tongue to use. Recruited into the first all-female special ops team. Soldier zealous in her determination to make sure the mission succeeded, no matter the cost.

She’d been driven but not bloodthirsty.

Yet not far from it either
.

Katie ladled some stew from the pot into ceramic bowls. “Ready to eat?”

Her grandmother shuffled into the kitchen, the hitch in her hip making her limp and move a little slower than normal. Katie turned, smiled at the image before her. At eighty-three, her grandmother still stood almost perfectly straight. No frail, bent woman here. No sir. Not in the Gerig line. She’d learned strength and courage from her grandmother and mom. Well, maybe not as much her mom.

“That smells wonderful.”
Grossmammi
eased into the wooden chair as Katie joined her with the bowls and basket of rolls.

Could she leave it all behind? Bury it? Did David need to know, if he made good on his intention to court her?

Nervous jellies flitted through her stomach.
He’s too good for me
.

But she wanted it—him, this life.

Her innocence back. Her belief in people.

“You could weigh anchor with those thoughts,”
Grossmammi
said as she delicately lifted the spoon to her mouth.

Téya—
no! Katie!
—blinked.

“I think much more happened at Mr. Augsburger’s house than my visiting with Hannah.” A smile crinkled the soft lines around her grandmother’s eyes. “
Ya
?”

Katie felt the truth of that statement heat her cheeks. “
Ya
.” She tried to hide her smile. “I told David I was going to take instruction.”

Perpetually cold fingers wrapped around hers. “You have made this old woman’s heart so happy.” The soft squeeze was firm for a woman her age. “That you have embraced God, that you found shelter with His Son, I could not ask for anything more.”

Katie nodded, her gaze lifting to the window. Things—
she
—had changed a lot. Was it enough? But David… “David…” She swallowed hard before setting down her spoon and sitting back in the chair. “He suggested if I took instructions now, we could be married by winter.”

A gleam stole through her grandmother’s hazel-green eyes. “I lied.”

Caught off guard, Katie shook her head. “How? What?”

“I said I could not ask for anything more—but
this
is all I could ask for.” She slurped some stew then again shook her head. “No, then of course, I will be waiting for the great-grandchildren!”

Katie laughed. Then sobered. Before she and David could get that far, she had to get him past her former life. “Do you think he’ll understand…about…before?”

The smile faded from her grandmother’s eyes but clung defiantly—as a Gerig’s would—to her face. “If he loves you, he will.”

But her
grossmammi
didn’t know…not the whole truth. Not that Katie had been in the military, a career that violently contradicted the Amish stance of nonviolence.

Her grandmother squeezed her hand—hard. “That is your past, Katie.” Ferocity churned through her grandmother’s words. “Let it stay there.”

“Should I tell him?”

“I think you must, so there is no appearance of deception, of evil. A marriage is not merely two people living together. It is a commitment and must be grounded on truth—
God’s Truth
—and trust. A foundation of godliness makes for a solid structure.”

Katie nodded. Though she’d expected the answer and knew it in her heart—David deserved no less than every bit of her. She just wasn’t sure he deserved her or the past and the nightmares that came with it. Would David even love her if he knew what she’d done?

She glanced at her food and felt her stomach roil. Lifting the bowl, she stood.

Grossmammi
caught her hand. “You will speak to him,
ya
?”

And ruin everything?

I might’ve done that already, just by being who I am
.

“
Ya
.” She dumped her stew back in the pot and set it aside. “I will clean up in a bit.” It took every ounce of strength to walk the distance to her room. Inside, she closed the door and slumped against it.
God, You have given me so much more than I thought possible. There is peace here. I’m safe. Please let David understand
.

As she moved to the rocking chair, she stopped. Frozen in the spot as she looked out at the clothesline she’d already cleared. Only, now… “No,” Katie whispered hoarsely. “No!” She slammed her palms against the window, staring out. Heart thundering. She spun and jerked around. Sprinted out the door and down the hall to the back door.

“
Ach
, Katie!”
Grossmammi’s
concerned warning chased her into the dusky night. “The storm’s coming!”

Wind tugged at her prayer
kapp
strings as she bolted for the clothesline. She slowed until she stood right before it. The red baseball cap. Hot tears careened down her face. She reached for the hat and saw her trembling hand.

My whole world is trembling!

She snatched it from the clip, which popped and flicked away.

Katie didn’t care. She twisted and clenched the ball cap against her stomach. She shoved her gaze to the darkening sky. “Why?” Her face heated from the tears. “Why?”

And just as swift, the grief swept away on the strong wind, and with it came the answer she’d heard too many times:
You don’t deserve it
.

Katie returned to the house, closed off. Shut down. Though she noted her
grossmammi
in the sitting room with the kerosene lamp, she continued on to her room. Went in and locked the door. Closed her eyes.

Could she ignore it?

She glanced down at the hat twisted in her hands. Red. Highest threat.

She sucked back more tears as she bit out, “Do not let them get hurt.” Her voice was a low growl that echoed the scream of her heart. Then she threw the hat down and knelt beside the bed. There she retrieved the small duffel she’d arrived with almost five years ago. She rested her head against the feather mattress, willing back the grief.

You knew it would happen, so just soldier up like you were taught to
.

Katie sat on the edge of the bed, calling good night to her grandmother through the door and waiting until the moon had risen high into its place of protection. She changed quickly. But putting on the tac pants felt like…sin. Putting back on the old life.

I DO. NOT. WANT. THIS
.

She pulled up the tattered edges of her courage and clothes, slid on the ball cap, then walked out of the house. And out of the life she so desperately wanted.

David

Bleak Pond, Pennsylvania

30 April – 0900 Hours

A misfit for a misfit.

David Augsburger steered the sedan into the driveway of the Gerig property that adjoined his father’s and brother’s properties. He’d left the house a little earlier than necessary to get to the hospital so he could talk with Katie’s
grossmammi
. Ask her permission to court Katie.

Heart full, he eased the car to the side—opposite from where a rig might park. Before stepping out and into this brave new territory, he bowed his head. Thanked God for sending Katie to Bleak Pond so life wouldn’t be so bleak.
I just know that I love her. A lot
.

He took a deep breath and looked up at the house. Already he saw movement. No surprise. Katie and Mrs. Gerig were early risers like everything else here. Chores were finished before it got too hot.

“Quit stalling, you big chicken,” he muttered to himself as he reached for his hat.

As he slammed his door shut, the sound echoed loudly across the plain.
Odd
. He turned, donned his hat, and started for the stairs.

The screen door punched open.

He looked up, expecting to find an excited Katie, mischief in her hazel-green eyes. Instead, he found a gun pointed at him.

“Where is she?”

Fear whipped through David. Then swiftly came the anger. “What’d you do to them?” Only as he said it did his brain catch up.

“Where’s Téya Reiker—or as you know her, Katie Gerig?”

As I know her?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He nodded to the weapon. “You don’t need that here.”

“You’re right.” The man grinned, a malicious, loathing grin. “Because I’m done here—unless you know where she is.”

David looked toward the house. If Katie hadn’t been there…

“No?”

“If she’s not in the house, I don’t know.”

“Then you’re no good to me.”

Thwat! Thwat!

Téya

Lucketts, Virginia

30 April – 0900 Hours

Headed south on Route 15, Katie…
Téya
barricaded herself from whatever had happened that prompted the coded signal. She’d walked to town in the wind and moonlight and climbed into the waiting King Ranch Ford truck. It’d been a relief to see Boone behind the wheel, but just a temporary Band-Aid on a now-gaping wound. As always, Boone respected her space. He’d never been an intrusive person, until you were out of line or needed a fire under your butt. That’s when his drill sergeant personality came out. He’d aimed that at…

The girls
.

She sighed. Used the toe of her shoe to push her straighter as they crossed the steel bridge over the Potomac and headed into the winding, curvy section of the drive draped in stunning scenery.

But she felt numb to it all.

“What happened?” she finally asked. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but…

“Briefing will happen at the bunker.”

In other words, she had to wait longer. Téya nodded and watched the stretch of farmland blur past. They slowed to 35 mph as they hit a small town with a single light on the route. She caught the sign: T
HE
V
ILLAGE OF
L
UCKETTS
. Antique stores flanked the spot where a light controlled the flow of traffic…past a school. An old ’70s-era school. Small. Quaintish.

Nothing as quaint as Bleak Pond.

Téya dropped her head back against the headrest.
Let me go back, God
. Maybe…maybe this wasn’t forever. Maybe once they dealt with whatever threat there was, she could go back to David and—

And what, genius? Tell him—“Oh, yeah. I’ve murdered children and killed people then left your life without a word.”