Reckless Abandon (Phantom Protector Book 1) (15 page)

She took a sip of her juice and tried to clear
it again. “General, you haven’t asked the thousand-dollar question yet.”

The general tilted his head. “Just spit it out
Jamie. What am I missing?”

“Aren’t you even remotely curious whose DNA is
running through my system? It wasn’t my mother who was gifted.”

Max squeezed her hand.

“It was my father who gave me my gifts. It was
my crazy, abusive father from whom I inherited the ability to heal.” She let
out a sigh. “And I couldn’t even use it to save my mother’s life.” A tear fell
to her cheek. “His name is Benjamin Floyd.”

There were several gasps around the table. Lydia lifted
her hand to cover her mouth. She shook her head. “I didn’t know, Jamie. I swear
I didn’t know.”

Jamie gave her a nod. “It’s not your fault.”

The general stood, his face emotionless,
concealing whatever he was thinking. He rounded the table and pulled Jamie into
his embrace. He whispered into her ear, words meant for only her. “You’re
nothing like him. You’re a good person, Jamie Bloom, and he can never take that
away from you.”

Another tear slid down her cheek.

He looked down, his eyes searched hers as if he
could see into her soul. “This changes things.”

Jamie took a step back and wiped the escaped
tear with the back of her hand. “This changes nothing. He is a monster that
needs to be brought down before he can hurt anyone else.”

The general continued to stare into her eyes.
“Why don’t you go get some rest and then you can meet your sister. We’ll
convene again tomorrow afternoon.”

“Sir, with all due respect, I won’t change my
mind. He killed my mother, not to mention hurt other people I care about. The
bastard will die, either by your hand or by mine, but make no mistake, he’s a
dead man.”

The general gave a slight nod and proceeded to
the door. He pulled it open and gazed back once more before he crossed the
threshold.

Chapter
14

There was no way that Jamie was going to be able
to sleep. Closing her eyes wasn’t going to be an option. She trudged back to
her room with Max at her side. She slid her key and pushed the door open and
came to an abrupt halt. Max almost bumped her from behind. “What’s the matter?”

Jamie stepped to the side so Max could see what
caused her alarm. Standing in the middle of the room stood her sister with the
same violet eyes Jamie saw everyday in the mirror. Sarah stood with her fingers
clasped in front of her. Her eyes were wide as she rocked back and forth on the
balls of her feet. The room was quiet, as was everyone standing in it.

Max broke the silence. He used his thumb and
pointed back out into the hall. “I’m just going to go and leave you girls alone
to get acquainted. I’ll be in the next room if you need me.”

Jamie turned to him in panic.

He reached for her and rubbed her arms.
“Everything is going to be okay. You can do this.”

Jamie took a deep breath and shut the door
behind him. She leaned back on the wood and stared at her sister.

Sarah took a step toward her. “Is it true? Are you
my sister?”

Jamie swallowed around the lump in her throat.
She whispered, “Yes.”

Sarah smiled and closed the distance between
them, throwing her arms around Jamie’s waist. She laid her head down on Jamie’s
chest. “I always thought our mother would come back for me.” She leaned back
and looked up into Jamie’s eyes. “I would never have guessed that I had a
sister.”

Jamie lifted her arms and hugged the little girl
back. Fear, anxiety, and love assaulted her. Her stomach was doing flips at all
of the feelings the little girl provoked. Jamie held out her hand. “Why don’t
we talk for a while?”

Sarah nodded and moved to sit on the couch,
sliding her little legs beneath her.
 
“I
sensed we were related. I just didn’t know how.”

Jamie went to the fridge and pulled out two
bottles of water. She set one in front of Sarah before sitting on the other end
of the couch. “Sarah, my name is Jamie, and I grew up in the same orphanage.”

Sarah’s smile fell. “You did?”

Jamie nodded. “I’ve been alone for a long time
and searching for our parents. I’d talked to Mrs. Evan’s on the phone before,
but she hadn’t been able to give me any information. It wasn’t until I asked
the right questions when I was there that I’d found any clues…that led me to
you.”

Sarah’s eyes widened. Her hands trembled. “Did
you find them?”

Jamie scooted closer to the little girl and took
Sarah’s little fingers in her grasp. “There’s no easy way to tell you this so
bear with me.”

Jamie swallowed and closed her eyes.

“They’re dead, aren’t they?”

Jamie lifted her gaze. “Our mother is. I’m so
sorry.”

Jamie pulled her sister into an embrace as tears
streamed down Sarah’s rosy cheeks. Jamie made smoothing, rubbing motions down
her sister’s back. “I’m afraid there’s more bad news.”

Sarah leaned out of the embrace. Her eyes shone
with fresh tears that
 
dripped down her
cheeks.

Jamie leaned back on the couch and told her
sister the whole story as her uncle had explained it. “She took us to the
orphanage to protect us.”

“From what?” Sarah asked between sniffles.

“Our dad. He’s a bad man and has hurt a lot of
people…and I believe he killed our mom. The people I work with have been trying
to stop him for a long time.”

Sarah laid her head down in Jamie’s lap. She
could almost hear her sister’s heart breaking. Several minutes passed as Sarah
lay there quietly before she asked. “If he’s a bad man, then does that make us
bad too?”

Sarah’s innocent question had been one that
Jamie had pondered herself since finding out that Floyd was her father. Her
rational mind couldn’t comprehend that she was any different now than she had
been before. She was loyal and caring, and no amount of that man’s DNA was
going to tell Jamie that her or Sarah were any different.

Jamie lifted Sarah from her lap. “Mother loved
us and kept us safe the only way she knew how. We’ll never know if she made the
right decision. The only thing we can do is move forward. As for your question,
I don’t think it’s possible for either one of us to be bad, not as long as we
have love in our hearts and care about the people around us.”

Jamie pointed to the door behind them. “These
people… the unit… they’ve been my family now for a long time, and now they’re
yours too. They care about me, and I care about them, and I won’t let our dad
hurt them or you.”

Sarah lifted her arms again and reached for
Jamie. “I’m glad you found me. Promise you won’t ever leave me.”

Jamie kissed Sarah’s forehead. “I’ll never leave
you.”

Jamie soothed her back and sent a reassuring
feeling of love and protection through her hands and into her sister’s body. No
matter how Jamie handled their father, there was no way she’d let anything
happen to Sarah, now that she was depending on her to keep her safe. She
wouldn’t let that bastard get his hands on her.

Jamie took her hand. “Come on, I have something
to show you.”

They left the room and walked down the hall
toward the Intel room. “Has everyone here been nice to you?” Jamie asked.

Sarah nodded. “I was scared when I got here. I
didn’t know anyone or why I was here. The general sat me down and told me that
I had a sister and that you were on your way back from Jonesville to see me.”

They walked into the Intel room.

Jonah winked at Sarah. “Hey, squirt. Are you
ready for your next lesson?”

Sarah shook her head. “Jamie has something to
show me, so it’s going to have to wait.”

Jonah grinned. “Whenever you’re ready, just let
me know.”

Sarah grinned as Jamie took her hand and led her
into the conference room. Jamie pulled out a chair in front of the box and
Sarah sat. Jamie lifted the lid on the trunk and took some of the pictures out.

She sat down next to Sarah. “These are pictures
of both of us. She watched us from afar.” Jamie grinned as her heart lifted.
“She never forgot about us.”

Sarah sifted through the pictures and stopped on
one of herself. She set the rest of the pictures down. “I remember this day; it
was my birthday.”

Jamie rubbed Sarah’s back. “There are some of
mine too.”

Sarah let the picture slip through her fingers
down to the table. She crossed her arms on the table and laid her head down and
started to cry, crushing Jamie’s heart. She whispered, “Sarah, we’re going to
be okay. She may have passed away, but we have each other, and that’s all that
matters.”

Sarah sniffled and raised her head as she swiped
at her tear-stained cheeks. Putting on a brave front, she squared her
shoulders. “What are we going to do?”

Jamie rose from the chair and held out her hand.
“First, we’re going to get you something to eat, and then you’re going to
rest.”

Sarah shook her head. “That’s not what I meant.
What are we going to do about our dad?”

Jamie held out her hand to pull Sarah from her
seat. Sarah entwined her fingers through Jamie’s. “You aren’t going to do
anything about our father. I’m going to keep you as far away from the lunatic
as possible.”

Jamie and Sarah left the confines of the
conference room and walked toward the cafeteria. They both needed to eat
something, anything, as hard as that sounded. Their lives with each other were
just beginning, and she still had to deal with the new ramifications about
Floyd, something that she wasn’t looking forward to. She was going to enjoy
spending these precious moments with her sister. Moments that she would have
never had if it hadn’t been for Max’s help. “There’s someone special I want you
to meet in the morning.”

Sarah smiled as she gazed up at Jamie. Jamie
couldn’t believe she was a big sister at all. She’d never had to take care of
someone so young
. I’ll have to worry
about that another day.
They talked while they ate, learning more and more
about each other with every bite. Jamie escorted Sarah back to her room and
helped her climb up into Jamie’s bed. She tucked her in and kissed her
forehead. “Sweet dreams.” She pointed to the door. “I’ll be right outside if
you need me.”

Sarah lifted up on her elbow. “Aren’t you going
to sleep with me?” Every bone in Jamie’s body was fatigued. She felt like she
could drop right where she stood. “I’ll lie down for a little bit until you
fall asleep.”

Sarah’s lips tilted up in the corners.

Jamie kicked off her shoes and climbed up on her
big poster bed. She threw an arm around her sister and snuggled. Exhaustion set
in, and she let the worries from the day slip from her mind. She closed her
eyes and fell fast asleep.

A cry from Sarah pierced through the darkened
room, and Jamie bolted up from a dead sleep. She glanced around the room. She
breathed a sigh of relief that nothing threatened them. She lifted her palms
and wiped the sleep from her eyes. She turned toward the alarm clock. It was
only six a.m. Sarah whimpered in her sleep.

Jamie leaned back down and propped her head in
her hand. She ran her fingers over Sarah’s forehead and sent a calming peace to
her sister. “Shhh, everything is going to be all right.”

Sarah snuggled into the pillow and fell into a
more peaceful sleep. There would be no more monsters attacking her sister in
her dreams; Jamie would see to that. Jamie sank back into the softness of her
pillow. She focused on the ceiling above. There was only one more monster that
Jamie had to deal with to ensure she and Sarah were finally free, and she
wondered just how she’d make that happen.

Jamie lay there as long as she could, her mind
adrift with the possibilities of what having a little sister meant. She worried
that she wasn’t “mom” material and how she was going to take care of the little
girl. She thought about how her life had now changed. She would no longer be
able to be gone on long missions, and now she’d have to be ever so careful about
getting hurt or, god forbid, killed. She’d never had to worry about things like
that before.

Chapter
15

Benjamin Floyd ran his fingers against the gold
locket in his hand as he gazed out the window and watched the sun creep over
the horizon. He loved this time of day, when everything was peaceful and still
asleep. It was during hours like this that it was best to strike. His mind
drifted back to the last time he’d watched a sunset. It had been with his beloved
Alicia. The woman whose locket he held clutched in his palm. Things had been
different then. She’d made him weak, something he couldn’t afford.