Slaying the Dragon (Deception Duet #2) (26 page)

Returning his attention to his laptop, he pressed another button and Mackenzie’s photo appeared on the screen. “This, as you all know, is Mackenzie Delano. She was born Serafina Galloway.” Another image appeared on the monitor beside that of Mackenzie. “This is her mother, Magdalena Galloway. Shortly after the attack on the embassy, they went missing. A two-year search yielded nothing and it was assumed they were killed. Our theory is perhaps someone knew Galloway was being set up and needed to ensure his wife’s and daughter’s safety as a precaution.”

Pausing, he took a sip from his water bottle and surveyed the members of our team, their eyes glued to him. “Fast forward eight years. During her first year of college, Mackenzie began to date this man.” A photo of Charlie in his service uniform appeared on the screen. “This is Charles Patrick Montgomery. At this point, I’m sure you’re all aware of who he is.”

“Yes,” a petite woman with auburn hair I recognized as Gretchen said. “He’s wanted in connection with a string of murders.”

“Correct,” Eli replied. “He was working for Army Cryptology while he was dating Mackenzie and, from what we’ve been able to ascertain from his file and from Miss Delano, he was asked by an acquaintance to look into a missing person’s case – one Serafina Galloway.”

“Who was this acquaintance?” Martin asked.

“We don’t know. There’s certainly more questions than answers in this case and, unfortunately, the two people who could help fill in the blanks are in hiding. Now, it didn’t take Montgomery long to figure out Mackenzie was Serafina Galloway and he approached her to verify this. They dated for most of the year until, one day, he was committed to the psych ward at Walter Reed, where he spent the next eight years being treated for schizophrenia. When he was being taken away, he warned Miss Delano of her mother’s death. The following day, Miss Delano went home to find her mother was killed in a car crash.”

“Have you determined whether there was a connection?” Kevin, an agent who looked more like a playboy than a retired Marine, asked.

“Nothing firm. You’ll soon learn that Montgomery’s involvement here is open to two different interpretations and we’re not entirely sure what to believe about him. So, as far as all things having to do with Charles Montgomery go, exercise an overabundance of caution. Now, back to what we
do
know. During all of this, keep in mind it was assumed Galloway was dead. It wasn’t until about two years ago that intel surfaced indicating he was alive.”

“And what was that intel?” Martin inquired.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know. The CIA handler who had contacted the company to hire us to investigate all of this has now disappeared.” Eli pressed another button on his laptop and a photo I had never seen before appeared. There was a distinguished-looking older man in all black staring at the camera, a forced smile on his face. “This is Benjamin Collins. We tried to find as much information about him as we could but, given he was working for the CIA, we were met with several dead ends. I couldn’t access any information about his family or whether he has any sort of connection to Galloway. We are unsure of whether his disappearance has anything to do with this case, but we are operating under the theory that it does.”

“So, what
is
your working theory then?” Martin asked.

“Well, this isn’t set in stone, but here’s what we think. Galloway is innocent. We think he was set up to take the fall for someone else, someone with power, either in the military or the government. This is why the investigation was stopped and a gag order was issued. At first, we thought we were getting too close to figuring it all out so Collins was abducted, perhaps by someone thinking they could squeeze him for information, but we don’t think that’s the case anymore. He’s CIA and is trained to withstand days upon days of the most brutal interrogation techniques there are. We think he may have some sort of connection to Galloway and that’s why he went missing, although we’ve been unable to find any link between them. Then there’s Montgomery, the loose cannon. We have no idea whether he is responsible for the deaths of which he’s accused or whether he’s being set up, too.”

“Now, the murders Montgomery’s accused of…,” Gretchen interrupted. “They seem random. Are they, or is that just the police not finding a connection?”

Eli nodded. “A little bit of both. Some were random, but some were connected, although the police could never find what that connection was, considering the file’s been sealed. Montgomery was the sole survivor of the attack on the embassy attributed to Galloway. The theory is that he conspired with a man named Justin Whitman, more or less a hired gun, to carry out his plan of revenge against all those who took his family from him. Many of the murders attributed to Whitman and Montgomery were of several men and women who it was thought helped Galloway in his attack on the embassy, although it was never proven. Montgomery had top-level security clearance during his time in Cryptology and used this access and training to eliminate those who killed his family. It is thought his next target is Galloway and he would use Mackenzie to get to him. He escaped Walter Reed a little over four months ago and broke into Mackenzie’s place, as did Whitman. Okay, that’s one theory.

“The other, as you can probably guess, is that Montgomery stuck his nose somewhere he shouldn’t have when he was working for Cryptology and paid with his freedom. Then, when it was discovered he had escaped Walter Reed, whoever is behind all of it wanted to find a way to silence him once more, preferably forever, and planted evidence to set him up for a ring of murders he had nothing to do with.”

“But isn’t it a bit suspicious that a number of people who helped to kill Mr. Montgomery’s family were then killed?” Martin asked.

“This is true, which is why it is important we not settle on any theory when it comes to any of this, particularly in light of new information Tyler has.”

All eyes turned to me and I nodded at Eli. He pressed a button, a photo of a man and woman in their sixties appearing on the screen. “These are Mr. Montgomery’s alleged latest victims, Mr. and Mrs. Sheperd,” I explained. “Emily Sheperd used to be Emily Mills before getting a divorce, then remarrying. At the time of the embassy attack, she lived next door to the Galloways. Incidentally, her former husband, Harrison Mills, disappeared several years ago. He simply never showed up for work one day. He had been estranged from his wife and family for years, so they were no help in finding him. After a year, he was assumed dead.

“Mills was close to Galloway, having served under him in the Rangers, then in Counterintelligence. In fact, after Galloway’s disappearance, he was the one who had been tapped to lead the investigation into the embassy attack.”

“Have you looked into him?” Benson asked.

“Yes. We believe he’s a victim and not involved in any of this. Further, Harrison and his wife had a son together, Damian, who was Mackenzie’s best friend growing up. Coincidentally, he hasn’t been heard from since the day Montgomery was implicated in all those murders, adding yet another level of
what the hell is going on
to this case. Going forward, what we need to focus on is getting to the bottom of everything, finding out what really happened, including who’s responsible. All of these pieces may lead us to the answer.”

“Why don’t you ask Galloway?” Martin asked, staring at me. “Sir, talk to the girl and convince her to take you to see her father.”

I shook my head. “I’ve thought about it, but I just can’t. I need you all to come up with a different course of action.”

“I don’t think we have one,” Martin insisted. “From where I’m sitting, anyone else who may be able to offer help or information is missing, on the run, or dead, which is a bit suspicious, if you ask me. I don’t think you have a choice. I think you need to do whatever it takes to finally talk to Galloway.”

“But she knows I’m still working this case.”

“True…,” Eli offered, “but it’s not the same case as before, Ty. A lot has changed, including our motive. You’re not asking her so you can bring him to justice. You’re doing this so you can help clear his name. I’m sure she wants nothing more than for her father to finally be able to come out of hiding.”

“He may not know any more than we do.”

“Still,” Eli responded, “it’s worth a shot. He may not think he can help, but maybe he has a missing piece that could bring all of this full circle.”

I sat there, surveying my team members, their eyes intense. In truth, I knew this was a way to find out more information, but things had just gotten back to a new sort of normal with Mackenzie. I hated the idea that I had to do this so soon, which would certainly remind her of why I dated her in the first place, reopening old wounds.

Life sometimes forced you to make difficult decisions, and this was another one of those times. But Mackenzie had urged me to be open and honest with her about everything and I knew this was no different. I needed to see her father. I just hoped she understood and didn’t think I was using her.

“Okay… I’ll see what she says. In the meantime, everyone remain at your posts and keep an eye on Miss Delano,” I ordered the six individuals who had been part of her protection detail. “Report anything suspicious to Eli immediately.”

“What about us?” Benson asked, gesturing between himself and Maxwell, who had both been living at my house and were charged with convincing Mackenzie her reality was anything but.

“You two will track down everything you can about Charles Montgomery. While you’re at it, dig up everything you can about Galloway, as well. I want to know every mission he was on when he was a Ranger, every case he worked in Counterintelligence. No detail is too small. I want to know what he ate. What he drank. How many hours he slept a night. There may be something in his background that could lead us to who’s behind all of this.”

“And what if he
is
the one behind it all?” Maxwell asked. “What if you’re wrong?”

“I don’t think I am, but
if
I am, I’m sure you’ll find proof to back it up. We’ll meet again in a week.” I stood up and grabbed my things.

“Sir,” they all said in relative unison. As I left my private office in the back of the club, I hoped this was the best course of action to uncover the truth of what really happened all those years ago.

Mackenzie

I
SAT
FIDGETING
IN
the seat of Tyler’s Jaguar Saturday evening as he drove through the streets of South Padre. “So, what exactly do you have planned for tonight?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“You’ll see,” he replied, winking slyly. He grabbed my hand in his and shifted through the gears, a buzz in the air between us as I drank him in. His tan suit fit him perfectly. I was convinced it should be a crime for anyone to look that good in a suit. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him during the drive to wherever we were going.

When he finally pulled into a sandy beach lot, my mouth dropped open as my eyes fell on the same restaurant where we shared that first lunch when I barely knew anything about him.

“What are we doing here?” I asked.

He killed the engine and turned to face me. “We’re making new memories.”

“What do you–”

“I don’t want you to be reminded of my lies whenever you look at certain places.”

“I’m not…”

He narrowed his gaze at me. “I know how it is, Mackenzie. I do it, too. I want you to have better memories of us. I need those, too. Every time I drive by this restaurant, I don’t want to be reminded of the reason I took you here in the first place. I want to be reminded of new memories that we’ll make tonight. Okay?”

Nodding, I smiled. “I’d like that.”

Opening the door, he ran around to the passenger side of his car and helped me out. Before I could react, he pulled my body to his, taking me by surprise. “You look amazing, Serafina,” he growled, his tongue exploring my neck.

My eyes fluttered closed as I lost myself in the moment, not caring that we were out in public. I wanted nothing more than to go back to my place and finally experience Tyler once more. It had been so long since I had felt his body move in perfect harmony with mine, and I was desperate to be consumed by that mind-blowing high only Tyler could give me.

“I love it when you call me that,” I murmured, whimpering as his hands began roaming my body, the silken material of my black dress against my skin only heightening my awareness of him.

“And I like calling you that,” he replied.

“Why don’t you call me that all the time?”

He exhaled, running his fingers through my hair, forcing me to look into his eyes. “I can’t. Not yet. Not until I know that no danger will come to you because of who you truly are. Until then, I only feel safe using your real name in private. Even then, I don’t want to use it too much. I don’t want to run the risk of getting used to it and slipping up. Okay?”

I remained entranced by his sincere green eyes, the sound of the crashing waves echoing in the distance.

“Okay,” I agreed.

“Good. Hungry?”

I laughed. “Always.”

He wrapped his arm around me, keeping me close and steady on my impractical leopard-print stilettos, as we walked up the wooden steps to the restaurant.