Page 29 of Burning Justice (Chasing Fire: Alaska #6)

Fifteen

Maria drove south for two hours, grateful she had enough gas, even if it seemed weird to thank God for that. Did Christians do that? It seemed trivial, but maybe it was all about the simple everyday things and remembering God was in all of it.

She threaded through Anchorage to the port and a small boat launch on the jetty, where she parked before she even looked at Kane’s phone.

He hadn’t moved. Her father was still here, on a boat of some kind.

She didn’t look at how many missed calls or texts she had.

Enough she’d nearly answered, because so many times when she’d been following directions, another notification had popped up.

And another. Requests for her to stop and wait for them.

Pleas. Explanations that the guy who’d tortured her was dead, but not before Hammer had preached the gospel to him and their enemy had repented and accepted Christ.

She was going to need some time, and a lot of explanations from them, before she accepted that. But if one person didn’t deserve a second chance, then who could claim they did? She hadn’t done anything in her life that meant she could claim she did deserve redemption.

Maria got out of the car, pushing her hair behind her ear when the cool breeze wanted to blow it across her face. She scanned the skyline of Anchorage and the high-rise buildings. So much like a big city compared to where she’d been living. And yet for some, it was barely bigger than a town.

This was it. Her father was here.

She would finally get closure—or at least some kind of answer. Kane didn’t need to be here. In fact, she wanted to do this alone. That was why she’d left, not really thinking too much about his reaction or what he’d say about her doing this.

Maria wandered down the pier, scanning the boats.

A white yacht at the end of the row caught her attention. Not because of the long bow or the level above the rear, where a person could watch the water in front and pilot the boat. Or the Alaska state flag.

It was the name painted on the side.

Valentina.

She stopped to stare at her mother’s name. Had to swallow against the lump in her throat. “Mom.”

The phone vibrated in her pocket.

Kane could find her. She knew he would. The man had been by her side all this time. And when he got here, she would have what she’d come for.

She grabbed the rail and climbed on board, going to the hatch under the second level and descending the stairs.

“You aren’t going to change my mind.”

She stepped off the bottom stair and saw him across the room, sitting at a table with a case in front of him. “Hi, Papa.”

He flinched.

She hadn’t called him that in a long time.

“I’m about to go, so you need to leave. You aren’t coming.” His face twisted with grief. “I didn’t want to see you.”

“No? Well, too bad, because I wanted to see my father.” The phone vibrated in her pocket again. She shifted it in her pocket so it didn’t dig into her, but she was going to ignore it for now. “I’ve been looking for you for fifteen years.”

“I know.”

That was it? “You know? I watched them drag you away. I stood there while Mom bled out on the ground, and I had nothing left. They sent me to live with Aunt Leticia in Boston, where I’d never been before. I lost everything.”

“And I spent fifteen years as a captive, traded for what I know.”

“Now you’re out. Congratulations, you’re free.” But he was sitting here. “What are you waiting for?”

“The end.”

Maria frowned. “Explain it to me, because I’m trying to understand this, and I’m coming up blank.” She shifted, and her hand bumped the wall. Pain whipped through her fingers, and she sucked in a breath.

“I’m sorry you got caught up in it.”

“I’m not. I was looking for you .”

“I told you not to find me.”

“That note?” And a conversation with Kane she’d barely known about. “You should have come to me.” She slapped a hand on her front. “But you didn’t, because you’re a coward.”

He rose out of the chair. “I’m a lot of things, but a coward isn’t one of them.”

“No? Prove it.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “Tell me what you’re doing. Why you have a boat with Mom’s name on it, and why everyone is convinced you’re working with Redding and not doing everything you can to stop him.”

“You think I didn’t want to escape every single day? That I didn’t want to find you?”

“You managed one of those.”

“It took everything from me.”

She stared at him.

“I have to finish this, and it doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“What are you talking about?” If he explained it, then she could help him. But he didn’t seem to want anything to do with her. Just like that day when her mother had been shot in front of her and her father dragged away, the foundation of her world shifted.

God, I need You.

And Kane. But God would always be enough, whether she had anything else or not.

“I’m going to destroy the canister. I’m going to take it where no one will find me, and end this once and for all.”

“Just destroy it now. Get rid of it. Or turn it over to the cops.”

“And then what?” His eyes flared with frustration. “I wait for the next person to snatch me from my life and kill someone I love? I get traded around again? They won’t let me live. I’ll always be a target for what I know and what I can create. No.” He shook his head. “This ends.”

“I’m not going to let you die. I already lost Mom.”

“You won’t dissuade me.”

Maria shifted her weight from one foot to the other, ready to argue. She could knock him out. Take the canister. Do this herself. Hide him somewhere no one would find him. Let him live his life. Protect him like the Trouble Boys had done for her. “I know people. I can protect you.”

She wasn’t going to ask them to spend their lives watching out for him. But she could figure some kind of situation where he went into hiding. Like witness protection.

“If you let me, I can help you. You can get your life back.”

He stared at her, hope blooming into a tiny flicker of life in his expression.

Then his eyes flared.

Someone came down the stairs behind her. Maria turned, but she wasn’t quick enough. Elias Redding slammed into her and knocked her into the table.

She fell to the floor, crying out. Kane’s phone tumbled from her pocket, onto the floor between her hands, a call in progress.

She turned in time to see her father jump at him. The two of them wrestled with each other, stumbling into the little kitchenette. She gasped. “Dad!” Maria scrambled to her feet and grabbed the case from the table. “This is what you want, isn’t it?”

Elias stilled. He kicked her father in the knee and turned to her.

“It’s what you’ve always wanted.” She held it up, incapacitating herself, because she had no free uninjured hand to defend herself if he came at her. “You can find another doctor.”

“Not like him.” Elias took a step toward her. “I think I’ll have both of you this time. That way he’ll keep in line. Otherwise, I’ll hurt you.”

Her stomach clenched. “No deal. Take the case and go.”

“Or what?” He took another step.

She wasn’t sure and hoped he didn’t push it. Maria didn’t move. Her father didn’t move.

A crack splintered something that sounded like thick plastic, and Elias jerked. Blood ran from a hole in the center of his forehead, and he slumped to the floor. Dead.

Maria stumbled back and landed in a chair.

Footsteps thundered down the stairs. Kane first. He scanned the room, then zeroed in on her and came over. Rio stepped over Elias and went to her father.

“He was trying to be free.” Maria didn’t care that tears spilled from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

Rio looked at her. “We heard your conversation. I’ll take care of your father.”

Maria nodded.

Hammer and Saxon were there. They stood on either side of Kane. Hammer crouched in front of her. “Can I have that case?”

She didn’t want it.

Maria shoved the case at him. Hammer and Saxon left, and she lifted her gaze to Kane, who didn’t look happy. “Are you mad at me?”

He pressed his lips together. “Ask me tomorrow.” He held out a hand. “Come on, I don’t want to stay down here with him.”

Maria let him help her to her feet. Before he turned away, she wrapped her arms around his middle and held on. “Thank you.”

He wound his arms around her. “Don’t leave like that again.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that. Forever.”

She lifted her chin and looked at him. “Good.”

“Doctor Cortez?” Kane stood at the entrance to the conference room in the Anchorage FBI office.

Not a big place, but they were able to be effective here in Alaska.

Rio was probably going to get some kind of commendation or a promotion after taking down Elias Redding and recovering a dangerous biotoxin before it could be used in an attack.

No mention in the media of a group of Delta Force soldiers who were supposed to have died two years ago in Syria.

Kane wasn’t looking forward to that paperwork or the fact they’d have to surrender themselves to the Army for a debrief at best—a court-martial far more likely. Either way, it would be a long conversation but the chance to tell their story to the authorities.

No one would’ve believed them two years ago that the Reddings had been working with the Chinese on a way to destabilize the US. Now that they had stopped it and all the players were dead or in jail, it didn’t seem so strange.

Maria’s father looked up at him. Who knew how long the man had been sitting here alone in a leather chair in this conference room? Waiting to find out what deal the US government could offer him.

They’d considered him a threat. Now they were going to help him?

Kane wasn’t sure he would be comfortable with that if it were him. But that was why he was here. “Hi, Rodrigo. It’s good to see you free.”

The older man’s brows rose. “Am I?”

“Depends.”

“On?”

Kane eased the door shut. “If you trust the Feds to keep you safe. Or if you want to take a chance on the guy who’s been protecting your daughter for two years.”

“I know what you are to her. I saw it.”