DEADLY DILEMMA by Dan Stratman (story read aloud .txt) 📗

of the entire US military will be at my disposal. All these sordid details from your past will be presented front and center at the trial. Trust me, neither of you will ever see the outside of a prison for the rest of your lives.” He turned to Lance. “Congratulations, Son, she just destroyed your future.”

Cyndi was close to tears. “He’s twisting everything around. They’re just circumstantial, random events from my life. They don’t prove a thing. I didn’t do this, dammit!” She balled up her fists. “I’ll have my day in court. I’ll prove you’re wrong about me. You’re not going to get away with framing me for this.”

“And how do you propose to stop me?” McNeil said tauntingly. “The same way you silenced your coconspirator, Dr. Zhao?”

Cyndi recoiled back. “Dr. Zhao? What the hell are you talking about?”

McNeil stabbed his finger toward Cyndi. “You killed him; that’s what I’m talking about!”

Chapter Fifty-One

“Whoa, hold on a minute,” Lance said with his hands raised. “I saw him leave on the helicopter with my own eyes on the monitor in the LCC. Cyndi couldn’t have—”

“Three hours ago, I got word that Dr. Zhao’s helicopter was missing,” McNeil said. “The GEOSAR satellite picked up a distress signal from the emergency locator transmitter. Search teams found the crash site an hour later. There were no survivors.” McNeil closed the folder. “How did you do it, Captain? You’re a helicopter expert. Did you sabotage his helicopter somehow? Maybe you planted a bomb on board? I gotta hand it to you, Stafford”—McNeil gestured toward the parade field—“you’re doing a hell of a job covering your tracks.”

Cyndi’s eyes filled with fire. “I could say the same thing about you, General McNeil.”

“I’d caution you to be very careful with what you say,” McNeil growled. “You’re already in enough trouble. Threatening a general is hardly going to help.”

“Major Pierce said you sent him out to Alpha One to secure the site and bring us back. But the sergeant at command post just said Colonel Wilmer hadn’t told you there was a problem yet.”

Beads of perspiration formed on McNeil’s forehead. He wiped them away with the back of his hand. “I already told you, that lunatic went rogue. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Then Pierce tried to kill us. We show up in your office, and you act surprised to see me.” Cyndi advanced toward McNeil. “What’s the real story? Did you send him there to rescue us or kill us?”

McNeil went toe to toe with her. “Back the hell up, Captain. Now.”

Lance grabbed her by the arm. “Cyndi, don’t.”

Cyndi yanked her arm free.

She spread her feet shoulder width apart.

Her hands came up in front of her.

Cyndi filled her lungs with a deep, oxygenating breath.

Then she stepped back.

Clueless as to how close he came to having his neck snapped, McNeil turned to Lance. With disdain dripping from his voice, he asked, “Do you trust your crew commander?”

Lance stood next to Cyndi and draped his arm across her shoulders. “With my life. Sir.”

“Did she happen to mention that she knows Major Pierce? In fact, knows him quite intimately.”

Lance looked at her with a perplexed expression. “Is that true?”

“Wait, I can explain.” Cyndi felt as if a noose was being cinched up around her neck.

McNeil pulled an 8x10 black-and-white photograph from the folder. He handed it to Lance.

He examined the photo then thrust it back at McNeil. “This doesn’t prove anything. Those two people could be anyone.”

McNeil pulled out a second photo. Unlike the first one taken from across the park, this picture was a close-up of a handsome couple sitting together on a park bench, taken with a powerful telephoto lens. He held it up for them to see.

Cyndi and Pierce were holding hands.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Lance’s arm fell from Cyndi’s shoulder. He moved away from her. “What is going on here? Why does General McNeil have a photo of you and Pierce together?”

“Please, let me explain,” Cyndi said as she reached out for Lance.

He pushed her hand away and increased the distance between them. “Just…don’t. Don’t touch me. I want to know why you are holding hands with the lunatic who just tried to murder us.”

Cyndi snatched the photo out of McNeil’s hand. “This picture was taken years ago. Look at it.” She handed it to Lance. “I was just a kid.”

He held the photo up to his face. Lance lifted his eyes and glanced suspiciously at Cyndi then back at the picture.

“I was nineteen, living in Israel with my folks.” Cyndi’s expression saddened. “I was a lonely teenage girl in a strange country with no idea what I was going to do with my life. Pierce was a handsome American.” Her head sagged down. “It just happened.”

“Then who took this photo?”

“The CIA,” McNeil interjected.

“Why would the CIA be following a teenage girl?”

“Not her, you idiot. Pierce was training with Mossad in Israel. You don’t get to be a member of the most secretive Special Ops unit in the world and then expect your social life to be private. When young, inexperienced operators are in a foreign country, they’re under surveillance every minute of every day to avoid being snared in a honey trap.”

“I swear, I never knew Pierce was with Delta Force,” Cyndi explained. “He told me he worked for a software company in Tel Aviv.”

“But why didn’t you tell me you knew Pierce when he showed up at Alpha One?” he asked, confusion blanketing Lance’s face.

“I thought he was a programmer, not a trained killer. Besides, there must be dozens of people in the service named Pierce. I couldn’t be sure it was him. He was wearing sunglasses at the front gate. Until he tried to kill us in the silo, I never got a clear view of his face.”

Lance stroked his chin as he paced the floor. “Something’s not right. This doesn’t add up. Pierce would have known it was you.”

Cyndi’s body wilted at his observation. “That jerk didn’t even recognize me. Obviously, I was