Present Danger by Elizabeth Goddard (shoe dog free ebook .txt) 📗

“The artifact that cost me everything? I lost my family because of you,” Marcus said. “Even if I hadn’t survived the crash and disappeared, I would have been court-martialed and lost them anyway. You deserved to pay. I thought the crown was apropos for your last delivery, since that was the very item that was lost to me when you wanted out. I was able to get my hands on it again, diverting it from being returned back to Iraq.” Marcus shrugged. “So you would deliver it for me, completing what you wouldn’t complete years ago, and I would finally get my millions.”

“It doesn’t belong to you. It didn’t then. It doesn’t now.”

Marcus sighed. “We’re all a little older and a little wiser. We all made mistakes. Give me the box, and I’ll let them go. With the money, I can reinvent myself all over again.”

The pilot looked intently at Terra. Emotion welled in his eyes. A pang shot through Terra’s heart. She hadn’t seen beyond the pilot. Behind his scruffy beard, older broken features. Behind the baseball cap and a thicker body . . . she hadn’t seen who he really was.

Her vision blurred. She wasn’t thinking clearly. No . . . “Who are you? You’re not . . . you can’t be—” But she knew in her heart that he was. Recognition slammed into her, knocking the breath from her. She gasped for oxygen, and then words. “Dad?”

“Yes, baby. It’s me.”

“What? Why? I . . . I don’t understand. What are you doing here now? Why did you leave in the first place?” The questions overwhelmed her, and the precarious situation shook her to her core.

“As for what I’m doing here now, as soon as I realized who was behind everything, I knew I had to warn Robert. I knew Robert, you, and Owen were in danger, but I got here too late.” He growled those last words out, glaring at Marcus. “But it’s okay because I have the leverage needed. As for the past”—his tone softened as he turned his gaze back to her—“I had no choice. Because of my mistake in Iraq, staying here would have put you in danger. Even though leaving hurt us both, it was better for you. Safer. After your mom died, I couldn’t lose you too. Briggs forced me to leave my family, to leave you to keep you safe. But I see now that my efforts made no difference. You’re here now because of my mistakes.”

Tears erupted. “You did lose me, Dad. You lost me and Owen. You left us. How could you think that leaving would ever be better?”

“Terra, I—”

“Don’t beat yourself up, honey.” Marcus/Tony, whoever he was, interrupted her father so he could be kind now? “I required that of him. I didn’t need anyone catching up to Chris Connors to ask more questions about the looting. I could have nothing lead back to me. I had to create a new identity, and Chris had to as well. He had to lose his family, like I lost mine. I helped him create his new identity—Chance Carter, courier for an airfreight company in which I’m the majority shareholder.”

“And Leif Morrisey?” she asked. “He wanted revenge for his sister’s death. He was looking for you. What did you do to his sister?”

“She was fencing for me in Morocco and got into a bad situation. That’s on her, not me. I had to focus on collectors in the United States for the last couple of years.”

Terra was done with the man pointing a gun at her. Except her hands were in plastic ties, and he held the gun. There were no defensive moves she could use that wouldn’t risk either her grandfather or now . . . her father.

“You.” Marcus directed his words to her father. “You put your gun down and back away from the package. Come over behind the desk and join Robert.”

“I’m not losing my gun. I don’t trust you.”

“You won’t get a shot off before I kill her. Do you want to risk it?”

“Don’t do it, Dad,” she said. “He’s bluffing.”

But she saw in her father’s eyes how precious she was to him, and he would do anything to save her. He’d given her up in order to save her. He hesitated before finally acquiescing to Marcus’s request, putting the gun down and stepping away from the package. Terra hoped that wasn’t a mistake.

Once Dad stood next to Gramps, he said, “Okay. Take the package and get out of here.”

“I’m taking the package, but she’s coming with me,” Marcus said. “Terra, pick up the package and let’s go.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. Why would you want to take me?”

“I’ll let you go when I’m safely away.”

“Are you crazy?” Gramps asked. “You’ll never escape your crimes!”

Marcus exploded with anger. “You’re wrong, Robert. I’ve escaped my crimes for nearly two decades. Now, pick up the package!”

The sound of too many bullets flying, pinging Jack’s car, accosted her. Marcus was about to lose it. Like Leif? She couldn’t let him kill her family.

“My wrists are bound. How can I pick it up?”

“Reach down and grab the corner with your hands.”

Suit yourself. She stood from the chair and then bent over for the package, using the opportunity to kick out her leg and clip his gun. But he maneuvered quickly like a trained soldier. Terra tried again.

Marcus fired the gun toward the desk.

“No!” she shouted. She scrambled toward the desk, but Marcus snatched her back.

Gramps pressed his hands over Dad’s midsection as blood seeped through his fingers.

“Come with me now or I’ll shoot your grandfather too.”

She’d just got her father back. She couldn’t lose him again. She tried to be so strong through it all, but the strength drained out of her. “No . . .”

“Pick up the package, and let’s go.”

Terra picked it up, her hands straining against the plastic ties. It seemed too light to be of any value.

“Leave her!” her father shouted.

He sounded strong, but for how much longer? She’d watched Jack nearly bleed