“This op was an official one.”
“So…government.” Evie gave a curt nod before glancing out into the night.
Beckett watched her closely, wondering if he’d imagined the disappointment weaved within her soft tone. Feeling a sudden, inexplicable urge to give comfort, he did his best to cheer her up.
“I bet you’re excited to see your dad again.”
She turned his way and smiled. “Of course.”
It was a perfectly appropriate response and one he’d expect from anyone who’d lived days thinking they’d never see their family again. But while her words said one thing, the look in Evie’s weary eyes suggested something else entirely, which, much like the visceral reaction he felt toward the woman, made no sense whatsoever.
Why wouldn’t she be happy to go home?
He thought back to what he’d learned from the intel Shadow had provided the team. According to her file, Evie’s dad—Phillip T. Mitchell was the majority shareholder and CEO of Mitchell-Granger Investments. The prominent financial investment and advisory firm was built from the ground up by Mitchell’s father, Evie’s grandfather.
When the powerful patriarch died two decades before, he left the company, as well as the man’s entire fortune, to his sole heir. Since taking over the family business, Phillip Mitchell turned what had been a successful and lucrative, multi-million-dollar business into a major financial conglomerate worth fifty-four billion and change.
As for Evie, from what Beckett could tell, the woman had grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth and designereverythingin and around her charmed life. A far cry and worlds away from the upbringing he’d had as a child.
Both of his parents were retired now. His dad had spent the better part of thirty years as a beat cop working the streets of Dallas while his mom had spent her tenure teaching second grade at a small suburban school.
They didn’t have a lot, but as an only child, Beckett could never remember a time when he’d gone without. But when he compared his upbringing with what he’d read about the Mitchell family estate—including the massive mansion Evie had grown up in—he realized…
We couldn’t be more different.
“Does my father know I’ve been rescued?”
Beckett swung his gaze in her direction. “I’m sure by now, someone with authority has been in contact with the girls’ families. But you’re an adult, and as far as our intel shows, your father hasn’t put out a missing person’s report or contacted anyone within the government about an abduction. Plus, this op was off-books, which means very few people will ever know what happened here.”
She filled her lungs before exhaling slowly. “Okay. I was just curious.”
“If you want, I can try to get permission to let you use our satellite phone to?—”
“No, that’s okay,” Evie hurriedly cut him off. “I mean…it’s probably crazy early there, and I’m sure he’s still in bed, anyway.”
The woman had been kidnapped at gunpoint, taken against her will, and held captive for days with minimal food and water. She’d also clearly been beaten and must have thought she was going to die. And yet, she was worried about waking up her dad to let him know she was okay?
His gut churned with the feeling that something was way off with this whole picture. But he didn’t know Evie personally, and her family dynamics were not his concern. So rather than intrude on the part of her life that held no real influence on their mission, Beckett turned his focus back to…well…the mission.
“The men who took you,” he spoke again. “Did they ever tell you why?”
“What do you mean?”
“They ever mention anything to you about plans for ransom demands for you and the girls? Or were there ever any conversations you might have overheard about why the five of you were targeted?”
“I have no idea why they took us.” Evie gave a jerky shake of her head.
Her lips curved into a quick smile before she turned away, her focus homing in on the path ahead. Beckett had no reason to doubt what she’d told him, and there hadn’t been any sort of noticeable change in her expression, but still there wassomethingthere he couldn’t quite name.
Or maybe you’re lookin’ for somethin’ that isn’t even there.
Maybe. Or maybe there was more but she was too scared to say.
Fear could be a funny thing. Especially when it came in the form of terrorist assholes willing to kidnap—and often kill—anyone they believed could help with their cause.
Be it political, religious, or financial, it didn’t matter. Men like the ones who’d taken Evie and the girls were soulless, selfish monsters who usually hid behind some sort of justifiable agenda.
And they would do whatever it took in their search for success.