Broken Trust by Leigh Bale Read Free Book Online Page A

it.” She reached for her purse and pulled some
folded pages out, then handed them to him.
    Mac’s hand shook as he accepted the
letter. He stared without seeing the words, his chest tight. He didn’t want to
read this. Didn’t want to remember. He wiped his brow and blinked several
times, forcing himself to concentrate.
    “Are you okay?” Toni leaned
forward.
    “Yeah.” He answered too gruffly.
    He focused on the first word, then
the next. The cabin became unnaturally hot and quiet.
    When Mac finished reading, he
released a shuddering breath. He laid the letter in his lap and looked away. It
felt as though his heart had risen to his throat, choking off his air supply.
Eric might still be alive if only…
    “What does it mean, Mac? He said he
had some trouble with one of the other men and if something happened to him, I
should have you open his files and trust no one but you. Who did he have
trouble with?”
    “I don’t know.” He spoke slowly. “A
couple days before our last mission, Eric seemed worried about something, but
he wouldn’t tell me what. I figured maybe you and Cara had another fight and he
was concerned about you.”
    “No, we didn’t fight any more than
usual. Eric wanted me to sell Dad’s shoe store, but Grandma still won’t agree.”
She shook her head.
    “He could have stumbled upon
something in his intelligence work.”
    “Like what?” She stood and paced
the floor. “He was afraid, Mac. He didn’t make a big deal over it in his
letter, but you know Eric. He never wanted to worry me. What could be serious
enough for him to believe someone might harm him?”
    He met her gaze, his mind filled
with turmoil. Why hadn’t Eric confided in him? Eric must have believed Toni
would be safe, or he wouldn’t have drawn her into whatever this was. All Mac
could figure was that Eric had tried to protect him too, and Mac had—
    He couldn’t finish the thought. “I
think it’s possible we’re talking about espionage.”
    Toni’s eyes rounded as she sank
back into her chair, looking deflated. “Espionage? As in spies and stolen
microdots?”
    “The technology is a bit more
sophisticated now, but yes. Eric has shown me a few techniques that would
surprise you. Really advanced stuff.”
    “Eric would never be involved in
espionage.” Her mouth tightened.
    “I know. But it’s possible he
stumbled onto someone who was. In his letter, he mentioned some files I should
open.”
    “Do you think someone planned to…to
kill him?”
    Mac forced his hands to relax as he
shook his head. “I have no reason to believe our last mission had anything to
do with Eric.”
    No, the ambush had been set for the
entire special ops team. The Taliban had intended to kill all of them. Mac had
been lucky to escape with his life.
    And then a thought struck him. Was
it possible someone planned to have the Taliban wipe out the entire team just
to ensure Eric died in the skirmish? It seemed a bit farfetched, especially
considering how Eric died. The military was good at hiding facts. Toni and her
family knew only what they’d been told. That Eric had died during a routine
battle against Taliban fighters. She and her family didn’t know the truth.
    Yet.
    Toni’s brow crinkled and she gasped
as if a startling thought had occurred to her. “Mac, you don’t think that man
who tried to kill me today has anything to do with this. I mean, how could he
know about Eric’s letter?”
    “No, I think he was just an angry
driver. From your description of the man, I know he’s not from Clarkston.”
    “He looked like he was from the
Middle East.”
    “A Middle Easterner here on Thorne
Mountain? Maybe he was an irritated tourist.”
    “Do you know what files Eric is
referring to in his letter?”
    “No. Did he include anything else
with his letter?”
    She shook her head. “Just some
pictures he took with his digital camera. He usually sent me a disc of photos
with his letters, but this time he sent me a small memory