Distant Echoes by Colleen Coble Read Free Book Online Page B

insolent or incompetent.
    He turned to his aide. “What’s missing?”
    “Some papers on the missile system,” Ensign Masters said.
    The shave ice he’d wolfed down sat in his stomach like a lump of cold lava. “How did this happen?”
    “Someone came ashore last night, slipped through our defenses. Security detected no breach, but I found this when I opened the door.” Ensign Masters swept his hand over the room.
    “Was anyone injured?”
    Masters shook his head and pointed to an open window. “Whoever it was came in there and bypassed the guard outside.”
    Jesse had no idea how that could be accomplished. “Post a guard inside this room from now on.”
    “Yes sir.”
    Jesse’s cell phone rang and he answered it.
    The man on the other end identified himself as an SP on duty at the entrance. “Your sister is at the front gate, Commander.”
    “Jillian?” Their other sister, Livia, was in Africa the last time he heard.
    “Yes sir. Jillian Sommers and her daughter are here to see you.” The man’s voice betrayed no emotion.
    “I’ll be right there.” He left the ransacked office in Masters’s capable hands and headed to his Jeep. He slung his long legs under the wheel and took off with the wind in his hair. He barely missed a flock of chickens crossing the road. He braked at the entrance and found his sister leaning against a rental car in the pull-off outside the security gate. Heidi was squatting in the sand watching an anthill. Her favorite bear, Boo, was clutched under her arm.
    “How’re my girls today?”
    Heidi’s head jerked around and she bounded to Jesse, throwing herself into his arms. “Uncle Jesse!”
    He swung her around and kissed her soundly on the cheek then turned to his sister. Jillian had lost weight since he’d seen her last. Her high cheekbones were more pronounced, and she was pale beneath her tan, though she still looked younger
than her thirty-seven years. Her ashy blond hair lay against her head in wisps without its usual curl and bounce. Jesse wanted to strangle his brother-in-law, Noah. And if he could find him, he would, but Noah had disappeared after he’d broken Jillian’s heart.
    “Hi, sis,” he said. He threw his right arm around her and gave her a hug while holding Heidi with the other hand.
    “Hi, Jesse. Sorry to drop in on you unannounced, but when you didn’t answer the message I left on your answering machine, I came anyway.”
    “Something wrong? I haven’t been to my place in two days. You could have tried my cell phone.” He shuffled Heidi to his back, where she wrapped her legs around his waist like a monkey and dangled Boo in front of his nose.
    “I tried but it said the number was no longer in service.”
    “Oh rats, I forgot to give you the new number.”
    Jillian nodded. “That’s what I figured.” Jillian looked at her shoes. “Jesse, I have to go to Italy. I tried to get out of it, but it was either go or lose my job. With Noah gone, I have to work.” Her attempt at a smile fell short. “They promised no longer than a month. I’m going to have to take you up on your offer to keep Heidi. Livia is out of touch in Africa. You still cool with it?”
    Jesse hated the false optimism in her voice. She used to be so sunny and genuinely cheerful. Nothing ever got her down. Pollyanna, he’d always called her. She was trying to maintain that spirit for Heidi’s sake, but he could hear the desperation under the surface.
    “I haven’t heard from Livia in a couple of months either. The Peace Corps must have her in the wilds where she can’t get to a computer. She wouldn’t be much help anyway. Africa is no place for the monkey.” He hitched Heidi higher on his back. “What about Aunt Irene?” He lowered his voice. “This isn’t a good time for me. Base security has been compromised.”
    “I’m not going to Aunt Irene’s.” Heidi dropped her legs from his waist, and he let her down. She came around to face him with her arms folded