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“And?” He ran a tongue around his dry mouth.
“And in addition to hearing an American speaking French, I heard someone call someone else Denver.”
Joe sank his head in his hands, his fingers digging into his scalp. “No.”
“I’m sorry. I did hear that, and I reported it to the military investigators.”
“If the major wanted to keep his presence there a secret, why would the others be throwing around his name? That makes no sense.”
“I agree, unless someone slipped up.” She touched his sleeve. “You still haven’t told me why someone would want to kill Marten.”
“Because of all this.” He swept his arm to the side, encompassing the bay. “De Becker was making noises about taking back his eyewitness statement placing Denver in Syria outside that refugee camp.”
“Why is that a problem? Doesn’t the army want the truth? Doesn’t the CIA?”
“They may want the truth, but there are factions in some high places that want to perpetuate this lie about Major Denver. We just don’t know why.”
“We?”
“A couple of my Delta Force team members have already uncovered some discrepancies in these stories swirling around Denver. Things are not adding up.”
“These highly placed factions are willing to commit murder to further their narrative?” Hailey put a hand to her throat. “To follow around innocent citizens?”
“Your meeting with de Becker never happened. You don’t know why he wanted to talk to you.” Joe pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “If anyone ever follows up with you, tell them you heard the name Denver used for one of your kidnappers and leave it at that.”
It was not the speech he’d planned to deliver to Hailey Duvall. He’d wanted her to step forward and question the investigators’ insistence that the major was there, that it was ludicrous to believe they’d use his real name under those circumstances. But after meeting and talking with Hailey, all he wanted to do was protect her. Keep her away from this madness.
She’d already been through enough. Her car had delivered a bomb inside a refugee center filled with innocents. Even though it wasn’t her fault, she’d have to carry that with her. And he could tell—this would weigh on her.
Why else would an über-rich woman spend her time and money to help people halfway across the world? Put herself in danger to do so? When he’d started this journey, he thought Hailey was a naive do-gooder. Now he felt humbled in the presence of her selflessness.
She tapped her fingers on the table. “If I stick to that story, how are you going to prove Denver wasn’t responsible for the bombing of the refugee camp?”
“I’ll prove it another way.” He swept up his plate with its collapsing bread bowl. “But I’d like to see you home, if that’s okay.”
Her gaze shifted to the sidewalk, still jammed with tourists. “Do you think I’m in danger?”
He lifted one shoulder. “That guy was probably just following you to see if you’d go to the police with any suspicions about the man who went overboard. If they do have de Becker’s phone, maybe you can just play it cool and text him as if he blew off your date.”
“I already did text him—and that was no date.” She plowed her fingers through her hair. “If Marten was murdered, do you think I can sit back and pretend this night never happened? If it turns out that was Marten, I’m going to go to the police and the FBI and tell them about our planned meeting and the texts I received from his phone after his death.”
“Not sure that would be wise at this point, Hailey.”
“Wise?” Her eyes grew round. “It’s what’s right. It’s justice.”
Uneasiness gnawed at his gut. Did he really think Hailey would drop this after all she’d gone through? He should’ve just made sure she came to no harm tonight. He never should’ve intervened and approached her. A woman like Hailey spelled danger for him ten different ways.
The truth smacked him in the face, and he swallowed. Once he’d gotten an eyeful of Hailey, he felt compelled to make a move. How else was he gonna meet a woman like this? They didn’t travel in the same circles...and that poor boy from South Boston still desperately yearned to be accepted by those women out of his reach—the one that got away. Pathetic bastard.
