“They sent me to those people who died?”
“The Fosters, yes. They were old friends of your father’s family. Mr. Foster was former military, and he and his wife agreed to watch you until your parents came back.”
“But you said they didn’t think they’d come back.”
“They wanted to return to you, but knew they might not.”
“What happened?”
“According to your parents’ journal, the Fosters had paperwork to adopt you. We haven’t found copies of the paperwork yet.”
“Did they die because of me?” They’d died a horrible death by fire.
“No, by all accounts, the fire was an accident. Mr. Foster got you safely to the car but didn’t make it back out with Mrs. Foster.”
My head was a tornado of jumbled thoughts. Question after question popped up in my mind, but I couldn’t grasp them. Guilt and loss tore at my heart.
“Why didn’t they know who I was after the fire?”
“The fire destroyed the Fosters’ copy,” Austin answered. “We may find the other copy among the paperwork your parent’s left behind.”
It occurred to me that I might have a big family somewhere out there.
“Do I have a family?” I sniffled again.
Austin handed me a tissue and a bottle of water. “Drink.”
I wiped my cheeks, blew my nose, and sipped the water.
“Your parents were both only children. And their parents have passed,” Austin said. “I’m sorry.”
Gone. They were all gone, and I never got to meet them.
“Who killed them?”
Chapter 42
Austin
Thanks to the USB drive with the case notes, we could ID the men hunting Nina.
“Their names are irrelevant. Just trust that we’ll stop them.”
Officers Kane and Gable were former CIA field operatives. The Singers suspected they were corrupt, but the evidence had mysteriously disappeared just before they resigned.
They now ran a clandestine mercenary business disguised as a topnotch personal protection agency.
According to their website, they offered protection to anyone who needed it anywhere in the world, no questions asked. Whichexplained the seemingly unlimited supply of foreign, well-trained, unidentifiable men at their disposal.
Reading between the lines, they accepted huge sums of cash to protect people who didn’t deserve protection.
People who actively worked against the United States. Our enemies, foreign and domestic.
The men hunting Nina had deep pockets, a trained militia, and dangerous contacts across the globe.
Nina didn’t need to know any of that.
“How?” Nina asked, sounding small and fragile.
