Page 9 of Redeeming Violet

She didn’t seem to like my answer when she covered her face and sobbed into her hands.

“This is all my fault.”

She wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t entirely right either. Had she come clean sooner, something could’ve been done to get the names back, but they’d been in the wrong hands for too long.

***

The plane landed, and we were met by Faheem. He’d escorted us to the hotel Tex had arranged. Again, he’d set us up nicely. We had a block of rooms on the top floor next to a stairwell exit and the hotel had Western amenities.

Eric and Faheem were out of the room doing a sweep of the hotel. Eric was also setting up an EXFIL plan if the need arose. Jasmin was still pushing Violet and needling her whenever she could. Violet seemed to give up information when she was pushed into a corner or agitated, and there was no one better at pushing buttons than Jasmin. She was a five-foot-nothing hellcat, and when she wanted something there was no stopping her.

Zane’s cellphone rang, and he swiped the screen, answering the call on speaker.

“Zane.”

“I have the rest of the intel you wanted,” Tex answered.

Jasmin fell silent and all eyes turned to Violet.

“Go on.” Zane didn’t bother taking the call off speaker, knowing whatever Tex was about to say was going to make Violet uncomfortable and possibly blow her story out of the water.

“Violet Myers was born Violet Cranston. Her parents were killed in a home invasion. Violet and her twin brother Declan Cranston were put into the system and separated. Dave and Bonnie Myers adopted Violet months after she was placed in foster care.

“Declan didn’t get so lucky. He bounced around from home to home until finally at age ten he was adopted by Bryan and Elizabeth Olson. He joined the Marines at eighteen and his time in service gets muddled shortly thereafter. It took a lot of digging to piece together his service record. Whoever tried to suppress the information did a good job.” Zane remained silent but lifted his brow in acknowledgement. We all knew who had changed Declan’s service record. “Anyway, I picked up his trail when he joined the CIA - Directorate of Operations case officer, now going by, Declan Crenshaw. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan until once again he becomes a ghost. Official records show he died in a skirmish in Kandahar. Only problem is, there’s no record of any battle with casualties on the day in which he died.”

“He’s alive,” Zane surmised.

“Absolutely. One other thing. Violet is right. Manuel Ortega, piece of shit extraordinaire, is all over the darkweb taking bids. He has something he’s eager to sell. I can’t get a lock on him, yet. Any luck tracking the team?”

“Not yet. We’re going hunting.”

“Fuck. Take me off speaker, would you?”

Zane swiped the screen and brought the phone up to his ear as he walked into the adjoining room for privacy.

“So, now we know the who,” I said. “Care to share where Declan is?”

Violet sighed and sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her hands. All subterfuge was gone, leaving a sobbing broken woman. Jasmin’s gaze went from Violet’s crumbling form to me; I was surprised when I saw pity. Fuck. What were we supposed to do with her now? There was no excuse for what she’d done, yet I wanted to console her, help her protect her brother, and justify what she’d done. I couldn’t, could I? Were there allowances for a woman like her?

Standing in a hotel room studying her wasn’t going to give me the answers I needed. The road she needed to travel to find redemption wasn’t my business or my concern. It was for her to find. But I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to make this right for her. Would I have done the same thing if I’d been in her shoes? Fuck no! But could I understand why she had? I was beginning to.

Chapter Five

Violet

I didn’t know if it was good or bad they now all knew about Declan.

My twin.

The brother I didn’t know. After our parents died, I had a good life. I was adopted by a loving couple that gave me everything. Declan, not so much. He was left in the foster care system for a long time, and when he was adopted I believed the couple had tried to repair the damage that’d been done but he was rebellious and always in trouble.

When he sat across from me while I was doing his final interview for Directorate of Operations or as it’s better known, Clandestine Services, he had no idea who I was. We were fraternal twins, but there was no bond like you hear about twins having; there was no recognition when he looked at me. He hadn’t felt what I had. But maybe I’d made it all up. I wondered if I hadn’t looked into his background and went through his adoption records before his interview if I would’ve felt anything towards the man that was nothing more than a stranger to me. Was my reaction to him solely because I knew? I wanted to tell him I was his sister, but I didn’t. Instead I conducted my interview, gave my approval, and sent him off to places unknown. And now, the brother I never got to know was as good as dead. Because of me. I was the weak link.

I didn’t know how Timothy had found out we were siblings, only that he had. When he came to me with names, it was Declan’s he’d pointed out. He’d exploited the familial bond, and it worked. I didn’t want to see any of the men and women on the list exposed, but most importantly I didn’t want my brother’s cover blown. Not only was it certain death but whatever group he’d infiltrated would’ve tortured Declan, made an example out of him. I couldn’t bear to think about what would’ve happened to him if I hadn’t followed Timothy Clark’s directives.

In short, I was fucked.

“Violet. Where’s Declan?” Jaxon asked again.