AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How do you know?”
“I heard them that day at the hotel. They admitted that repairs were done to the tank, and that the test results had been doctored.”
Will swore under his breath. “So what about the president? Why was she there?”
Hannah shook her head. “I don’t know. I was surprised to see her there. I don’t know if she was in on the whole cover-up or there to tell the EPA to get their act together or what. I wish I knew,” she said thoughtfully.
“I’ll have Ross ask Coulter if he knows anything. I want to think the best of her, but I also know that in the seat of power, sometimes you make decisions you never thought you would.”
She looked at him thoughtfully. “Have you had to do that?”
He swallowed the memories. “More often than I’d care to admit,” he said. “I never made a deal with the devil, but I broke promises I never dreamed I would.”
“I’m sorry you had to do that,” she said softly. Her kind eyes seemed to soothe the ache his memories had bubbled to the surface. “How do you deal with it?”
He tipped his head toward his shoulder. “It comes with the territory. I ask God for wisdom, and then I try not to look backward.”
She inhaled deeply. “I should probably take that advice more often.”
He laid his hand on top of hers. “Don’t discount how far you’ve come. For what it’s worth, I don’t see you looking back. I meet so many people stuck in whatever happenedtothem years ago, they never get free of it. Every choice they make hinges on that experience–and not in a good way. They let it limit them and hold them back.” He shook his head and tried to convey the admiration he held for her. “Not you, Hannah. You’ve moved on. You’re putting yourself out there and working for more. And you’re pretty darn amazing, if you ask me.”
A delicious shade of pink rose in her cheeks, just as it did every time he complimented her.
“I’m not,” she protested, tucking her chin.
He tipped it up with a finger. “You are,” he said firmly. He hated how little she saw in herself. He understood how the cycle of abuse could break someone down, but he couldn’t help but wonder how brightly her light would burn if it hadn’t been so damaged by Jeremiah and her mother and any number of other people who didn’t see her worth.
How they couldn’t see it was beyond him. He’d only known her a week, and he had a sneaking suspicion that he would willingly spend every day for the rest of his life reminding her how precious she was if she would let him. Anything to make her smile at him the way she was right now.
“So, you think Marshand is somehow connected to the assassination? I don’t understand. They’re just a little chemical company.”
Will tilted his head back and forth. “Kind of. For one, they’re part of a much larger conglomerate. And two, the chemical they manufacture is phosphorus trichloride.”
“Right. It’s fertilizers and plastics, right?”
“Well, yeah. But it has also been used in chemical weapons,” he admitted.
“Isn’t chemical warfare illegal?”
He nodded. “Sure is. Doesn’t mean there aren’t people in the world who would still use it if it was a means to their ends.”
She shook her head. “This is crazy. It’s just a chemical leak. One neighborhood. Even if they had to pay to fix everything and cover medical expenses, the company wouldn’t feel the hit. How does that lead to a presidential assassination?”
“If it is true, then it is all part of a bigger puzzle, and one I don’t have all the pieces to. It might not be the case.”
“And if it is?”
“Then the people who hired Yuri Kuznetsov are just getting started. President Walters’ assassination was just the first domino.”
“And what? We’re trying to guess what happens at the end of the chain?”
“Or in the middle. I’m not picky about where it happens, as long as we stop them along the way. Which is why we need Yuri.”
“Then you’ll get him,” she said.
He smiled at the surety of her statement. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but say a prayer, would you?”
“Oh, I have been. But I’ll keep doing it.”
