Terkel's Twist E-Book

Mayer Dale

• Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

In advance of another major attack, Terk races to Levi’s compound in Texas, where Terk finally gets to meet Celia, the woman carrying his child. Thankfully he arrives in time to protect his friends and new family from another attack, but he’s determined to get to the end of this nightmare that tried to earlier destroy his team.

Finally meeting this stranger—whose child Celia may be carrying—how could she not be suspicious? But after meeting Terk, she believes he had nothing to do with her pregnancy. Only after some deep conversations, as they peel layer from layer, do possible answers surface.

When the pieces finally come together into the most probably theory, Terk realizes how simple this whole mess really is. But solving it? … That’s a whole different story.

Leseprobe

Books in This Series:

Damon’s Deal, Book 1

Wade’s War, Book 2

Gage’s Goal, Book 3

Calum’s Contact, Book 4

Rick’s Road, Book 5

Scott’s Summit, Book 6

Brody’s Beast, Book 7

Terkel’s Twist, Book 8

Terkel’s Triumph, Book 9

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

About This Book

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Epilogue

About Terkel’s Triumph

Sneak Peek from Magnus: Shadow Recon

Author’s Note

Complimentary Download

About the Author

Copyright Page

About This Book

Welcome to a brand-new series from USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer, where dark-ops SEALs have special senses and skills, needed to solve intrigue, betrayal, and … murder. A series with all the elements you’ve come to love, plus so much more, … including psychics!

In advance of another major attack, Terk races to Levi’s compound in Texas, where Terk finally gets to meet Celia, the woman carrying his child. Thankfully he arrives in time to protect his friends and new family from another attack, but he’s determined to get to the end of this nightmare that tried to earlier destroy his team.

Finally meeting this stranger—whose child Celia may be carrying—how could she not be suspicious? But after meeting Terk, she believes he had nothing to do with her pregnancy. Only after some deep conversations, as they peel layer from layer, do possible answers surface.

When the pieces finally come together into the most probably theory, Terk realizes how simple this whole mess really is. But solving it? … That’s a whole different story.

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Prologue

The trip to Texas was brutal. The flight long, noisy, and tedious, when so much in Terk’s life was on hold. He’d sent out probes, checking on everyone multiple times, and everyone was fine. Even with that reassurance it was hard for him to relax.

While his brother was at his side, a rare moment for the two of them, it was hard knowing what was coming and what they’d left behind.

“Have you told them where we are?” Merk asked him.

Terk nodded. “Yes, but I’ve also slowed the energy going to them, so I’ll call them when we land.”

Merk shook his head but remained silent; then out of the blue, he said, “You know that, even though I’m used to this, it still sounds bizarre what you’re saying.”

Not much Terk could say to that. His brother had long been his biggest supporter, but that adaptation couldn’t have been easy. Terk had often wondered if there was something Merk couldn’t tap into or ignored either willfully or subconsciously all these years. In Terk’s case, his extra senses dominated. Ignoring them wasn’t even possible.

“What are you and your team going to do when this is over?” Merk murmured, looking out the plane window. “We’re almost there.”

“I know, and I’ve spent much of this flight resting, letting the energy flow in the direction it needs to, and it heads to England every time.”

Merk stared at him sharply. “As in a permanent location? As in the entire team or just yourself?”

“Yes, as to location and as in the whole team, including all the new members.”

“And Celia?”

That was a question Terk couldn’t answer. No one could at this stage. He could see bits and pieces, images that were both dark and intense, yet sprinkled in between softer ones. He knew Celia was important, but the jury was out as to whether she was on the plus side or the minus side. Terk could only hope that, given what he did know, she wasn’t involved in the making of this nightmare. If she was, good luck keeping his son away from him. If she wasn’t involved in that way, then Terk knew the future would get very interesting, very soon.

The seat belt sign kicked on.

Merk looked over at him and smiled. “You ready? To meet Celia? To see what the hell is going on at this end?”

“Always,” Terk murmured, looking at the approaching runway. “And more than ready to end this. Whatever the hell this is …”

Chapter 1

Terkel Armand slipped out of the truck and studied the huge concrete structure that rose in front of him. Multiple vehicles were parked around them, but the energy seemed off. “The compound appears empty.”

At that, Merk sucked in a heavy breath. “Yeah.” He nodded, but his expression was worried. “They could be hiding in a lot of places around here. It doesn’t have to be bad news.”

“No, I’m not sure it’s bad news yet,” Terk replied, “but something is odd about it.”

“Odd how? Do you want to define that a little better?”

“Is Katina here?”

“No, she’s on a trip to California,” he admitted. “It’s one of the reasons why I came to help you.”

At that, Terk’s lips twitched. “What? She didn’t ask to come with you?”

“She’s not used to this madness. It would have created more problems than it solved.”

“Because of me?”

“You and I are very close, always have been. When you need help, I’m there. She knows that.”

Merk had always done so, right from the beginning. Terk nodded calmly. Right now, more trouble than he cared to acknowledge was up ahead. He just wasn’t certain when it was coming or in what form. “I’m definitely getting an odd reading from the compound.”

“You want to go through the back way?”

“No. … I think, if we go any other way than straight through the front, it’ll look odd.”

“I’d rather look odd and still be alive,” Merk noted calmly.

“Maybe, but it’s not that kind of an oddness.”

Merk shrugged. “I trust you. Let’s go.” Together they walked up to the garage entrance.

“Gates are closed. Alarm systems are running still, so why am I getting a sense of emptiness?” Terk was bewildered.

“Our new security? Something you haven’t come up against?”

“Possibly.” Terk glanced over at his brother.

“Have you got something?” Merk asked him.

“No, I am not getting much from out here, and I’m not at my best. No strange heat signatures.”

“We have a new technology that closes down heat recognition,” Merk replied, with a nod.

“I wondered as much,” Terk murmured. As they walked up to the compound, both of them with weapons in hand, Merk took the lead and unlocked the inner gate to let them in.

Terk remained confused, and his energy was all over the place. “Still feels weird.”

“Weird is pretty normal in your world, so I can’t dispute that,” Merk replied. “What about your own personal security setup? I am sure you did something in the ethers or whatever to make sure that we were safe too.”

“I did. … Yet still something’s affecting that.”

“Interesting. So take a wild guess. Humor me.”

“I can’t. I don’t know,” Terk replied in frustration. As they walked forward a few steps, he stopped. “Something else has shifted.”

At that, the door in front of them opened casually. They both looked up in unison, and there she was. Ice. Standing tall and strong in front of them and … smiling.

Merk raced forward to her. “We weren’t sure what the hell we were sensing, but definitely something was off. Even Terk wasn’t sure.”

“Yeah.” She shrugged. “We’ll have to talk about that, Terk.”

He frowned at her. “About what?”

She lowered her voice. “You tell me. After all, you’ve had a chance to see the signatures.”

“Definitely some disrupting energy is here that I didn’t put in place.” Terk nodded.

“I’m getting that too,” she stated. “That makes better sense. It’s good to have you here.”

He walked over, gave her a big hug. “Thank you—for everything.”

“You’re welcome.” Ice smiled. “By the way, she’s a sweetheart.”

He laughed. “That’s good to know because we have some difficult news to deal with right now.”

“The biggest of which is what?” she asked, as she closed the door behind them. “What the hell’s going on, and how close are we to bringing this to an end?”

Terk caught movement at another door, and he quickly turned to see Levi. He relaxed a bit, seeing him walk toward him, with a big grin on his face. The two men exchanged a hard hug.

“It’s good to see you,” Levi greeted him. “Glad you brought Merk back with you.”

Terk smiled, loving the absolute acceptance he always got from these guys. He knew part of it was the years working with his brother and the number of times Terk had called in to warn them about something that would go crazy on them. They had a long history of helping each other in shitstorms that they couldn’t possibly see for themselves.

“It is good to see you guys.” Terk smiled. “It’s been a rather tough couple months.”

“You think?” Merk quipped. “You do realize both the DGSE and MI6 were gunning for you to get out of their respective countries?”

“I try hard not to think about it, and I won’t give them a chance to interfere with my work. The DGSE doesn’t need to worry, as we only visit France from time to time. Now MI6 on the other hand … On another topic, I warned my team to stay in place, but I’m afraid they are pretty adamant about being on the spot and seeing this thing through.” Terk looked over at Levi and saw his lips twitch, then asked forcefully, “They already contacted you, didn’t they?”

Levi nodded. “Of course. I get that you think that they don’t need to come to your aid, but think about it from their perspective. They aren’t willing to let you get into trouble without them.”

“I was hoping not to get into trouble.”

“Yeah, right. And how’s that been working out for you?” Levi asked.

Terk rolled his eyes at his old friend. “Not very well lately. Talk about a shitstorm.”

“Exactly,” Levi agreed, “but that’s okay. We’re here to help.”

“You’ve already helped a lot. I don’t want you, … any of you, to get into any more trouble than you already are.”

Levi laughed. “It’ll just get uglier.”

“It always gets ugly before it gets better.”

“And this is what we do, Terk.”

“Sure, but you also have a lot of people here to look after.”

“And you’ve added to that,” Levi pointed out calmly, not pulling any punches.

“I know. I didn’t know anything about her, except that she was on the way here, and I’m sorry for that,” Terk said. “I didn’t have any idea what was happening, until all of a sudden she was there.”

Immediately a question came from the inner doorway. “She?”

He turned, as an obviously pregnant woman stepped into the big kitchen.

Celia. Instantly her energy—hesitant yet compelled by something she might not even understand—darted toward him. An energy glowing with a second presence, the baby. His baby. Bemused, he could only watch in fascination. He saw her, felt her, and knew what she was to him. He stepped forward and held out his hand. “Hello, I am Terk.”

She nodded calmly but ignored his hand. “About time you got here.”

His eyebrows shot up. He pulled back his hand. “What does that mean?”

She gave him an exasperated look. “Let’s not play games. Obviously you know more about this than you’re letting on.” She indicated the bump that she carried.

“Actually I don’t,” he said immediately, “and, for that, I’m sorry. I really wish I did know more.”

It was her turn for her eyebrows to rise. “What about all of these last many weeks in England?”

“That I know about,” he admitted, “and, yes, I knew of your existence and when you arrived at this place, but that is the extent of it. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of your story. We have a lot of the pieces now but more gaps.”

“Okay”—she took a deep breath—“so why are you here then?”

He hesitated for a split second. “Because I believe an attack is imminent, and I wanted to be here to do what I could do to stop it.”

“How imminent?” she asked, her eyes going wide, as she took in the expressions on the other people’s faces.

“I was half-expecting that it had already happened, when I sensed the off security here.”

“Off security?” she asked in a low voice. “Do you want to explain that?”

“Not right now.” He studied her, wondering if she understood she was the one putting out the defensive energy bristling in the room. “How are you feeling?”

“Betterish. I mean, nothing like waking up from a coma to find that you’re … halfway through a pregnancy you know nothing about, while wired up to explosives and stumbling on a backroad, with no memory as to how I got there.”

“Do you want to explain the pregnancy?”

She snorted. “No, I don’t. And definitely not to you.”

“Why definitely not to me?”

“Because, according to Ice, you seem to think it’s yours, and I can tell you right now, it’s not.”

“Well, I won’t argue with you. Besides DNA will prove it, one way or the other.”

“Exactly. Glad we agree on that at least, and, by the way, that’s not happening until my son is born.”

He knew that her getting more upset wouldn’t benefit anybody. He turned to face Ice. “Have you got a game plan?”

Her beautiful features twisted in a wry smile. “Somewhat. Let’s go get coffee and maybe get you some food. Then we can go over it.”

“That would be nice.” Terk rotated his neck ever-so-slowly and gently widened his senses. When he came into a place like this, with many different people living and working here, it was always really hard to hold back the surge of energy around the compound. With his brother, Terk didn’t have to do it on account of his similarity and familiarity. As twins, their energy was damn near the same. But, with so many different personalities here, their energy was rampant.

As Terk followed Ice, Merk grabbed his arm to pull him back slightly. “So, do you know her?” he asked.

Terk immediately shook his head. “No, and I told you that from the beginning.”

“Jesus.”

Terk looked at him and said, “It’s mine.” And, with that declaration, not anything anybody could say. When Terk was adamant, he was adamant. Like he’d said, the DNA would prove it out, but still …

“Do you think this was deliberate?” Merk muttered, as they walked forward. “Your child, I mean. Not just anyone’s.”

“I can’t help but think that it was. I just don’t understand how it came to be. According to Yousef, it was planned.”

As they walked into the big dining room, Alfred bustled from the kitchen. A smile broke out on his face as he looked at Terk. “There you are. Now I can stop worrying about you.”

“You were worried about me?” Terk asked in confusion.

“Of course. This is a very difficult time for you, so it’s very important that you have all the support you need.” And, with that said, Alfred frowned at the sideboard and added, “I’ll go get the cinnamon buns. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the adjoining room.

At that abrupt declaration and even faster departure, Levi looked over at Ice. “So Terk gets cinnamon buns? I’ve been asking for cinnamon buns for days.”

Ice burst out laughing. “I think you’ll survive. Besides, I’m pretty sure you had some just a few days ago.”

“But that was a few days ago,” Levi argued. “Do you have any idea how much this crew eats?”

“Speaking of which,” Terk added, as he stopped at the entrance to the dining room, his senses slowly spreading farther, “the place is almost empty.”

“It is,” Levi agreed. “Threats of an imminent attack have us setting priorities and removing many of the partners—not to mention children—from the compound. And, of course, that means sending several of the men along with them. We also have others of the team off on jobs,” Levi added. “It’s become a bit of a scheduling nightmare. We’re always struggling for new members.”

“Well, I guess that’s a good thing.”

“Maybe.” Levi glanced at Terk. “Of course sometimes personal crises come up.”

“It’s not as if Merk would give us a chance to say no,” Ice chipped in, with a bright smile.

“And it would never be an issue because you are family too, Terk,” Levi said calmly.

It was such an odd, yet welcome thing. He and Merk had worked separately for a very long time, but once Merk had hooked up with Levi and Ice, Terk had automatically been included in the group, like an extended part of the family you didn’t know was there but accepted anyway. And it was rather nice.

Terk smiled at Ice, then walked over to give her a big hug and whispered, “Are you looking forward to your daughter? It won’t be just yet …” He paused, tilted his head, and a date popped in his mind. He whispered it against her temple.

Ice’s eyes widened. “What?”

He chuckled. “I can’t help what I learn. Such as the cycle of life and all.”

At that, Levi turned and looked at the two of them. “What did he say to you?”

“I’m not saying a word,” she murmured, a tiny smile at the corner of her lips.

“Damn it, Terk,” Levi growled, shooting him a look, before turning to look at Ice. “No secrets. Remember that?”

“No secrets, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a need for discretion.” Then she turned, looked at the others, and added, “Bailey’s not here. It’s just Alfred in the kitchen. So it’ll be a little less fancy.”

“I don’t need fancy,” Terk replied.

At that, Alfred returned with a big tray of cinnamon buns. “You forgot to mention that Celia’s been in the kitchen helping me too.” Alfred beamed. “I keep trying to get her out of there, but she won’t listen.”

“None of you ever listen,” Levi growled again. “We do the best we can do, but it’s like shepherding goats.”

“I think the phrase is sheep.” Celia walked in calmly, carrying a stack of plates, and put them on the sideboard. Terk sat in the closest chair.

“Well, sheep at least follow along blindly,” Levi snorted. “Trying to get you guys to do anything is impossible.”

“That’s because we know that you’re doing it to get us out of the way.” Celia picked up a plate and plunked a large cinnamon bun on it, then walked over and put it down in front of Terk. Then she went back and grabbed another plate and did the same for Merk. When she went back a third time, Terk looked over at Levi. “See? You might get one after all.”

“I’ll probably have to get it myself though.” He growled yet again.

He watched as the cinnamon buns quickly got divvied up. But, before he could say anything, Ice walked over and put a large plate down in front of him, with two cinnamon buns. “Just in case you really feel like we did you wrong,” she murmured.

He glared at her. “You know these are cinnamon buns, right?”

“Yep, I sure do.” She gave a bright chuckle. “I also know that you get them all the time.”

“Sure, but I haven’t had one in a while, at least a couple days.” He rubbed his hands together, looking at the plate with delight.

Terk watched the byplay, a smile on his face. It was so lovely to see them together. For the longest time, he thought a romantic partnership wasn’t something they could manage long-term, so their energy sliding along in a cozy pairing made his heart smile. His own intuition warned him that those two strong-willed and dominant people in a relationship would always be a challenge. Yet they were still handling everything pretty well.

So maybe challenges themselves weren’t bad after all. And, for these two, maybe that was what really made things work for them. Terk didn’t say it out loud, but they had restored his faith in humanity, and somehow they seemed to have done that for a lot of people.

They were the first couple to marry and to have children in their circle of professionals, and, because they had survived, they were now surrounded by many other happy couples. The energy flowing easily from Levi and Ice then raised the energies of everyone in the vicinity, which in turn made the collective energy vibrate at a higher level, thus repeating the cycle. “How many weddings do you have scheduled this year?” Terk asked.

Ice rolled her eyes. “There have been requests for quite a few actually.”

The little bit of hesitation in Ice’s words and mannerisms had Terk eyeing her expectantly.

She added, “But some people have family who can’t come. Well, that and the security risks. And others just wanted to have a quiet affair, and then, of course, some wanted to go to Vegas.”

Merk snorted at that, but he kept his head down and buried in the cinnamon bun. “Ceremony is just that, ceremony,” he stated. “It really has nothing at all to do with the life that you live.”

“That’s our opinion too,” Ice agreed, “but, for some people, there’s a reverence to the pomp that helps solidify the seriousness of a promise made. And, in your case”—she looked at Merk—“you never really got a divorce.”

“Well, we did, but I guess we didn’t …” He shrugged, gave Ice a gentle smile. “Who knew that, even drunk, I could pick out the best partner.”

At that, Ice laughed. “And apparently it was reciprocal.”

“Absolutely.” The conversation was light and gentle for the rest of the time, as Terk scarfed down the cinnamon bun, even as he kept one eye on Celia.

As soon as his plate was empty, he pushed it back and said, “We need to talk, Ice. What are the plans?”

“Yep,” Ice agreed, “that’s number one,” as she looked at the tablet in her hand. “Terk, update us. What are we facing?”

With that, Terk quickly went over the news from the last scenario.

“Should we expect the rest of your team to come?” she asked. “Or just half of them?”

“I tried hard to keep them out of it. So I don’t know. There have been so many attempts on their lives already, I didn’t really want them all in the same place, while another attack is happening.”

“That’s what being a leader is all about,” Levi noted calmly. “We have a lot of people trying to get involved in this too.” He frowned and continued. “I know you don’t like that idea, but we have to do something in order to keep the information flowing.”

“Are you sure you guys don’t want to take off and just let Merk and me handle it?”

“Not happening,” Ice stated, her voice cool. “This is our home. They brought us into this by sending Celia here. And, if I haven’t said it to you before, I’m staying.”

“Thank you very much for letting me come in. And … for staying,” Celia added.

“You’re welcome,” Ice replied gently. “When shit hits the fan, this is the stuff we do. So far, since your arrival, we have had no attacks on our compound … yet.” Ice stared at Terk.

“No, but there will be.”

“When?” she asked almost immediately.

“Forty-two hours at best.”

That answer was so precise, her eyebrows went up. She wrote it down, then checked the wall clock immediately. “Now that’s a very specific figure.”

“It is. And accurate, as near as I can tell you at this point.”

“Good, that gives us time to prepare.” Ice looked over at Levi. “That’s shorter than we thought but maybe better than we deserve. We’ve got a lot of security plans in place because we’ve been expecting this—and we do have a skeleton crew of us here.”

Terk nodded. “Is Stone around?”

“Yes, Stone is definitely here.” She smiled.

“And I presume the satellite is up and running?” Terk asked them.

“Always,” Levi said, stepping in. “We have all the entrances and exits covered. We’ve enlarged our coverage area a bit, and we’ve got hidden cameras around, approaching the area. I’ve got offers going to buy a few more acres around our place, so we can expand our security a bit farther,” he shared, “but, so far, I haven’t managed to get any bites yet.”

“That would be a good move.” Terk stared off in the distance. “This won’t be the only attack at your place.”

“Nope, it’s not the first and sure won’t be the last,” Levi agreed. “Considering that families are expanding here, it’s not a bad idea to continue to expand our holdings as well.”

“Did you consider buying one of the properties next over?” Terk asked. “It’s coming up for sale.”

“Which one?” Ice looked at him.

Terk frowned, got up, and moved to the map in the middle of the dining room table. Then slowly turning the map, Terk pointed with his finger. “That one.”

“MacGyver’s place,” Ice noted.

“Yes, that’s the name.”

“Any idea why he’s selling?”

“He’s got cancer. The family won’t want to keep it after he’s gone, so he’ll sell it first.”

At that, Levi got up and walked out of the room. Ice nodded. “He’s good friends with MacGyver.”

“Sorry but also good. It’s perfect timing too.”

“That would be great, if we can come to an agreeable price,” Ice said.

“He’s got a large property.”

“Yes, he does. Quite a few acres.”

”That would be a very helpful holding to have,” Terk added.

“Agreed.” She hesitated. “Terk, is there anything else you’ve intuitively picked up on that we should know?”

“I’m not sure. Everything feels odd here.”

“Well, take some time to adjust.” Then she turned her attention to Celia, looking over at her keenly. “Are you feeling okay? Do you need to lie down?”

Celia waved her hand. “I’ll be fine. This is pretty fascinating to watch. Do you always believe what he says?”

“Always.”

Terk looked at her. “Are you ready to tell me what happened to you?”

“More than what Ice already told you?”

“While I did hear some things from Ice, I find that it’s always better to hear things in someone’s own words.”

“Well, I don’t remember very much,” Celia stated flatly.

He frowned. “Were you drugged, do you think?” he asked, then turned to look at Ice.

“Yes, she did have quite a cocktail in her system, when we brought her into the compound, and we’ve been doing as much as we can to get that cleaned out. We have already cleared some of the issues, but obviously stress is a huge factor. Plus, being pregnant limited our treatment options.”

“Of course,” he murmured. He studied Celia intently.

She shifted uneasily, stiffening, then she glared at him. “Don’t look at me like that,” she snapped. “I haven’t done anything.”

“Do you have any foreign connections?”

She looked like she had been struck by a thousand watts. “Why would you even ask that?”

“Where were you six, seven months ago?”

She flushed, then glared again.

He just gave her that flat stare. He knew when people were hiding something, and, although she had every right to be upset over what had happened, he had to be sure nothing was hidden from him. Trust had to work both ways.

“I was in London at the time.”

At that, he sat back. “Doing what?”

Celia looked at Merk and then Ice. When her gaze landed on Terk, again a flash of hostility crossed her face. She turned her head. “I was there for an interview.”

“And then what?” he asked, his gaze unwavering.

“I’m not exactly sure. I did a bunch of work in England,” she said thoughtfully. “And then I traveled to France. … Nothing seemed to be any different or out of ordinary. Nothing seemed to be difficult. It was all good. Normal—until I was kidnapped.”

“When did you realize you were pregnant?”

“When I woke up here. I don’t think I realized it even while I was walking here. As far as Ice could tell, I’m approximately six months along.” Her glare upped in wattage. “And, no, I don’t know how this child was conceived or what happened afterward.”

He could see her pain, the fear of finding out the truth of what happened to her. … “Zero signs?”

“This entire conversation is making me uncomfortable.”

“That’s fine.” He continued to study her. “You can blame me all you want. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re carrying my child and that I want to know exactly how that happened and how you are connected to these attacks.”

“I’m not. I’ve got nothing to do with it.” She stood and held her belly protectively. Her words were literally venom now, and her eyes shot daggers. “And it’s not your child. Maybe you should explain to me why you think it is and how I got that way?”

*

Celia just wanted to get away. There was almost a magnetic spell around that man, but he was also dangerous as hell. Her hands cradled her belly. While she waited on Terk to respond, she repeated the mantra in her head, We’ll be fine, a mantra that she had been working on ever since she found out the crazy turn her life had taken. We’ll get through this. We’ll be fine.

Though, in reality, she wasn’t sure how she was ever supposed to be fine, given this nightmare she was in. She had hoped that, when she saw Terk, she would recognize him and would have remembered something about him and that somehow this would all begin to make sense.

But there wasn’t anything. Nothing at all.

How was it even possible? He said he was the father of her child, but she could only look at him suspiciously because she’d never met him before. So how had he impregnated her? She could only imagine the ways such an event could have come about. None of them filled her with joy, nor gave her any measure of comfort. She had absolutely no idea who the father of her child was because she had no way of knowing when or how she got pregnant in the first place. A fact that just blew her away.

“So you’ll ask me questions but not answer mine?” Celia asked Terk.

She didn’t live in a world of casual relationships, where people routinely had unprotected sex and got pregnant out of the blue like that. She was always extremely careful, and her last breakup had been just ugly enough that she wasn’t even close to being interested in another relationship and hadn’t been for a long time. Yet she’d been kidnapped, held captive, impregnated, wired up with C-4, and released in an unknown rural area.

When?

Where?

And most certainly, why?

But she also knew this world was pretty messed up, and all kinds of people were out there. People who didn’t give a crap and had ulterior motives, which also made her very suspicious of everything and everyone. Including him.

The bottom line was that this mess was not what she wanted in any way, shape, or form. She needed to find the answers, or she would never be safe. To have Terk so adamant about her baby’s paternity had sent her world into a tailspin.