Target on the Mountain by Elizabeth Goddard (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

I started attending the church close to town and then I knew what was missing from my life. Now, I can’t imagine where I’d be right now if I hadn’t found the team.”

She smiled up at him. “I get that. I was pretty messed up when I came home. Then I met Tom and Jenny and started attending church with them.” She stopped for a second and he realized there was something more than she’d told him. “If it hadn’t been for God, I’m not sure where I’d be right now.”

Guilt tugged at his heartstrings. He didn’t doubt for a moment that most of the reason why she’d been heading for trouble was because of him.

That he’d hurt her was painful to accept. It was hard letting go of their burdened past, but he did. She had married someone who could give her the things she’d needed. Things he couldn’t. Best to leave that door closed.

His thoughts went back to the two men he seemingly recognized. They both appeared to be highly skilled. He had no doubt they possessed military training of some sort. How were they connected to Liam’s disappearance and, more important, why did both men seem so familiar?

He considered what Rachel had said about Liam believing the person he’d been chasing might be CIA. Was that how Alex knew them? Had he run into the men as part of his job?

Alex pictured the two men in his head again. He focused on each one’s facial features. It was on the tip of his tongue, just out of reach...and then it finally hit him why they both seemed familiar. He stopped dead in his tracks, drawing Rachel’s worried attention back to him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Was it possible? He couldn’t even believe it. His mind didn’t want to go there.

He took a deep breath and voiced his fears aloud. “I told you that I thought I recognized Peter and the other man, Victor McNamara, who attacked us?” She nodded, her gaze plastered on his face.

“Well, I just remembered from where.” He blew out a breath and shook his head.

Rachel saw how concerned he was. “How do you know them?” she prompted when he didn’t answer right away.

“From CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.” He tried to get the realization to make sense to him. It was absurd, surely.

“Langley?” She was clearly confused. “I don’t remember either of them being at Langley.”

He shook his head. “That’s because we didn’t train with them.” He stopped and clasped her shoulders, needing a moment to fit it together in his head. “Rachel, those men are honored on the CIA’s memorial wall. They’re supposed to be dead. They were killed while on a mission a few years back. They aren’t supposed to be alive anymore.”

FIVE

Rachel stared up at him, trying to make sense of what Alex had just told her. “Why would they fake their deaths?” It was unimaginable.

He shook his head and they continued walking. “I can’t imagine. I don’t remember much of the details, only that their entire six-man team was killed while on a mission in Iraq. Peter Mullins and Victor McNamara are not their real names, though.”

“Do you think they faked their deaths as part of their cover? Maybe they’re still on a mission? They could be deep undercover with some really bad guys?” Even as she said the words aloud, the idea didn’t make sense.

Alex shook his head. “No way. If they’re up here chasing some bad guys, why are they trying to kill us and Liam?”

What Tom had told them earlier about Liam doing something bad chased through her thoughts, wholly unwelcomed. There was no way she would ever accept that her brother had gone rogue. Yet she couldn’t dismiss what Alex had said about the men supposedly dying while on a mission in Iraq. That was the last place Liam had gone overseas. It couldn’t simply be a coincidence.

Try as she might, Rachel couldn’t seem to fit the pieces together. Exhaustion wasn’t helping. She hadn’t slept properly in days; she’d been too worried about her brother. She glanced around the wooded area. The first logging camp was still a good distance away. What would they do if those men had been there? Maybe they’d found Liam already? Would they be wasting precious time by searching the logging camps instead of going straight to Liam’s last known location? If her brother were up there injured, he could be dead by the time they reached him. Her thoughts swam.

“Alex, what if he’s still up there on the mountain somewhere, hurt and alone? Maybe we should keep heading up?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think he’s still up there, Rachel. Think about it. It’s been over a week since we believe he went missing. These people have been searching up there all this time and I don’t doubt for a minute that they knew about the meet location. If Liam were still up there, they would have found him by now.”

Unless he were dead... She couldn’t voice her deepest fear aloud. It didn’t matter. Alex saw what she was thinking.

“Don’t go there. If Liam were truly dead, they wouldn’t still be up here. They’d have what they wanted and they’d be long gone. He’s still alive and he has the advantage. Liam knows this place like the back of his hand. All of the mountain’s secret hiding places. These men do not. Liam would know where to go to disappear until it was safe to leave.”

Rachel hung on to that promise with everything inside of her. Alex was right. Liam could find every cave up on the mountainside in the dark. If her brother were injured, it would slow him down. Depending on how serious his injuries might be, it was possible he couldn’t leave by his own strength.

“How much farther to the first camp?” Alex asked while keeping a careful eye behind them. “Those men must have reached Peter and Michelle by now. They can’t let us go because