“How late?”
“S-seven weeks.”
“Jesus Christ, seven weeks and you only tell me now?!”
“Because I kept hoping … I’m sorry,” she ended in a pathetic whimper.
“I’m not having a baby, Sally. A brat is going to destroy my career. You’ll have to get rid of it.”
“What? You can’t be serious.”
“I’ll get you the money but then it’s the last I want to hear about a baby, is that clear?”
“I can’t kill our baby, Brad. I just can’t!”
He laughed boisterously. “Your baby! I never wanted a fucking child. You knew the risks when I fucked you. You told me you were going on the pill. You obviously lied about that, so don’t lay the blame on my doorstep.”
“Brad please, we can be happy together. I love you! I’ll be—”
“You’re delusional. I don’t love you, little girl. You were nothing but an easy fuck hole.” He gestured to her breasts straining against the tight top she was wearing. “What did you expect was going to happen when you flaunt your tits in my face? You offered yourself on a platter, Sally. I just took what was there for the taking.” He pushed back the plate of waffles and slipped out of the booth. “You’re getting rid of the baby and that’s final. I’ll bring you the money in the morning and then it’s over.”
“Over? Are you saying you don’t want to see me again?”
“That about sums it up, yes.” He dropped a couple of bills on the table and left, heading straight to his father. He would understand the dilemma Brad was in and he’d agree. A baby would only destroy his chances at an early deployment.
The next morning Brad knocked on the door of the small wreck of a house in the poor part of town.
“What are you doing here?” Sally’s mother sneered at him through the screen door. “Sally is at school.”
Brad opened the door and pushed the brown envelope into her hands. “Give it to Sally. Tell her I said thanks for a good time.”
Her gasp as she looked inside made him smirk.
“What’s this for?”
He hooked his fingers into his pockets and looked down at her as if she was vermin he’d like to squash underfoot.
“She didn’t tell you? Your virgin little girl isn’t all that innocent. She’s got a babe in her belly. I’m not ready to be a daddy. That’ll take care of it.” He offered a salute and walked away as if he owned the world, deaf to the insults following him down the path to the gate.
He felt no remorse for ousting Sally. It was her just deserves. She obviously believed he was her ticket out of poverty and thought she’d catch him with the oldest ploy in the book.
“Not me, little girl. I’m way too clever for the likes of you. Pity though, you are quite a sex siren in bed, with those big green eyes and pulpy lips.”
With his father’s influence as a friend to Admiral Chad Nesser, Brad Howard was deployed within two weeks … under a new identity as Billy Hewitt. His father wasn’t taking any chances that a poor bitch was going to destroy his career. By the time he returned he’d forgotten about piss poor Sally.
Billy sighed and blinked himself back to reality. He never bothered to find out how Sally was doing. Years afterward, he’d heard that his father had taken it one step further and ensured both her parents got fired a day after he’d left. They’d been kicked out on the street within two weeks and since then, no one had seen or heard from them again.
“No use regurgitating over the past. What’s done is done.”
He checked his email and cursed as there was still no response. He swiped a hand over his face to ban the last of the memories from his mind. Why he’d gazed into that part of his life was a complete mystery. Over the past thirty plus years, she’d always been there, buried deep in a locked compartment, but he could feel her presence like a burr pinching his butt. That didn’t mean he ever consciously thought back on their time together or remembered that a pretty brunette by the name of Sally ever played a significant role in his life.
“Why now? Now of all times?”
“What’s that, Boss?” Mongo ambled in and handed Billy another beer.
“Nothing, just speculating out loud.”
“Did you manage to find your ghost?”
“Not yet, but I’m positive I will soon.”
“I’m going spear fishing. Wanna join me?”
Billy took a sip of the beer as he checked his email again. Still nothing. He tipped the bottle against his lips and gulped down the content.
“Yeah, I think I will.” He got up. “Let me get my gear. I’ll meet you at the beach.”
“We have a problem.”
Zeke tapped his fingers on the desk as he glanced up at Parker walking into the office that they’d christened the ‘Think Tank.’ It was where they did all the NanoT designing and development.
“Shoot,” Parker sat down and switched on his laptop.
“We have a hit on the dark web on the triggers you set up on Dancer.”
Parker stilled and looked at Zeke. He could feel his body go cold. “What kind of hit?”
“An encoded message looking for Dancer associates.” Zeke’s fingers moved over the keyboard. “I just sent you the link.”
“Have you started a search to find the originator?” Parker immediately started a diagnostic on the link.
“Yes. I managed to get past the initial lock. Whoever it is knows about redirecting but it's amateurish at best. I’ll crack it in no time.”
“So, it’s not another hacker?”
“Definitely not. That docket was issued to a specific group of hackers. Either he’s hoping to draw Dancer out or find her via known connections on the dark web.”
“I don’t like it. Ava told me she has specific contacts with every Federal division. None of her jobs comes via a request on the dark web.” Parker cursed as his fingers flew over the keyboard, aiding Zeke in the search. “Do you see what I see?”
“Fuck, yes. The person looking for Ava is in Cuba.” Zeke looked at Parker. “I hope we’re wrong, Parker.”
“My sixth sense tells me we’re not.” His fist connected with the desk with a bang when he managed to crack through the redirections and homed in on the location of the IP address—the same location where they’d found the assassin. “Goddammit! The originator is in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.” He raised furious eyes at Zeke. “That can only mean one thing.”
“There’s a price on Dancer’s head and Billy Hewitt is the hitman appointed for the job.”
“He made contact with the dark web hacker persona I created. I’m going to respond. One way or the other we need to get under this fucker’s skin.” Parker typed a curt message and replied to the link. Within thirty minutes a response flashed on his screen. “See if you can hack into Hewitt’s system via the dark web link, Zeke. I want to know who else he contacted. He offered ten K for information on Dancer and for a hacker that’s a lot of money. We have to put the fear of the devil in them not to respond. He’ll deal with me and me alone.”