Operation Date With Destiny by Karlene Blakemore-Mowle Page B

Tre ’ ago. ” Willows voice seemed to echo in the circle and the men stared at each other in complete disbelief as a chorus of muttered curses slowly filtered through his own profanity filled brain.
    “ No way. You ’ re way off on the research this time, Lois Lane, ” Tupper finally managed to push the words through his lips even though he knew Willow was one of the best investigative journalists in the business and didn ’ t make those kinds of mistakes.
    “ Sorry guys—but I double checked. She ’ s Tre ’ ago ’ s kid. ” Willows words were followed by an eerie silence.
    Tupper found it hard to concentrate. Tre ’ ago was Destiny ’ s father? This had to be the worst joke , fate had ever played on him—and he ’ d suffered through enough of them to know there was never any funny punch line included.
    “ Does anyone else feel like this is a Darth Vader moment? ” Del asked gravely.
    “ But listen—here ’ s something important—and I think it ’ s relevant to what ’ s going on over there, ” Willow continued. “ Tre ’ ago was posted there years ago and so she grew up around the area. After her parents divorced, she went back and forth between her mother in the States and Tre ’ ago who kept a place over there. Her mother, Claire, remarried when Destiny was thirteen, to a guy named Alan Dawson and her mother and step-father went on to have another kid. From all accounts Dawson was a good provider and seems they had a happy family life. Something happened when she was about fifteen, because she had no further contact with Tre ’ ago and changed her name legally to Dawson as soon as she was old enough. She got a ROTC scholarship and did an accountancy degree, then did four years in Army Intelligence. A year ago she pulled out and dropped off the grid. I found out she ’ s been working as an accountant for a small firm in some one horse town in Nebraska. ” Willow paused for a moment. “ This is where it gets interesting. T wo weeks ago, her parents were found in a car wreck—both had been shot. ”
    “ Sounds to me like your girl ’ s been on the run , hiding out in Nebraska. And that hit has Tre ’ ago ’ s name written all over it, ” Del said darkly .
    “ So what the hell is Tre ’ ago ’ s daughter doing here—leading us into God knows what? ” Tate asked , gravely.
    “ She ’ s not a Tre ’ ago, ” Tupper said through tightly gritted teeth. “ She hates the guy as much as we do. ”
    “ How do we know that though? What if this is some kind of set up? ” Del continued warily .
    “ I think I have to agree with Tupper on this one, baby, ” Willow cut in from the phone. “ There ’ s more. The kid, her step-brother…he ’ s listed as missing and there ’ s an alert out on him. ”
    “ I have a feeling we just found out what the package is, ” Tate said, as Del took the conversation off speaker and went away to say his goodbyes in private.
    “ I don ’ t believe this! ” Tupper said, spinning away from the others, leaving them swapping concerned frowns. He needed to clear this up—now .
    He found Destiny sitting on the ground, cleaning her weapon. “ We need to talk, ” he said, watching as she placed the gun down in front of her and reach for a water bottle, tipping her head back to take a drink. For a minute he was distracted as he watched the sweat rolling down her slender neck, and had an insane urge to catch it with his tongue. A painful pulsing in his trousers reminded him that if he was going to start fantasizing things like that he ’ d damn well better be ready to do something about it .
    “ What ’ s up? ” s he asked, getting to her feet to face him.
    He eyed her warily—he couldn ’ t tell if she was being smug or not. Then just like that, at the memory of Willow ’ s phone call he lost the last of his hankering . “ Exactly when were you going to tell me that Tre ’ ago is your father? ”
    He took a small amount of satisfaction in the