Page 65 of Near Miss

“Yes.” Sophia met her friend’s concerned gaze. Emily was thinking the same thing she was thinking. The truth surrounding these weapons shipments to Afghanistan turned out to be more complex and deadly than she’d initially envisioned. “The police said Fred died in a random armed robbery.” She offered up the explanation without any real conviction.

“I think it’s enough of a coincidence to make me nervous. And now Lachlan is dead, meaning the only person left who’s seen the information we know of is you.” Emily grabbed Sophia’s hands and squeezed. “You need to tell my dad.”

A kernel of righteous anger slowly took shape in Sophia’s gut. She reveled in it, nurtured it to replace the sorrow, guilt, and helplessness. She’d never gotten the chance to tell Lachlan the truth about her arrangement with Admiral Dane. In truth, even if she had, he might have seen it as a betrayal because of his experience with Nadia. Now Lachlan was dead, and the admiral was the only person she trusted to find out who killed him and, possibly, Fred.

Lachlan’s enemies probably thought they were safe, their loose ends tied up.

Not if she could help it. Her fingers curled into fists, the bite of nails into flesh a welcome pain. Her tears dried.

“Bring me my phone.”

The brisk knock on her door the following morning made her jump even though she’d expected it. Sophia glanced at Emily and uncurled her legs from the sofa cushion.

“Ready or not….” Emily’s demeanor lacked its usual joie de vivre. She pushed herself off the couch and went to open the door. “Hi, Dad.”

“Why didn’t you tell your mother and me you were stateside?” The admiral stepped over the threshold and embraced his daughter.

Emily rolled her eyes, but not before Sophia caught the flash of guilt. “I’ve been busy. This is a business trip.”

Butterflies attacked Sophia’s insides, and her smile took effort. So did meeting the admiral’s eyes. She rubbed sweaty palms on her jeans and stood. “You didn’t have to fly down from Connecticut.” It would have been easier to confess her sins over the phone than face-to-face, where she’d have to witness his disappointment.

He folded her into a warm embrace, and for a too-brief moment, she soaked up his strength and tried to make some of it her own. His gaze, when she finally met it, was steady and knowing. “This conversation needed to be in person.”

“Would you like something to drink?” she offered.

“No, thank you.” He settled into one of the club chairs while she sat on the couch and figured out how to begin.

“You asked me to help you find evidence that Lachlan Mackay was trafficking weapons in Afghanistan. And I did, but I didn’t tell you before now because, well, things got complicated.”

Other than a slight quirk of one salt and pepper brow, the admiral stayed silent while Sophia told him about Roshan Haider, what she’d found in Fred’s office, and that she’d taken it to Lachlan, who’d professed his innocence and asked her to hold off on telling anyone until he could find out who set him up.

“And now, Lachlan’s dead, and I wonder if Fred’s death was really a random crime.” The lump in her throat had grown to the point she could barely speak.

Admiral Dane regarded her steadily. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? You weren’t supposed to get involved.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to implicate an innocent person and thought I could help.”

The admiral’s piercing gunmetal gaze narrowed on her. “Who was Lachlan Mackay to you that you were willing to risk your career and your safety for him?”

The flush heating her entire face didn’t go unnoticed. She stared at her clasped hands rather than meet the knowing eyes of a man who was a father figure to her.

“I’m sorry.” He leaned forward to wrap her hands in his larger ones. “I should never have asked you to spy on your colleagues. You have a big heart, Sophia. Don’t ever apologize for it, but now, you stay far away from this mess.” His expression hardened. “Send me everything you’ve managed to dig up. I’ll make some calls. We must ensure the weapons arriving in Kabul don’t reach their intended destination.”

Guilt stabbed her at the overwhelming sense of relief. “Lachlan was a decent, honorable man.” Her throat swelled up. “We need to clear his name.”

“We’ll see.” The admiral stood, looking every inch the respected and feared SEAL leader. “If Lachlan Mackay or anyone else at LAI has hidden skeletons, I’ll unearth them.”

Emily accompanied her father downstairs to see him off.

Sophia unlocked the sliding glass door and stepped onto the balcony. It was a beautiful day, the vast expanse of bird’s egg blue sky marred only by wisps of cirrus clouds and streaks of jet contrails—the kind of day that normally lifted her spirits.

If she’d handed the information over to Admiral Dane earlier, would Lachlan still be alive? Or would he be in prison and hating her for betraying him? It was too late to what-if. Lachlan was dead, and she would do what she could to make sure he didn’t end up the fall guy for someone else’s crimes.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Iknowthepasttwo weeks have been hard on everyone.” Jared’s somber voice carried across the main conference room at LAI.

Sophia tuned out the rest of her boss’s speech. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Lachlan’s car in flames, with him inside. She didn’t want to hear empty platitudes about him. She wanted justice.

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