Fading shadows, p.1
Fading Shadows, page 1
Fading Shadows
Shadows Landing #8
Kathleen Brooks
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, locale, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
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An original work of Kathleen Brooks. Fading Shadows copyright @ 2022 by Kathleen Brooks.
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Kathleen Brooks® is a registered Trademark of Laurens Publishing, LLC.
Created with Vellum
Bluegrass Series
Bluegrass State of Mind
Risky Shot
Dead Heat
* * *
Bluegrass Brothers
Bluegrass Undercover
Rising Storm
Secret Santa: A Bluegrass Series Novella
Acquiring Trouble
Relentless Pursuit
Secrets Collide
Final Vow
* * *
Bluegrass Singles
All Hung Up
Bluegrass Dawn
The Perfect Gift
The Keeneston Roses
* * *
Forever Bluegrass Series
Forever Entangled
Forever Hidden
Forever Betrayed
Forever Driven
Forever Secret
Forever Surprised
Forever Concealed
Forever Devoted
Forever Hunted
Forever Guarded
Forever Notorious
Forever Ventured
Forever Freed
Forever Saved
Forever Bold
Forever Thrown
Forever Lies
Forever Protected (coming Aug/Sep 2022)
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Shadows Landing Series
Saving Shadows
Sunken Shadows
Lasting Shadows
Fierce Shadows
Broken Shadows
Framed Shadows
Endless Shadows
Fading Shadows
Damaged Shadows (coming Oct 2022)
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Women of Power Series
Chosen for Power
Built for Power
Fashioned for Power
Destined for Power
* * *
Web of Lies Series
Whispered Lies
Rogue Lies
Shattered Lies
* * *
Moonshine Hollow Series
Moonshine & Murder
Moonshine & Malice
Moonshine & Mayhem
Moonshine & Mischief
Moonshine & Menace
Moonshine & Masquerades
Contents
Family Trees for Keeneston
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
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
Also by Kathleen Brooks
About the Author
Family Trees for Keeneston
Davies Family Tree
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Keeneston Friends Family Trees
* * *
Extended Family Tree for Keeneston and Shadows Landing
Prologue
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia . . .
* * *
Three years, six visits, and it never got easier.
Edie took a deep breath as she walked among the headstones belonging to brave soldiers, including her husband. It had been three years since a traitor killed her husband during a mission. She’d prepared herself for losing him in action, but to be murdered by one of his own teammates had made it harder to accept and even harder to move on.
However, that’s what she was determined to do—move on in her own way. Edie’s brother, Walker Greene, had been the sole survivor of that mission and he’d made sure the traitor got what he deserved. While that brought closure, it couldn’t bring her husband back. Nothing would, but there had to be balance. She’d been living in the shadows of life for three years now and it was time to step out of them and start participating among the living again.
* * *
SHANE JOHN WECKER
SOC
US NAVY SEAL
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There he was. Her husband. Edie read his name and forced her eyes past the date of death down to the bottom of the marker.
* * *
OPERATION NIGERIAN WATERS
PURPLE HEART
BELOVED HUSBAND
* * *
“Hello, Shane. I’ve missed you,” Edie said, taking a seat in front of the marker. It was April and Washington, D.C., was in full bloom. Cherry trees with their fluffy blossoms, tulips and daffodils in full bloom, green grass, new leaves pushing toward the sunlight, birds chirping all around her and her husband’s white headstone.
Edie placed her hand on Shane’s headstone and used her fingers to trace his name as the tears fell. They always fell. She visited him twice a year to talk to him, to promise she’d never forget him, and to tell him she still loved him. Even as time went by, her feelings for him never faded.
“I’ve been managing a treasure museum belonging to my friends, Wade and Darcy Faulkner. Do you remember me telling you about the sunken treasure hunt I helped with? Well, I took over managing the museum. It’s nice to walk to work every day, talk to the tourists, and to be honest, keep all the personal questions at bay. It appears to everyone that I’m okay, but I can still feel isolated even when I’m in the middle of town.”
Edie took a deep breath as she scooted closer as if Shane were still there holding her. Instead of his warm body, she leaned against the cold, hard headstone. She scrolled through her phone to a picture of her and Shane at Virginia Beach. His arm was around her, her face was buried in his chest, and they were both laughing.
“Walker and Layne had the cutest baby girl last year. She’s not quite one now. Carolina Miles Walker Greene. Miles after Layne’s father and Walker after my brother. Layne said it was to give Carolina the strength of the two most important men in her life who will always look out for her and protect her. Speaking of Walker and Layne, you’ll be proud of me. I’m taking a big step forward. They invited me to go to Europe with them and I’m going. I’m actually here on a layover on our way to Paris. Walker wanted to come with me to visit, but I asked him to come see you on the way home. I wanted to talk to you alone first.”
Edie felt the tears start again as her hand shook where it lay against Shane’s name. Her other hand gripped his wedding band that she wore on a long necklace. “I’m so scared, Shane. I’m scared to start living again. I know you’d be mad at me for acting like this, but I just couldn’t seem to make myself want to live. I love my brother, I love my friends, and I love my family, but you’re not here and I felt like an empty shell just hiding in the shadows instead of living. I finally decided I was tired. Tired of pretending to be okay. Tired of pretending I’m actually living instead of just making it through the days. I joined a support group for veteran spouses and it’s helped me see I’m not the only one who feels like this and that I’m not alone. It’s as if the sun is beginning to shine through the fog I’ve been in since you died. I’m thirty-three, Shane. We’d wanted a family of two children by now. I grieve for the kids we didn’t get to have even though they never existed. I’m so lonely and I feel the loss of all we dreamed about. But I’m determined to be brave, Shane. I’ve decided to do all the things we talked about. We talked about taking a romantic trip to Europe. We talked about getting matching tattoos and living life to the fullest. All the things we wanted to do and see. I’m going to do them all and more. I’ll just do them with you in my heart instead of by my side.”
Edie let the tears roll down her cheeks as she took a shaky breath.
“I don’t have much time. The flight leaves soon, but I had to talk to you. I had to, I don’t know, I guess ask your blessing to begin moving on. To laugh again. To live again. It doesn’t feel right to do it without you, Shane, but I also know you’d want me to live, have a real life again. It’s going to be hard. Please give me a sign that you want me to do this. We believed in signs. We believed in gut feelings we couldn’t explain. You said they kept you alive. Well, now I need them to live again. I need your strength and I need your courage.”
Edie closed her eyes as she held on to Shane’s wedding ring and remembered his face, the way he’d touch her, the way he’d kiss her, and the way he laughed with his whole body.
The screech of a hawk brought her up straight with a start. Her breath caught in her throat as a red-tailed hawk suddenly dove from the sky. The hawk raced toward the ground only to pull up and float by her with its wings outstretched. Fresh tears flowed from Edie’s eyes as she turned back to the phone leaning against the grave. “Thank you, Shane,” she choked out between sobs as she looked at the tattoo on Shane’s chest, a beautifully detailed red-tailed hawk.
Edie lay there with her head resting against his headstone until her tears slowed. She tucked the ring back under her shirt, placed her phone back in her purse, and turned back to Shane’s name. Edie leaned forward and kissed the headstone. “I’ll be back with Walker and we’ll tell you all about our trip. I love you forever.”
Edie stood on wobbly legs and made the long walk back to the area where taxis waited, bringing tourists and families to and from the cemetery. She felt wrung-out and weary, her heart heavy with memories, as she took a taxi to the airport, but she also felt lighter. It was time to have an adventure. It was time to live again.
1
Millevia, Europe . . .
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Tristan Durand was a damn good government asset, and as such he knew when to keep his mouth shut. This was one of those times.
Tristan stood at attention with his hands behind his back as the “president” of Millevia gave him a new assignment. Annette Pastor hadn’t been elected. Instead, she’d filled the power vacuum when the beloved president, Christian Gastaud, had been killed in a horseback riding accident one year earlier. Annette Pastor had been President Gastaud’s Head of Armed Services. She’d served her adult life in Millevia’s military before Gastaud appointed her as the head of the military many years ago. When Gastaud died, Pastor had immediately stepped forward declaring herself president and prevented legitimate elections. She leveraged the power of the military to take the presidency before firing all other cabinet leaders and putting in all her own people in key government jobs.
To avoid the term military coup, Pastor had held a national election, but it was an election in name only. There’d been rampant voter intimidation and opposition candidates mysteriously decided to pull out of the election, wound up dead, or simply disappeared. Those candidates brave enough to fight through until the end found ballots missing and ballot numbers that didn’t match up anywhere close to exit polls that showed an embarrassingly large percentage of the people had voted against Pastor. Yet, she somehow still “won” with seventy-three percent of the votes.
Millevia, a small country on the Mediterranean Sea, sat between France and Italy, and just east of Monaco. It was not an international powerhouse, and under Gastaud it didn’t pretend to be. Instead, Millevia had focused on banking, luxury tourism, and a very large port for business. However, Pastor was trying to rile up the citizens by saying Millevia should be more of an international player. She played the victim and claimed other countries were disrespecting and cheating Millevia. As such, she’d called in Tristan every couple of weeks to carry out some kind of clandestine operation for her.
Tristan has been a highly trusted asset under Gastaud’s presidency. That was a fancy way of saying government assassin. However, President Gastaud conferred with Tristan and his team before any assignment. They’d go over all the evidence and all the intelligence before deciding on the goals of the mission. Only then, when everyone agreed the target was a danger, did Gastaud order Tristan to capture or to take them out. Most of the time, Gastaud’s orders were to capture and only kill as the last resort.
Annette Pastor was a different story. She didn’t consult with anyone. As far as Tristan could tell, she’d have someone taken out because she didn’t like the color of their shirt.
“I’m tired of them disrespecting Millevia and you should be too,” Pastor was ranting. “They were supposed to enter into a major shipping contract with us, but since Gastaud died, they are now refusing to go through with it. It makes us look weak on the international stage right when I’m poised to take Millevia global. I won’t have it. I want this woman taken so you can turn her to get them to fall into line. Everything you need to know is in the file. Instructions, backgrounds, pertinent people. Got it?”
Tristan looked in the opened file and tried not to frown. His target was some American woman from a small town, an innocent. She had nothing to do with that shipping contract. However, he knew better than to say anything. Pastor was more vindictive than a snake whose tail had been stepped on, and Tristan preferred to stay alive.
“This is your most important mission, Durand. Capture her, torture her, and send pieces of her to the address there to scare them into getting this contract back up and running or you’d better run, because I’ll send your own team after you. Failure is not an option, got it?” Pastor snapped.
“Understood, ma’am.” Tristan kept his hands clasped behind him until Pastor shoved the file across her desk indicating he should take it.
“Make this happen and there’s a place on my cabinet for you.” Sure, she tried to encourage him by dangling a reward immediately after implying she’d kill him if he failed. That was Pastor for you.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Tristan reached for the file and tucked it under his arm. He saluted Pastor and waited for her to formally dismiss him. She loved her power and kept him waiting almost a full minute.
“Dismissed.”
Tristan turned on his heel and stepped from the office. He didn’t dare say anything until he was back at the military base that housed his elite team of assets.
“Hey, Tris. What’s the assignment?” David Parodi asked as soon as Tristan sat down in his bare-bones office. There was a heavy wooden desk, a relatively new computer, filing cabinet, and bookshelf. There was one chair opposite the desk that was thick, dark-gray plastic and incredibly uncomfortable.
Tristan put his finger to his lips and David nodded in understanding. There was a very strong likelihood his office was bugged and everything reported back to Pastor. “This is a solo operation. Thanks, David. You, Jean, and the rest of the boys have this week off.”
Tris slid the file across the desk to his best friend. David talked about what he was going to do this weekend as he glanced over the file. David shook his head when he handed it back, and with a nod to the football field outside, they wrapped up their conversation about Millevia’s pro football team and he left.
David closed the door and Tristan took his time to review the file. It didn’t make sense. Why was this woman from a small town in America so important to a shipping contract? He turned to the best place to find information on a subject—Google. There wasn’t much about to learn about her. Very little social media presence. No big job announcement, no news interviews. Nothing that should make her a target. But then he saw the picture and the pieces started to fall together.
Tristan waited thirty minutes before leaving the office to meet David on the football pitch. In the center of the field, David stood kicking the white and black ball around and bouncing it from knee to knee. They didn’t speak until Tristan arrived there and David kicked the ball to him. “What the hell, Tris? She’s not a political figure. She’s not a danger to Millevia. You can’t do this.”
