Operation Proof of Life Read Online Free PDF Page B

slight Irish brogue in her sister’s voice sounded soft and still childlike. Brigit’s heart contracted. In her chest of memories, she heard Tory’s cries as the kitchen burned, their mother trapped inside. If only she could rewind time and find a way to keep her family together.
    But she and Tory weren’t kids anymore. Their innocence had been stripped away at a too-young age and there was no going back. Tamping down her emotions, Brigit kept her gun aimed on the car’s driver just in case he got any ideas. “What are you doing here making an exchange with Israeli terrorists?”
    “‘By ballot or gun, our day will come.’”
    “Quoting Peter now?” Brigit laughed, from nerves and false disbelief. Bottom line, she didn’t want to talk about revolutionaries. God help her, but she wanted to talk about what normal sisters talked about—reality TV, bad hair days, the shoe sale at Macy’s. Unfortunately, that language was foreign to Tory. “The Troubles are over, in case he didn’t tell you. Besides, this is America, not Ireland.”
    “Ireland, America, Afghanistan, Palestine, it’s a global war.” Tory tilted her head at the backseat of the Volvo. “We are international brothers and sisters in arms now, fighting against governments who would press us under their heel.” She shut the door and took a step toward Brigit. “Our identity, the new nation we’re building, is about family, religion and tradition. Peter peeled away all the Protestant garbage you and Da filled my head with and showed me the truth.”
    “Truth?” Brigit’s voice dropped a decibel and she shook her head in resignation, but she didn’t lower the gun. As much as she wanted to, she wasn’t that stupid. “Where’s Peter? Did he send you after that package you just put in the car?”
    “You got close to him in London last week. Spooked him. He went underground.” Tory took another step and like a compass needle finding due north, Brigit shifted the gun to point it at her. Tory stared down the barrel and chuckled. “You won’t shoot me. I’m your sister.”
    The sound of the gun cocking reverberated across the yard. “You’d be surprised at what I’ll do when it comes to Peter’s war.”
    Without warning, Tory brushed the gun aside and embraced Brigit in a hug.
    Stunned, Brigit held her breath. She’d dreamed of this moment, held it in her hand and examined it from all sides like a beautiful glass ball. Except in her dream, Tory was embracing her because she’d left Peter and returned to Brigit. In her world, dreams did not come true.
    So instead of the relief and love she expected to feel spreading through her body, her skin itched, especially where Tory’s heavy weight pressed against her. Tory released her and patted one of her cheeks. “We mean you no harm. Let Peter be. Let us all be.”
    Tory turned her back on Brigit and climbed into the car, and the glass ball fell and shattered at Brigit’s feet. A few seconds later, the driver wheeled around her, where she was still frozen in place, and the Volvo disappeared into the night.
    The gun suddenly felt too heavy in Brigit’s hand. The cords of tension holding her together gave way and she slumped against the car, dropping her head and mentally kicking herself. For the first time in years, she’d been face-to-face with her younger sister and failed to tell her what was in her heart. Failed to make Tory see the light about Peter and his cause.
    Failed to hug her back.
    How could she be such a success with her career and such a miserable failure at everything else?
    A noise from behind a pile of bricks brought Brigit’s head up. She scanned the area over her right shoulder and saw a woman emerge from the stack, flashing a badge at her.
    “FBI,” she said, raising the hand with the gun. “Put your weapon down.”
    Brigit drew in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. She tossed the gun into the car through the open window and raised both hands. Just her luck the