03 The Target by David Baldacci

Author:David Baldacci [Baldacci, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

ROBIE PULLED THE CAR TO the curb and cut the engine. He turned sideways in his seat to look at her.

“Your child? You have a kid?”

“She’s grown now. I was only seventeen when I had her.”

“I didn’t know about that.”

“It’s not part of my ‘official’ file. But the doctor who examined me back at the Burner knew.”

“How?”

“I had to have a caesarean. She could tell by the scar.”

“But how would these Nazi wannabes know anything about this?”

Reel wiped her eyes. “Because their leader is the father of my child.”

Robie’s features betrayed his astonishment at this admission.

She looked at him and noted this. “He raped me, Robie. It was not consensual. I was only sixteen. I carried the child and gave birth to her three days after the FBI came down on the group. They went to prison. I went into WITSEC.”

“And the baby?”

“I had to give her up. They said I had to.”

“Who did?”

“The powers that be, Robie. I was seventeen. I was in Witness Protection. I was moved around six times in less than a year. I had to testify against these scum. And I did.” She snapped, “You can’t exactly raise a kid with all that going on, can you? I could take care of myself. What I couldn’t take care of was an infant.”

“So it was your choice, to give her up?”

“I told you, I didn’t have a choice.”

“But if you’d had one?”

“What does it matter? I gave her up.”

“You said the leader of the neo-Nazi group is the father. He raped you.”

She nodded. “Leon Dikes.”

“You said he had a good lawyer and didn’t go to prison for all that long.”

“Even though I knew he’d ordered the murders of at least six people.”

“But he never knew where you were?”

“Not until I walked into that damn prison in Alabama. They must have been waiting. Followed us. And now they have Julie.”

“Do you even know where your daughter is now?”

Reel didn’t answer.

Robie said, “Do you know—”

“I heard you! But do you really think I’m going to bring her into something like this? Why do you think Dikes wants her, Robie? To tell her how much he loves her? To shower her with money and a wonderful life?”

“I don’t know what he wants with her. I would imagine he wants to kill you.”

“Not nearly as much as I want to kill him.”

“He probably doesn’t know what you are, though.”

She glanced at him. “What do you mean?”

“He knew you were in WITSEC. He doesn’t know who you are now. Or he never would have done what he did.”

She nodded slowly. “But how does that help Julie?”

“I don’t know. And if they had followed us, why not just try to take you? Why go after Julie?”

“Because he may know where I am, but not where my daughter is. And he knows I’d never tell him.”

“So Julie is the bait. Put your daughter in danger or Julie dies.”

Reel put her face in her hands and started to weep, her body shuddering painfully.

Robie reached over and put his arm around her shoulders.

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