Free Wrenching Fate by Brooklyn Ann Page A

were sent on suicide missions and those that survived met with “accidents.” But, to the military’s chagrin, one soldier went AWOL and could not be found.
    Private Jamison Lindsey remained missing long after the war despite fervent attempts to locate him. It was discovered he’d been in Ireland and married a local girl by the name of O’Reilly, but they’d left the country several years prior. Finally Lindsey was found in the Colorado National Forest, using his wife’s last name. They had a daughter, which was a shock because the injected men were supposed to be sterile. This child needed to be studied.
    Orders went out to terminate the couple and secure the child. The first part of the mission was a success. The second: a failure. Somehow, an eight year old girl had escaped four of the government’s top assassins.
    Holmes let out a low whistle. “And you say they never found any leads?”
    “Inquiries were made at every orphanage and convent in the surrounding areas. No children by the name O’Reilly or Lindsey was found. The man in charge at the time quit looking then. He’d assumed she died in the woods, either killed by an animal or dead from exposure, though a body was never recovered, only a scrap of bloody fabric from her coat.” Milbury leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his silver buzz cut. “But when I took over the case and read through the file, I had a hunch that she was still alive and at large.”
    Holmes nodded. Hunches were his bread and butter. “Did they try looking for her by her first name?”
    Milbury shook his head. “We don’t know it. If there’d been a birth certificate, we would have caught Lindsey right away and avoided this whole mess. The only way we knew his daughter’s age was because we found eight candles next to the remainder of the birthday cake.”
    “What about the forest rangers,” Joe asked. “Did any of them see anything?”
    From t he Major’s startled look, it was obvious no one in the department had considered the option. Typical military arrogance, Holmes thought with a wry grin.
    “Damn it!” Francis pounded his fist on the arm of the chair. “I’ll bet they didn’t think to ask since the perimeter was secured. But if the girl had gotten far enough and a ranger had picked her up…” he trailed off and pulled out his phone. “I need to make some calls.”
    ***
    Dread filled Akasha as Coeur d’Alene High School came into view. When she got into the dual enrollment program, she thought she’d escaped its blue and white halls for good. But Xochitl and Sylvis insisted they pick up Beau and Aurora every day for lunch.
    So once more she found herself walking through the clique-filled cafeteria, feeling more like a fraud than before in her new clothes.
    The cheerleaders tossed their blonde hair and tittered as Akasha willed herself not to knock their teeth in. Then Xochitl approached them, resplendent in black lipstick and a spiked collar.
    She fixed the head cheerleader with a potent stare and began to chant in an eerie melodic language.
    The girl turned a ghastly shade of grayish white and fled with her followers.
    “Thanks, Xoch’.” Akasha smiled gratefully. “Did you just try and cast a spell on that cheerleader?” She didn’t believe in magic, but wanted to see if her friend was gullible enough to.
    Xochitl laughed and tossed back her waist length black and purple hair. Her silver eyebrow ring seemed to glint mischievously “No. I told her in Chinese that her tits look lopsided and maybe she should ask her daddy to buy her better implants next time. It’s what she believes that matters. That’s how voodoo works n’stuff.”
    Akasha gasped. “No shit, you speak Chinese?” Every new facet Xochitl displayed was astounding.
    Beau plopped down next to Akasha and began to play with her hair. “And Spanish, German and Latin. Her mom could speak even more languages.”
    Xochitl’s eyes darkened with pain at the mention of her