Page 45 of Her Forever SEAL

“Peggy said you know Bree’s been kidnapped. That they have my baby.” Her voice broke.

“I do.” Sophia kept her voice calm. That’s what they both needed from her now. Someone calm. Someone they could rely on, while they lived in this hell.

“It’s because I wasn’t getting them what they wanted. Not fast enough. But it was impossible.”

“What did they want?” But Sophia was pretty sure she knew, she just needed it confirmed.

“Schematics to the new helicopter, or better yet, a user’s manual.”

“Me too,” Peggy chimed in.

Lettie choked out a laugh. “Yeah, like that was going to happen. Our men are too careful with those types of things. If they bring them home to study, when they’re done, they put them in their safes.”

Peggy nodded. “Same.”

“I told Mary that. Countless times.”

“She wanted me to put this in his coffee.” She pulled her purse off the back of the chair she was sitting on, then rifled through it. There was a small, clear vial with clear liquid in it. She set it on the table. “They assured me it would just make him really sleepy, and he would fall asleep at the table, and that would be my chance to take pictures of the documents.”

“They said it's just a sedative. That it won't hurt him.” Her hands tightened around the shot glass. “But Tom has a heart condition. Nobody knows except me and his cardiologist. If something in that bottle reacts badly, if his heart—” She stopped. “I cannot drug my husband. I cannot do it. But if I don't—” Her voice finally cracked, just barely. “They have my daughter.”

Peggy sat down beside her and put her arm around her shoulders.

Sophia looked at both of them.

“How long has Mary been working you?” she asked.

“Almost three months.” Lettie's jaw tightened. “I didn't understand what she was doing at first. She was just warm. Friendly. She remembered everything I said. I thought she was just—” She shook her head. “Good at her job.”

“She is good at her job.”

“Six weeks ago it changed. The questions got specific. I got scared and I told her I didn't know anything about Tom's work.” She paused. “That's when she told me what would happen if I didn't help her. She already knew Bree's schedule. Her practice times. Her route home from school.” Her voice dropped. “She already knew everything before she ever asked me anything.”

Sophia nodded. “Peggy?”

Peggy got up and went to her purse. She pulled out a ragged envelope and pulled out five pictures. She slowly placed them on the table. The way Lettie whimpered, it was clear she had not seen them before. Sophia had been ready, because Kayla had already told her what to expect.

“How old is Brady?” she asked.

“Seven.” Peggy's voice was steady. “He turned seven in February.”

Seven years old. And someone had stood in a park with a rifle and made certain there was absolutely no ambiguity about what they were willing to do.

Sophia sat with that for three seconds. That was all she could afford.

Then she picked up her phone.

She pulled up her group text to Angie, Lydia, and Rylie and sent them Peggy’s address with the message, come now.

Then she put her phone down and looked at the two women across the table.

“I need to ask you both something,” she said. “And I need the truth.”

They nodded.

“Do you think either of your husbands suspect anything? Anything at all?”

“No,” Lettie said immediately in a flat voice.