Reaper's Salvation: A Last Riders Trilogy Jamie Begley (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📖

I can help Mom read to them …’ That’s what I said to him.” T.A. looked sick as she stared down at her stomach, replaying the memories for them. Then she took a sip of her drink before beginning again. “Finally Dad gave in to both Mom and me. And when we arrived on Clindale, we all fell in love with the island and the people. Clindale was just as beautiful as we were told. Every day was a new adventure. I thought the fighting between my parents would stop, but it didn’t. Then, one day, my parents told me that mom was pregnant, that I was going to have the brother or sister I had been begging for.

“I was excited, and even though I loved Clindale, I thought we’d go back to the States and Mom and Dad would change back into how they were before we got to the island. But, we were still there when Mom went into early labor. There wasn’t even time to get her to the hospital on Sherguevil Island. Two women came running from the village to help her when they heard she was in labor. Mom kept shouting at us to take her to the hospital, that she had been labor with me for two days.” T.A. laughed, shaking her head at the memory. “Evangeline arrived less than five minutes later. She never did what she was supposed to do … even then.” T.A.’s voice hitched at the beauty of her recollecting Evangeline’s birth.

“From the moment I saw her, I knew she was special. She barely cried. Evangeline was too busy looking around at us. She gurgled and smiled when anyone came near her. Not only did she wrap me around her finger, but she had everyone else on the island wrapped around her fingers as well.” A tear slid down T.A.’s cheek as talked.

“She started walking when she was eight months old, driving our parents nuts. Evangeline was fascinated with the ocean and constantly tried to get into the water, despite our parents taking her out to the ocean several times a day. Dad joked that she was like a little mermaid, trying to go home. Mom and Dad thought it was cute, until a couple of times when she got away from them. Luckily there was always someone around, so Evangeline wasn’t able to get too far.”

“Dad was busy directing the workers to build the water system, while Mom taught the children and adults who wanted to learn to read and write in English. Then one day Mom put Evangeline down for a nap, and all four of us fell asleep. I was sound asleep when a young man came to our cabin carrying a wet Evangeline in his arms. His name was Manny, he was one of young men whom Mom had been teaching. After nearly losing her that day, I was sure my parents were going to take us back to the States, but we stayed. It would have been an idyllic life if only my parents hadn’t continued to fight.” T.A.’s expression became tortured.

“Evangeline began escaping more often when Mom was busy working with her students and Dad was gone building the water systems, so they trusted Manny to babysit her; he’d become like a big brother to Evangeline. Our father had taught her the basics of swimming, but Manny had taught her to swim like a little seal and he took her exploring the island. What time they didn’t spend in the water or running through the jungle, they spent with his family in the village. “It was the best and worst mistake our parents could have made. Mom and Dad spent less time with us, and I was always hanging out with another family who had children more my age. Mom said it would help me learn the language faster. I grew close with that family, while the whole island fell in love with Evangeline.

“I kid you not, when you saw Evangeline laughing and playing—actually, from the moment she was born—it was weird … there was an aura about her. She seemed to sparkle with happiness. It was like one of those filters on your cell phone.” T.A. closed her eyes tightly, as if to shut out the memories.

“What the island children did, she wanted to do, and Manny took advantage of the trust our parents had given him and taught her a skill he’d taught the children in the village.”

Giving a bitter laugh, T.A. opened her eyes to stare at him. “We thought it was cute when Manny taught her to sing the island songs; first in their language then in English. That was before we found out he was teaching her to keep other secrets from us.”

Reaper wanted to tell her to hurry. He needed to be on the chopper, yet he remained silent, captivated by Ginny’s childhood. Every detail T.A. was sharing could be useful when dealing with the man who wanted to kill her.

“Manny might have taught Evangeline to sing out of the goodness of his heart, but he wasn’t above using it for his gain. I can’t blame him; he didn’t know the man who controlled the island was so dangerous. None of us did—until it was too late.”

“Who was he?”

“Gabriel Allerton.” T.A. gave him a wry smile. “You’ve heard of him?”

Reaper was shocked by the information. Gabriel Allerton was always in the news. He was known as the man with the Midas touch. Whatever business he invested in or developed turned to gold. Twenty-eight years ago, he sold his business with the intention of retiring, but then founded and headed a worldwide charity.

“Who hasn’t? He’s one of the richest men in the world. You said he was the one who convinced your parents to move to Clindale? I wasn’t aware he owned the island. How could he own and control Clindale Island if there are native islanders living there?” That he owned an island had never made the news,