Known

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Known

By Kristin Warner

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Copyright 2012 Kristin Warner

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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To John, who is my constant source of inspiration and support.

To Jaxon, Chloe and Ella for loving me unconditionally and keeping me on my toes.

To Mom and Melissa for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself, and for the hours of work that have made my dream a reality.

I love you.

***

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

About the Author

Chapter 1

The warm wind teased my hair as I stood in the middle of the meadow, and the long grass tickled my exposed knees as it danced to the gentle forces of nature, but I noticed none of it. Oh, I was aware of the swaying movement of the grass and leaves around me, but I quickly discounted anything that was normal. I was looking for the tiny patch of grass that swayed the wrong direction, or the leaves that moved up and down instead of back and forth. He couldn’t hold still forever, and when he moved, I would see it. It drove him crazy that I was better at this than he was, that no matter how well he hid, it wouldn’t take me long to find him. He tried to tell me that it was a special gift, an extra sense, so to speak. I just laughed and told him to give me the credit I deserved for having extraordinary focus and determination, but lately I had begun to wonder. I would never tell him this, but it was getting harder and harder to ignore the way that I was unexplainably drawn to him, the way that I would know where he was before his movement exposed his location, and it was getting more pronounced. I had been staring at the same spot in the trees for thirty seconds now, waiting for the gentle sway that would confirm what I already knew. It wasn’t just out here, either; I would know that he was going to walk into a room before he actually did. It was as if there was something in me that recognized him when he was near, even if I couldn’t see him with my eyes.

Ahh-haa! I exploded from my calm stance and raced toward the tree when I saw the movement that I had been waiting for. I had to be fast because he had tried to trick me before by moving to a different spot before I got to him. Sure enough, as I broke through the tree line, I saw him swing down from the limb and sprint off in a different direction.

Come on, Trev, are you really going to make me chase you down? I found you fair and square, I laughed out as I raced behind him.

His laughter filled the air. The fair and square part is debatable. I thought that this would make the game a bit more even. After all, I am still faster than you.

I saw a slight break in the trees in front of him, and I had a feeling that he was going to take it and head into the meadow. If I went that way now, I could cut him off. If he didn’t go that way, I would never catch him. Deciding to take the chance, I veered left. A second later, he did the same; so intent on his surprise turn that he didn’t notice I was already headed in that direction. Lunging through the trees, I dove in his direction, and laughter burst through me when I felt my arms wrap securely around his chest.

My surprise attack threw him off balance, and we tumbled into the grass, our laughter ringing off the surrounding trees and floating up to the heavens.

Gotcha! I teased as I looked down into his face.

Trevor looked up from his pinned position on the ground. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that girls aren’t supposed to be able to catch boys, Lily? You are seriously messing with my ego here.

I laughed. I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t really upset, and then his eyes changed from joy to despair. I pulled back in surprise, and we weren’t in the meadow anymore. It was dark and ominous, and Trevor watched me from the inside of a cramped dark cell. Grabbing the bars, his eyes pleaded with me. I could barely see them in the faint light that trickled into the room.

You have always been able to find me when no one else could, Lily. His voice was so raspy that I hardly even recognized it. Find me now, if you can.

Trevor! I yelled as I sat up in bed and searched frantically for him in the dark. I knew he wasn’t here, even before my mind processed where I was.

Molly groaned from the bed next to me. Sheesh, Daisy, why do you always have to yell in the middle of the night?

Hearing my assumed name from my friend and co-worker quickly brought all the pieces of my life back into focus, but things were different now. Trevor had called out to me. He needed me.

Jumping out of bed, I grabbed Molly by the shoulders and shook her. Molly, wake up! I said urgently, but kept my voice low. We weren’t the only people in this building.

Molly sat up, her body tense, searching the darkness for any perceived danger. What is going on, Daisy? she asked in a tight voice, clearly noticing nothing out of the ordinary.

He’s alive, Molly. T is alive. I saw him in a jail cell in my dreams. I have to find him.

Molly sank back into her pillow and let out a sigh. T is not alive, Daisy. He is too high profile. Somebody would have let it slip that they had him.

But he is, Molly. I saw him in his cell in my dream. He called out to me. He said I was the only one who could find him, I told her with conviction, pleading with her to believe me.

It was just a dream, Daisy. Your subconscious was trying to make what you want most feel real. Go to sleep. We have a job to do, and we can’t do it if we are too tired to be aware. Molly rolled away from me as she said this, curling up into a ball and shutting me out.

I went back to my bed, but now sleep was far away. Just as I had known years ago where Trevor was in the trees, I knew now that he was still alive. This is what I had been missing. Ever since the day that he had disappeared during a mission, I hadn’t been able to feel him. That, more than anything, had made me fear that he really was dead. But now I knew. I felt him. Somehow he had broken through the distance that separated us, and found me. Now I would find him.

I knew that I would need help, which meant going before the council. Just like Molly, they would tell me that it was only a dream, so I needed to find proof. This would be tricky, given our recent history and present situation.

A few years ago, a new political party had formed. They called themselves the Diplomats, and they traveled the world negotiating successful peace treaties with all of the major terrorist organizations, and between countries long entrenched in war. Our country was very grateful, and completely in awe of their extraordinary negotiation skills and unparalleled diplomacy. As a result, they were welcomed with open arms into the primary elections. During the campaign, their platform of complete bi-partisanship won over many voters tired of the usual dividing lines and issues. They had a unifying solution for everything. They also had enormous financial backing, promising freedom from debt to a bankrupt nation. At the forefront of their campaign, and their most influential speaker, was Head Diplomat Paxton. He and his fellow candidates easily swept the popular elections in all of the states. The Diplomat Party became the only political party.

Only those within the inner circle knew what was really going on behind the scenes. The truth was that their peaceful negotiations were brought about through torture, coercion, bribes, and the discreet removal of their strongest opponents. They had a lot of money, and every cent of it was used to buy power. They were thirsty for complete control of the country. The few people who were no longer able to stomach these methods defected and created their own council, dedicated to exposing the Diplomats’ true colors and overthrowing them. They became known as the rebellion, and I became one of their spies.

Molly and I both worked undercover as maids in the house of a Diplomat. It was a job that involved working in the same place long enough that our employers would start to let down their guard a bit. They were still careful. They knew that the rebels had spies everywhere. But they relaxed enough that you could find information if you knew where to look, which we did. But this Diplomat wouldn’t have the information that I needed to prove that Trevor was alive, so my first order of business would be to figure out who did. For that, I would need to talk to Liam.

Liam would help me; I was sure of it. He and Trevor had been good friends. They had gone through training together. But Liam was a known rebel, and it would be difficult to talk to him without blowing my cover.

I wondered if Trevor had ever told Liam about our secret meeting places, but I doubted it. Those were something that you didn’t talk about, not even to your closest friends. Thinking about those meeting places brought to mind the last time that I had seen Trevor; a memory that, up until tonight, I had been trying to forget.

Hello, T. I greeted him using his chosen alias, and smiled once again at the choice. Only Trevor would think an initial was a suitable replacement for a name, but I knew that he had chosen it in an effort to not forget who he was.

Daisy, he replied with a nod of his head, and I saw a smile on his lips as well. Most of us chose names that had no connection to our real ones. I liked my real name, so I had decided to stay within the same species. Trevor had always teasingly called me his little flower, so I knew that it would mean something to him also.

Trevor reached across to my branch and captured my hand in his. Did you make it here without notice?

I gave him an offended look. Of course I did. You know I wouldn’t be here if someone had seen me.

He chuckled at my tone, and kissed my hand to soothe my ruffled feathers. Calm down, Lily. You know I can’t help asking. Clandestine meetings always put me on edge.

I knew how he felt. It was hard on me to meet this way too, but what choice did we have? He was a known rebel, and I was working undercover. Our only other option was to not see each other at all, something that I was not even willing to consider.

So, business first, and then pleasure. What have you got for me? Trevor asked, knowing that I would have some information for him to take back to the others. It was the only way we could justify these meetings. I reached into my hidden pocket, pulled out the folded paper and handed it over. It was a list of meeting places and times that our side would be thrilled to know about.

I was lucky to have gotten these. The delivery boy was new, and just stupid enough to hand them over to me. I told him I would make sure they were placed directly into the Diplomat’s hands. I had just enough time to copy the information and get the envelope into the locked drop box before the Diplomat got off the phone and came looking for them.

Trevor cringed. He hated it when I did things that were so risky, but thankfully he had stopped trying to lecture me on being more careful. He knew that I was good at what I did; I was able to discern which information was worth taking a risk for and which was not. That was why the council had placed me where I was. That was why Trevor and I had to sneak around just to see each other.

Tucking the paper away, he turned back to me with excited eyes. We leave in the morning for our next mission. This one is going to be big, Lil.

My heart clenched as I processed what he said. Big meant dangerous. That was part of our everyday life. But it was so much easier to face the danger yourself than to send someone you loved into it. You will be careful, right? I knew his answer, but I needed to hear it again.

Of course, Lil, I am always careful. You know that. There is far too much at stake here not to be, he said with a serious smile as he jumped over to my branch and wrapped his arms around me. You and I, we do this so we can have a future. The risks I take are calculated, but I will always come back to you. He rested his forehead on mine as he said this, and I melted into his touch.

You’d better, I ordered as I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck and pulled his lips down to mine.

Ahh, Lil, he exhaled when he came up for air. Why did it take this war for me to find you?

I understood what he meant because he said it often. We had been friends since childhood. I had fallen in love with him in my early teens, but he had never viewed me as anything other than a friend. It had nearly driven me mad that my looks had seemed to attract everyone but him. I had never said anything, but I had prayed that someday he would notice me as a woman. After we had joined the rebel army, he had started viewing me differently. He had thrown a fit when he had heard of the council’s decision to place me with the Diplomat. When I had asked him why he was so bothered by the placement, he had said that it was because he couldn’t protect me there, and then he had kissed me. He had told me that it had taken this war for him to view me as a woman, someone so much more important to him than the little sister he had always pretended I was. When I had bristled over the fact that I was only three years younger than him, he had kissed me again until I had forgotten that I had been offended in the first place.

Unfortunately for our relationship, I had known that I needed to take the position as a maid in the Diplomat’s house, so I had left during the night to make that happen. Trevor and I had been left with trying to build something out of secret meetings and stolen moments of time.

Now I looked into his eyes. War or not, you found me, so don’t waste all the years I waited for you, Trev. Come home, no matter what, okay? Nothing you could gain during a mission would be worth your life.

Trevor kissed me one more time, and then stepped away. I promised I would come home, and I will, but this one, Lily, this one might just be worth my life.

No! I said with anguish in my eyes. You can’t go into a mission thinking that, Trevor. I need you. I can’t live without you.

I’ll come home. Good bye, Daisy. I knew he used my alias to remind both of us why we were doing this. He stepped off the branch, and I heard him land quietly below. I would wait ten minutes before I left the tree myself, our standard protocol, but I wanted to run after him and beg him not to go.

Pushing the memory away, I turned back to the issue at hand. I needed to get in contact with Liam. Deciding that the best way would be through my handler, I pulled out my phone and opened the email account to send a message to my grandma. If the powers that be got a hold of my phone and followed up on this, they would find my grandma on the other end. They just wouldn’t know that she wasn’t the only person who read these emails.

Hi Gran,

I’m having trouble sleeping tonight. I had a bad dream, and I wish that I could talk to you. I know it is silly for a grown woman to be scared of her own dreams, but this one felt very real. I was lost in a maze and couldn’t find my way out. Silly, right? You know me. I have always prided myself on my sense of direction. Okay, having typed that out, I feel really silly now for being so frightened. Thanks for being my sounding board, Gran. I love you and hope to see you soon.

Daisy

I read over it twice to make sure the handler would pick up the right message, and then pushed send. There was nothing I could do now but wait and keep my ears open. Laying my head down on my pillow, I closed my eyes and really tried to sleep, but all I could think about was Trevor in that dark cell, asking me to find him.

"I am coming, Trev, I promised him and myself, just as soon as I can figure out where you are."

***

Chapter 2

I shivered at the cold and pulled my coat tighter around me as Molly and I walked from our little studio apartment to the Diplomat’s house the next morning.

These are the days I really hate my job, I mumbled, kicking a stone that had made the mistake of being in my way.

Why? Molly asked warily; she could tell I was in a bad mood.

The Diplomat and his family are leaving town this morning on holiday, which means no information flowing through the house, and I am nothing but a maid. To make matters worse, I have to clean all the downstairs floors today, I grumbled, feeling frustrated that she had even made me say it. She already knew that the Diplomat was going to be out of town.

Molly gave me a stern look. Stay alert anyway, Daisy. There is still a chance that something might come up. There might be a phone call, or a letter, or an incompetent delivery boy who puts vital information right into the hands of his enemy.

I smiled at the memory. He hasn’t done that since the first time. I have a feeling that he made the same mistake somewhere else, and someone set him straight. But you are right, I guess you never know.

Besides, I have bathrooms today. Want to trade? she asked with a shudder.

I shook my head vigorously. You know, suddenly floors don’t sound so bad. Thanks for the perspective, friend.

Anytime, she mumbled, and then she slowed a bit and grabbed my arm. Daisy, about what you told me last night, I think it would probably be better if you kept that to yourself.

Why? I asked. It was my turn to be wary.

I just think that it would be a mistake to make a big deal out of it. If you start ranting and raving about finding T in your dreams, the council is going to worry that you are unstable or something. They might even pull you out of the Diplomat’s house. T is gone. Don’t throw everything away just because you miss him.

I looked into her concerned eyes, and then turned away and started walking again. Thanks for the advice, Molly. I will think about it.

Please do, she whispered as she sped up to match my stride once again.

My mood didn’t improve much as the day wore on. Cleaning the floors was unimaginative and tedious, and this house was really big. I was more than happy to get up and answer the door when the bell rang shortly after lunch.

Afternoon, Miss. The mailman stood on the front porch with a stack of letters in his hand. I immediately noticed that he wasn’t the normal mailman as I reached for the letters he held out to me.

Hi. How is it going today? I asked, giving him a pleasant smile but otherwise keeping my face neutral.

It’s going well. It’s pretty cold out today, but, he paused for a second here, luckily I am mostly warm in my coat. I need to deliver the mail all the way down to 12th and Briarwood before the day is done, so all the walking keeps me warm too.

I beamed at him; so happy to find out my message had gotten through. Thank you, I said before I shut the door. I wanted to float happily about, but I had way too much experience working undercover to let anyone else notice a difference in me. I returned my face to its previous bad mood pout and huffed quietly as I went through the task of sorting the mail. Ads went straight into the trash, and each person in the Diplomat’s family had a slot for their mail. I looked quickly and carefully at each letter, especially the Diplomat's, but saw nothing that stood out as important. One letter was obviously an invite, so I opened it and pinned it to the board, as I had been taught to do. This one was an invitation to a ball at Head Diplomat Paxton’s house tomorrow night. Obviously, anyone planning to attend the ball already knew about it, so I realized that this was more of a ticket than an invitation. Nobody was home to go to the ball, so I would just have to take it down and throw it away day after tomorrow, but I followed my instructions nonetheless. I may not enjoy being a maid, but I was good at it. I always followed orders so nobody would have a reason to fire me.

I went back to work on the floors. Anyone who had taken the time to watch wouldn’t have noticed a difference between this morning and now, but I was no longer grumbling inside about the tedious work. Now I was planning. I had to figure out exactly what to say to Liam to get him to help me. I spent the rest of the day phrasing and rephrasing sentences in my head.

Later that night, as Molly and I walked back to our studio and made dinner, I kept myself composed. I was sure she didn’t notice that anything was up. I went to bed at the normal time and pretended to sleep, not moving a muscle until I was sure that Molly was in the middle of a sleep cycle.

This was when it was hard to have a roommate. Most of the time, Molly knew exactly what I was doing. If I had a midnight appointment to keep, I didn’t need to sneak around. But occasionally, I couldn’t let her know what I was up to. Those were the times that I couldn’t relax even at home. I had gotten pretty good at deceiving Molly when I needed to. I was grateful that she trusted me enough to be fooled when I needed to act in secrecy.

At 11:30, I snuck quietly out of bed, grabbed my coat, and left the apartment without making a sound. I knew that if Molly did wake up to find me gone, it would be okay. She understood that the nature of our jobs sometimes requires us to keep information from each other, but I hoped that she wouldn’t wake up this time. After our conversation on the way to work, I wanted her to think that I had let the Trevor/dream thing go.

I walked stealthily to the meeting spot near the briarwood tree, very aware of my surroundings. A pretty lady walking around by herself at midnight would raise suspicion if the wrong person noticed, or if I was being followed. I kept to the shadows and stopped often to make sure that there was no one else about.

When I reached the meeting place, I slid behind the tree and found the note wedged inconspicuously in the bark. Opening it, I read the message:

65 14 32 91

Double-checking that no one was around, I placed