“Mom, you’re being rather kind, considering this shitshow was because of me and something that happened…”
His mom held up her hand and shushed him, and he stopped. “This was a bad day, Luke, no doubt about it. I’d like to say I’ve had worse, or close to it, but… You think I don’t know what you do? Of course I have an idea. Of course I knew what you did, even without knowing the details of it. Some pretty bad things go on in this world that we’ve been sheltered from because we live here, and I’m thankful for that. I don’t know how you do what you do, Luke, but every time you came home from your war, I could see it took you a while to get your footing. Now I see why. I’m not angry at all. I know you have questions about your dad, what happened, why he left. Maybe I didn’t tell you everything I knew, but…”
He reached over and touched his mom’s arm. “You know what, Mom? Seems it’s rather a moot point right now. I’m sorry I pushed.”
Marcus was striding their way, still holding Eva.
His mom nodded. “I understand why. We’re a family, but sometimes it’s best to leave things where they are and not dig up skeletons, not ask questions no one wants the real answers to. As you know, not everything is so black and white…”
“Mom, you need to go to the hospital and get checked out,” Marcus said. “I’ll meet you there with Eva.”
Eva looked up at Iris, who reached out and ran her hand over her back.
“Hey there, little girl,” she said. “You and Grandma are going to be fine.”
“Grandma, he tried to hurt you and me. I don’t want to go back there.”
Luke could hear in her voice how scared she was, and he wished he could do something for her.
“We’re going to stay at Grandma’s for a little bit,” Marcus said. “So don’t think about that.”
As his mom stood up, he took in how shaky she was, and he rested his hand on her arm and helped her into the back of the ambulance, though all the while she said, “You know I’m fine.”
“I know, Mom, but just humor us. As you said, this is what I do, and it’s not the kind of thing I ever want you to see again.”
Marcus still appeared as if he had something on his mind, as if he wanted to have a talk with Luke. Iris must have understood, as she sat on the bench in the ambulance and let him step back as the paramedic closed the door. He stood with his brother for a second, taking in the scene that had already been almost entirely cleaned up.
“See you at Mom’s,” Marcus said.
Luke was still watching the tiny house where his brother lived. “Yeah, and then I guess I’ll have to figure out how to explain this to everyone,” he replied. He wasn’t sure what his brother was going to say.
Marcus simply turned and gestured as he started walking over to where his cruiser was parked. “You will, at that—but at the same time, keep in mind that the whole story may not be what everyone needs to hear.”
Chapter Sixteen
Shaun had left as quietly as he’d shown up, and Luke had talked to Jess an hour earlier. They’d really busted Stefan out, and their secret black fund stash was now short ten million dollars in exchange for the missing documents no one wanted to come to light. Stefan had apparently taken the money happily, and his son Joel had turned over the documents. Stefan was now on an old Cessna to Bolivia. Meanwhile, the colonel was running a different narrative, as the missing documents the CIA wanted were now the only leverage the team had.
His mom was okay, being fussed over in the kitchen, surrounded by Jenny, Alison, Suzanne, and Karen. Charlotte was there too, and she hadn’t let go of Eva for a moment.
Luke settled in the living room corner with his back to the wall, staring at the door, as Ryan rested a beer on the sofa table in front of him. The game was on TV and the sound was low. Marcus was lounging in the chair across from them, Harold was sitting on the end of the sofa, drinking a beer, and Owen wandered in behind Ryan, holding a glass of what looked like whiskey. Jack, Karen’s husband, whom Luke didn’t have to explain any of this to, was also holding a tumbler of whiskey.
Everyone was rattled, and he hadn’t figure out what to say to them. They were still getting their heads around what had happened. Crime scene tape surrounded Marcus’s house, and the news channels had sensationalized the entire story.
“They’re reporting that two former Marines who had been given a dishonorable discharge were tied to a string of robberies and assaults going door to door across state lines,” Owen said. “So how much of that is true?”
“None of it, or all of it,” Jack jumped in. “Wasn’t sure the spin it would be given, but I expected something a little more creative than downplaying it.”
Luke lifted his beer and took a swallow, then played with the label on the bottle. “Eva’s pretty shaken. How’s she doing, and Charlotte?”
“Shaken up,” Marcus said. “Eva’s scared to go back in the house, so Mom is insisting we stay here, which we will until we find another place to move to. This is just added stress Charlotte doesn’t need right now.”
Something about sitting there made Luke feel as if he were waiting for everyone to pepper him with questions. “You all know that isn’t what happened,” Luke said. “They were two active military men, but that’s not how it played out. We need to talk about what happened? Mom never heard them come into the house. He had a silencer on the gun that took out the lock on the back door. She was in the bedroom with Eva when she saw him and screamed, and he had her on the floor in the living room because he knew we’d come. She sat there with a terrified Eva for nearly an hour, her phone ringing and her not being able to answer. She’d have taken a bullet for her.” Luke gestured toward their mother with his chin. He could see how this wasn’t sitting too well with his brothers. “Suzanne is going to want to know the skinny, and so is Karen.”
Marcus lifted his beer and took a swallow. “I think we all do, but at the same time, we know you do things you can’t talk about.”
“What can you tell us, Luke?” Ryan asked from where he stood now, looking down at him.
“All I can say is that it seems more and more as of late that my team has become like corporate security. I think if the American public really knew the things we did, they would be horrified, and it’s not sitting right with me. Seems the game has been changing. It feels as if I’ve become a hired thug on the payroll of our government, and this time it brought the war to my doorstep.” It was so quiet in the living room that he could hear the voices of the women in the kitchen. “I always feared that something could come back on us one day, and this time it did. I guess I have to ask myself if a time will come that I’ll consider throwing in the towel and saying goodbye.”
“You thinking of retiring from the army?” Marcus asked.
“The day will come, but not yet,” he added. “I didn’t really answer your questions, but not sure what I can say freely.”
Marcus pulled in a breath and lifted his beer. He’d heard almost everything, having been in that living room with Ben. “You’ve said enough, and you know what? It’s over. Some things are best left unsaid.”
Luke took in Owen and Ryan, who were watching Marcus carefully. He knew what his brother wasn’t saying, which was that Luke also needed to let go of the questions surrounding their dad.
“Guess you’re right, big brother,” he said, and as he looked around at his brothers, and Jack and Harold, he realized that the questions were completely irrelevant, anyway, because the only thing that was important was his family.
Chapter Seventeen
Luke heard the water running, then footsteps in the hallway, and he looked over to see Marcus yawning, wearing blue jeans and an open shirt, evidently just out of bed. It was early, just past dawn, and although Luke had slept well, considering, he had heard his brother up a few times the night before.
“Do I need to ask how everyone is?” he said.
Marcus simply lifted a brow and gestured to the coffee Luke had made a little earlier. Luke took th
at as his cue and pulled a mug from the cupboard, then poured Marcus a coffee and rested it on the island.
“Guess you’re not going to add cream and sugar?” Marcus said, and Luke took him in as he reached into the fridge and pulled out a carton of cream, then smelled it before dumping it in his coffee.
“I’m not your wife,” Luke said. “Speaking of which, how’s she doing?” He slid the canister of sugar over along with a spoon. He knew that Charlotte being pregnant put Marcus more on edge.
“Sleeping,” Marcus said. “Eva was up a few times, nightmares. She’s sleeping with Charlotte now.” He ran his hand over the back of his neck while stirring in his sugar, then lifted the mug and took a swallow. “Sorry to kick you out of your room, but thanks for that.”
What was Luke supposed to say? “It’s the least I can do. I’m fine on the pullout downstairs.”
Aside from the two single beds in the upstairs bedroom, where Eva had been sleeping, his bedroom was the only other spare room with a big enough bed for Marcus and Charlotte. His mom had long since gotten rid of the rest of the beds in the home.
“I sleep in a lot of places less comfortable, so no big deal for me,” he continued. “You know, Marcus, if you want to put your fist in my face, I understand. I’d even let you.”
Marcus made a face as he took another swallow of coffee, then set his blue eyes on Luke before shaking his head. “No, I think not. It wouldn’t solve anything.”
“No, but maybe it would have you feeling better, at least.” He poured himself another coffee.
Marcus seemed to be considering something. “You know what, Luke? I guess I just don’t understand what happened. Reasonably, it’s not your fault, but I can’t shake it. That job you did, the one you were asked to do, it’ll have me wondering now whenever I go into a crime scene. It’s changed everything, knowing that innocent people who’ve stepped on the wrong toes are going to find themselves locked up. I know Charlotte is scared because of what almost happened, and the fear in Eva… Her living with a cop should make her safer, not put her in the line of fire. I’ll have to tell Reine what happened. Could it jeopardize the adoption? Absolutely.”
He didn’t know what to say to fix this for his brother.
“Luke, I know you feel responsible, but you’re not. As I told Charlotte, it could just as easily have been me targeted for being sheriff here. I’ve made a lot of enemies and could end up with some angry family coming after me, targeting Eva and Charlotte. Maybe this was the wakeup call I needed.”
He could see how tired his brother was. “So what the hell does that mean, putting your family in a glass bubble? You can’t do that. You can’t live that way. Honestly, I never would’ve imagined that this could come and land on our doorstep, putting all of you in the line of fire. Honestly, I don’t know what I could have done differently.”
Even as he said that, though, he thought of Rosemary, the woman he’d slept with in Geneva who had somehow managed to download all his contacts from his phone. She was someone else he needed to settle things with.
“I guess I haven’t asked because I know there’s so much you can’t talk about,” Marcus said, “but tell me this: Have you fixed things there so nothing else can come back on Charlotte or Eva again? Then there’s Mom and everyone else—and that includes you too, Luke. This is home, and we shouldn’t ever have to worry about some military operation landing here in our hometown.”
What could he say? Before this happened, he’d never have considered something like this following him home. It would’ve been inconceivable. He was still having trouble getting his head around it.
“We settled things, fixed things,” he said, “but there’s one person I still need to set right. I hope you’re not going to ask for details, because I won’t tell you.”
An odd smile touched his brother’s lips as he shook his head and put his coffee down. He lifted his hands. “I’ve learned long ago not to ask, and honestly, I don’t want to know. I need to get showered. I told Charlotte to sleep in and not come in until later. First trimester, you know. She’s really tired to begin with, and I promised her I’d find us a new place to live. There’s a new house across the street from Ryan and Jenny that I’m looking at. I’m also looking at a security system for Mom’s house.”
It was something Luke should’ve been all over. “I’ll take care of the security system,” he said. “You just look after your family.”
Marcus lifted his coffee again, then stopped. “Oh, I thought you should know: City council has been all over this. A call came in from the DA about the word from the Feds, you know, that bullshit news story. Officially, I’m not allowed to talk about what happened, and nor is anyone in the department, because it’s a matter of national security. If we do, federal charges will be filed against us…” His brother stopped talking. Luke could see this wasn’t sitting right with him. “As for the neighbors, they’ve been paid a visit by some Feds, as well, to advise them of the ongoing investigation. They’re not allowed to talk about it. They were given the same bullshit line, you know, to scare the shit out of them. If they talk, they could be in a heap of trouble. So, in other words, we’ve been effectively handled. How often does this kind of thing happen? You know how it makes me feel to be told I can’t talk about the truth?”
What was he supposed to say to that? Sometimes Luke didn’t let it get to him. He’d always been able to shut it out, but there were those missions, those targets, that left him with too many sleepless nights.
Marcus took another swallow of coffee and then jutted his chin toward Luke’s arm, which was still bandaged from the bullet that had grazed him. “How’s your arm?”
He’d had worse, he thought. Of course he had. “Fine, just like I told everyone. It was just a flesh wound. It’ll heal.”
His brother just shook his head. “You should’ve had it stitched up, tough guy.”
Instead of saying anything more, because he likely knew it was falling on deaf ears, Marcus strode down the hall and into the bathroom.
Luke listened to the shower come on as he took in the white gauze bandage, then pulled it off. The scab was thick and deep. It would be just another scar with just another story behind it.
Chapter Eighteen
As he sat in his pickup truck, Luke thumbed through his phone and his contacts, staring at her name, Rosemary Brooks, from Indiana, and her number. He was parked at the end of his brother’s street, where the yellow crime scene tape was now gone.
What was he supposed to do with her? Jess had left the decision up to him, but then there was Marcus, who expected him to take care of every loose end of this shitshow so no part of it could ever touch his family again, and that would include Rosemary.
He considered what to say, what to do, as he stared at the phone number of a woman he wasn’t sure how he felt about. When he met her, her name, what she did, and why she’d been there in his hotel bar had been shrouded in deception. He was still having a hard time getting his head around the fact that she’d been the hunter, and he and his team had become the hunted. It was a sick twist, something he wasn’t used to.
He still had a whole bunch of questions he needed answered. Remembering his fond feelings for someone who had been trying to hurt his family spurred his anger and his need to settle the score.
Then there was his dad, who seemed so much on the back burner now. Whether he’d ever have answers about him, he wasn’t sure it mattered now. He was still trying to process the danger he had put his family in. As Marcus had said, he needed to let it go—and maybe he did, considering the stress his family had been under.
He held his cell phone to his ear, listening to the ring, half expecting it to be a wrong number, then heard a click.
“Hello?”
He was positive it was her voice. “Rosemary, this is Luke.”
There was silence for a second, but he could hear her breathing. “I guess I should’ve expected you to call.”
That was all she said. He fo
und himself looking up the street of older family homes, suburbia, a place that never should’ve seen an enemy attack. His brother’s house was just a rental, and he knew he was having to deal with too many questions from the landlord. He’d be on the hook for rent, damages, and whatever else the landowner deemed necessary, but Marcus had been the first to decide he couldn’t have Eva or Charlotte living back in that house. The memories alone were too much for little Eva, and then there was Charlotte, whom Marcus had become all protective of, considering she was pregnant.
“I wasn’t planning on calling,” Luke said. “So was any of it true in the bar, in the hotel? And why me?”
Maybe that was what bothered him most of all, the fact that she’d picked him. Or had she, considering he was the one who’d walked over to her?
“I think you’re confused on one thing,” she said. “You’re the one who came on to me, walked across the bar to me, and bought me a drink. Or is it that you think I somehow made you do that? That would be an amazing trick if it were true.”
Her voice was pissed off, and he found himself shaking his head as he took in the car pulling up in front of his brother’s house. The trunk was lifted, and a for-sale sign came out. A realtor. Evidently, that was one way for the landlord to handle it.
“Okay, point taken,” Luke said, “but then there’s the story you offered, and the French accent—which left after a few drinks. Guess it was too hard to keep up the act. I’m surprised you gave me your phone number, considering everything else was false.”
“What was false?” she snapped. He could hear something in her voice as if she’d been crying, something she couldn’t hide.
“Well, your name, for one. You said your name was Rosemary Brooks. Then there’s what you do for a living. Online advertising is what you said, but we know that’s not true. Cybersecurity? You’re good. Never saw that coming.”
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