by Pamela Bauer
Joe looked at his father. “We’re not going to prison, Dad. I won’t let that happen.”
“I know.” Again the hand patted his shoulder. “You’re a good son. Have I told you how proud I am of you?”
Joe smiled. “Yes, Dad, you have.”
The Admiral sighed as he sank down into his recliner. “I only have two regrets about the way we live. One is that you can’t have a woman like Frannie in your life. The second is you have to deny who you are. You’re a Hawthorn, not a Smith, and I’d like to shout that to the world. I feel as if I’ve robbed you of your birthright.”
This time it was Joe who got up out of his chair to place his hand on his dad’s shoulder. “You haven’t, Dad. We both know who we really are.” As he spoke, he thought how ironic those words were.
“We’re safe here, Joe, aren’t we?”
“Yeah. Why do you ask that?”
“Someone called when you were gone and asked Letty all sorts of questions.”
Joe felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “What kinds of questions?”
“I think…” he began, then stopped.
“What kinds of questions, Dad,” Joe prodded him gently.
“I can’t remember,” he said with a blank look on his face. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Dad, it was probably just one of those telephone surveys,” Joe said, but made a note to call Letty tomorrow and talk to her.
Only, he never had the chance. Shortly after breakfast three official cars pulled into his drive. Through the kitchen window Joe watched uniformed sailors climb out of one of the cars, the SP on their armbands identifying them as the Navy’s Shore Patrol. From another car emerged a couple of men in dark suits.
Joe thought about grabbing his father and making a run for it. His seaplane was out front. However, one look at his father rocking in his chair made him realize what a futile effort it would be. In his condition, the Admiral would never be able to run from men half his age.
Joe knew his worst nightmare had come true. They’d been found.
“YOU LOOK AWFUL,” Lois remarked from the doorway of Frannie’s office.
“Thank you. It’s nice to see you, too,” Frannie said sarcastically, as her sister walked into the tiny cubicle.
“I’m serious, Frannie.” Lois came around the desk to feel her forehead. “You’re warm, too. How’s your throat?”
“A little dry, but it always is this time of the year. I have allergies, or have you forgotten?”
“You’re probably coming down with something,” her sister speculated.
“It wouldn’t surprise me. Once the kids are back in school the crud usually ends up at our house. If I promise to take two aspirins and call you in the morning, will you quit looking at me like I’m something your cat threw up?”
Lois took a chair across from her. “I’m sorry, but you really do look miserable. Even your eyes are swollen.” She continued to stare at her. “Have you been crying?” When Frannie didn’t deny it, her sister said, “Frannie! You don’t look like this because of Joe, do you?”
Frannie was too worn out to try to pretend she wasn’t. “How am I supposed to look? I just broke up with a guy I thought…” She stifled a sob. “Oh, what does it matter what I thought.”
“I didn’t realize he meant that much to you,” Lois said, handing her a tissue.
Frannie dabbed at her nose. “He doesn’t,” she lied. “I’m just mad because not only do my kids have a deadbeat dad, but now they’ve got an uncle who’s a big, fat liar. Lois, you know I’m not a dumb person. Shouldn’t I at least be able to recognize when a man is lying to me about who he is?”
“I’m not sure he was lying about who he was. He may only have been lying about what name he was using.”
That brought Frannie’s head up with a jerk. “What are you talking about? Did you find out why he had an assumed identity?” She could see by the look on her sister’s face that she had, and quickly added, “Please tell me it wasn’t because he has a wife and kids somewhere and he didn’t want to be responsible for them.”
“No, he doesn’t have a wife and kids. I suspect that most everything he’s told you about himself is true.”
Frannie felt as if a great weight had been lifted off her chest. “Then, why is he using an assumed name?”
“Because of his father.”
“The Admiral? What could he possibly have done?”
“He’s accused of defrauding the government out of millions of dollars.”
Frannie gasped. “The Admiral?”
She nodded soberly. “He claims he isn’t guilty of anything but trusting the wrong people.” Lois pulled a folder out of her briefcase and set it on the table. “I wasn’t going to show you this until I had more details.”
Frannie winced as she opened the folder and saw a picture of Joe next to his father on the front page of an old newspaper with the headline “Accused Spy Missing.”
“It gets worse, Frannie. I just heard that the authorities have found them. They’re no longer in Grand Marais.”
Frannie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She needed to know more so she flipped through the articles in the folder.
Lois finally said, “As you can see the media has pretty much tried the Admiral and found him guilty.”
“Is that what you think?”
“No, I think he may be innocent, as he claims,” Lois replied.
“Of course he’s innocent,” Frannie declared emotionally. “Isn’t there something you can do?”
“I’m not sure Joe would want me doing anything, considering the circumstances,” Lois said.
“No, you’re right. You’ve been so unfair. It’s not like you.”
Lois held up her hands. “I plead guilty and I’m sorry. Now, before you read me the riot act, let me tell you what I did do. I’ve made some phone calls—at Arlene’s request—and found out that there are other people who think he was framed.
“Apparently he didn’t retire from the military willingly. He was forced to resign because of an indiscretion with the wife of another officer.”
“He committed adultery? Isn’t that grounds for court martial in the military?”
“Yes, but proving adultery can be tricky, and when you’re a distinguished Admiral with so many years of service, punishment is usually forced retirement.”
Frannie sifted through the clippings and saw nothing about any adulterous affair. “So what does the affair have to do with his being a suspect in the fraud case?”
“Apparently after retiring, the Admiral became a consultant to one of the largest defense contractors in the country. On a tip from an insider, the Navy investigated the company and found millions of dollars had been illegally funneled through kickbacks and bribes. The Admiral was accused of playing a major role in the fraud. What better way for someone to get revenge than to turn around and make his former employer pay?”
“That doesn’t sound like the Admiral I know. He’s a sweet, gentle man who doesn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body.”
Lois lifted her brows. “You could be right. From the start the Admiral claimed his innocence, saying that he’d been set up. The government would only consider reducing the charges if he were to testify against other members of the company.”
“And he wouldn’t do it?”
“He was going to do it. But before the case went to trial, he was in a bad accident. Apparently Joe had warned the government that his father was a threat to some very powerful people and had asked for protection.”
“It was denied?”
“No, but even with the protection, the Admiral was injured by a hit-and-run driver. That’s when Joe took matters into his own hands, and they fled. Not trusting the authorities to keep his father safe, he moved and took another name.”
Frannie swallowed the lump in her throat. “That’s why he didn’t want me or Arlene looking into the birth records. He was trying to keep his father safe.”
; Lois nodded. “You didn’t fall in love with a loser, Frannie. Just a man who loves his father so much that he was willing to give up everything he had to protect him.”
“And I told him to get lost.” She hung her head in self-recrimination. “How could I have been such a fool?”
“Because you listened to your big sister. I’m sorry, Frannie.” Lois reached across the table to cover her hand. “You were just a mother who was trying to look out for her kids. How could you have known any of this? You did what you thought you needed to do, based on the information I gave you.”
Frannie could only shake her head. “I hurt him, Lois. You didn’t hear his voice the day I told him it was over between us.” She choked back a sob. “I knew he was a good man. I should have trusted him, talked to him. Instead I let you go dig up all that information—and now look where he is.” She slid the folder across the table in her sister’s direction.
“You think I informed the NCIS of his whereabouts?”
“You had him investigated,” she accused.
“Yes, and that led to nothing. Frannie, I’m not the one responsible for the NCIS finding them.” Lois put the folder back into her briefcase.
Frannie frowned. “Then, who is?”
“Harold Gallivan.”
“Josh’s father?”
She nodded. “You know how Alex is always bragging about what Josh can do on the computer? Well, he’s right. That kid went on the Internet and found the NCIS site where they post their wanted fugitives. The Admiral’s picture was there. Apparently Josh showed his dad. Good old Harold did his patriotic duty. All it took was one click of his mouse and the NCIS had their tip.”
“Oh, good grief!” She sat stunned for several seconds. Frannie could hardly believe what she’d just heard. Her own son may have unknowingly taken his uncle out of his life. “Nothing’s going to happen to Joe, is it?”
“Not if I can help it. Arlene’s asked me to fly to Washington to see if there’s anything I can do,” she said, snapping her briefcase shut. “I can’t legally represent either of them, but I can offer my services behind the scenes.”
“I want to go with you,” she said, getting to her feet.
“What about the kids?”
“I’ll ask Lisa if they can stay at her place for a couple of days,” she said, gathering her things together.
“Why don’t you wait until I find out what the situation is there?”
“No, I can’t,” she said, reaching for her jacket. “I have to explain why I said the things I did.”
“Frannie, I have to warn you. There’s a good chance that this mess isn’t going to go away. When the government builds a case against someone…”
“Then, we’ll find a way to prove Joe and his father innocent. My kids are not going to have their uncle in jail.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
NEITHER JOE NOR HIS FATHER was in jail when Frannie and Lois arrived in Washington. They were at a hospital where the Admiral had been admitted because of an irregular heartbeat.
Frannie found Joe in a small lounge outside the Cardiac Care Unit. He sat on a blue vinyl sofa, his head in his hands. When he heard footsteps, he looked up, and she saw what the past few days had done to him. He looked tired, his chin dark with stubble, his face lined with worry. As she and Lois approached him, he rose.
“What are you doing here?” The question was directed at Frannie, his tone indicating he was not happy to see her.
“She came with me.” Lois stepped around Frannie, extending her hand in a professional greeting. “How are you doing, Joe?”
“I have an attorney,” he said with even more coolness than he’d shown Frannie.
Lois nodded. “I know. I’m here because Arlene asked me to come, but if you’d rather, I can leave.” She looked to him for approval.
He looked as if he might ask her to go, but then he shrugged and said, “It’s all right.”
“I’m glad you said that because I want to do whatever I can to help. Before I do anything, I need to grab some coffee. Anyone else want some?” She looked first at Frannie, then at Joe. Both shook their heads, and she slipped out.
Frannie knew her sister had left to give her time alone with Joe, although judging by the look on his face, she wasn’t sure it was what he wanted. He gave no indication that he was pleased to see her. Suddenly she was plagued with doubts. Had she made a mistake accompanying Lois to Washington?
“How’s your father?” she asked, wishing Joe wouldn’t look at her so coldly.
“His heartbeat’s back to normal but they’re running some tests to determine what the underlying problem is.”
She nodded. “What about you? Are you okay?”
“Do you care?”
She figured she deserved that, after the way she’d talked to him last. “Of course I care.”
“You shouldn’t have come, Frannie,” he said, his eyes looking tired and defeated.
“I had to. I needed to tell you how sorry I am.”
He chuckled without humor. “Sorry doesn’t do much good, does it? I mean, the damage has been done. My father’s in the hospital, and when he’s well enough to get out…” He let her draw her own conclusion.
Wanting to ease the pain she saw on his face, she said, “Lois says there are lots of people who believe your father is innocent.”
“Lois says that, does she?” he said with more than a hint of sarcasm.
“She wants to help, Joe.”
“What one sister pulls apart, the other one tries to put back together. Such teamwork.”
Frannie winced at the anger in his voice. “There are some things you need to know. Please let me explain.”
“Explain what? Why you couldn’t respect my wishes and leave well enough alone?” His eyes darkened as he stared into hers. “My dad wasn’t a threat to your kids.”
“You think I turned him in? Joe, it wasn’t me!”
“The NCIS said they had a tip from a civilian.”
“Yes. Harold Gallivan. You’ve met Alex’s friend, Josh. His father.” She relayed the information her sister had given her, ending with “Joe, I would never do anything to hurt your father. Neither would Alex.”
“Does Alex know what’s happened?”
She nodded. “It’s been in the papers. He’s feels bad, Joe.”
He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck and made a sound of frustration. “This is incredible. For two years I manage not to raise a single eyebrow of suspicion, even though I come into contact with cops, private investigators, and lawyers—all wanting to go fishing in the wilderness. But a ten-year-old kid can go exploring on the Internet and stumble onto the NCIS site…” He shook his head in disbelief.
“Alex knew he wasn’t supposed to talk about the results of the DNA test with anyone,” Frannie said apologetically. “I think he was just so proud to have an uncle in his life that he had to share it with his best friend.”
He waved away her apology. “It’s not Alex’s fault, Frannie. The truth is, I’ve no one to blame but myself.”
“How can you say that? You did everything you could to protect your dad.”
“I didn’t stay away from you, did I.” He fixed her with a gaze that was full of guilt.
“You’re thinking none of this would have happened if you hadn’t met me, aren’t you.”
His silence was his answer.
Frannie felt her hopes slipping away. What kind of a future could they have if he thought their happiness came at the expense of his father’s freedom?
“I can’t change what’s happened, Joe. I wish I could, because the last thing I want is for your father to suffer because I wanted my children to get to know their uncle.” She had so many things she wanted to say and so much love she wanted to share, yet he kept her at a distance. All she could say was “I’m sorry, Joe.”
“You came a long way just to apologize,” he commented, eyeing her suspiciously. “You could have called.”
“I thought…”
She wondered if there was any point telling him how she felt when there was so little hope that the two of them would have a future together.
“You thought what, Frannie?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
He reached for her hand. “It matters to me. What could you possibly have been thinking that made you leave your kids, get on a plane and fly all this way to see a man who’d lied to you from the very beginning?”
“I was thinking that I needed to tell that man that I understood the reason why he hadn’t been totally honest with me—that no matter what anyone might say about him, I thought what he did for his dad was heroic, not criminal.”
He studied her hand, running his thumb over her fingers in a caressing motion. “I’m not a hero, Frannie.”
“You are to me,” she said quietly.
He raised his eyes to hers. “But I don’t make you happy.”
She knew she had hurt him the day he’d called her at the newspaper. “Oh, yes, you do. What I said that day you phoned me…it wasn’t the truth, Joe. I was scared.”
“Of me?”
She shook her head. “No, of feeling so much for someone who’d changed his identity. Lois had shown me there weren’t any Smiths in the hospital on the day you were born.”
“And you wondered why,” he surmised.
She nodded. “Instead of asking you about it, I went ahead and assumed you were just like my ex-husband.”
“I’m not Dennis, Frannie,” he said soberly. “I didn’t leave my wife. She left me.”
“Foolish woman,” she said, looking him directly in the eye.
He shrugged. “I couldn’t give her what she wanted.”
“And what was that?”
“To be the wife of an officer in the Navy. When I left the military, she found someone who could give her what she wanted.”
“You can give me what I want, Joe.”
“I want to believe that.”
“You can, Joe. I’m sorry for saying I didn’t think it would work between us, but I was confused. I didn’t know what it was that had made you run.”