The Fugitive's Secret Child

by Geri Krotow

  “I don’t think I knew what a circle was, much less a triangle, when I was in preschool.”

  “I know, same here. And I told the teacher as much.” At least Rob was perking up, coming back from the dark place his thoughts must have taken him. That she understood, too. The years of wondering how he’d died, if he’d suffered in the blast or slowly died before help could reach him, if the enemy had captured him. Finally she knew most of it, and all she cared about was that he was alive.

  “Rob, this is too soon, too much, for both of us. But you have to know that I’m glad you’re here. And I know Jake is going to be happy to meet you.”

  “He can never meet me, Trina. He’ll think it’s his fault I didn’t show up until now. That’s how kids’ minds work. I know he’s not in the same situation I was in as a foster kid, but he’s been without a father. And you said he’s smart—he’ll put two and two together. What have you told him about me?”

  “I told him his dad was a brave man who gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country.”

  “More like a coward who couldn’t walk across the damn street. Let’s face it—I didn’t have a father, so how can I be one?”

  She let his words lie. She couldn’t take him through the mental and emotional processes he needed to travel to fully absorb what he’d discovered today. That he was a father.

  “That was then, Rob. This is now. We’re both different people. As odd as it felt to call you by a different name, other than your core self, I don’t see you as Justin any longer. You’re still you, I feel that, but...”

  “This is the crux of it, Trina. Can you live with who I’ve become? More importantly, will Jake accept me as his father? Hell, I don’t even know if it’s safe to tell him about me. I don’t want to screw him up for life. And my work, it could bring some really bad guys to our doorstep.”

  Trina had gone over the same thoughts, the same mental path. She had so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to share with him about Jake, his son.

  Had she fully accepted that he was here, alive?

  “When I saw you yesterday, standing there with your pistol on me, I couldn’t have defended myself if I’d wanted to. It was like you’d dropped out of the sky.”

  She offered a smile. “Maybe we’re overanalyzing this. It’s the twenty-first century and we’re used to instant communications, knowing everything in real time. During past wars, take the Civil War or World War II, family members went for years not knowing anything about what was going on with one another. Lots of cases of sailors or soldiers gone missing occurred, and those folks picked up and kept going. It was a mere blip in their life. They focused on the positive.”

  “I get where you’re going with this, Trina, and forgive me but I just can’t handle your positive affirmation baloney right now.”

  Like a physical slap, his words stopped her cold. This side of Rob was what she’d written off as the warrior part of his SEAL personality. It was what all military folks understood—the mission had to be the top priority. And it had never reared its head between them like this before. Of course, they’d never gone on an op together as parents to the same child.

  Trina retreated inside herself, forcing all the acidic comebacks aside. They’d only spent two days together. After five years apart, what did any of this really mean?

  Chapter 7

  Trina’s insides shook, but this wasn’t the place to tell Rob the thoughts running through her mind. Worse, she couldn’t begin to describe what his harsh words had unleashed—memories of her time with him, knowing she’d seen the best in him while also dealing with his most primitive side. As he had hers. They’d been in battle where all rules boiled down to one: complete the mission.

  She shot a quick look at him, and he was as still as a statue, his chest’s exaggerated movement the only indication he wasn’t carved from the limestone that lay under the forest floor. He was in battle mode, all right. As was she.

  “You know, I’ve imagined how I’d find you again, let you know I was alive, a thousand times. It was going to be a shock no matter how it went down, but I never wanted you to suffer one minute more, Trina. Now I can see in your eyes, your tears, that you’ve suffered as much as I have. More—you didn’t know I was alive. At least I had the knowledge that you were still walking around, that I could reach out if I chose to. I can’t see a way that you’ll ever be able to forgive me, but I promise I won’t make anything harder for you than it has to be.”

  “It’s too much, too fast, Rob. We’re both only human, even though we both seem to still like to participate in extraordinary professions.” She reached over and rubbed his shoulder, as much for his comfort as for her reassurance that he wasn’t a mirage. An apparition her mind had conjured.

  He turned to her, and the air in the car went from muggy due to the humidity to sultry as their attraction hit another flash point. Rob’s nostrils flared and his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin. “Chemistry hasn’t left, has it?”

  “No.” Her reply was a whisper, adding to the sexy ambience. A giggle erupted. “We’re both maxed out on adrenaline, waiting for the order to come, and oh, by the way, you’ve come back from the dead and found out you have a son. And we’re looking at each other like this.”

  “Let’s stop the watching and get to the good stuff, baby cakes.” Heat flared in her center at his use of her nickname, and she leaned in, eager to meet his lips. It wouldn’t be a kiss that sneaked up on them like the one at the hotel, in the cramped bathroom. It would be like the heat they’d enjoyed in the desert together: sizzling and a good place to escape to as a reminder they were both human amid what could become a hellhole in a blink.

  “That’s it. Come here, babe.” His lips curved and his breath led her the rest of the way.

  A sharp rap rap rap hit the driver’s-side window, and Trina cried out in surprise.

  “Son of a—” Rob didn’t finish and his hand went to his weapon as he looked out the glass at the intruder. Trina quickly scanned the area around the SUV.

  “All clear around us. I don’t see another vehicle.” She spoke quietly, for Rob’s ears only as he dealt with the uniformed man standing outside.

  “Officer.” Rob had rolled down the window, and Trina saw a man in what looked like a police uniform but that wasn’t quite right. She let out a sigh of relief. They’d run into the local constable, for heaven’s sake. And she knew him. He hadn’t recognized her yet, though.

  “I’m Constable Weeks. Can I ask you folks what you’re doing in my neck of the woods, parked like you’re hiding from the law?”

  Trina wanted to sneer at the man; she’d had her fair share of run-ins with constables. By Pennsylvania law they were community civilian law enforcement positions that were often held by military veterans or former LEA. And they did a good job for the state, helping to keep things in line when the local police departments were stretched thin or in fact nonexistent.

  “US Marshal Lopez, Constable Weeks.” She held up her badge and credentials, and the man peered past Rob to her.

  “That you, Ms. Trina? Well, why didn’t you say so?” He spat on the ground, the juice of his chewing tobacco dribbling on his chin. Just as she’d remembered.

  “Yes, it is, Constable Weeks. This is my colleague Rob. He’s going through some training, and I wanted to familiarize him with the area.”

  “No one told me there was going to be any kind of military training up here today.”

  Trina gritted her teeth. “It’s ad hoc training, Buddy.” She used his first name and her friendliest tone. She’d had to deal with him when she’d come up to get Vasin yesterday, running into Constable Buddy Weeks at the local diner when she’d stopped to use the restroom.

  “Anything I can help with, Ms. Lopez?”

  “No, no threat to the peace here, Buddy. We’ll be out of here shortly.”

  Buddy wasn’t convi
nced. “I’ve got my truck up on the highway. We could run through some drills if you’d like.”

  Crap, crap, slap-your-momma crap. That was all they needed, a huge honking constables vehicle sitting on the main road in this area. She’d been careful, as had Rob, obviously, to keep them off the main highways, but it wasn’t a guarantee that Vasin’s men and even Ivanov weren’t going to pass through. And she wasn’t convinced that Buddy wasn’t somehow complicit in the activities that went on in “his” forest, as he’d put it.

  “Thanks, Buddy, I’ll keep that in mind for our next exercise. If you don’t mind, Rob and I need to get on with it.”

  “Okay. Just trying to be helpful.” Buddy slapped the steel frame right next to Rob’s door. She saw the tic in Rob’s temple moving like a dogwood in a rainstorm and stifled a chuckle.

  “Thank you, sir.” Rob nodded, playing the eager US marshal intern to a T.

  As soon as the windows were up, Rob started the engine and put the AC on full blast. “You and Buddy go way back?”

  “It’s an odd thing, the constable deal in Pennsylvania, but it’s all part of the civic system here. They’re elected for six years, and for the most part I haven’t had any issues with them. Buddy, however, he’s just a weird dude.”

  “That’s comforting. His last name isn’t Russian, is it?”

  “Weeks? No. It’s okay, Rob. We can drive up a little farther and hunker down until we get the okay to move in.”

  “I do not want to see the likes of that man for the rest of our time on this mountain.”

  “He’s out of our hair for now. Buddy needs to feel he’s part of the solution, is all. Even when there isn’t a problem.”

  Her phone ringtone cut in, and Corey’s voice echoed around them; the SUV had synced to her phone when she’d rented it, not Rob’s.

  “Trina, you were supposed to be back already. I understand from Claudia Michele that you’ve decided to spend some extra time in the Poconos?”

  “I’m sorry about that, Corey. Yes. I’m here with Rob, who also works for Claudia, as you know.” Trina shook her head. How the hell was it that she was working with Rob like this but had no idea who he worked for?

  “You can’t do this, Trina. Not as a marshal.”

  Panic threatened as she envisioned Rob going into the compound on his own. “That’s why I requested leave. I’m off the clock. Corey, you told me yourself, there’s a group of young women, girls, underage, waiting to be shipped down to our area. Most of them are headed for Bill’s Broads out on the Pike.” She referred to the strip joint that had opened in Silver Valley and, much to the chagrin of the locals, raked in the bucks. It had gotten its business license in a sleight of hand that the Silver Valley City Council was ferociously trying to rescind. No one was shocked by a strip club but they didn’t want any kind of bar or club that had rumors of drug dealing or human trafficking. And there had been both with Bill’s Broads but nothing enough to make arrests.

  “It’s not US Marshal business, Trina. You know the deal. I’m sorry you weren’t able to get your man, but you got Agent Bristol out of there, and that’s the end of US Marshal involvement.”

  “I’m on leave.”

  “Trina.” Corey’s exasperation was familiar. She often pushed her duty to the limit of its legal boundaries, if it meant they caught the bad guy.

  “It’s okay, Corey. I’ve got all those days held over from last fiscal year, and I’ll go to my new place and set it up all next week as planned.”

  “Fine. But Trina?”

  “Yes?”

  “Cover your ass out there.”

  “Thanks, boss.” The line cut off, and she felt the warmth of Rob’s gaze on her but refused to look at him. She didn’t have the answers as to why she’d still chosen to be with him through this, knowing the risks and knowing Jake waited at home for her. All she knew was that if she didn’t do her best to help out the virtually enslaved women, she wouldn’t be able to look her son in the eye. She believed in always working for justice.

  “He’s right. You should be on that bus, Trina.”

  “Just get us out of here, Rob. Before Constable Buddy shows up again.”

  Rob drove but didn’t let up on their previous conversation. “I’m not asking you for anything here, Trina. I mean with us. All I want is a chance for me to know my son, if you’ll agree to it. It’s pretty clear that whatever we shared is over—we’re two different people, living very different lives.”

  “I don’t have to be reminded of that, Rob. Your name used to be Justin, remember?” She knew it would hurt, tossing that grenade out there. Rob had been clear that he was no longer Justin and wanted, needed, her to not call him by that name. A tiny part of her wanted him to feel the pain she’d gone through when she’d believed he’d died. It wasn’t a part of herself she was proud of.

  “You haven’t lost your touch for cruelty, Trina.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.” She stared at the road as they passed by the constable’s vehicle, good old Buddy sitting inside sipping from a thermos. “And for the record, I’d never keep you from your son. My only concern is how we’ll present it to him, but kids are pretty resilient—it’s not a cliché for no reason.”

  “I appreciate that. We can discuss it more after we’re back in Silver Valley.”

  “Did you buy a place in town?” Her stomach was so tight as she verbalized what she’d wondered since she learned he had returned to Silver Valley.

  “No. I’m renting a small house on a much larger farm. It used to be the owners’ in-laws’ house, but now the owners need the cash.”

  “That’s a common way to make ends meet around here. Rather, there.” She took in the slope of the mountain they were climbing. “This is only two hours out, maybe three, and yet the scenery is so different.”

  Rob remained silent. He’d never been the small-talk type.

  “What about you, Trina? You own a place in Harrisburg?”

  She squirmed on the leather seat. “Actually, I’ve recently purchased a home on the west shore of the Susquehanna, in Silver Valley. It’s a farmette of sorts. I wanted a place where I could have chickens if I wanted to, and for Jake to have a bigger yard.”

  “He’s in kindergarten?”

  “Starting in September, yes. It’s full day out by us.”

  “What kind of school?”

  “Public. There are many options, but the public schools are excellent.” As evidenced by the higher tax rate, but she’d do anything to ensure Jake’s education.

  “What about bullying?”

  “What is this, Rob, the Inquisition? You haven’t even met him yet.” As soon as the words were out, she realized how harsh they’d sound to the man who’d missed the first five years of his son’s life. Rob was right; she hadn’t lost her streak of cruelty.

  “True.” He looked like he was going to say something but his lips were clamped tight and he focused entirely on his driving. As if, like her, he didn’t want to prolong any illusion that there was anything left to salvage between them. Physical attraction was one thing, but to commit to the very person who had caused so much hurt? That was impossible.

  * * *

  They weren’t on the secondary road for five minutes before Rob’s phone vibrated so loudly they both jumped. It was Claudia.

  “Read it out to me.” His hands on the wheel, his mind out of reach for now, he didn’t move to pick up his phone.

  Trina picked up the heavy black cell that was obviously capable of a lot more than her phone, from its weight to the extra app-like programs on the opening screen.

  Move in. Backup on the way, thirty minutes out. She watched his reaction. “Sounds like our go-ahead.” Trina spoke clearly, as though they hadn’t just dropped the equivalent of a relationship nuclear bomb between them.

  “It is. Let’s use the next ten m
iles to go over our plan.” Rob started to list various situations, and Trina gave her response in rapid-fire style, the way they’d handled operational preparations in Iraq. It had been highly unusual for Trina as a P-8 pilot to become deeply involved in SEAL ops, but she and Rob had met during a particularly intense op tempo that had required all hands on deck. Meaning she’d caught tiny glimpses into what Rob and his team were facing. They’d never worked this closely together, however.

  “Trina, I’m not happy about both of us going into an op that could turn deadly in a heartbeat. If something happened to both of us, where would that leave Jake?” Rob spoke as though he’d always thought of his son first. A pang deep in her chest threatened to break through Trina’s professional poise.

  “First, we’re going to handle this without any trouble, and if there’s trouble, we’ll deal. Second, I made my brother Jake’s guardian in the event of anything happening to me. Between him and my parents, Jake will want for nothing.”

  “Except for his mother, and now a father he doesn’t even know is alive!”

  “I know it’s been a lot for you to take in, Rob. And I’m sorry about that. But if you can focus on meeting Jake, having the opportunity to know your son, I think you’ll feel a bit better.” She found it so odd to be the one comforting Rob. Usually her brother had to talk her down from worrying too much about Jake. She missed her little boy fiercely. The longest she’d ever had to be away from him was three months, for a short overseas assignment while she was on shore duty. Since she’d been in the US Marshals, they’d only experienced a few weeks of separation here and there.

  “We didn’t have a kid to worry about in the war zone.” Rob was like a guard dog, and he wasn’t letting go of this bone. “How can you work as a US marshal when you have a kid?”