by Regan Black
He turned to the refrigerator for another beer. Pulling himself together, he handed her one of the plain cookies she’d added to the plate of ice-cream sandwiches. “Hear these go great with any kind of wine. And chocolate is good for stress.”
Her lips quirked into a faint half smile. “Even when the chocolate is delivered by the source of my stress?”
“Me?” He counted it a victory that she wasn’t trying to toss him out. “I’m not your only source of stress.”
“He has every right to be mad at me,” she murmured, gazing toward the other side of the house and, presumably, Caleb’s bedroom.
“And me,” he insisted.
She shook her head. “You’re the father he’s always wanted. I’m just the mom he’s always known.”
He wanted to soothe her, to gather her close and kiss away every doubt clouding her gorgeous eyes. He wanted to be the man she would let into her life from this moment on. “We don’t know what kind of dad I am.”
“I think we can safely assume you’ll be father of the year,” she murmured.
If she believed that, why had she been so determined to shut him out? “Are you seeing anyone?” he asked.
“No. You?”
“No.” He managed to keep the single syllable under control as relief flooded through him.
She pinned him with a skeptical gaze over the rim of her wine glass. “Then it was work that kept you out so late last night?” She turned toward the family room, turning out the kitchen light. “That doesn’t sound like General Knudson’s style.”
Through the JAG office communications, he’d made sure Bethany was aware of every assignment throughout the course of his career. He hadn’t expected her to know anything about his current boss. “He makes us go out as a group for the football games on Monday nights.”
“Ah.”
That sounded a lot like her “oh” from last night, and it put him on the defensive. He shot a glance down the hallway. “I was late getting home because of a prank when we left the restaurant.” He couldn’t call it an outright attack, not in light of what had happened here. “We had to file a police report. It was a mess.”
“What happened?” The sincere concern shone in her eyes as she tucked her feet under her on the couch.
“A car came screaming through the parking lot and the driver lobbed a baseball into his windshield.” He settled into a low chair, facing her. “It sent us into a protective response, which was probably a good show for anyone in the area.”
“A drive-by with a baseball?” she asked, incredulous.
“Guess so. We didn’t know that was the end of it at the time,” he said, defensive again.
“No, what caught my attention was the similarity of the attack,” she insisted.
She was right. “The driver wasn’t in such a hurry here.” Not until the bullets were fired; then the tires had squealed as the car sped away. “I meant it when I told Caleb I was staying the night,” he stated.
“We’ll all rest easier if you do.” Her lips twitched to the side. She never could lie without that particular tell.
It was nice to see some things didn’t change. “You don’t want me to stay.”
She sighed, rolling her wine glass back and forth between her palms. “It’s a reasonable expectation, especially under the circumstances.”
That much was true. “I want to be a part of his world, Beth.”
“I know.” She reached back and unpinned the braid so it fell over her shoulder. “You should have been long before now.”
Her admission startled him out of a vision of threading his fingers through the silky mass. “How are we going to work it?”
“Day at a time, I guess.” She set the wine glass aside. “Did the two of you make some sort of pact not to tell me how he found you?” Despite the weariness oozing from her every motion, her eyes blazed now.
“No, but maybe we should have.” Once more, he glanced around for a liquor cabinet. A shot of whiskey would make this story easier for him to share. Probably make it easier for her to hear.
“Tell me,” she ordered.
Matt would rather open a vein than add to her worries. He leaned forward, elbows propped on his knees. “He told me he got hints through a social app on his phone. The one where the messages disappear,” he added before she could race to his bedroom and confiscate his device. “Caleb would take the hint and start digging and eventually, he learned I was working at the Pentagon. He planned it well when he came down to confront me.”
Her face had gone pale. “You sent him hints, put all this in motion?”
The accusation was like taking a knife to the gut. “No.” Matt jerked back, palms raised in surrender. “Absolutely not. You know me better than that.”
“Do I?”
“You do.” He struggled to keep his cool and keep his voice low. “From what he told me, the messages came through a couple weeks ago. About the time of the personnel office breach, but before they found it or announced it. I assume whoever bought the compromised information is trying to embarrass me or harass us. I can’t figure out why, though.”
“Or maybe they want to kill you.” She flicked a hand toward the front door. “If I don’t finish the job for them. You brought them here.”
“Bethany, come on, I didn’t put any of this into motion.” Though he’d be hard-pressed to prove he was innocent of instigating Caleb’s search for him. “If I’d wanted to introduce myself, I could have done it a dozen times by now. Legally or by being a jerk and showing up to a game or school event.”
“You’re right. Sorry. I’m just unsettled.”
He wanted to hold her, as a friend, if nothing else, just to reassure them both that they’d get through this. As a family.
“I’d imagined this night going so differently,” she muttered, rubbing at the furrow between her deep golden eyebrows.
“Me too.” He’d been hoping for at least a brief hug as thanks for bringing Caleb home safely. He didn’t need or want a hero’s welcome, just a friendly one.
His fantasy of walking into her open, welcoming arms had begun halfway through his first deployment as his fellow soldiers talked about their family interactions. He’d had vivid dreams about finding her smiling face in the crowd, at the airport, lingering at the edge of the unit picnic. When he’d returned with his unit and their families rushed them as soon as the formation was dismissed, he’d caught himself looking for her. It had been ridiculous and illogical, yet he couldn’t seem to stop.
What would she do if he told her all of that now? He knew the answer. Despite any potential mutual attraction, the ever-practical Bethany would focus on problem-solving and keeping Caleb safe. Giving himself a mental shake, he dragged his thoughts back to the present. “What did your supervisor say when you showed him the letter you got last night?”
She blinked rapidly, as if she too had been lost in thoughts of what might have been. “Not a lot he could say. We turned it all over to the security team. I’ve been wondering how exposing my financials turns into a drive-by, and I keep coming up empty.”
“There’s no logic to it. Someone is jerking us around.” Matt pushed himself out of the chair and started to pace the width of her family room. All the curtains had been drawn and he felt cocooned, but not in a good way.
“Manipulating Caleb to find me, threatening you outright.”
“Hardly a threat,” she said. “Whatever it looked like on paper, you know it wouldn’t have been a real problem.”
“I’m not sure which matters more, the threat or the outcome,” he admitted. “You and Caleb were approached directly. Whoever did that left me out of it...” His voice trailed off while he struggled to contain his temper. “Unless that dumb baseball was meant for me instead of General Knudson.” The possibility hadn’t occurred to him until the words left his mouth.
“But why?” she asked.
“We’re all in one place. All three of us scared and distracted by what couldn’t have be
en a random crime. When I picked up Caleb at Union Station, I felt like we were being followed, but I couldn’t prove it.”
“Why?” she asked again, coming to her feet, as well. “Who would care about the three of us enough to go to this much trouble?”
“No idea. Have you been seeing anyone new?” She shook her head. “Working on any sensitive contracts or audits?”
“No.” She stepped closer. “Matt, you’re scaring me.”
Her scent enveloped him, stirring more sweet memories. This wasn’t the time. “Has anything changed with Caleb? Friends, teachers, coaches?”
“Nothing like that,” she replied. “What are you thinking?”
“We’ve been pushed together, according to someone’s agenda, and I don’t really want to sit around and wait for that someone to make the next move.”
“What do we do?”
“Whoever took those shots at us when we arrived had either been waiting or followed us,” he said, thinking out loud. “I didn’t see any kind of a tail, and I was watching.”
She gestured for him to continue. “The police told me they found a couple of nine-millimeter slugs and casings outside. Not the most effective weapon for a drive-by scenario.”
“Shouldn’t we be thankful for that?”
“Yes. We should also be on the lookout for more serious trouble until we know who’s behind this and what they really want.”
She sat back into the arm of the couch as though her knees had given out. “You really get all that from a vague threat and the messages Caleb received?”
“If the baseball was for me instead of the general, that’s all three of us being harassed in one form or another and now we’re all together, under the same roof.”
“Who would want that?”
He did, but not for criminal reasons. “I don’t know, but considering our past as a couple and our present careers, I think it’s time to get the Army involved with an official investigation.” He rubbed at the tension in his neck. “And I thought telling my mom would be the worst part of the breach.”
“Still might be.” She smiled up at him. “How are your parents doing?”
That smile created a strange ripple of hope around his heart. “Great. Dad retired a couple months ago. They built a house on the beach down in North Carolina and they take the boat out every chance they get.”
“Will they make demands when they hear about Caleb?”
“They’ll definitely want to meet him,” Matt replied. “If you’ll allow it.”
Her gaze fell, but she nodded.
“Would it be easier if I called them now? I’ll put it on speaker and you can hear Mom rip into me,” he offered.
“That is tempting.”
He pulled out his phone, determined to show her he meant it. When she saw the time display, she stopped him with a touch before he could dial.
“If you call now, she’ll think it’s an emergency.”
“Right.” He was already bucking for worst son of the decade, so why compound it by adding even one moment of unnecessary worry? “Tomorrow then?”
“Over breakfast,” she suggested with a chuckle.
“What time do you head to the office?”
“Normally I leave right after Caleb catches the bus. I knew about his suspension before I left the office today, so they’re expecting me to work from home.”
That actually worked better for him. He’d been wrestling with the best way to convince her that they should stick together until they had more information. “Caleb said his fall break is next week.”
She nodded. “They’re out starting this Friday.”
“And he’s suspended tomorrow and Thursday.”
“That’s right.” She sipped her wine.
“So there’s no reason you can’t come stay with me in Washington for a few days.”
Carefully, she set her wine aside again. “No.”
“Good,” he said, deliberately misinterpreting her answer.
“No, Matt. I mean we’re not doing that.” Her eyes wide, she seemed on the verge of panic. She hadn’t shown this much when the bullets were flying.
He crossed the room and, contrary to all of her signals and his common sense, he drew her into his arms. She resisted, her body stiff, her hands curled into fists trapped between his chest and hers. He didn’t let go, just swayed a little. On a shuddering breath, she melted into him, her palms relaxing, smoothing over his chest and slipping around his waist until she was holding on to him.
This. Her. He’d missed this comfort and warmth since she walked out of his life, pregnant with his child. “I’ve missed you,” he said, pressing a light kiss to her hair, breathing her in.
She popped out of his embrace as if he’d scorched her. “We can’t go to DC.”
He didn’t like the finality in her tone. “We sure can’t stay here like a flock of sitting ducks.” He shoved his hands into his pockets before he reached for her again.
“If we go hang out with you, it will feel like a reward to Caleb.” She plucked up her glass and his bottle and retreated to the kitchen. “The time you had today was reward enough for his outrageous behavior.”
He stalked after her. “Better that than risking more injury when I’m three hours away.”
She spun back to face him. “We have managed just fine so far. No one ever fired a gun at us until you showed up.”
The jab found its mark and left him reeling. It must have showed on his face, because she immediately apologized.
“Don’t.” He waved it off. It was a logical train of thought that originated with him—the breach, the threat, the drive-by. “You have every right to be upset.” He could handle her anger, even be the scapegoat she needed, as long as he let her take point on their safety.
Besides, he didn’t want her apologies; he wanted to claim his family. Couldn’t she see how good things could be for all of them if she’d just bend an inch? Of course not. It wasn’t her job to bend, he reminded himself. It was his job to provide. Maybe he really was mired in the past, while she’d successfully moved on.
Frustrated, knowing this wouldn’t get resolved tonight, while they were both so raw, he stalked through the parts of the house he’d seen and checked the doors. Back in the dining room, he nudged the curtain back just enough to verify the police were still there. “Any other exits?” he asked, returning to the kitchen.
She shook her head.
“Good night, then.” He walked over and stretched out on the couch.
“We have a guest room.”
“Good to know. This is fine.” This was better. The cops might have the place covered outside, but he intended to plant himself firmly between any threat and his family.
“Matt?”
He opened his eyes to find her watching him from the hallway. “Go to bed, Bethany.”
“Why didn’t you ever get married?”
He should tell her the truth. She was the only one he wanted to build a life with. He would have confessed if he hadn’t been so tired. Instead he gave her an answer she expected, one that worked best for the current quagmire that was his personal life. “Guess I just never found enough time. What about you?”
“The same,” she said, her lips giving away the lie.
“Get some rest,” he suggested, closing his eyes again.
He waited until he heard her soft footsteps moving down the hallway. He waited another twenty minutes after that. Then he started sending text messages to a friend in the Pentagon who might be able to commandeer surveillance feeds and closed-circuit cameras in this area to give them a better lead on the shooter. The local police would be doing the same thing through their sources, but he didn’t care. His friend would be faster and would share the results right away.
Despite taking every possible proactive measure, Matt had trouble falling asleep. It wasn’t the furniture or the circumstance. It was the awareness that Bethany was just down the hall and still maddeningly out of his reach.
Ch
apter 4
Bethany had expected Caleb to sulk when she woke him at the normal time, greeting him with a kiss and a list of chores to fill the next two days. She reminded herself she was grateful he’d stayed in his room and was still speaking to her.
She hadn’t expected to find Matt in a similar mood.
Oh, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, she thought, watching the man glare at her kitchen countertops. His feet were bare and his hair was damp from a shower. She marveled that, on him, the wrinkled khakis and T-shirt the paramedics had given him somehow looked stylish.
“What is it you need?” she asked from the opposite side of the island.
“Coffee.”
Mentally, she cringed. As a tea drinker, she didn’t stock coffee. It was the one thing she hadn’t thought of at the store. Because she hadn’t thought he’d stay over. Cautiously, she approached him and opened the drawer where she kept the pods for her brewer. “I have black tea.”
He glared at the pods in the drawer. “Tea is not coffee.” He put a bite into each word.
Poor man. Unable to resist, she rubbed his shoulder. “I’ll go out and—”
“No.” He sidestepped away from her touch. “Thank you.” He gave her a patently false smile. “Tea works.”
She couldn’t let him break the news to his mom about having a son without the buffer of his morning coffee. “Hold on.” She sent a text message to her next-door neighbor and received an immediate reply. Less than five minutes later, she heard the knock on the back door.
She went to answer it, Matt’s clean-soap scent shadowing her as he followed. When she reached to turn the deadbolt, Matt slapped a hand against the door. “Ask who it is.”
She stared up at him, trying to ignore the appeal of his sculpted arm. “It’s Tina, with coffee for you.”
Matt didn’t move. “Ask anyway.”
“Who is it?”
“Tina. I have the coffee pods for you, Ms. Trent.”
She unlocked the door in a rush, smiling through gritted teeth as she struggled to open the door wider against Matt’s stubborn weight. “Thank you.” She took the small sack of coffee pods.
“Is Caleb okay?” Tina was in a few of Caleb’s classes at school. “I heard he, um, skipped yesterday.”
