by Regan Black
“What do you want?” Matt demanded, his face tipped up toward the speaker. “Who are you?”
“I have all I want. Dinner and a show. Now, don’t disappoint, Daddy.”
Matt swore as he looked around the tiny cabin. He called to Alex, heard only static in return. Something jammed the communications. He pulled Bethany and Caleb down low, under the building smoke. “We’re getting out of here,” he promised. He pulled the pistol from his holster.
“What are you doing?” Bethany gaped at him.
“Creating a vent.” The smoke would kill them if he didn’t. He raised the gun to the ceiling and pulled the trigger several times. It wasn’t perfect, but it seemed to help alleviate the worst of the choking smoke.
Pounding sounded at the door and Alex called out to them. Matt rushed forward. “He says the door is wired to blow.”
Alex swore. “Next option?”
Matt pulled the collar of his T-shirt up over his nose, encouraged his son and Bethany to do the same. The temperature was rising as the flames had caught all along the walls. He had to hope this bastard had overlooked something.
“Any windows or a back door?” Matt asked, the smoke making his voice harsh.
Caleb shook his head. “Just a vent in the bathroom.”
A bathroom gave him hope for running water, until the three of them were crammed into a space barely big enough for one and he realized the well must have been disabled.
This time Bethany was the one cursing.
He used the butt of his pistol to break out the small vent window. Alex joined him on the other side, with more bad news.
“This was the only trap. Explosives are wired all the way through. If we breach, the place goes up faster.”
“And if we don’t?”
“The fire will do it for us. Eventually. Fire department might get here in time to save a big forest burn. I’ve got a guy working on the well.”
Matt looked around the bathroom, swiping away the tears tracking down his face. Smoke and desperation had reduced him to this. Well, smoke and desperation and a madman. “Either guy outside have a helpful suggestion?”
“No. Grunts,” Alex said. “They did flip on the man who hired them.”
With that kind of good news, Matt wasn’t going to give in. He wanted to see the man’s eyes when all three of them walked out of here alive. “We’re coming out through this window,” he decided. “We’ll open up the wall, mindful of the explosives.”
A slow grin crossed Alex’s lean face. “I’m in.”
“Don’t let the muscle know what we’re up to,” Matt said. “They might be wired.”
Alex jogged off to look for something to cut away the exterior wall, while Matt ripped out the window frame with his bare hands, and then dug into the thin layer of drywall, revealing the frame construction.
He kicked at the framing under the window. There was hardly enough room to maneuver, but he couldn’t bear to send Caleb or Bethany out into the main room in the middle of that fire, in view of that camera.
The two of them huddled in the shower stall while he alternated between heavy kicks and throwing his shoulder into the framing. The wall started to give and a spark in the corner told him the fire had reached the next fuse in the chain.
On a roar of frustration, Matt kicked out again and a center section of framing cracked and gave way.
“Out.” He grabbed Bethany, kissed her forehead and helped her through the opening. Then she was outside, coughing and sputtering, beckoning to Caleb.
A sickening sizzle and crack drew Matt’s gaze upward. He’d tripped another string of explosives. The ceiling over the bathroom caught fire and flaming debris rained down on his head.
Matt covered Caleb with his body and shoved him toward the narrow opening. The kid was through, his hoodie torn by the broken framing before he was caught up in Bethany’s embrace.
Now he could rest easy. He would’ve taken a deep breath if it had been possible.
The fire beat at his back and he knew the odds were slim that he could break through the wall without tripping another explosive wire.
“Come on,” Bethany shouted. “Now, Matt!”
“Get them clear,” he said, although Alex was already moving her back, understanding. His friend had been in enough tight spots to recognize the risks here. Alex gave him a thumbs-up and Matt charged through just as an explosion popped what remained of the cabin right off its footings.
Matt, already airborne, was propelled further still by the blast. Landing hard, the wind knocked out of him, he slipped and rolled until a tree in the back halted his momentum. Bethany reached him first, her hands fluttering over his face, brushing dust and who knew what away from his face.
“Matt? Matt!”
“I’m fine,” he rasped. He reached up to reassure Caleb, but his arm fell back weakly. “Just give me a minute.” Alex stepped into his line of sight and Matt knew his family was safe at last. He let the blackness take him.
* * *
“Matt!” Bethany wailed when Matt’s eyelids drifted closed. Her hand throbbed and her soul felt completely wrecked. “Wake up, Matt. We need you.” Beside her, Caleb sobbed, clutching his father’s hand.
“Easy, now,” Alex said. “He’s not dead.”
Bethany saw him press his fingers to Matt’s neck to be sure. “Pulse is strong,” he said. “He’s just worn out. It happens.” He smiled, and the flash of white teeth in his camouflaged face had a gruesome effect. “Let them get him moved. It’s all good now.”
She turned to see an ambulance had made it out here, and between the paramedics and Alex, they eventually convinced her he would live.
She clung to Caleb, unable to let him wander more than a few feet from her side while Alex arranged for them to get out of the forest.
They were met at the hospital by more uniformed Military and the investigators, too. She and Caleb gave their statements, a doctor treated her hand, along with their scrapes and burns, and through it all they waited for good news on Matt’s condition.
General and Mrs. Riley had been flown in and the four of them sat together, helpless, in the charged silence.
“Hey, General?” Caleb began. “Pop,” he corrected himself at the raised eyebrow. “The guy on the speaker said you would get a show. Did you see anything from the cabin?”
Ben nodded, his face pale and grim. “It showed up on my cell phone as a link from the moment you two were tossed inside.”
Caleb swallowed. “I shoulda done something.”
“Come here.” Ben raised his arm and Caleb changed seats to sit by him, letting himself be comforted. “You did all you could,” he said. “You kept your cool with the cell phone. Huge help there.” He rubbed Caleb’s shoulders. “Everyone gets into a jam now and then and has to rely on someone else. You listened to your mom, helped your dad when it mattered most. Be proud of that.”
“Same goes,” Patricia said, joining Bethany at the bank of windows. “You’re a remarkable, strong woman and you’ve raised a fine young man.”
Bethany felt weak as a kitten right now. “Thank you.” At Patricia’s touch, she turned and let the older woman hold her. “I wanted to marry your son,” she confessed. “I’ve wasted so much time, convinced he’d come to resent me.”
“Marriage is scary, sweetheart,” Patricia said, smoothing her hair. “It takes a strong woman to nurture love in a child, to grow in love with a husband. There are no guarantees, no matter what we choose in life.” She cupped Bethany’s cheeks, love shining in eyes so like Matt’s. “When you find someone who makes you stronger still, stronger than you are alone, that’s a man who is worth taking the chance on.”
Bethany nodded, understanding. “I’d say yes. Assuming he asks again.”
“We should ask him, Mom,” Caleb said, stretching his arms around them and making i
t a group hug.
The idea sounded absurd. Then Patricia beamed and Ben laughed and Bethany knew it would be absurdly perfect.
* * *
If he looked at the recording of the scene at the cabin, he would lose his temper. He filed it away for evaluation at a later date.
There was a more pressing decision to make. He studied the arrest record and weighed his options. His personal recruits understood the price of failure and the penalty for getting caught. According to his sources, the men who’d been arrested at the cabin didn’t have names or information that could give the authorities any valid leads, but it was too early in the game to take any unnecessary chances.
Picking up the phone, he gave the execution order. Everyone was expendable, a simple truth of war. In his place, General Riley would have made the same decision. They were more alike than anyone would ever suspect.
Although he wasn’t happy to lose this first skirmish, he’d allowed for setbacks in his overall plan. Matt might be the prized heir apparent, but he was hardly the only person General Riley cared for.
Killing the firstborn, even the first grandchild, would have sent a clear and profound message. He regretted that it hadn’t worked out. The plans had been so perfect. There were definitely positive takeaways from this first exercise that would improve their next attempt. He had a better idea of how the family would rally and the long-reaching favors they could call in.
Moving from his desk to the window, he stroked his beard, thinking and anticipating, heedless of the puffy clouds moving across the clear blue expanse of the sky. The chess-match challenge was a key part of the appeal of this payback.
Yes, there would be another opportunity, another opening. Already he had scouts in place, gathering intel so he could make his next plan.
Everything he was now, he could trace back to the tutelage of his superior officers, those who’d been good and those who’d been dreadful.
If his brief tenure under Riley’s command taught him anything, it was tenacity and how to look beyond the obvious for a workable solution.
This dance was far from over.
Chapter 14
In his uniform, Matt looked around, studying DC like a tourist rather than a current resident. It wasn’t New Jersey, nothing familiar here for his son. He could commute, at least through the current school year, if not longer. Once his post at the Pentagon wrapped up next year, he’d be tapped to command a battalion in another location. In that post, he’d be stationed long enough to get Caleb through high school. Assuming this went as he hoped. Life with a career Army officer wasn’t the typical family stability Bethany had always insisted on for their son.
Then again, they weren’t the typical family unit.
This was a fool’s errand, he thought, his hand closing around the small velvet box in his pocket. He’d circled around it all night long and couldn’t give her any logical reason to tie her life to his.
He loved her. He believed her when she’d said she loved him too, though she’d only offered those words when she thought he’d been sleeping. Love hadn’t been enough when they’d been young and overwhelmed by the surprise pregnancy. Now, he wouldn’t live without them. If it came down to it, he’d resign his commission and find another career. If she could take that kind of chance, so could he.
“One way to find out,” he muttered to himself. Digging deep for courage, he walked into her hotel. He hadn’t seen her since they’d discharged him from the hospital. He’d wanted to give her some distance, a few normal days, while he dealt with the multiple debriefings and the ongoing hunt for the true mastermind behind their ordeal. Although the two men they’d taken into custody had been killed in jail, the methods used at the cabin gave them significant intel and they were winnowing the suspect list. Investigators were confident they would soon have a name.
Matt had spoken with Bethany and Caleb every day, chatting about adventures, discussing the case and precautions, and how to start blending together as a family. Last night they agreed to meet for breakfast at the hotel before she and Caleb headed home later today.
Home. He wanted that to mean something other than him in one place and his heart in another.
He spotted them at a corner table, light spilling in from the windows, turning Bethany’s hair to spun gold. She had it pulled back in a sleek, simple ponytail, but he remembered the silk of it against his chest, the citrus fragrance lingering in the air. Caleb waved and Bethany turned, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.
Good sign or bad? For a man who’d been good at reading both allies and enemies through the years, Matt was at a loss to pin down that particular expression.
The waiter brought him coffee and the three of them made the most of the buffet. Twice, while Caleb was up getting more pancakes, Matt started to propose. Twice he chickened out. This was all wrong, as far from romantic as possible, and yet his question would affect them both. If he’d learned anything in the recent chaos, it was that Bethany and Caleb were a team. He loved that about them and hoped they’d let him join.
The waiter cleared Bethany’s plate and refilled Matt’s coffee. Bethany glanced toward Caleb at the buffet and with a resigned look asked for more hot water for another cup of tea.
“I’m glad—” He stopped short since Bethany had also spoken. “Go ahead.”
Her smile wobbled. “I just wanted to say I’m glad your family knows about...us.”
Matt felt a pinch behind his sternum, knowing that “us” didn’t include him. Yet.
“Mom reached out again already?”
Bethany fiddled with her hot water and tea, her fingers trembling. “She invited us to Christmas,” she said as Caleb returned to the table.
“We’re going, right?” His eyes danced with anticipation. “They said they’d teach me everything about the boat.”
Bethany gave Matt a helpless glance. “I know you have a life,” she began.
He cut her off this time. “I have a career. You and Caleb are my life.”
Caleb’s jaw sagged and the huge chunk of pancake headed toward his mouth returned to the plate with a clatter. He shot a look at his mom.
“Just because I couldn’t be around didn’t mean you weren’t on my mind every day,” he assured his son. He set the velvet box in front of Bethany. “I’m going to ask you a question and you can take all the time you need before you answer. I’ll even let you discuss it privately.”
As he opened the box, he noticed matching shocked expressions as mother and son stared at the square-cut diamond surrounded by smaller citrine stones in a platinum setting.
“Matt...”
“Let me ask first.” He wouldn’t let her turn him down before he’d even voiced the question. “I love you both so much. Always have. Bethany, will you marry me? Will you let me be your husband and,” he turned to Caleb, “let me become your dad, day by day?”
When she started to answer, he pushed back his chair from the table. “Talk it out. Whatever you decide, I’ll never stop loving either of you.”
“Matt, you don’t have to leave.” Bethany stopped him with a feathery touch of her fingers to his forearm. Her gaze caught Caleb’s. “We already know our answer, right?”
Caleb swallowed hard, but he nodded. When he met Matt’s gaze, his eyes were bright. “When you were in the hospital, I told her we should ask you.”
Hope flared, wild and raw, in his chest. “Is that right?”
Bethany reached into her purse and pulled out a small box. “The concierge helped me out. And your mom.”
Though Matt wasn’t sure of anything after that comment, he opened the box. Inside were two rings. Both simple circlets, one black silicone, the other polished titanium.
“Caleb thought you’d appreciate having something to wear during field exercises. I wanted you to have something more elegant or, ah, striking for formal occasions.”
“To start,” she agreed with a smile. “Your mom gave me your probable ring size,” she said, answering the question he hadn’t yet asked.
They read each other so well, as they had from practically their first date.
“We can make exchanges, obviously,” she said. “If you want something different.”
“This, from the two of you, is exactly what I want.” He nudged the box with her ring just a little closer, prompting her. “How about you?”
She held out her left hand and he slipped the ring over her slender finger, where it seemed to be a perfect fit. “It’s gorgeous.” The ring sent sunlight bouncing around the table as she turned it back and forth. “These yellow stones are your birthstone, Caleb,” she said, showing him.
“Really?”
Matt and Bethany nodded in tandem. Happy as he was, there were other details he knew needed to be addressed. “I know we’ll all be making adjustments,” he said.
“Mom said being your family means we have to move,” Caleb said. “I told her it would be worth it.”
Just when Matt thought he couldn’t get any happier, one of them did something more to prove him wrong. “There’s less upheaval lately. At least the Army is trying to minimize it.”
“You thought of retiring,” Bethany murmured. He nodded. “Neither one of us wants that for you or for us.”
He’d walked in here ready and willing to give up his career, to find another option, whatever it would take to make Bethany and Caleb happy.
“Well, I’m here in DC for one more year. Then I’ll have my own command for a few years. Not sure where that will be, but we’ll have some choice in where we want to go, and what you need. We’ll need to keep in mind where your mom wants to work, too.”
“Like a family,” Caleb said decisively.
No sweeter words had ever landed on Matt’s ears until Bethany said the three words he’d been aching for.
“I love you,” Bethany said, her voice strong and clear. Helpless against the surge of emotion, he leaned in and kissed her soundly.
