29° (Twenty-Nine Degrees) (Twenty Nine Book 3)

by Nancy Pennick

  “Good to hear. I planned to track him down when I got home. I heard about the STF during a tour overseas and wanted to talk to him about joining the team.”

  “No!” My heart raced. I didn’t want my friend anywhere near Doug.

  “Al, relax! I don’t plan on making the Army my career. I heard it’s a good opportunity, especially if you still want to serve your country.”

  I bit my bottom lip to keep from screaming. “Sure,” I nodded. “I understand.” My office phone rang, interrupting our conversation. I held up my pointer finger at Josh. “Wait?” Then I said, “Hi, Mom.”

  “Did you see your brother on TV? Katrina and Colton joined him on stage after the speech. They look like the all-American family, don’t they? I felt a little sorry for Kimmie standing behind them, looking so forlorn. She probably wishes it was her instead of Katrina by his side.”

  “Mom! I know you’re fond of Kim, but she chose a different path in life and has no regrets.”

  “Well, besides that, the reason I called was to make dinner plans. I want to celebrate Doug’s nomination. I’ll invite Nate’s parents and a few other friends. Make sure you tell Nate and Ashley. Doug said his bus returns tonight. So how about tomorrow?”

  “We’re pretty busy here, Mom.”

  “Please, Allie? Doug’s looking forward to a night of relaxation with friends and family.”

  I bet he is. “If you invite Sean and Kim, I might consider it.”

  “You can invite anyone you want, sweetie! It’s your party, too.”

  “Okay, Mom, plan your party but I won’t be able to stay long. I want you to know up front that people have lots to do and may need to leave early.”

  “That’s fine! Saturday night is a great time for a party, isn’t it?”

  “Make it late afternoon, and you have a deal.” After I ended the conversation, I looked at Josh. “Sorry.”

  “It’s fine. I’m glad some things never change. Your mom was the sweetest, always thinking of others.” He stared at the hat in his hand.

  Is he trying to get invited? “What are you doing tomorrow evening?”

  “I promised to take Chloe to some movie she wanted to see.”

  “You’re still with her?” I hoped I didn’t sound too shocked. Josh had dated her after we broke up sophomore year in high school. “That’s five years.”

  “She’s a great girl, Al. I think I’ll marry her one day.”

  I'd always hated when Josh called me “Al” but I let it go this time. “Bring her over before the movies. Everyone would love to see you. Chloe and I can catch up.”

  * * * *

  “I’m going, no matter what you say, Ash-ley.” I heard Ryan’s voice as I got ready for the party. I rushed through the walk-in closet to the outer hallway, and found them face to face.

  “Tell him, Allie. He can’t go. We’ve come this far without Doug knowing who he is or that he’s here.” Ashley had tears in her eyes.

  I looked into Ryan’s eyes and saw he was beyond upset, he was hurt. “Ash, I think I know a way he can come.” Both of them turned my way and stared at me. “Say Ryan flew out to visit. His parents wanted him to see this part of the country. You took him to some battlefields and Williamsburg while he’s been here. It’s not a lie. You guys did those things.”

  Ashley’s face softened. “I think that might work.” She looked at Ryan. “Let me talk to Nate. I mean your father.”

  “Mom,” Ryan said and wrapped his arms around her. “Sorry for yelling and calling you Ashley.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for.” Ashley wiped a tear from her eye. “Blame the circumstances. Promise me, you’ll be on your best behavior? Don’t give anything away while you’re there.”

  “I’ll talk with Zak, too,” I said. “You never know what he’ll say these days.” I laughed and tried to lighten the moment. “We’re leaving in an hour. Sean’s picking up Kim so it’s best if we go in separate cars.” As I started to walk back to my room, I hesitated. “Oh, and Ryan, you’re just as much family as anyone else, and you had every right to protest.”

  Zak and Lucas were sitting on the bed when I walked into the room. “Well? I know you two heard everything.”

  “You did the right thing.” Lucas nodded. “And this one knows to keep his mouth shut, don’t you, Zak? Because …”

  We said together with a laugh, “Doug’s bad.”

  “Hey, Zak,” Lucas said. “Why don’t you go see what Ryan’s doing? I need to talk to Mommy.” Zak pointed to his ear as he marched out of the room as if to say he’d hear us no matter where we sent him. “That’s my boy.” Lucas called after him and pulled me down next to him. “I hope we know what we’re doing. I don’t like all this personal contact with Doug.”

  He wrapped his arms around me and rolled me on top of him, kissing me the whole time. I felt like a giddy teenager. “I needed to get you alone,” he said between kisses. “If only for a minute.” He placed me on my side, and we faced each other.

  “Lucas, am I getting old?” I asked when we took a breath.

  “Never.” He kissed me again.

  “And you don’t care after this year that I’ll be older than you?”

  He looked into my eyes. “Didn’t we have this conversation before? You’ll be beautiful no matter how old you are. If it bothers you, I’ll have plastic surgery to look older.”

  “Or I can use Oliver’s serum if it ends up working.”

  “I’d never ask you to use it.” Lucas’ face changed to a serious look. “I hope you know that.”

  “It could keep me around longer.” I ran my hand through his dark hair, lifting up the front so I could see his expression.

  “True. So when the time comes, which won’t be for twenty years or so, I hope you’ll consider it ... for that reason only. The longevity part.”

  “I think I will do it, when the time comes. I’ve thought a lot about it since I met Rosanne.” I pulled my body to a sitting position. “Lucas, there’s something else we haven’t considered. Doug can never find out about the serum. He has a one-track mind about the antidote to nuclear weapons right now and is totally distracted by this election. But if he ever found out …”

  Lucas stopped me with a kiss. “He won’t. There’s no way unless there’s a leak at the Montana compound, and I think one spy a century is enough.”

  Lucas referred to Rik, one of Doug’s Niners who'd come back to live at the compound after serving time with the STF. He said he defected, but was really a double agent, and the only other casualty besides Levi during the California bombing. “There’s no way Rik found out about the serum before he died? But, he was at Montana before he transferred to California.”

  “I think we’d know if he was slipping in and out of all the facilities, spying on everyone, but I can’t say for sure. Oliver’s good about security precautions. I don’t think Rik ever went to the bio lab.”

  “Devious and Rik go hand in hand.” I let out a puff of air between my lips. “You’re right, Oliver is super careful. No one knows but us.”

  “Allie, I love you. You have to quit worrying so much. We need to focus on this election. Let’s go to your parents’ house and get the party started.” Lucas pulled me off the bed into his arms. He kissed my cheek then nuzzled my neck. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. It wasn’t the plan.”

  “Lucas,” I took his arms. “There are no plans in life. We have to work with the cards we’re dealt or whatever the saying is!” I laughed. “My dad used it all the time.”

  “Your dad’s a wise man. I’ll grab Zak and meet you in the car.” Lucas smiled. “How did I get so lucky? A beautiful wife and son.” He disappeared into our walk-in closet, giving me time to pull myself together.

  “Keep your enemies closer, Allie.” I told myself as I grabbed my handbag and headed for the door. “And your brother is the biggest one.”

  * * * *

  We stepped inside the house and were instantly greeted by Colton. He dashed
toward me and grabbed me around the legs, squeezing so tightly I almost fell over. I didn’t want to bond with the kid, but he'd latched onto me and I found it hard to ignore him. I tousled his hair as he dropped his hands and stepped back to look up at me. “How you doing, big guy?” I asked.

  “Great!” He placed his hands on his hips, looking over one shoulder, doing his best impression of a Superman pose.

  Doug and Katrina sat on the sofa, holding hands, giving off the appearance of a happily married couple. Randolph stood in his usual corner, wearing a black dress shirt and pants. The mood changed when Sean arrived with Kim on his arm. Surprised how friendly they appeared, I saw that Doug noticed, too. He shifted away from Katrina on the couch.

  The house began to fill with people. Mom rushed from room to room making sure everyone had what they needed. When I was younger, I'd wondered why she put herself through all the torture, but finally decided she enjoyed it.

  Dad carried Zak around most of the night introducing him to neighbors and friends. I felt the pride radiating off him. He sat with Zak in his lap while they ate. “Time for a piece of cake, Zak,” Dad said when they finished. “Grandpa will get you a big piece.”

  “Me, too.” Colton ran to my dad and tried to climb in his lap.

  “Colt, you’re a big boy. You can get your own cake.” Dad gripped Colt’s shoulder to stop him from jumping on him. He stiffened, throwing his head back as his face turned bright red.

  “No!” He screamed so loudly the room went silent.

  “Colton! Come here immediately!” Doug yelled, but didn’t budge from the sofa. “Now!”

  That made Colton scream louder, and I had to step in. “Colton.” He glanced at me between screams. “What if you and I get cake? You can cut your own piece.”

  I held my breath waiting for his response. I wanted to shout at Doug that his child was jealous and needed attention.

  “Okay,” he whispered as he eased away from my father’s grip and took my hand.

  Katrina followed us into the dining room. “I’ll help him.”

  “No!” Colton held up his hand. “Aunt Allie said I could do it.”

  Katrina sneered at me, and I gave her a huge grin. “Make it as big as you want, Colt.” I held my breath as he slid a monster-size piece onto a paper plate. “Good job. I think you need to sit at the kitchen table to eat it.” I carried the plate into the room. Mom was rushing from the sink to the table and back again cleaning the dishes she’d brought with her.

  “Mom, Colt’s going to eat his cake in here with us.”

  “That’s a wonderful idea, Allie. Colt, your aunt takes such good care of you.”

  A pain went through my heart. The kid was getting to me. Suck it up. It’s not why you’re here.

  “Would you help me with the coffee?” Mom asked, her back still turned to the sink.

  “Sure,” Katrina said and stepped forward.

  “I think she meant me.” I stared her down until she left the room.

  “Mom, don’t work so hard.” I patted her back. “I worry about you.”

  She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and pulled me into a hug. “I don’t mind, really. I’m so happy to have you home. It’s nice to have another woman in the house.”

  “Aww, Mom, you’re going to make me cry.”

  “Yuk,” Colton said as he stuffed a piece of cake into his mouth.

  I looked at him, then at Mom, and we began to laugh, the kind of laugh one could only have with someone close. Colt joined in and cake flew out of his mouth, landing everywhere.

  “Colt! You’ll have to clean that up,” I said, and handed him some paper towels.

  He did his best to wipe the table, and smiled up at me with a frosting covered face. “I’m good, right?”

  “Very good, sweetie.” Ooh! I sound like my mom.

  The doorbell rang. Mom looked at me. “I thought everyone was here.”

  “I forgot to tell you I invited Josh Reed. It might be him.” I rushed down the hall to answer the door.

  Josh stood on the other side, in uniform. A girl hung on his arm, one I almost didn’t recognize. “Chloe?”

  “Yep, it’s me, Allie. How are you?” She came in for a hug, and I put my arms around her. We had become casual friends our senior year. I was glad she still felt that way, too.

  “You look good.” I told her. Wait till Ashley sees her. Her bleach blonde hair had been toned down to a golden color, and she wore little make-up, the opposite of her high school self. “Come in.”

  “Is Doug here?” Josh glanced around the room.

  “Over there, on the sofa.”

  When Doug heard his name he rose from his seat. “Josh? Josh Reed?” He stuck out his hand. “Good to see you. I see you took my advice and joined.”

  “I’d like to talk to you about joining the STF when you have time.”

  “Of course, we can talk later. But first, I want to give Allison my present.”

  “Present? I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t need a present.”

  “You deserve it for running my hometown campaign, little sister.” Doug waved his hand in the air. “Could I have everyone’s attention?” The room quieted. “Could you gather round as Allison opens her present?”

  I reached into the bag filled with tissue and pulled out a book, Pop Art of the Sixties.

  “I know how much you love art history and didn’t know if you had anything from that decade. It was a tumultuous time for our country. In art,” Doug said as he stared at me. “And other things.”

  Is that a subtle way of reminding me about the Cuban missile crisis and to think about the consequences?

  “…you know, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns to name a few.” Doug rambled on about artists he knew nothing about. Tobias had met Andy Warhol in LA and two of Warhol’s paintings hung in our museum. Warhol gifted them to Tobias in an act of friendship. He'd helped the man with something, but Tobias was vague on the details.

  “There’s more,” Doug said.

  I fumbled around in the tissue and grasped a hard, cool object. “A compass,” I said as I examined the round metal item.

  “Mom?” Doug looked around until he spotted her. “You’ll like the significance of the compass. It’s so Allison can always find her way home.”

  He’s still talking? I wanted to gag. His speech meant nothing, and I refused to acknowledge him.

  “Thanks, everyone, for coming. As you know, it’s election season so I hope you don’t mind if I excuse myself. There’s so much work to do.” I smiled.

  “Not so fast, little sister,” Doug said with a huge grin on his face, or was it his famous smirk? “I have something for my nephew, too. I never got the chance to give him a birthday gift so I couldn’t resist.” He shot daggers at me as he looked my way.

  “Fine. Then we’re going.” I stared into his calculating eyes. I saw no love or caring in them, just contempt.

  Doug handed my child a wrapped package. Zak ripped into it, and I had to bite my lip to keep from gasping.

  “A chess board and handmade pieces,” Dad said as he turned to Doug. “Don’t you think he’s a little young for that, son?”

  “He’ll grow into it, Pop.”

  Another message. He knew Zak had learned to play chess in one sitting. He hadn’t forgotten Zak was a Niner-squared. Thank goodness I'd brought a present for Colt. I'd seen it in the store and couldn’t resist.

  “Now it’s your turn, Colton.” I ran into the dining room where I'd set the bag and returned, placing it in front of him. “This is for being a good boy during your dad’s campaign.”

  Colt pulled the paper off and screamed in delight. “The car, you found the car.”

  “I hope that’s the one you wanted. You described it pretty well.” I gave him a hug and winked at Zak. He'd found it and insisted it was the right one.

  “I love you, Aunt Allie!” Colton zoomed the car along the hardwood floor.

  “Here! Dad, catch it.” Colton shoved the ca
r toward him.

  “Not now, Colt.” Doug didn’t budge as the car flew past him.

  Sean had been leaning in the doorway with Kim at his side. He bent down, stopped the car and picked it up. “Let’s take this in the kitchen where there’s more room, Mr. Colt, sir.”

  Colton jumped up and grabbed Kim’s hand on the way. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, and I could hardly take a breath. This might be one of the best days of my nephew’s life in terms of love and attention by someone other than his mom. Katrina nudged Doug in the side, and she followed the group into the other room.

  “Lucas,” I said as I walked up to him. “I really do need to go into town. I left my laptop at headquarters. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all. I want to check out the tablets while you’re there.”

  “Good, maybe we can ask Nate to take Zak home with them. Let him play with Colt instead of going with us.”

  We walked into the kitchen to say our goodbyes. Most of the guests had drifted into the room, searching out coffee and after dinner drinks.

  “Does Zak have to leave now?” Colton geared up for a fight when I told him we were leaving.

  “No, he’s staying here and going home with Nate and Ashley,” I answered. “You can have him for a little longer. But when it’s time, you have to let him go and say ‘bye, see you soon’. Can you do that for me?” Colt nodded his little head as he looked up at me with Doug’s blue-gray eyes. The difference between them? His held love and hope.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sean slip by me and go outside with Lucas. “Katrina, Kim, see you tomorrow.” I nodded at them. As I walked out the front door, I spotted Lucas and Sean by the van. “Hey, what are you two doing?”

  “I’m giving Sean the gifts. I don’t trust these presents. He’ll put them in the van, drive Kim home then destroy them.”

  “If possible, don’t destroy them. Doug may ask about them or want to see them. God! What am I saying? Destroy them!” I patted Sean’s arm. “Thanks for being so kind to my nephew.”

  “Not a problem. He’s not a bad kid, likeable in fact. He’s quite a character.” Sean smiled. “Don’t worry about the gifts. I’ll take care of them. If Doug put a tracker on any of them, he’ll end up at that lagoon at the edge of town.” He slapped Lucas on the back as if he told a good joke, then headed back to the house.