BELONGING: Hope, Truth And Malice (Beauty 0f Life Book 3)

by Laura Acton

  Scott clenched his fists as rage built inside him. Toronto. Dan had been in Toronto all this time? Only four hours away. Uncle Will was going to pay for this. This was beyond comprehension.

  He knew about the TRF. Uncle Will’s oldest friend was Commander Gambrill of the Toronto Tactical Response Force and Gambrill was Dan’s godfather. Uncle Will had been hiding Dan in plain sight. Hell’s bells, damn him! How could Uncle Will do this to them? To Dan?

  Getting ahold of his fury when he saw the Master Seaman step back, Scott said, “That’ll be all for now. Thank you for the information on my cousin.” Then rational thought entered. Uncle Will must have a good reason to have Dan on blackout protocol. He knew that Uncle Will loved Dan.

  There had to be a good reason for Uncle Will to keep the family in the dark. Maybe it had to do with Pletcher. The man had tried to kill Becca and was still on the loose. Aunt Yvonne and Becca were currently in an unknown safe location. His mom, Ann, was beside herself with worry for her identical twin sister and her niece. Perhaps Uncle Will was trying to protect Dan, too.

  With that thought, Scott added, “Please, do me a favor and keep anything you know regarding my cousin to yourself. It could be a matter of his safety.”

  Seeing the fury dissipate, Marquise relaxed a bit, but not entirely. “Sure, no problem.”

  Hearing the unsureness in the Master Seaman’s voice, Scott got ahold of his emotions, shoved them down, and stated, “Sorry for my display of anger.” Then he deflected with humor as he chuckled, “Little cousins don’t always share things they should.”

  Marquise smiled. “Family. Hard to live with them—impossible to live without them. I’ve been known to keep things from my elder brothers. They can be a pain in the ass when they go all protective.”

  Scott actually smiled. “Yeah, I hear you. My little brother Kyle and younger cousins can be trying. Very trying. Being an elder comes with certain responsibilities, ones the youngers don’t always get.”

  “True.” Marquise understood well what Scott was saying. He added, “But we youngers are more capable than we’re given credit for. And we appreciate our elders—just not so much the lectures when we’ve done something stupid—especially when we already know it was stupid.”

  That made Scott chuckle. “Thanks again for your information, on the issue and on my cousin. If you’re not put off by my show of temper, I’ll start the paperwork to get you transferred.” Scott rounded his desk and approached Marquise.

  A genuine smile came to Marquise’s face as he stuck out his hand to shake the Lieutenant’s outstretched hand. “I look forward to it, Sir.”

  After they shook hands and the Master Seaman left, Scott pulled out his phone. It was time to call his dad. He now knew where Dan was and it was time to get answers from Uncle Will. But that would best be left to his father and uncles. They were the only ones that Uncle Will would listen to. And if he wasn’t forthcoming with information, Scott knew his dad, Uncle Mark, and Uncle Ryan would find a way to get it out of him, even if they had to fly to Afghanistan and beat it out of him.

  Ottawa – Captain Erik Broderick’s Home – 6:25 a.m.

  Erik Broderick hung up the phone after speaking with his eldest son Scott. He began pacing when Scott told him what he’d learned about Dan. Erik was fighting the rage that was building in him. He was thoroughly pissed at his eldest brother. William could be so misguided when it came to Dan. His heart was in the right place, but his execution sucked so badly that it was disastrous at times.

  He had to agree with Scott though, there might be a reason for William to place Dan on blackout protocol … but if Dan was in Toronto and on the police force, he was wide open. What was William thinking?

  Ann Broderick poked her head into her husband’s study. “Everything alright, Erik?”

  Blowing out a frustrated breath, Erik opened his arms in invitation. Ann moved forward, clasped her arms around his waist, and held tight. Erik wrapped his arms around Ann and pulled her close. What could he tell her?

  She tilted her head up. “That bad, huh?”

  Erik snorted. “Never could get anything past you. It’s not good. I need to call Will.”

  Ann tensed. “Are Yvonne and Becca okay?”

  Looking down into the green of his beautiful wife’s eyes, Erik saw so much concern. He kissed her forehead. “Our girls are okay. It’s about Danny.”

  “Danny? What, what is it? Is he okay? Tell me he’s okay. Please.” Ann’s eyes shone with real concern.

  “Yes, I believe he’s okay.”

  “What do you mean you believe he’s okay?”

  Erik pulled Ann close again and stared at the wall of books across the room. Seeing the worry in Ann’s eyes tugged at his heartstrings. “Just that. Scott may have found out where he is. I need to talk to Will. My brother has a lot to explain if Danny is where I think he is at.”

  Ann sighed into Erik’s chest. “Don’t tell me William messed up again.”

  “Highly likely.” Erik drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “I should’ve decked Will after the Tarzan incident when Danny was seven. Maybe he would’ve learned. Maybe things would’ve been different.”

  Reaching up to caress the side of Erik’s face, Ann said softly, “His heart is in the right place. He loves that boy more than his own life. He’d take a bullet for him without blinking. Try to keep that in mind when you call him.”

  Erik glanced down. “I’ll try. But it has been one disastrous decision after another with Will. He just doesn’t get that Danny isn’t him. Danny has a lot of Yvonne in him even though he looks so much like William. Will thinks he knows best and has screwed up so many times when it comes to Danny.”

  Ann could sense that Erik was trying to contain his rage and his concern for Dan. Erik had a tell—he tended to refer to Dan as Danny when he was really concerned. Ann kept that knowledge to herself. Erik was a hard man to read sometimes, just like all the Broderick men. They hid their softer sides from the world and sometimes that spilled over into family time, too.

  Although the hardest Broderick male to read was General William Arthur Broderick. Her twin sister’s husband could clamp down and hide all emotion. If she didn’t know him as well as she did, she’d think he hated Dan.

  The actions he took in the name of love and protection backfired so often it wasn’t funny. Her sister Yvonne had tried, tried so hard, to get William to change his ways with regard to Dan when Danny was just a boy. But she hadn’t been successful and more pain ensued for Yvonne, William, Dan, and to some extent Becca. Mostly Dan though. That young man needed his family in the worst way. His estrangement from the entire family was a source of pain for all of them. Especially her son Scott, who’d had such a close relationship with Danny when he was little.

  Pulling back slightly, Ann said, “I’ll go make you some coffee while you call Will. It’s what, about three o’clock in the afternoon in Afghanistan right now?”

  Erik nodded. “Yeah, about that time.”

  Ann walked to the door to give Erik the privacy he needed to call Will. The brothers were close-knit, and when their careers prevented them from communicating pertinent details about family, it stressed them all. The years that Dan was in Special Forces had been the most stressful. They had so little information on Dan over the years and then nothing for the past four. Not one card, one letter, phone call, email, or visit. It was like Danny dropped off the face of the earth. Maybe that would change now. Maybe.

  Chapter Five

  July 15

  Afghanistan – Outside General Broderick’s Office – 3:10 p.m.

  Corporal Cody Merrill exited the General’s office. He needed to let Major Plouffe know that the General was starting to ask questions— questions that if he got the answers to would spell disaster for both of them. Cody was fairly certain that no answers would ever be found, though.

  He’d been extremely careful in everything he did over the years. And this past year had been a complete relief. He’
d had nothing to cover up or supplant to keep the General from finding out what Plouffe was doing to Dan. But that hadn’t meant the Major didn’t call on his other services.

  The Major required him to take a bobble head in January when he was in Vancouver with the General. Cody smiled. Well, it wasn’t all bad. He’d been paid handsomely for that bobble head and it was an easy shot.

  Cody sat down, looked at the phone, and wished Plouffe was here now so he could just walk over and tell him, but he was in Ottawa at the moment. He’d have to wait until it was safe to call, but it would have to be soon.

  Afghanistan –General Broderick’s Office – 3:10 p.m.

  The door closed to his office and General William Broderick leaned back in his chair. This whole business with Pletcher was weighing heavily on him. The man had nearly killed Becca. Only Becca’s quick thinking got her out alive. That and the fact that Drake and Jack had been tailing them in France.

  He was upset that Pletcher managed to get away, but Drake and Jack did the right thing. Becca’s life was more important than catching Pletcher at that moment. When Mike reported to him that Becca had actually jumped from the speeding vehicle and rolled, nearly going off the cliff, his heart had stopped cold for several beats.

  Not only was it images of his girl nearly dying, it brought back twenty-seven-year-old memories of that same stretch of road in France. Becca leapt out in nearly the same place that Colonel Grasett and Lieutenant Colonel Elkins were killed and he himself nearly died, too. Luckily, Becca only ended up with a broken wrist, some cuts, and a whole lot of bruises. He’d nearly cried in front of the men when he reached her hospital room in France.

  His beautiful daughter, who looked so much like her mother, with the exception of the color of her eyes. Becca had the Broderick sapphire blue instead of the Loving emerald green. She had been so battered, it took everything he had to stop the tears from entering his eyes. He’d gruffly ordered the men out and then gently embraced his daughter as she sobbed.

  Becca had cried herself to sleep that day. William couldn’t bring himself to let her go for hours. He cradled his little girl—who wasn’t so little now—in his arms. It brought back so many painful memories. He already bore a pain that no parent should. He’d lost little Sara.

  He’d also lost his son that day. Sara’s death took all the light from Daniel and nothing William or the rest of the family tried over the years ever brought it back. It took an outsider to bring back the light to his son—Brody Hunter. But now Brody was gone, and so too the light from Daniel. William still feared he would lose Daniel completely.

  William raked his fingers roughly through his military-cropped, blond hair. He growled in frustration. He wanted Pletcher found and dealt with so his wife and daughter could come out of hiding. He worried that the situation was putting undue stress on Yvonne’s health because of her Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. CFS is a frustrating, debilitating, and difficult disease to diagnose. It took years to diagnose and they had to deal with some doctors—assholes—who suggested it was all in Yvonne’s head. Finally, they found Dr. Wentzel who recognized Yvonne’s symptoms and knew CFS was real a physical condition not a mental condition and devised a treatment program.

  Sometimes William wondered why Yvonne had it and her identical twin sister Ann didn’t. Not that he wanted Ann to have it. Ann had been an invaluable help to Yvonne over the years. Dr. Wentzel explained that even though they were identical at birth, each was an individual and they lived different lives. They traveled to different countries, locales, were exposed to different experiences, stressors, etc. He said that anything could happen that could trigger a cellular difference in twins.

  William needed Yvonne to be free of the safe house. He needed her help with Daniel. Daniel refused to answer his calls. He’d left a few disjointed voicemails about the letters, but he never got the words out in the right order.

  The day he’d called Daniel to tell him about the letters, he’d screwed up the words again. He should’ve started with ‘Someone stole your letters, but I’m investigating the reason’. If he had started that way, then Daniel wouldn’t have jumped to the wrong conclusion.

  He was always saying the wrong thing with the best intentions. It boggled his own mind how he could be so eloquent, clear, and persuasive in all his military dealings, yet so screwed up when he talked to his own son. Guilt for all the wrong choices he’d made in relation to Daniel weighed heavily on his shoulders and in his heart.

  William wanted to wrap Daniel in his arms, take the pain away, and tell him he was loved and had always been loved. But he couldn’t do that. Daniel wouldn’t accept that from him. Every overture of concern was rebuffed. That had been excruciating when Daniel was a boy. Daniel had refused to allow William to hold and comfort him when he was hurt or sad.

  He knew he’d messed up so many times over the years. Many people had tried to tell him, but he’d been too stubborn to listen before it was too late. He had ruined the father-son relationship so early on. All that had been left was a general-soldier one and William regretted that with every fiber of his being.

  William lifted his head and looked at the only photo he kept on his desk. It was from Christmas twenty-two years ago, memories of which he cherished. He was holding baby Becca and sitting next to him was Yvonne. She had four-year-old Sara on her lap. Six-year-old Daniel sat between them. They were all smiling. This was his family when they were all happy. That had been the last Christmas that Daniel had ever called him Dad.

  How Daniel ever thought that they had wished him dead instead of Sara and that they blamed Daniel for Sara’s death, was still a puzzle to William. He was aware of part of the reason, but there were a few pieces that just didn’t fit. Yvonne and he hoped to one day to find the missing piece and unlock the mystery of Daniel’s misconceptions.

  He wanted his son back, even though William didn’t think he deserved Daniel. William knew he had been harsh and distant—he’d had to be—to prepare his son for military life and to protect Daniel once he joined the military. Yet, he still hoped to get him back one day.

  William’s phone brought him out of his ruminations. He saw it was his brother and answered, “Hello, Erik.”

  Erik exploded, he didn’t mean to, but all the anger that was below the surface surged up and he couldn’t stop it. “William Broderick, you better have a damned good reason why you have Danny on blackout protocol, but don’t have anyone watching his six. If that boy dies, it’ll be at your feet!”

  William surged to his feet, concern ripped through him. Daniel … die? He shouted back at his brother, “What the hell do you mean? Is Daniel under threat? Where did you get your information? What is the threat? Do you know something about Pletcher?”

  Erik was taken aback by Will’s reaction. He lowered his voice. “William, I know of no specific threat to Danny. Calm down.”

  His heart was beating erratically in his chest. At his brother’s words, William took a calming breath and lowered his voice, too. “Start at the beginning Erik, and make yourself clear.”

  “Okay, first. Why do you have Danny on blackout protocol?” Erik asked trying to get ahold of his emotions.

  “I don’t. Why do you think I do?” William asked bewildered.

  Erik paced his study. “Because no one in the family knows where the hell he is. You haven’t told us anything. Not a damned word.”

  William slumped into his chair. “I thought Daniel needed time to sort things out on his own. I didn’t want the family—”

  Interrupting his brother, Erik shouted, “You didn’t want the family to what? … comfort him in his time of need? Offer him the support and protection that he would desperately need after losing Brody in such a horrific way? What? What didn’t you want the family to do? Tell me! Tell me now, and it better be a damned good reason. If it’s not, I swear I’m gonna beat the shit out of you this time!”

  The venom in his younger brother’s voice burned. William knew he’d screwed up again. He had tho
ught he was doing right by Daniel. He wouldn’t want to be smothered by family if it were him. He’d want time to sort things out alone. To get his head back on straight. He sighed dejectedly. “I screwed up. God forgive me, I screwed up again. I’ll never get it right, will I? Dammit, Daniel deserves better than me for a father.”

  Erik slumped into his chair at the dejection in his brother’s voice. “Talk to me Will. Tell me what’s going on. We know that Danny’s in Toronto. Scott found out this morning from a Master Seaman in his office—totally by accident. Talk to me.”

  William blew out a breath. Without Yvonne to talk to in the past few months he was lost. She was his rock and she steadied him and helped him navigate rough waters with Daniel.

  “Daniel isn’t on blackout protocol. I didn’t put him on it. I just thought he would need some time to sort things out. His unit turned their backs on him. That was so hard to watch. They’d been there for him so many times. But they turned their backs on him.

  “None of them would talk to him or even look him in the eye in the hospital and they never once visited him when he was on suicide watch. I know, I checked the logs and they never once signed in. How could they do that to him? They pissed me off. I wanted to knock some sense into them—but I couldn’t. Tom helped me see that they might be just as devastated as Daniel—but they treated him so poorly and left him alone.

  “Daniel was also attacked by the guards that were supposed to be watching him and keeping him safe. They tasered him until he was unconscious. And the day Daniel left, I found out that he was beaten by several soldiers under my command. The only reason that they were not court-martialed is that Daniel refused to press any charges. The MP in charge of taking the report said it was like Daniel thought he deserved the beating.

  “Several weeks later, there was a huge brawl in the mess tent. It was started by Sergeant Srònaich O’Naoimhín. It resulted in twenty of my men in the brig and another five in the hospital for several weeks. I wasn’t able to sort out who was on which side. Every single one of them clammed up. Even threatened a few with a dishonorable discharge and it didn’t open their mouths.