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Matt wasn’t sure he followed that topic change, chalked it up to the communication deficit. It had been a long time since he’d dealt with kids this age.
“Come on, let’s walk.” He resisted the urge to put his arm around the kid’s shoulders.
“Do you really work in the Pentagon?” Caleb asked. “Can I have a tour?”
“Not today.” Inexplicably uneasy, Matt glanced around. “Where did you get your information?”
“I got a snap with your name and rank. A picture,” he added.
Matt knew which cell phone app Caleb was referring to. Typically the messages disappeared within a few seconds of being opened by the recipient.
“And you thought I sent it?”
“No,” Caleb said.
“The sender have a user name?” Matt asked when Caleb didn’t volunteer more information.
“Does it matter?” He hefted the backpack again. “He double-checked who I was and then more stuff came through. Stuff about you. The information was real, obviously.”
“Obviously.” Matt didn’t like the way this was shaping up. “When did you get the messages?”
He cocked his head, thinking. “The first one was about two weeks ago.”
That would fit the likely timeline as the compromised information was being sold off. “There were more?” At the boy’s nod, Matt asked, “Did you save the messages?”
Caleb’s lip curled. “Like I wanna pay for a free app? I made notes, though.”
“Good.” An itch had cropped up between his shoulder blades. Instinct drove him to get away from the terminal and into a safe space that was out of the public eye, as fast as possible. Rather than pick up the Metro here and head straight for the Pentagon or his condo, he decided to be less predictable. “Where did you keep those notes?”
“The hard copies are at home. I have a file on the cloud, too.”
“All right.” That would give investigators something to work with. As soon as he decided which law enforcement agency might consider a few random snaps as a crime.
“The snaps were clues sort of,” Caleb was saying. “Like I’d get a name or place, maybe a picture. Then I would start digging around online. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Except skip school, take a train alone to a city you don’t know and lie to your mom about it.”
“She’s lied to me, too,” Caleb shot back, his gaze full of hurt. “All. My. Life.”
“Well, life’s about to change,” Matt said, wincing. That didn’t take long. A dad for ten minutes and he was already quoting his father’s wisdom. He kept Caleb close as they moved along the sidewalk, sidestepping tourists. “And three lives are permanently changed now.”
“You’re mad at me.”
Matt had to slow down as Caleb began dragging his feet. They weren’t safe yet, though Matt couldn’t point to any specific reason why he felt they were at risk. “I’m not mad at you.” He was aggravated with whoever compelled his son to take these risks. And he wasn’t exactly thrilled with Bethany for keeping him out of Caleb’s life this long.
He gripped Caleb’s shoulders lightly, waiting for him to meet his gaze. “You were resourceful and smart right up until you skipped school and made your mom worry. Moms don’t like that kind of thing.”
“You worried your mom?”
“More than once,” Matt confessed. “You think I was hatched in this uniform?” Caleb snickered. “That’s how I know.” Bethany and Patricia had similar standards about child-rearing. No wonder he loved her still.
Whoa. Love? That had to be some transference effect of being around Caleb. Regardless, he’d pick it apart later. Right now, they needed to keep moving. He was sure someone was watching them, although he couldn’t spot the tail.
If Caleb reached DC without any trouble, only to get hurt on Matt’s watch, on his first day of parenting, he’d never forgive himself. Nor would he ever be forgiven. He ducked into the next storefront, pleased to discover it was a deli. “Hungry?”
They moved to the counter and ordered a couple of sandwiches and soft drinks. It was early for the lunch rush, so they had their pick of the few tables. Matt guided Caleb to a two-top near the back wall and took the seat that gave him a view of the door and sidewalk out front.
While they waited for their food, Matt sent a text message to his office, offering to bring back lunch for everyone. It would give them a place away from prying eyes to regroup and make a plan.
“You look mad,” Caleb said.
“I’ve been told that. It’s my thinking face,” Matt explained. He wouldn’t lump fear or worry onto his son’s shoulders. “Your timing is crazy,” he said, trying to smile. “We really were going to tell you tonight. Your mom was convinced the acting out would start tomorrow.”
Caleb dragged the drink straw up and down through the hole in the lid, making an annoying noise. Matt didn’t react. His little brothers, twins, were five years younger. He could teach master classes on how to ignore annoying moments and get even later.
“How is your soccer season?” he asked.
The noise stopped suddenly. “Now you want to be a dad?”
He’d wanted that from the beginning. “I’d like to get to know you.” He would not blame Bethany for the estrangement. “You came to me.” He sat back, spreading his hands. “Now’s your chance. Just you and me. I’m an open book.”
Caleb’s eyes narrowed as he judged the offer. “Did you not want me?”
“Of course I wanted you,” Matt said.
He leaned forward, his voice low. “Then where have you been?”
And now he understood why Bethany hadn’t wanted to face this conversation alone. Man up, Riley. Hard questions now equaled a single drop in the ocean compared to what she’d been handling for Caleb’s entire life. “There hasn’t been a day since your mom got pregnant that I haven’t wanted you.” The resulting eye roll didn’t surprise him, but it prompted a change in tactic. “How did you find out about me?”
“I told you. The snaps.”
“Right. And how do you think the sender got the information?”
Caleb’s eyebrows dipped into a perplexed frown. “Never thought about it.”
“The personnel records for the Military were hacked recently. About the time you started getting messages on that app. The reason there was information for someone to send to you is because I’ve been sending your mother a percentage of my pay as financial support every month since before you were born.” He decided not to mention the threatening letter Bethany received last night, but it would be more for investigators to piece together.
Caleb’s gaze narrowed as he studied Matt. “So what’s wrong with you that Mom didn’t think you should stick around?”
Matt supposed that was the easy way to put it, and he wished it didn’t feel like the truth. “We met at West Point. We were in the same cadet class there and became friends.” Matt couldn’t suppress a smile at the fonder memories. “We were young and we cared about each other a great deal,” he continued. “Your mom made some really tough choices when she found out she was pregnant. She did what she thought was best for her and ultimately for you.” She’d cut him out and left him reeling. “I honored her choices, but insisted on helping in the only way she would let me.”
The sandwiches were delivered and Matt asked the server about a to-go order for the office.
“Mom never said anything about going to West Point.” Caleb frowned again as he squeezed ketchup into a puddle beside his french fries.
“She was there for three semesters,” Matt said. “She transferred to another school when we got pregnant.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone I was your baby or anything?”
Bethany had insisted it would be an honor violation that would get them both expelled, ruining his career and jeopardizing her transfer and scholarship. He’d been willing to risk the potential demotion or discipline. Hell, he’d been willing to transfer with her to a new school. She’d refused, claiming his place was to follow in his father’s footsteps. She’d turned down every option Matt offered on the basis of personal responsibility: her body, her rules.
If she wanted Caleb to know all of that, she’d have to share it. He didn’t feel it was his place to do so.
“I wanted to,” Matt said at last. “And I did my best to convince her to let me be part of your family from the start.”
Caleb studied him again, apparently finding the explanation sincere. “Mom can be pretty stubborn.”
“Her picture is part of the dictionary definition,” Matt agreed, making Caleb laugh.
The unexpected burst of such a happy sound reminded Matt of Bethany. Jealousy flared and flashed through him that she’d had a lifetime with Caleb and kept him out of the loop. Thankfully the bitter-tasting emotion drained out of him almost as quickly as it had appeared.
This wasn’t all on her. He could have pressed for his paternal rights and visitation and probably should have. Had they both taken advantage of the easier, ready excuses of his career and her independence? However this had come about, now they had a chance to make a better choice and create a fresh start for their future as a family.
“Why do you keep staring at the window?”
He didn’t miss a trick. Matt approved of his observation skills. He thought about shooting straight with him and anticipated Bethany’s reaction to that. Their son was only fourteen. He tempered his answer to fall somewhere in the middle. “You finding me now seems tied to the security breach, hack or whatever the official term will be. I don’t trust that kind of coincidence. Something feels off.”
Caleb twisted around to check for himself, and then turned back and tucked into the food again. “You think I was followed?”
Or sent. He kept that theory to himself. It seemed a little far-fetched, even in his head. “It’s crossed my mind.”
Assuming this situation was a deliberate setup and put into motion by someone who’d used the compromised information, it pissed him off. Of the three of them, only Matt hadn’t been threatened. It infuriated him that some jerk would target the innocent civilians tied to his profile rather than come after him directly.
“Cool. It’s like James Bond or something.”
Matt should have known. “This isn’t a movie, Caleb. If someone used you or manipulated this situation, that stops now.”
“So you’re sorry I found you.”
“No, I didn’t say that.” His appetite gone, Matt wrapped the remains of his sandwich for later. He couldn’t expect Caleb to instantly accept and believe that Matt loved him and had always wanted to be part of his life. “All this time, I’ve only had pictures and a few annual updates. I’ve wanted to meet you for some time. You can verify that with your mom tonight over Greek chicken.”
“I will.”
“Good.” His phone chirped with a text message that the order for the office was ready. “If you’re not done, we’ll get a to-go box and you can eat with the rest of the general’s staff at the Pentagon.”
“You mean it? We’ll eat inside the Pentagon, really?”
Matt nodded. “Go get a box for each of us. I’m calling for a car.”
Caleb jumped up and hurried to the counter and Matt pulled up the app on his phone, only to be interrupted by another text message that the general’s car was on the way to pick them up. Although Matt might have protested the assist in the past, today he was happy to accept.
This wasn’t a combat zone, but something out here was pushing his buttons. He needed the familiar confidence of knowing he had a team at his back, even if they were all currently in administration roles.
Chapter 3 (#ub017a5ec-faf0-5d43-853e-c074a2e5f3b3)
Bethany stared at the incoming messages and a couple of selfies of Caleb and Matt. Her son was apparently having lunch with General Knudson and his staff in the Pentagon. The boy landed on his feet, every time. Not unlike his father.
As a mom, it seemed as though Caleb’s day was looking more like a reward than a disciplinary action for a kid who should have been in school. And as a mom, she knew her son was having the time of his life. With his father.
She wanted to be angry and stay angry, but she just couldn’t hang on to it for long. Oh, she was aggravated about Caleb’s unauthorized jaunt to DC—and he would pay a price for that—but her heart turned gooey when she saw the father and son together. Their faces were so similar, especially with the matching dimples when they smiled.
Her world had turned inside out in a matter of hours. The idea of the two of them together gave her warm fuzzies, chased by chills she kept bringing on herself. Guilt and regret were her new best friends throughout the rest of the day. Her mind kept traipsing back through all the milestones Matt should have been part of.
Through the years, she’d discarded several opportunities to invite Matt into their lives, all in the name of giving Caleb stability. It had paid off, she thought. He had friends he’d known from kindergarten, a soccer team he traveled with, a normal, healthy childhood without the angst of moving every few years. Yes, she’d given her son so much stability, he thought it would be fine to take a train and track down his dad on his own.
In all fairness, Matt had never complained about the moves or changing schools growing up. Then again, he’d been raised in a prominent Army family and had likely been dialed in about West Point from the womb. Once, she too had planned on a Military career, maybe a husband and possibly, floating in that misty realm of far-off theories, a child someday.
Someday. Not at twenty. Not before she’d tested herself and traveled and become part of something astounding and important. Instead she found herself pregnant and bewildered. Matt had been almost thrilled, while she’d been fighting through sheer terror. Becoming a single mother had never crossed her mind.
He’d proposed, though they couldn’t marry while either of them were still cadets at the academy. As much as she loved him, she’d known she couldn’t marry him at all. She had to make her own way—for herself, as well as for her child. Following Matt through a career destined for greatness, always waiting at home for news, just felt too passive. She feared he would eventually feel trapped, or she would. And she didn’t want either of them to come to a point of resenting the other. That would have been a sorry end to what had started as a good friendship.
Hard as it had been, she’d walked away from Matt, away from her dreams, and into the role of motherhood and new challenges. With Caleb, she’d discovered every day could be astounding in tiny, personal, but no less important ways.
She was straightening her desk when the text message came through that they were leaving the city. Caleb’s giddy reaction to Matt’s classic muscle car came through loud and clear, along with half a dozen pictures of a gorgeous Chevy Camaro. It was a restored 1967 classic, according to the messages.
Great. As if she needed the man to be any more tempting to either her or her son. Their son. She had to start getting that verbiage right.
On her way home, she stopped at the grocery store for the final items to round out dinner. The big news they’d planned to share was out of the bag, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be difficult questions that may or may not have answers. Whatever Matt had already told Caleb, it seemed to have planted him firmly in the idol column.
With that thought, she turned down the aisle and added an extra bottle of wine to her cart. She’d open it later tonight to unwind after Caleb was in bed and Matt was out the door. There were yesterday’s cookies ready for dessert, but she added some ice cream to the cart anyway. She could surprise them both with ice-cream sandwiches.
It was bribery, plain and simple, and she was glad she’d thought of it.
When she reached the checkout lane, her cart loaded with too many extras, it looked as if she was hosting a party for a dozen people. Just covering all the bases, she thought pragmatically. She wasn’t planning on feeding her nerves at all.
This was their first dinner as a family, and it should be memorable for more than just the bombshell that they were a family. Would Matt wait until they were alone to say I told you so? Were he and Caleb already discussing how this situation was all her fault? She could hardly blame her son for reaching that conclusion without any help from Matt.
At home, in her kitchen, with the chicken and vegetables roasting in the oven, she poured a sparkling water instead of the wine she wanted and started on the ice cream sandwiches. Did Caleb hate her now that he knew she’d kept his father from him all this time? He surely felt betrayed, a fact which would make any further lessons on honesty and integrity harder for her to sell.
And she still hadn’t heard how he’d found out anything about Matt in the first place. Her queries via text message had been brushed aside with Matt’s reply that he’d explain it all in person. Oh, that didn’t make her nervous at all.
With dessert individually wrapped and back in the freezer, she stirred up dip for an appetizer tray and set it to chill. Caleb would want something to graze on as soon as he arrived and she assumed Matt would, too. She arranged slices of cheese and cut veggies on a platter and put it back into the refrigerator. When they pulled up, she’d set everything out and add crackers.
With that done, she walked through the dining room and family room, looking for anything out of place. Although she knew she was overthinking it, she couldn’t stop. She didn’t want Matt to find any reason to criticize the house or her parenting. The house was clean and tidy, thanks to a chore list, ingrained habits and some creative nagging. At last, she turned toward the bedrooms, forcing herself to make sure the guest room was ready if Matt insisted on staying here.
Would he insist? She supposed he’d have to since she had no intention of inviting him to stay over.
She felt heat rising in her face at the idea of Matt sleeping under her roof, just down the hall from her bedroom. It had been years since she’d seen him in person and yet he was still the man she wanted most, the man she held up against all others. And he continued to star in her most erotic dreams. At least that was a secret she could take to her grave, privileged information that never had to be listed anywhere.
The sound of a burly engine in the street drew her toward the big front window in the dining room. A quick chill of uncertainty slid down her spine when the glossy black Camaro with silver rally stripes pulled into her driveway. She was startled to find herself blinking back tears as she watched father and son emerge from the car. Happy tears, she told herself. This would be a happy occasion.
Caleb, the backpack on his shoulder, was practically dragging Matt to the front door. Side by side, the resemblance was uncanny, all the way down to their stride. Caleb was lanky, more elbows and knees right now, but already she could see him growing into the charming version of Matt she’d met at West Point.
The years had been good to him. He looked as fit as ever in an untucked soft gray button-down shirt, dark khaki slacks and brown leather boat shoes, with a light jacket in his hand. No wonder she’d been unable to make room for another man in her life. No one else was Matt. The man she’d always loved. The man she still loved.
Foolish, she scolded, schooling her expression into something she hoped came across as stern. Her feelings for Matt were impossible and could wait to be examined over that bottle of wine. Caleb was her priority and he needed to know that, happy endings aside, his actions today were absolutely unacceptable.
Hearing another car on the street, she saw Matt turn his head. Following his gaze, she didn’t recognize the slow-moving car. The window behind the driver rolled down and the unmistakable barrel of a gun appeared in front of a shadowy figure in the back seat.
