Page 51 of Lethal Game

"I wish it was, Mom. Jason confirmed that a timed-release capsule was planted in the vase of flowers that was delivered to your room on Wednesday evening. It released a toxin into theair, which is why your symptoms recurred during the night. That's why we moved you here yesterday and why we're restricting visitors and keeping everything very sterile. Remember?"

"It's all coming back to me now," she said wearily. "How are you doing? Where did you stay last night?"

"At an FBI safe house. Jason is looking out for me."

"I hope he's doing a good job."

"He is, but he has a lot of questions, Mom. Do you remember me telling you about the fire at your house?"

"That was real, too?" her mother said with despair.

"Yes, and there's a video from the house across the street showing Dad taking things out of the house a few hours before the fire. The FBI thinks he might have set the fire or knew it was going to happen."

"That's impossible."

"Is it?" she challenged.

"Of course it is, Alisa. You're acting like your father is a criminal. He's just out of town."

Her mother's stubborn refusal to question anything her father did grated on her nerves. "He's not just out of town. He sent me a text last night." She pulled out her phone and let her mom read it for herself.

"Well, there you go," her mother said a moment later. "Your dad is doing what he can to protect us and keep us safe."

"By staying away while people try to kill us?"

"I'm sure he's not just staying away; he's trying to figure out what's going on. He loves us. We have to just focus on that."

"I can't just focus on that," she said, anger bubbling up inside of her. "Every day I learn something new about him, and none of it is good."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, here's one thing. The FBI thinks Dad stole the identity of someone named Dan Hunt: his educational background, his birthday, and his social security number. It would havehappened the year before he met you. Do you know anything about that?"

Her mother drew in a sharp breath and licked her lips. "Could I have some water? My mouth is dry."

Her mom was stalling, but she filled her glass with water and helped her take a drink. "Better?" she asked as she set the cup down on the table.

"Yes."

"Good. Now, you need to stop pretending that everything is fine, because it's not. What do you know, Mom? Tell me."

Her mother gave her a long and pained look. "Okay. Here's what I know. Your father told me before we got married that he'd had some trouble in his past and that he'd had to start over with a new identity, a new name. He couldn't tell me more because it would be dangerous."

She sucked in a breath as her mother finally came clean. "Are you saying he was in witness protection?"

"He didn't call it that. And he said little else, only that he couldn't marry me without telling me his past was a secret and could never be spoken about. He knew it was a lot to ask of any woman, but he hoped I could see the man he was and that the past didn't matter. He promised me he'd had to reinvent himself because he was a good person who didn't want to do bad."

"And you believed him?"

"Yes, because I loved him."

She was truly shocked. "How could you marry someone who told you he was living under an assumed name? Why wouldn't you ask a million questions? Why wouldn't you run away?"

"I just told you why. I was crazy about him, Alisa. And every instinct I had told me he was as good as he was saying and that I'd be a fool to let him go. And I wasn't wrong. You know what kind of man your father is. You've seen him for twenty-eight years. He's been there for you and for me every day of his life. He's followed the rules. He doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn'tdo drugs, doesn't cheat. He's a family man. He's smart and funny and kind."

Her mother's words were so passionately delivered, it made her feel guilty for doubting her father because he was all the things her mother had just said.

But he was also something else, and she had a feeling that thebadhe had wanted no part of had caught up to him.

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