Page 22 of Escalating Alpha

I gave a half shrug, making the gesture to back up again. “Last month she had several speaking engagements where she called me the ‘Whore of Babylon’ and ‘The Beast’ from Revelations. And if I’m The Beast… What would that make my son?” I gave her a moment with that. “Fine, he’s adopted, but people know he’s family that I adopted.

“What is the family of such an evil figure in a massive religion? What would people think of herson?” I let out a dark chuckle. “I learned of what she was saying and was in shock, but also maybe not shocked given people just spew whatever they want and don’t care. I had to go out of town for work and handle more corruption and people hurting our citizens.”

“Sioux Falls,” she whispered.

I nodded. “I come home and I’m exhausted but get the greatest surprise of my life. My son said his first word. Mama.”

“Oh, that’s amazing!” Summer gasped.

The tears that formed were real. “I never wanted to be a mom. I thought after how my parents were so horrible and the way I grew—no way I could ever be a good mom. I couldn’t risk doing damage to kids like it was done to me. So when I learned that I was infertile because I was infected I thought—okay, this is the sign. It’s not in the plan for me.”

“You tried to make peace with it, but it hurt so much to have the choice taken away from you,” she rasped, nodding when my eyes went wide. “You are not the only one who cannot have children here, Sera. I think that’s why we got along so well. We recognize our own.”

“And how cruel people can be about it,” I commented, wiping my eyes. “The First Lady said many times when she wasa senator’s wife that she was glad I couldn’t have children. Thatgodmade it so because I—people are cruel. I’ve had people tell me I’m not a real woman or half a woman.”

Summer snorted. “They were even meaner years ago when I found out. I’m twenty years older than you and it was unthinkable not to have children. I had—my own parents told me I’d be a useless spinster because I couldn’t give a good man a child.”

“I’m so sorry,” I gasped, not having to fake my horror. “People really are—how can people be so horrible? Family? I fully admit I can be nasty, but someone always starts with me first. I never just…” I shook my head.

“So he said mama?” she pushed, getting us back on track.

I let out a heavy breath. “I should have been celebrating like crazy, right? But work had to be done and then someone tells me that my name is coming up in chatter. And that’s never good.” I gave a watery chuckle. “I’m dealing with the start of all the corruption in DeKalb and that insanity, and an old contact of mine tells me someone put a hit out on me.”

“That’s terrifying,” she whispered.

“Unfortunately, it’s not the first time,” I admitted as I wiped my eyes again. “But normally, you—every other time there was a reason. Someone wanted me out of the way as Alpha. I was too close on a case. The work I did in New York City and they thought the cases would die if I did. The cartels paying me back. There’s normally a connection and fast.”

“We did a report on—the money. The money is normally the answer, right?”

“The one to punish, but if you have friends in the intelligence community—when they hear the chatter, they normally hear who wants you dead and why. Normally. This time, nothing. But the timing… I could seeafterbringing everything in DeKalb tolight but before? I thought maybe it was something to do with Sioux Falls, but that was too fast.”

“You learned something?” she asked.

“Whispers it was because I’m evil,” I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. “Who do we know that’s been saying that on a global stage?” I cleared my throat. “So I’m trying to get information from contacts while doing my jobs—all of them and my personal life. And I receive this.” I pulled out my phone and unlocked it before bringing up the picture I’d received.

The one of Topher and me that was from a higher building and of our rooftop pool.

Summer gasped when she took my phone and almost dropped it. “This is—they were—”

“Someone scouted the area and found the best ways to get me,” I rasped. “We’ve rectified those possible gaps, but that shot is no joke. That’s not some random shot or something anyone can do.” I nodded when she glanced from me to my phone. “I can’t make that shot. That’s asnipershot. A real hitter.”

“Oh Sera,” she rasped, rubbing her chest as she handed back my phone.

“I was inconsolable. I’m holding my son—I’m a danger to him. I was a mess.”

“And then you found out he was the target too,” she muttered, hurrying to wipe a tear that fell. “How did you find that out?”

I wiggled my phone before putting it away. “I didn’t get to interrogate this guy. He wasn’t caught by us or—I’m not allowed all of the information. That’s how intelligence communities work. But it was clear I was the target and—they dug into what they had or got from his belongings. I don’t know, but today I was notified it was for me and my son, not just me.”

“How—what do you even do now?” she worried.

I chuckled darkly as more tears fell. “I called my mom. She already knew, but I told her it was for her grandson too, and she—there is no one scarier than Alena Dorcus when she’s protecting people, especially the ones she loves. Beyond that? I don’t know. Accept more security? Reevaluate my life and if this job is worth it?”

“What?” she gasped, everyone in the studio going tense again.

I wiped away the very real tears I was crying. “People are so full of hate that they didn’t just want me dead, Summer. They’re willing to kill my son—ababy. An innocent baby in all of these political games and bigotry. All I do is help people. I save people, and—I can’t let my son die because of that. I’ve bled for this country so many times that—”

“You’re one of the FBI’s most decorated agents ever and—the work you do is important, Sera.”

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