Page 4 of A Moment Never Forgotten
“No, she’s not.” Evan stopped and turned to face him. “Berit Barker is the Deputy Director for Support for the entire CIA. At her new job, she’s poached more than a dozen of our best SEALs in just the past year. She was an in-country handler for years, one of the first female station chiefs in Africa. She wanted Mak to go to high school in the USA, so she came home and has been in clandestine services ever since. Rumor has it that Joseph Lambert is getting ready to retire and she’ll step into his job as the number five person in the whole CIA. If scuttlebutt is right, she’s being groomed as the first female Chief Operating Officer, as in the civil servant who actually runs the CIA.”
“Holy fuck,” Micah said on an exhale. She was one hell of a woman. If given the opportunity, he’d enjoy getting to know her better.
Chapter Two
Friday morning, Berit Barker stepped out of her main floor master bedroom and inhaled the delicious smell of coffee. Someone was up. Most likely Mak. He’d always been an early riser, even as a baby. It was as though he knew he had to get up, get dressed, and eat breakfast, in sync with her. All his life, they’d started their day together until the day he left for Navy boot camp.
Love for her only child swelled from deep within her every time she saw him at their table.
She barely recognized her child-turned-man in a full dark beard and eyes that matched her own. Knowing eyes that had seen too much of the underbelly of the world. Familiar guilt washed through her as she silently admitted that much of the darkness in his eyes was her fault. By the time he was five years old, he had lived in nine countries, most were rightly classified Third World. Lately, she’d worried that the career decisions made in her early twenties had scarred her son for life.
But he was genuinely a good man. Since she’d raised him alone, she gave herself permission to take credit for that. She’d always wished that he had stayed in college because the boy was damn smart…when he applied himself. She understood, though, that dormitories and continued student life were too confining for Mak’s outgoing spirit. He’d seen the world before his sixteenth birthday. The truly good all the way to the ugly bad.
Most of all, Berit loved Mak’s need to protect the innocent and less fortunate.
Stepping into the bright kitchen, she leaned down and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Good morning, son. Thanks for making coffee.”
“Since you weren’t up, yet, I knew if I wanted coffee, I had to make it myself.” He lifted his mug and smiled. “Besides, you buy the good stuff. Living with the riffraff, I can’t afford it.”
Berit poured a cup of her favorite dark roast. The thick rich coffee was an acquired taste, one of her few vices. “Maybe you’ll find a pack or two under the Christmas tree.”
With her new promotion, she could have a case delivered to him every month. But with his training schedule, often departing with only a few hours’ notice, the case could sit there for days, weeks, or even months. She nixed that idea.
After glancing at her watch, she decided spending time with her son was more important than anything sitting on her desk. It was so rare that she had the opportunity to spend time with him anymore. Opening the refrigerator, she offered, “How about an omelet and toast?”
“That sounds wonderful, but I don’t want to make you late for work.” Mak rose and headed for the coffee pot. After refilling his own cup, he topped off hers.
“Now that I work in supply, nobody’s life depends on my decisions.” After nearly twenty-five years in clandestine services, her new job seemed to move at a snail’s pace. “I don’t care if I’m a few minutes late.” She pulled out everything she needed for his favorite Spanish omelet, including andouille sausage.
“Damn, I love you, Mom.” Mak hugged her with one arm and snatched half of a jalapeno pepper from the pile of vegetables she was chopping. He kissed her on the forehead before popping the pepper into his mouth.
“I love you, too, but if you keep eating all the ingredients, I’ll never get this omelet made.” Without pausing in her preparations, she asked, “Are all the other men still sleeping or should I start making breakfast for everyone?”
“We didn’t get in till after three, so they’ll be crashed out till noon.” He sipped his coffee. “They’ll raid the refrigerator when they wake up.”
That had pretty much been standard operating procedure for Mak and his friends since she’d returned to the United States for him to attend high school. “Thanks for letting everybody stay here. Hotels in D.C. are really pricey.”
Dumping the chopped veggies and sausage into a hot pan, she enjoyed the sizzle and the release of the spicy aroma. “You know your friends are welcome here, anytime.” Berit relished a house filled with Mak’s teammates. “Do you have time to bring down all of the Christmas decorations from the attic and put together the tree for me while you’re here this weekend?” She wondered how many of his teammates would be able to go home for Christmas. “It sounds as though your team may be on stand-down until everyone is out of the hospital, so why don’t you invite your friends to come spend Christmas with us?”
The thought of the house filled with hungry men at the holiday, giving them a real Christmas, filled Berit’s soul. She could afford to buy each one of them a little something so they would be able to unwrap a gift. She immediately started a menu in her head.
“Sure. When we get back to Virginia Beach, I’ll see who’s going to be around.” He sipped his coffee. “I’ll give you a headcount early enough for grocery shopping.”
“That would certainly be appreciated.” And a first. She spread a dot of olive oil over the sides and bottom before pouring in four beaten eggs. She popped the bread into the toaster, then added the meat and vegetables on top of the cooked eggs. Expertly, she swooshed the pan and flipped half the egg combination over then slid it onto a plate. Adding the toast on the side, she set it on the table along with the honey-butter Mak loved.
“You’re too good to me.” He grabbed her hand before she could pull away.
“I know,” she sassed back. “But you’re worth it. And if you ever find a woman who can treat you as well as I do, you need to marry her. Right after you bring her home for my approval.”
Mak almost choked. He swallowed before he responded. “Mom, they must’ve broken the mold after they made you. I just haven’t found the right woman, yet, but it’s not for lack of trying. I’m dating as often as I can.”
Berit stole a piece of toast from his plate and buttered it. “I don’t believe one-night stands can actually be considered dating. That requires at least date number two and probably a third.”
Grinning, he sniped back, “Hey, I’ve had a few longer relationships.” He lost his smile, obviously remembering someone special. “Some of them just didn’t last long enough.” He brightened. “I’ve brought home two women to introduce to you. You even agreed that Annie was a sweet little thing.
“She just wasn’t cut out of strong enough material to be the wife of a SEAL.” Berit shook her head. “I’m sorry, son, but after the fourth phone call the day you left on deployment, I was over that little twit.”
“Yeah, so was I.” He’d made quick work of the huge omelet. “Did I tell you that she called my CO? We were still on the tarmac when I got a call from Commander Hubbard chewing my ass. That was the fastest, and most public, breakup I’d ever done. I’m not sure what I ever saw in her.”
