Page 80 of The Archer Brothers

I’m a bit shocked and give her a sideways glance. She cracks a small smile. Last I knew she wanted nothing to do with bringing people down, she just wanted to spy on them. “Feds?”

“Yeah.”

“Am I in trouble?”

Cara shakes her head. “No, but you took out a heavy hitter and lived to tell about it. That’s why I’m here.”

“I’m not sure you can call this living, Cara. I came home to a family that had moved on without me. I have a son who knows I’m his dad but doesn’t want to call me dad. My fiancée… I’m assuming you know what happened there.”

Cara shakes her head. “I left Nate. He didn’t leave me for Ryley if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I wasn’t, but thanks for clearing that up.”

She smiles, bringing her glass to her lips. I think I’ve struck a nerve because she lingers. She’s taking her time with the wine and her next question. Or maybe it’s my turn to ask something.

“What did you mean by ‘heavy hitter’?”

“Tacito Renato was a major player in the sex ring you guys busted up, only you were supposed to capture him. We wanted to interrogate him, get him to turn on the others, but you put a bullet between his eyes instead.”

“He was raping a little girl about six years old. He’s lucky that’s all I did,” I say, as I slam my mug down on the counter. Rick is there to clean up my mess, making me feel like shit for spilling my beer.

“He’s not the only one,” Cara says as nonchalantly as possible.

“What are you talking about?”

“My tail. We believe the Senator is into pedophilia, but I’m having a hard time proving it. One day we see it on his computer and the next it’s wiped clean. I’ve been following him for a year or so. He’ll go into strip clubs, watch the show and then go home or to his hotel. He disguises himself so he doesn’t get caught. I want to arrest him, but I’m not ready yet.”

To say I’m confused is an understatement. This senator is Ingram’s son that no one seems to know about and he’s a closet perv who may or may not be into some fucked up shit.

“What does this have to do with me or my Team?”

“Just you,” she says, turning to face me. “Renato and Lawson were friends and I have a feeling he’s here to find out from you what Renato confessed to before you shut his lights out.”

“He didn’t say jack shit, didn’t even plead for his life.” It’s not entirely true, but he never mentioned Lawson’s name. I know it’s been years, but I would’ve remembered that much. “Cara, why are you here?”

“I go where he goes until I have enough for an arrest warrant. When we started digging, I saw your name. I was there when you…when everything went down... so it was a bit of a shock.”

“What do you mean you saw my name?”

“I have every reason to believe Lawson knew you guys were alive. An email he wrote to someone that goes by the initials JI asked what would happen to him when the four come home.”

“And you think that’s about my Team?”

“I do, now I just have to figure out who JI is.”

“Admiral Jonah Ingram is my guess. He’s the Commander, Southwest Region and he showed up on base today.” I look over my shoulder at Lawson. His head is down and he’s typing away on his phone. “Ingram is his father according to Carole.”

If I didn’t believe that my life was screwed up already, I do now.

I DON’T KNOW HOW long I’ve been watching Ryley. I’m not even sure she knows I’m behind her. But here I am standing in the doorway to EJ’s room spying on the woman I want to marry while she stares at all the photos of my brother which cover the wall. I wouldn’t think her being in here is odd except for the fact that EJ spent the night with me in the guest room.

I should be jealous, but I’m not. This isn’t the first time I’ve found her like this and I can only imagine how many nights she’s spent in here since Evan returned. When Lois came up with the idea to wallpaper EJ’s room with photos of Evan, I thought it was great. I even spent time in here, talking to him and EJ, reliving our childhood as I told his son stories.

When EJ was born, Ryley had every intention of telling EJ that Evan was his father. But then daycare happened and when I was home, I’d pick him up because I needed to feel close to Evan. However, children are smart and they follow what their peers do so when EJ saw his little friends getting picked up by their dads, he started calling me “Dad”. At first, I was against it. I didn’t want to dishonor my brother’s memory. But on the other hand, I didn’t want my nephew growing up without a father and I honestly couldn’t see Ryley with anyone else.

Cara didn’t like it, and I understood why. She loved EJ, but didn’t want him calling me “Dad”. I should’ve respected her request when she asked that only our children refer to me as that, but I didn’t. I couldn’t look my nephew in the eyes, the same eyes that I felt held my brother’s soul, and tell him no. I still can’t. It’s not what tore Cara and me apart. Ryley isn’t either. Life is. But it’s also the same life that has given me the opportunity to be EJ’s dad and a partner to Ryley. It’s the same life that I’m fighting to keep.

“What are you doing?” I whisper to Ryley as I enter EJ’s room. She smiles softly, but doesn’t answer. Her being in here doesn’t require an answer anyway. I know why she’s in here. It’s still early and the sun is barely peaking over the horizon. EJ’s window is open and there’s a cool ocean breeze coming in. It’s mornings like this that I’m thankful Evan had the good sense to use his inheritance from our dad to buy a house near the ocean.

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