Page 96 of The Archer Brothers

I shake my head and point to the garage behind me. “I think your dad wants to marry your mom. He’s been waiting a really long time to do that.”

“Oh,” he says and continues to pick at the grass.

“Maybe you want to go see your dad for a little bit.”

EJ stands and wipes off his legs. “Do I have to call him ‘Dad’?”

Hearing him ask this breaks my heart, but I shake my head. “Not right now, but I’m sure someday you’ll want to.”

Evan and I drive in silence. There’s tension in the car but it’s not between us. For the first time, I was able to witness my brother bond with his son, something that should’ve happened on the day he was born. After EJ and I had our little chat, the three of us went down to the beach and tossed the football around. I excused myself shortly thereafter and went back to the house and watched the two Evan’s have a chance at being father and son.

When we pull up outside the house, Special Agent Blaine is sitting in his car. He nods but stays there, giving Evan a chance to get some answers. Evan stops at the bottom of the steps leading to the house and looks around.

“This is some seriously fucked up shit.”

“I know,” I say as I pat him on the back, encouraging him to continue. When he gets to the door he knocks and when the door swings open, I place my hand on his shoulder to hold him in place. River is not the enemy.

Evan and I walk in, both taking a seat on the couch, the folder resting in my lap. Evan takes a deep breath and turns his gaze to River who is seated in the chair next to him.

“Where’s Frannie?”

River shrugs, knowing that his first instinct is to protect his wife. “She left last night. Said that with us being apart for so long, she grew accustomed to a lifestyle and now that I’m back, she can’t deal with it.”

I hand Evan the folder and he places it on the coffee table with a thud. I pull out my cell phone and text Cara, letting her know that Frannie isn’t here, hoping she’ll get the message to Blaine. There isn’t a single piece of me of that feels sorry for River right now.

Evan clears his throat and says, “Frannie knew we were alive. She’s the one who was sending the care pack –”

“How dare –”

Evan stands, towering over a seated River. I stand, as well, in solidarity with my brother. “No! You listen to me! Your wife knew that we were alive and chose to help her sick, twisted, fucking excuse for a brother. Weeks ago I found a cell phone in the bathroom and turned it over to NCIS. Each email they found is printed out, detailing every aspect of what went down. Registered in your name is a black SUV currently in Mexico for auto body work, the same SUV that tried to kill Ryley and Carole.” Evan starts to pace and I put myself between him and River. From everything I’ve read, River didn’t have any clue about any of this and was just the unlucky man who married into this dishonorable family.

“Six years we stayed in that jungle to protect that piece of shit Senator, who, as it happens, is your brother-in-law. We were there because he was having an affair with Christina Charlotte and when it ended, he kidnapped her daughter, raping her repeatedly before sending her to Cuba as a sex slave. Charlotte called her father-in-law, Brigadier General Chesley, and from there, favors were called in and we were sent to get the girl – which we did – but we stumbled onto something huge. When I shot Renato, it sent off a chain reaction.”

“Evan, I didn’t know.”

“How could you not know who your wife’s father is?” Evan roars. “He decides when we take a god damn piss.”

River looks shaken and confused. He rubs his hands through his hair. “Frannie told me she was adopted. I never asked if she knew her family. I didn’t…”

“Your fucking wife kept me from my son,” Evan says, adding salt to an already wounded man. “Rask doesn’t have a family because of her and who the fuck knows where McCoy’s wife and daughter are.”

Evan sits back down and holds his head in his hands. “She tried to kill Ryley,” he says defeated. “She watched Ryley go through hell, pretending to be her friend and yet she knew everything. She took Ryley’s pain and wrote me letters. She wrote you, Rask and McCoy, telling us how we were their heroes and they couldn’t wait for us to come home. School pictures, art work and pages from coloring books, all sent by her and for what?”

River shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he says, as his voice breaks and tears fall down his face. “I thought she was sick. I talked to her about getting help because I had a hard time understanding why everything was exactly how I’d left it, why there was cold beer waiting for me. I’m sorry, Evan.”

“You were our leader and she was supposed to be the leader at home, but instead she’s destroyed all of us because her brother is a fucking pervert.”

“I didn’t know,” is all he says over and over again. I put my hand on Evan’s shoulder, signaling that there’s nothing left here for us and that we need to go.

“You were my friend, my brother, but no more. I can’t trust you.” With those words Evan walks out of the house. I take one look at River before picking up the folder. He never once asked for proof, choosing to believe his fellow SEAL over his wife.

Walking out, I find Cara with her arms wrapped around Evan. There’s no jealousy coming from me and I’m thankful she’s there to comfort him. When she sees me, she lets him go and greets me with a kiss, making me believe we’ll be okay.

“I arrested Lawson this morning and there’s an APB out for Frannie right now. The San Diego field team is with Ingram. I know it doesn’t make up for what you lost, Evan, but it’s a little closure nonetheless.”

“Thank you, Cara.”

She nods. “The body that was discovered is, in fact, O’Keefe’s. We searched his house and found letters that he had written, detailing his part in all of this. He’s also the one who wrote the sole article that appeared in the paper. From what we’ve gathered, he was trying to be the whistleblower but just didn’t have the chance to really get it done.”

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