chapter Thirteen
Jenna clutched his arm, knocking the phone from his grasp. “What does that mean?”
“That was an Agent Jeff Curson on the phone. They have new identities for us and a location, but we’re supposed to meet him and Beth Warren to get our IDs, cash and new lives.”
She released him and rubbed her palms on her thighs. “That’s a good thing, right? You know Beth. You mentioned her before.”
“Yeah.”
“Why do you think you’re going to be the bait?”
“I’m not sure.” He scooped up his cell from the floor and tapped his chin with it. “Curson sounded...weird. If Prospero really does think I have the plans, this could be a setup.”
“Is there someone else you can call? Your team members? Jack Coburn?”
“You heard J.D. He’s out of the country. Gage is probably in South America and Deb’s on leave right now. They’re all scattered. Unavailable. I have to follow protocol. If Prospero is calling me in for a meeting, I have to be there. I have to assume this is coming from the very top.”
“Gavin and I have to come, too?” She shot a glance at Gavin, now sprawled on the bed next to them, rolling from edge to edge.
“I’m not leaving you here, not on your own. Not again.”
“When and where?” She took a deep breath and straightened her spine.
“Arizona. Tomorrow.” He massaged her neck. “We can stay here tonight and get an early start tomorrow morning.”
She fell back on the bed. “We should’ve stayed in New Mexico. I feel like we’re crisscrossing the Southwest.”
“We could’ve used that helicopter.”
“We could’ve used a lot of things.”
A few hours later as the sun began to go down over the park, Cade had never felt so tired in a good way. They’d stopped at a drugstore and bought a cheap rubber ball, some bottles of water and some chewy fruit snacks that he’d never eaten before in his life. He liked them.
They’d played with that ball every which way. Played catch, kicked it like a soccer ball, shot a few hoops and even used a stick to bat it. The way his chest swelled with pride the first time Gavin caught the ball nearly knocked him off his feet.
How could he ever leave this boy again? Or this woman?
Jenna collapsed beside him after chasing Gavin up and down the slide. “I’m glad you were here to play with him. I’m exhausted already.”
“Lightweight.” He snapped his fingers. “I could do another two rounds.”
She squeezed his biceps. “That’s because you’re a stud.”
“Daddy, come push me.” Gavin had scrambled onto a swing, his legs pumping the air above the sand.
Cade swallowed the ridiculous lump in his throat for about the fifth time that afternoon. Would he ever be able to hear that word from Gavin’s lips without getting choked up?
“One more time, bud, and then we break for pizza.”
As he struggled to his feet, Jenna mumbled, “Lightweight.”
When they finished at the park, they stopped at a pizza place and took a couple of pizzas back to the motel. This might almost feel normal if they weren’t all taking off tomorrow morning to get new identities.
Jenna plopped a slice of cheese pizza onto a paper plate for Gavin, sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, and shook her finger at him. “One cartoon while you eat, then bath and bedtime.”
“Can we go to the park tomorrow?”
She sucked a strand of cheese from her finger. “We’re driving again tomorrow, but we’ll have lots of time to go to the park—after.”
“And the swimming pool.”
“And a swimming pool.” Cade handed Gavin a bunch of napkins. “If you swim as good as you throw, you’re going to be winning all kinds of races.”
“Ah, don’t get too competitive there, Dad,” Jenna teased.
Cade stretched out on the floor next to Gavin and slid a piece of pepperoni pizza onto his own plate. “Maybe I’ll be one of those fathers who screams and yells on the sidelines and gets kicked out of my kid’s games.”
“I’ll keep you in line.” She nudged his foot with her own.
Jenna was kidding, but Cade hung on to her words with a pathetic desperation. Could she really teach him to be a good father? He’d had the worst of role models—a man who would sell out his own flesh and blood for a couple of bucks.
They finished eating and Cade joined Jenna at the edge of the tub to wash the pizza stains from Gavin’s face and scrub the dirt from beneath his fingernails. After one afternoon of hard play, Gavin seemed to accept him at his mother’s side.
That was the thing about kids—good parenting, bad parenting, they didn’t know the difference. Look at him. When he was a kid, he’d thought his father could do no wrong.
With Gavin toweled dry and snug in his pajamas, Jenna tucked him into the double bed on the other side of the nightstand from theirs. Then she cozied up to Cade, and all thoughts about how to be a good father flitted away. Now he wanted to be a good lover.
He slipped his arm around her shoulder and drew circles on the side of her breast with his thumb. She swiveled her hips toward him and threw one leg over his thigh. He slumped down, kissing the top of her head and edging his hand beneath the top of her pajamas. He flattened his hand against her belly, getting ready to make his next move.
Then the mattress dipped, and Gavin was wriggling his way between them.
Jenna smoothed her fingers across Gavin’s cheek. “Don’t you want to sleep in your own bed, honey bunny? Daddy and I will be right here in the bed next to yours.”
He burrowed deeper between them. “Sleep here.”
She lifted one brow at Cade. “Welcome to fatherhood.”
Cade pulled the covers down, so Gavin could slip beneath them. “I can handle this.”
Jenna sighed and rested her head on Cade’s shoulder as the images from the TV flickered across her face. He kissed her again and adjusted his arm so that Gavin’s head nestled in the crook of his elbow.
He could handle this.
The following morning, they left before sunrise. The crisp, cool air needled his skin as he loaded up the car with their meager belongings. How long would they have to hide out? It went against his nature, but he wanted to keep his wife and son safe. And this time, he wanted to stay with them.
He had to stay with them.
Jenna snapped on her seat belt and hitched her seat back in a reclining position. “Where are we meeting them?”
“At a warehouse.”
“That sounds...weird.”
“It’s more private, out of the way. No cameras, no crowds.”
“Is it going to be safe?”
“We’re going to meet members of Prospero. We’ll be safe.”
“That’s what we thought about that outpost in Arizona.” Her gaze etched into his profile. “You’re putting up a good front, but I can tell you’re worried. Do you think they’ll ambush you?”
He lifted his shoulders. “If they do, they’ll just bring me in. Isn’t that what we want, anyway?”
“That would mean they don’t trust you.”
“In our business, trust is in short supply. If they think I have the plans, all they can do is question me. I don’t have them.”
“What will they do with us? With me and Gavin?”
“They’ll settle you like they’re supposed to.”
“But without you.”
Over his dead body. “Once I’m cleared, I’ll be joining you. Besides, we’re jumping the gun here. Curson told me they have our new IDs, and I have to believe that.”
“Until we find out otherwise.”
“You’ve gotten suspicious over the years.” He chucked her under the chin.
“It comes from being married to a spy.”
“It’s not a bad quality to have—even if you’re married to an accountant.”
She laced her fingers and stretched her arms in front of her. “Where do you think we’ll get settled?”
“I have no idea. That’s the point. Beth does a good job. She’ll make sure it’s someplace secure.”
“I still won’t be able to contact my family.”
“Do you want to?” Jenna’s family must’ve been the least of her worries when she went into hiding. She’d practically disowned them even before he’d met her.
She shrugged and hummed along to a song on the radio.
Maybe that’s another reason why the two of them had bonded so quickly—they’d both given up on their families. He and Kyle still had ties, but distance and his career had made it difficult for them to keep in touch. Jenna and her sister still had a civil relationship, but her sister kept in close contact with their parents and Jenna didn’t want any part of them.
How could her parents be any worse than Kevin?
Cade winced, the wound of his father’s betrayal still fresh. His gaze wandered to the rearview mirror, where he caught a glimpse of Gavin, head tilted to the side in blissful sleep already. He’d had a terrible role model for parenting in Kevin, but Jenna could be his new role model. She’d done a great job with their son so far.
A golden hue washed across the horizon, and Cade reached for his sunglasses. He had to be a better father than Kevin. He couldn’t possibly be much worse.
They had to make their way back through New Mexico and Albuquerque, heading down the 25, and Cade couldn’t help it if his foot got heavier on the accelerator as they sped through the cold, dry landscape.
He’d never forget the look in Kevin’s eyes when he’d proposed they trick Zendaris out of some money, putting Gavin at risk. The man had been dead inside even before Zendaris’s men took his life.
They could make a few stops along the way to their final destination in Arizona. Cade had suggested meeting at eight o’clock to make sure he and Jenna had enough time to get there. He’d still held off on telling Curson their current location. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
Cade had no intention of staying at a hotel close to the warehouse where the meeting was taking place. He needed distance and independence.
In case something went wrong.
After fiddling with the radio to find a station, Jenna tapped his wrist. “I can do some driving. You’ve been at it for hours.”
“I’m not tired.”
“Maybe not, but you could stretch out your legs on this side.”
“We can stop for lunch.” He checked the clock on the dashboard. “We have time.”
“You never mentioned which part of Arizona.”
“Didn’t I?” He yawned. He knew Jenna hated it when he kept her in the dark, but he always figured the less she knew at any given time, the safer she’d be. “Down south, south of Tucson.”
“Was it their idea to meet at night?”
“I wanted to make sure we could get there by the end of the day.” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry. This is what we were waiting for, remember?”
“I just wonder why it took Prospero so long to get back to you after Jim murdered his coworker.”
“Maybe we’ll find out tonight. Maybe it doesn’t matter.” He pointed to a sign for gas and food. “Do you want to stop for lunch?”
“Only if you let me drive after we eat. This is not the most comfortable car in the world, especially for a guy your size.”
“But it sure looked good sitting by the side of the road, didn’t it?”
“Like a limousine.”
“You should know. You traveled in a lot of those.”
Jenna stuck out her tongue. “Don’t remind me. My parents were so ostentatious, but then so were all their friends, so it didn’t matter.”
“Have they wondered where you’ve been? Do they know about Gavin?” He turned down the radio. Jenna had always hated discussing her family.
“I haven’t contacted them at all.” She crossed an ankle over her bouncing knee. “They’re not my favorite people, but that doesn’t mean I want arms dealers and terrorists paying them visits. It just seemed for the best that they not know about Gavin or about my life.”
“Have they made any attempts to track you down?”
She lifted a brow in his direction. “Who hasn’t?”
“Seriously.”
“Seriously, I don’t know. Maybe—” she waved her hands around the car “—someday I’ll introduce them to Gavin. They’re the only grandparents he has...now.”
Cade’s jaw tightened. “I wouldn’t honor Kevin with that title.”
She drew invisible patterns on the window. “I’ve been thinking, Cade. What if Zendaris’s men killed Kevin because he wouldn’t give you up?”
His stomach flip-flopped. Had that thought been in the back of his mind, too? He didn’t want it there. He didn’t want any more hope associated with Kevin. He’d burned out all the hope he had.
“That’s giving the old man the benefit of the doubt. He’d already told me he was willing to play let’s make a deal with Zendaris.”
“He could’ve had a change of heart.”
Cade snorted. “That would mean he had to have a heart. I thought we were talking about your family.”
“From one dysfunctional set to another.” She sighed and rubbed her figures from the glass.
“At least your parents aren’t criminals.”
“Oh, I don’t know. They sure love money. In their own way, they love it as much as Kevin did.”
“Not enough to sacrifice their only grandchild.” Cade’s palms felt slick on the steering wheel, and he turned the heat down in the car.
“I still think Zendaris’s men killed Kevin because he wouldn’t deliver.”
“Or couldn’t deliver.” He took the next off-ramp, and the little car shuddered as he reduced his speed around the curve.
He pulled into the parking lot of a halfway decent diner that sported a few Peterbilts on the fringes. “You know what they say about dining with truckers.”
“Let’s just hope it’s true. I’m starving.” She twisted in her seat to jiggle Gavin’s leg. “Wake up. Time for lunch.”
It took her a few more tries before Gavin peeled one eye open. “Park.”
“Not yet, but we’ll go to another park soon.” She smiled at Cade. “He must’ve been dreaming about our day at the park.”
He wasn’t the only one. Cade would never forget that day, even though he planned to have many more. “We’ll have a lot of days at the park, Gavin.”
“Swimming pool.” Gavin rubbed his eyes and yawned.
“Yeah, that, too.”
“Don’t start asking your daddy for too much.” She winked at Cade. “I don’t think he could refuse you anything right now.”
And why should he? He’d already refused him so much.
They ate and got back on the road, this time with Jenna behind the wheel.
Cade shoved the seat back and stretched his legs as far as he could in the small car. He closed his eyes but knew sleep would evade him. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since...hell, he didn’t even know.
Yeah, he did. Since two nights ago, after he and Jenna had made love. Then he’d slept like the dead—while his father was dying.
As the pale, wintry sun said its farewell to the day and dark blue night suffused the sky, they sped through Tucson. They were able to shed their parkas and gloves again. Jenna was right. They’d been speeding back and forth across the Southwest so many times that Cade felt like a yo-yo.
He’d taken over the driving duties again, and Jenna was on the lookout for a hotel.
She squinted out the window. “So, we want to be close to the meeting place, but not too close.”
“That’s right. Anyplace around here should do it. Extra points for finding a place with a pool.”
Jenna put her finger to her lips and glanced over her shoulder at Gavin pressing his nose against the window, oblivious to their conversation. “Don’t get him started.”
They found a hotel with an indoor pool. Because they had a few hours before their meeting, Cade took Gavin into the pool while Jenna watched from the deck.
“I’d join you, but I don’t have any shorts, and I think I’d get arrested if wore my underwear in the pool like Gavin.”
Cade wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “I wouldn’t arrest you.”
Gavin squealed and splashed as Cade held on to his arms and pulled him around the pool. “See? He’s a natural.”
“Looks like a natural splasher to me.”
“Your mom doesn’t understand the finer points of swimming.” He launched Gavin into the air, and he splashed Jenna when he landed.
“Flying.” Gavin’s screech echoed in the enclosed area.
“You like flying?” Cade tossed him up a few more times until Jenna interrupted.
“We’d better get going. Don’t want to keep—” she looked both ways at two bunches of families in the pool and cupped her hand around her mouth “—Prospero waiting.”
Cade pulled Gavin onto his shoulders and swam to the edge of the pool. Whatever happened tonight, wherever Prospero sent them, he’d turn this life with his family into a reality.
Back in the room after a quick shower, Cade yanked a black beanie over his ears, and Jenna crept up behind him and ran her finger between the cap and his head. “You look...stealthy.”
“Habit. I want to blend into the night.”
She hugged herself and hunched her shoulders. “Will we come in with you or wait in the car?”
“Wait in the car at first, but you’ll have to come inside the warehouse. They’ll need pictures for the new IDs.”
She caught his eye in the mirror. “What happens if it’s some sort of trap for you?”
“Even if Prospero does suspect me of having the plans and this is a trap, they’ll still do right by you and Gavin and get you settled.”
“Without you.”
“I can convince them I don’t have the plans if that’s what they believe. Once I do that, they’ll release me and I’ll join you and Gavin.” He turned and kissed the lines forming between her brows. “Don’t worry. This is going to be a piece of cake.”
Jenna pulled a sweatshirt over Gavin’s head, and they packed their bags and loaded them in the car in case Prospero wanted them to leave Arizona immediately.
Cade’s neck tightened as he drove across town to an industrial area. He’d rather be meeting in a hotel room, but at least he could enter this abandoned warehouse with his weapon drawn. No chance of doing that in a hotel.
Not that he believed he’d need his weapon. Not against Prospero.
He pulled around a corner housing several warehouses plunked in the middle of a semi-lit parking lot, deserted except for a rusty car in the front and a truck along the side. Must be Curson’s truck.
“This is it?” Jenna’s voice quavered and she cleared her throat. “This is it?”
“This is the place.” He pulled into a parking space several feet away from the truck. A sliver of light razored across the asphalt where a door to the warehouse had been propped open.
That was a good sign, wasn’t it?
“They must be in there. Looks like some kind of office attached to the warehouse.”
A noisy sigh escaped Jenna’s lips. “Okay, you first.”
“Do me a favor.” He cut the engine and reached for his weapon beneath his seat. “Get Gavin out of his car seat and duck down with him.”
“To dodge the bullets?”
“Just to be on the safe side.” He flicked the keys still hanging in the ignition. “I’m leaving these here, too.”
“Just to be on the safe side.”
“That’s right.” He pinched her chin, opened the car door and then leaned back in to kiss her. Just to be on the safe side.
He locked the car doors before he planted his feet on the ground, and then shut the door behind him as quietly as he could.
Holding his weapon in front of him with both hands, he crept toward the propped-open door. His nostrils flared. Was that gunpowder?
His grip tightened on his gun and he threw a glance over his shoulder at the dimly lit parking lot. No other cars squealing into the lot, no stealthy figures creeping around—except him.
He tapped the barrel of his gun against the door, leaned his shoulder against it and eased it open. The smell of gunpowder permeated the air even more in this enclosed space, and his heart thudded against his rib cage.
Long-forgotten papers and registers littered the gray, metal shelves lining the office. A single green-shaded lamp burned on the battered desk and more papers, neatly stacked this time, were lined up in a row on the desktop.
Pushing the door wider, he stepped into the room. The door creaked, announcing his presence, so he called out. “Hello?”
A moan answered him.
His mouth dry and his pulse racing, Cade stepped around the desk and froze.
The body of a man lay sprawled across the cement floor, blood meandering away from his head.
Now he knew why it smelled like gunpowder.