Trapper glanced out at the car and grimaced. “Well, he wasn’t lying about its looks.” Then, “Really and truly, Carson, thanks for all this.”
“I don’t do anything out of the goodness of my heart. You ever heard of billable hours? I’m chalking ’em up.” He blew Kerra a kiss and left to join his impatient bride.
Trapper shut the door and went through the locking process. He checked the contents of the shopping bags Carson had left on the bed and lifted one in each hand. “Boxers or briefs?”
“Briefs.”
He passed her one of the bags. “Briefs and other girl stuff. You can shower first, but save me a towel.”
“We didn’t finish our conversation.”
“Yeah, we did. Message received. You’re morally superior and don’t want to screw the likes of me. Fine. Occasionally I ask, but I never, ever beg.”
“Trapper—”
“I got a call to make.” He turned away from her, picked up his coat, and took from an inside pocket one of the several cell phones he’d retrieved from under the seat of the SUV.
He placed his call. “Hi, this John Trapper. How’s The Major this morning?” He listened for several moments, then said, “Really? He’s up to it? That’s a good sign, right? Sure. Hold the phone to his ear.” Then, “Hey. You’re doing even better. The nurse said—”
As he listened, Kerra watched his smile gradually turn into a thin, stern line. “Yeah, I guess you could call it a wild goose chase.” More listening, then, “No matter what I say in my own defense, you’ve already judged me.” Several seconds later, he gave Kerra a sharp look. “She’s standing right here.”
He walked over and ungently thrust the phone at her. “The Major wants to talk to you.”
Chapter 18
Trapper brushed past her and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
She said into the phone, “Major?”
“Kerra. I’ve been beside myself ever since I was told you got hurt. Are you fully recovered?”
His voice was faint and scratchy, but she smiled at the sound of it. “Almost. Soon you will be. I’m so grateful.”
“You might have been killed.”
“I survived. We survived. Don’t think about what could have been.” She laughed shakily. “Of course, I’ve had to tell myself the same thing numerous times.”
After a brief lapse, he said, “Lucky for me, the nurse John schmoozed was right here in my room when he called her.”
“That was lucky.”
“I’m surprised he called to ask after me.”
“Why would that surprise you? He’s terribly worried about you.”
“Then why isn’t he here with me instead of out doing…what he’s doing?”
During her hesitation to answer, The Major muffled the phone and asked the nurse to give him a moment’s privacy. Then he asked Kerra if she was alone. “Can we talk candidly?”
She could hear the shower running through the closed bathroom door. “Yes.”
“I know some of what’s going on because Glenn stopped by earlier,” The Major said, still speaking in a rasp. “He was fit to be tied. Told me how John had tricked Hank.”
“He went to the line shack this morning?”
“Glenn with him. As John knew would happen. Hank’s always been gullible, but Glenn was also made a fool of.”
“That wasn’t Trapper’s intention. He only needed to buy some time.”
The Major pulled in a ragged breath. “Kerra, is he chasing that notion of his about the Pegasus?”
She didn’t say anything, which was answer enough.
The Major sighed. “When he was here last night, I was barely conscious, but he launched right into it. Said I hadn’t listened when he warned me, and as a result you and I nearly got killed.”
Not wanting to be argumentative, as Trapper would be, she chose her words carefully. “If Sunday’s incident had nothing to do with our reunion and the Pegasus bombing, the timing is uncanny.”
“I agree, but it’s not up to us or to John to decide that. If he thinks the two are connected, he should take it up with the authorities. Federal authorities.”
“He tried,” she reminded him.
“Yes,” he said with discernible regret. “I got frustrated with him over that, and I was wrong. But John is his own worst enemy. A superior calls his methods into question, he shoots off his mouth, gets into trouble, causes grief for himself and everyone around him.”
Kerra knew that to be true, but The Major’s labored breathing concerned her. “We shouldn’t be talking about this right now. It’s upsetting you.”
“I’ve been upset for three years. John was a bright and shining star at the ATF until his obsession with the Pegasus took hold. He stopped at nothing to try and prove that he was right and everyone else wrong. He disobeyed orders to drop it, and that cost him his career. Cost Marianne hers, too, and destroyed their future together.”
The last statement struck Kerra like a blow to the chest. She took several steps back and dropped down onto the edge of the bed.
Oblivious to his unwitting revelation, The Major continued. “He took his failure hard. We had a vicious quarrel. Issues that had been brewing between us came pouring out and…Did he tell you about Debra’s diary?”
Marianne had obviously been someone important to Trapper. That didn’t trouble her as much as the fact that he’d never even mentioned her name. However, he’d spoken freely about his mother’s diary and how he had used it as a weapon against his father, but it would be a betrayal of his confidence to admit she knew about that.
When she didn’t respond to his question, The Major wheezed, “Well, no matter. Each of us said things that damaged our relationship.”
“That saddens me.”
“Me too. Can’t speak for John.”
“I believe he regrets the rift. Deeply.”
“If he does, he sure hasn’t shown it.”
“I don’t believe it’s irreparable.”
“Because you don’t know John. He gives no quarter. He can be unmerciful. Harsh. Cruel, even.”
Kerra’s throat grew tight. “Why are you telling me this?”
“According to Glenn, you’ve ‘taken up with him.’ You’re adults. It’s not my business except that—I suppose because I saved you once before—I feel a certain responsibility toward you, Kerra.”
“What about Trapper? Don’t you feel a responsibility toward him?”
“Of course I do. I love my son, but he rejects it,” he said, his voice cracking. “He’s discarded everything and everyone who cares about him. He’s chosen a destructive path and is determined to stay on it. If only to spite me,” he added in an undertone.
She disagreed. Trapper wasn’t motivated by spite, or jealousy, or the pettiness The Major attributed to him. But she wasn’t going to get in the middle of the conflict between them, which was already complicated enough.
She said, “Trapper believes he’s right.”
“If he is, that makes him a target. Don’t you see? Like I was Sunday night. Like you were and still are. Take my warning to heart, Kerra. John is reckless and won’t listen to anybody, and as long as you’re with him—” He broke off. “The nurse is back and reclaiming her phone. I have to go.” He heaved a rattling breath. “For god’s sake, be careful.”