Luke said nothing.
Edwin sighed. “The destruction of kings,” he said quietly after a long minute, his gaze distant as though seeing something magical a long, long way away. “Several secretaries, ministers...”
“Priests and admin assistants?” the waitress snapped as she came to get their drinks orders. “I heard that one. Didja hear about the goat and the barmaid?” She laughed, revealing bright yellow teeth. She picked up the tray of assorted jellies and jams, assortment in this case meaning Grape or Raspberry, and pried off something with her thumbnail before setting it back, her attempts at organizing clearly finished for the night. “Whatcha gonna have?”
“Gastric distress, I think,” Dani said, trying to find the piece that had flown off the jelly holder and into the table of food, landing somewhere in among their plates.
“Water,” Luke said with a hard glare at Edwin, who opened his mouth and closed it again. “For all of us.”
“I’ll try the coffee,” Marcus said, his expression rapturous as he bit into a chicken leg.
“Navy,” Luke mumbled, shaking his head.
“Bravest of the bunch,” Marcus agreed.
DESPITE THE DIRE PREDICTIONS, Dani was pleasantly surprised to find that her constitution could manage a truck stop buffet. But then, she’d had several meals in her lifetime of having to eat what she could kill, or sometimes scrounge—and not always cook—so she had to have a tough stomach. But it was still a close call.
Marcus was just showing off with the coffee. He even added cream to it. Small flecks of undissolved white chunks floated lazily on the film on the top of the mug. He put in a spoon and pulled the skin off the coffee, and then drank the rest.
Her father went hungry. He’d piled his plate; the allure of comfort food called him and he responded, only to be betrayed by the consistency of lumpy potatoes and creamed corn with little specks of cob to add flavor. Dani supposed she should be happy when he made a mad dash to the restroom. It was fitting that the betrayer should feel the sting himself. But after eating a hearty serving of grease and salt with a side order of betrayal, all she could feel was queasy.
Edwin returned, looking slightly pale, his hands shaking a little as he sat and pushed his plate aside, and looked speculatively at the glass of water. “It took a very long time...” He was answering Luke, but he was taking his own sweet time about it.
For his part, Luke was wolfing down the fried chicken and sucking down his water like he hadn’t eaten in a month. Knowing Benny, chances were he hadn’t.
“Navy?” Marcus asked when Luke went back for seconds.
“Marine.”
“Figures.”
“Do you mind?” Edwin gave his hired man a hard look. “It took a long time to gather all of the info. I have... video, names, dates, financial transactions... everything. I have a minister of finance, South American government, I have American and European governments, hired killings, tax evasion, conspiracy, treason by high-ranking officials.”
“How did you get all that?” Dani asked, startled, wondering at the sheer number of hours it must have taken to compile. “How—?”
“Why?” Luke interrupted.
Edwin chose to answer him first. “Dani’s mother.” He turned to his daughter, meeting her gaze squarely. “When you were very young, your mother... she left me. You thought she was dead, and for many years I thought she was, too.” Edwin held up his hands to forestall her protests. “Look, it was just easier that way. How do you explain such things to a child? And you were a child at the time, Dani. I don’t care how grown you thought you were. I made that decision, and I’ve always stood by it.”
Dani looked down at her plate. For the first time in her life she felt uncertain. She, who had always been so ready to blame her father for everything. But what should I feel? If he’s telling the truth... then who should I be mad at?
And that was the problem. Why should she accept her father was telling the truth? She glanced up at him with narrowed eyes, watching him closely as he continued his story.
“Benny was just one cog in the wheel. He was a player, but most of this was above his level. But, Dani, your mother, she was... she was recruited. She knew things about Benny that led to others, and in order to keep her safe her death was faked. She was given a new life, new name, everything.”
Arranged? By whom? She shifted, glancing now at Luke. Government agencies did things like that, didn’t they? At least they always did in movies or books. But if that was the case, how would her father know where she was?
So, someone else had done the arranging perhaps.
Dani’s father took a sip of water and reached in to pull something off his tongue. He spat once, looked at the water, and sighed. “Damn, I’m hungry.”
“Go on,” Luke said around a mouthful of chicken. Dani stared, and seriously debated if she still wanted to kiss him or not.
“Anyway, she only left because...because they were coming after you, Dani. She was afraid for you. That was why your ‘Uncle’ Benny came around so much; that was why he seemed to prefer you to David. He was watching you, making sure that no one else could get you before he could. I don’t know if he ever believed your mother was dead or not, but he started working on me, getting me deeper and deeper. Markland was started with your mother’s money. I had a good company, we were just getting into the black from a rough startup, but we were making it, and then Benny came in and took over.”
He stopped and stared into his water glass, though his gaze was distant. Seeing something that wasn’t there. “I couldn’t say anything, do anything, I swear I thought he was taking you from me, and I’d already lost your mother. I couldn’t lose you, too.”
When he looked up at her, his eyes pleaded with her to understand. She looked away. No, she wasn’t ready to forgive him. Hell, she wasn’t ready to believe him. “When did you know she was alive?” she asked, her voice so harsh that even she flinched a little even as she said it.
“A few years ago. You joined the military, and then you kind of vanished for a while. I didn’t know where you went, but I later learned that you had some...” He looked at the other two men there, and hesitated while he decided on a word. “...assignments. David was off at college when she contacted me.”
“What did she say?” Dani asked, leaning across the table, hanging on every word despite her intention to keep a distance. To not ask.
“I walked into my office at Markland one morning and she was there, behind my desk, her feet propped up on the blotter. I almost didn’t recognize her; it had been what...a dozen years?” He smiled and shook his head. “The first thing she said was, ‘Drop your ass in that chair’.”
“Lovely,” Luke smiled, his lips bright with grease. Dani shuddered.