Much to Grant’s consternation, Archie didn’t budge. The captain kept staring at him with disbelief.
Forcing a swallow did not help Grant’s bone-dry mouth, and his skin tingled with terror. Why the hell didn’t Captain Lockhart step aside? Would he ruin the robbery? The same man who had been so kind to Grant as a child? The same man who, along with Uncle Joe, had inspired him to join the Navy? Smart as a whip, firm, caring, and always knowing what to do—Joe and Archie were cut from the same cloth. Grant was about to betray them both.
With a trembling hand, Grant slowly removed the gun from his waistband and aimed it squarely at Archie’s chest. “Move out of my way,” he demanded, attempting to sound authoritative.
The older man did not even flinch. His only detectable reaction was a change in his eyes, where confusion steeled into suspicion.
Grant’s own crystal-blue eyes flashed terror, his face was bathed in sweat, and his arm was visibly trembling. His portrayal of a toughened criminal was wholly unconvincing. He felt like a scared kid, forced into something that went against every fiber of his being.
“Step aside, sir,” Grant ordered, feeling nauseated.
“Don’t do this, Grant. This isn’t you.”
They were mere feet from each other, and Archie still looked cold and calculating.
“Please, sir,” Grant begged. “Just get out of my way. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I know you don’t. And you won’t. Give me the gun, Grant.”
Both heard the footsteps on the stairs, and the second Grant glanced behind the captain, Archie lunged forward. He was on Grant immediately, and they tumbled backward as Archie wrestled the gun from Grant’s grasp. The gym bag fell to the floor with a thud.
Grant desperately tried to hold onto the gun while Archie pinned him on the tile floor. But his resolve didn’t hold for long. Once his former mentor had subdued him, his heart wasn’t really in it anymore. He’d never wanted the gun in the first place.
Archie leapt off Grant’s prone body to stand over him, panting. Now Archie aimed the gun at the man lying on his back.
Still breathing quickly, Archie seethed, “Unlike you, I will fire this weapon if necessary.”
Grant closed his eyes with utter resignation. He had fucked it all up. It was over.
“Stay down, Grant,” Archie ordered.
His voice was plaintive, sorrowful. “Yes, sir.”
Glancing up at the warrant officer gaping at them, Archie commanded, “Call the cops!”
The officer nodded and flew back up the stairs.
Lying flat on his back, a gun pointed at him, Grant felt more at peace than he had in a week. It was over now. He had screwed up so completely that there would be no pretending anymore. He could no longer believe he was an honorable man who could escape his destructive family. They had swallowed him whole.
“What is in the bag?” Archie asked.
“Money,” Grant answered quietly.
“You’re stealing it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why?”
Grant did not respond. The wait for the police seemed interminably long.
Archie relaxed his hold on the weapon. “What I was starting to tell you is that Joe’s been worried sick about you since you didn’t show up in Norfolk yesterday. He’s been trying to contact you.”
Closing his eyes again, Grant groaned, his feeling of peace quickly smashed to pieces. Once Joe discovered he’d been arrested, at a bar frequented by naval officers no less, he would surely disown him. And how would Logan and Carlo react to his botched robbery attempt? Grant’s heart seized with fear.
“Why are you doing this?”
Grant remained silent.
Just then, two Great Lakes police officers hustled down the stairs. Grant listened numbly as Archie surrendered the Glock to them and explained how he’d caught Grant attempting to steal the bag of money. The officers clarified that they’d consult with military police, but they believed the location of the arrest and nature of the crime meant the military would likely defer to them, the civilian authorities.
The officers approached Grant and roughly flipped him over on his stomach, snapping handcuffs into place on his wrists behind his back. He offered no fight as they dragged him to his feet. The arrest began a two-year string of interrogations, harsh treatment, and confinement: the life that awaited a Barberi man.
Ashley’s jaw had dropped open during Grant’s tale. “What happened to Logan?” she asked, snapping Grant back to the present.
Grant shook his head disgustedly. “I think he tried to drive off, probably once he saw the police arriving, but they detained him. I guess he told some bullshit story about trying to meet up with his buddy—that lieutenant who’d won the money from him in the first place. Then they interrogated the lieutenant, who confirmed that he met Lo while gambling at Angelo’s club. Since there was only circumstantial evidence tying him to the robbery, and he had the best lawyer money can buy, Lo pled guilty to some silly misdemeanor and got probation with court-ordered counseling.”
Ashley’s stared incredulously. “I’m so sorry, Grant.”
He took a deep breath and glanced down at his hands. The look of betrayal on the faces of Captain Lockhart and Uncle Joe continued to haunt him. “Now do you understand why I don’t want to be anywhere near Logan, Angelo, the lot of them?”
“I understand,” she nodded. Then her maternal instincts kicked in. “But that awful story proves one thing. Ben needs you even more than ever. Don’t let him go down the same path, Grant.”
He closed his eyes and exhaled loudly, feeling the crushing responsibility of being an uncle in a dishonest, caustic family. When he opened his eyes again, he was startled to find Sophie standing in the doorway of the bridge.
She eyed him curiously, having never seen him so utterly exhausted and broken. “Is everything okay?” Sophie asked, stealing a glance at the blonde at his side.
Pushing himself off the console into a standing position, Grant cleared his throat. “Sophie, this is Ashley. Her son Ben is my nephew.”
Sophie nodded slowly.
“We were just catching up,” Grant explained. “I hadn’t seen Ashley since I, um, since I got out.”
Sophie continued nodding and said nothing.
“I’ll think about what you asked me,” Grant told Ashley. “I will.”
Ashley smiled sadly. “Take care of yourself, Grant.” Then she brushed past Sophie and rejoined her friend to disembark the ship.
“You look upset,” Sophie finally said.
Grant appeared to close himself off before her very eyes. “C’mon, we better go report to Rog. Let’s see if we still have jobs.”
Without looking at her, he strode down the stairs. His own uncle could not save him from his family. How could he save his nephew?
17. Caretaker
You look tired,” Hunter commented.