The Current Between Us (36 page)

As he stared at the vacation pictures, the evil so prevalent in Abdulla’s eyes was missing. He appeared taken with Lynn, genuine affection shining through, and in those shots he could see what Hunter might grow to look like. How did the evil Abdulla father such sweet children? Could Trent really have known nothing about any of this?

Now all these hours later, Gage
’s gut told him the answer, and if he were honest with himself, he’d known it from the minute he’d calmed down. Trent Cooper wasn’t a part of any of this. You couldn’t fake all that goodness Trent had going on, but to call everything a massive case of coincidence… It was still very hard to believe.

When Gage left Em
’s room Sunday night, he’d grabbed a brush sitting on her dresser, which he then sent off for forensic testing. They had Abdulla’s DNA on file, having gathered it through the investigation once contact was made. Gage called in favors, and rushed the initial testing, which arrived only moments ago. The preliminary finding confirmed Abdulla had fathered both children. Another complicating factor, Abdulla’s alias of Aaron Adams, soldier in the United States Army wasn’t registered anywhere in US military records, yet Gage remembered Trent saying something about benefits the children received from their father’s time in service… Neither Gage nor Sid could find any record of monies being paid to Trent from the government.

There were clear holes in this story, many questions left unanswered, but this deep ache in his heart wouldn
’t give. He’d been without Trent for almost forty-eight hours. Gage hadn’t called him or texted him, and Trent had done nothing to reach out to him. Though, that didn’t surprise him. Trent was a proud guy, and Gage stormed off with such angry accusations being flung everywhere. But what was he supposed to have thought? Gage needed to get back there and figure out what had happened, because it seemed like his world caved in around him in those few seconds in Em’s bedroom. Hell, at the precise moment of finding that picture, Gage feared for his men’s lives.

Now, he needed to talk to Trent. Try to resolve these unanswered questions, but first he needed to get all his ducks in a row, and he needed sleep. When he spoke to Trent, the kids needed to be in bed or out of the house, and even then, he didn
’t know how Trent would take the unmistakable fact Gage was about to blow his family out of the water. Rubbing his hands over his face, he forced those thoughts from his mind. Gage rose from the desk he’d been at for most of the last two days. He needed to be at his best and right now he was too exhausted to be any good to anyone. First, he needed rest, then he would deal with security for the report he’d soon have on air, last he would deal with Trent.

****

“No, he’s home more. Work has slowed down,” Rhonny said quietly into the phone, walking into the kitchen from the living room where Em was bent over the coffee table coloring.

“
Why? Is he sad?” Sophia asked.

“
Yeah, but I think some jobs have canceled on him. One of his guys quit,” Rhonny said, leaning back against the kitchen counter, bringing a fingernail to her mouth, chewing at it. She worried about Trent and couldn’t think of any way to help him. It drove her to call Sophia.

“
Really? Why?” Sophia asked.

“
I don’t know for sure. He doesn’t talk to me about stuff like that, but I heard him outside. He was moving those big spools of wire. He does that when he’s mad, and he muttered something about coming out and keeping everything separated for a reason,” Rhonny said.

“
Oh, that’s not good,” Sophia said.

“
No, I didn’t think so either,” Rhonny said.

“
How are the kids?” Sophia asked.

“
I think good… Hunter’s asked about Gage, and Trent told him he didn’t think Gage would be around anymore. Hunter got sad, but Em cried. Trent hugged them and said he was sorry, he shouldn’t have let Gage meet them yet, and he told them it was his fault about Gage, and they shouldn’t worry about it. Em’s at the living room table now making Gage a card with the art set he got her. She’s been coloring on it all afternoon. She wants me to drive her over to give it to Gage,” Rhonny said.

“
Are you going to?” Sophia asked.

“
I don’t know. It doesn’t seem right for me to.”

“
I think you totally should. Let dumbass see what he’s so willing to give up,” Sophia said, and for the first time in the call Sophia sounded angry and defensive.

“
You know guys don’t think like that,” Rhonny said.

“
What does Gary say?” Sophia asked.

“
He says Gage has always been a loner, never dated anyone before. It was a big deal we all went to the opening.”

“
Hmmm… I don’t know what it means.”

“
Me either.”

“
Poor Trent,” Sophia finally said.

“
I know. I think he was crying this afternoon. His eyes were really red. He said he was tired, but I think he was crying,” Rhonny said, and finally bit her nail. She’d been trying to break the nail-biting habit, but all the stress in the house had her biting one fingernail, then another.

“
Damn it, Rhonny. I think you need to take Em to the gallery!” Sophia said.

“
I don’t know…”

“
No, take her. Take her now before Trent gets home. Where’s Trent, anyway?”

“
Hunter has summer T-ball. It starts this week. He needed cleats.”

“
Take her, Rhonny, right now, before he gets back. And call when you leave the gallery. Watch everything he does, from the minute you walk in to the minute you leave, I want all the details.”

“
All right, if you think so,” Rhonny still hedged.

“
I do think so! Go now,” Sophia said.

She disconnected the call and looked over at the table where Em still colored away, trying hard with the picture. She couldn
’t decide what to do. It wasn’t cool what Gage had done—whatever that was—but she really couldn’t see how putting Em in front of him would do more than push him away. Staring at Em, her heart gave a small little dip. She was such a sweet little girl. Trent did a great job raising them, keeping everything bad from them. How could Gage come on so strong, then just vanish like that?

“
I’m ready, Rhonny. I’m done, what do you think? I messed up some lines, but the color is the colors Gage said to use, I think,” Em said, studying the picture closely.

“
It’s wonderful, honey,” Rhonny said, coming to kneel down beside Em, staring at the picture, still not sure what she should do.

“
Will you write on it?” Em asked.

“
Why don’t I write out what you want to say, and you copy it.”

“
Okay, but he might not be able to read it,” Em said.

“
He will, I promise. Tell me what you want to say,” Rhonny grabbed a sheet of paper from the stack, and Em stopped coloring and looked up at the ceiling, thinking hard.

“
I want to say thank you for making my daddy and me and Hunter happy,” Em said, looking at Rhonny while biting her lip.

“
Oh, Em, that’s very sweet.” Rhonny wrote the note putting enough space between each word to set them apart. “Write it just like this, okay? I’m going to go get my shoes and purse. I’ll grab your sandals, and then we’ll go.”

“
Okay,” Em said, concentrating hard on writing each letter on the paper. When Rhonny got back, she helped Em on with her sandals and looked over the colored paper. Em’s letters were too big and the space wasn’t really there between the words, but she thought Gage might get it and if nothing more he might at least carry guilt for what he’d done to Trent’s heart.

****

Gage came down the stairs from his personal living space feeling like a new man. He took a solid five hour nap. Well, he supposed it could be called a nap. He’d pretty much passed out under the stress and fatigue he’d put his body through over the last two days. The rest had helped, though. Then he took a full shower, shaved, did the whole manscaping deal, and chose his power clothing: his black Prada slacks and a black, light-weight Prada cashmere sweater. If he was going to try to fix this mess with Trent, he wanted to look and feel his best. In all honesty, Gage wasn’t sure this could be fixed, but his heart begged him to try.

The special report on Abdulla was the biggest of his life. It would change the way the world saw him and solidify him as a true investigative reporter. This would launch his after-retirement career and give him a break from all the field work he
’d done over the last ten years. It would also inadvertently destroy Trent Cooper and his children. Everything inside Gage rejected hurting Trent in any way, no matter how much he needed the acclaim this report would bring him. A solid war between his heart and his head waged inside his body, and when it came down to it, he needed to use his head, period. The heart was a fickle thing.

Gage stepped out into the main lobby of the gallery at the same moment his head of security and the local police chief stepped inside the front door.
He’d arranged this meeting in an effort to make sure Trent, Em, and Hunter were provided adequate protection once the story broke sometime in the next twenty-four hours.

“
Mr. Hopkins and Chief Sorreal, thank you for coming,” Gage said, taking long strides to meet them in the middle of the gallery. There were no polite pleasantries. The chief just began speaking right where he and Hopkins left off.

“
Mr. Synclair, Mr. Hopkins and I have met, I’m going to assure you we will do our best to keep this family safe, but we can’t act until we know more and your head of security was incredibly vague,” the chief said.

“
I understand, sir. I’m sure Mr. Hopkins explained my men are there with the family now, watching them closely. It’s really what we wanted you to know. The officers patrolling need to know they are there and present, just in case something goes down.”

“
Would you care to give me more specifics?” he asked.

“
I can’t right now, but I will soon,” Gage said, taking on the chief’s stance, legs apart, arms crossed over his chest, staring at one another.

“
Then all we can do is pick up patrols and keep our eyes open for something we don’t even know about. And should your men get in an altercation, we won’t be able to distinguish them from the perpetrators. Everyone will be going to jail at that point,” the chief said.

“
It’s fine. My men know what to do. They’ve been with me for years. Once I can tell you more, I’ll call you directly. Until then, please increase the patrols around the Cooper household.”

“
We will, but I expect a call as soon as you possibly can. I don’t like my men going in with blinders,” the chief said. Gage nodded, staying quiet. This wasn’t his first rodeo with law enforcement. He knew they liked to be the ones in control, but he wasn’t gonna give it to them, so he stayed quiet. He went to shake the chief’s hands when the front door burst open, banging loudly. All three of them turned toward the door, where Em stood looking shocked the door had opened so easily. Rhonny stood right behind her, stepping inside, checking to see if Em broke anything.

“
Excuse me, please,” Gage said and never looked back at the chief or Hopkins, going straight to Em. Her little face beamed when she saw him.

“
I’m sorry I banged the door,” Em said, rooted to her spot, which was odd for her. She usually stayed on the run; a launch-yourself-at-whatever kind of kid.

“
It’s fine, sweetheart,” he said. Em looked straight at him, smiling, but Rhonny stood back solemn faced and wouldn’t look him directly in the eye.

“
To what do I owe this pleasure?” Gage asked, deciding Em was the more likely of the two to speak, and dropped down, bending at the knee, coming to Em’s eye level.

“
I made you this present and Daddy said you weren’t gonna come over anymore so Rhonny brought me here to give it to you.” Gage watched her closely as she spoke, her smile fading and her forehead narrowing at the same time pain shot through his heart at her words. It staggered him as loss filled his soul at her uncensored words. He couldn’t help but reach out to her and take her in his arms.

“
Did he say that?” Gage asked, bending his head to keep his eyes on hers.

“
Yes,” Em said and bit her lip, her brow still narrowed.

“
Hmmm… Can I see what you made me?” Gage asked. Em didn’t say anything, but handed him the colored sheet of paper. He looked up at Rhonny who still wouldn’t look at him. She kept her eyes on Em and hovered around the little girl. He could tell Rhonny wasn’t sure about being there, and he guessed he deserved it, but he absolutely hated it.

“
Did you color this?” he asked as he glanced at the paper.