Slaying the Dragon (Deception Duet #2) (48 page)

“Well,” Colleen said, leaning down to kiss her grandson on the forehead. “Welcome to the family, little man. You better give your father as hard a time as he gave me when
he
was growing up.”

“Hey!” Tyler exclaimed. “I was a complete angel. At least compared to him, I was.” He gestured to Alexander.

“Oh, really?” Alexander said, rushing his brother and putting him in a headlock.

“Boys!” a small voice shouted. We all turned our heads to see little Melanie standing next to Olivia, her hand on her hip in mock irritation. “Play nice! Or Grandma’s going to take away your toys. Isn’t that right?” she asked, looking toward Colleen.

Shrugging, she responded, “That usually
is
the punishment.” She winked.

“Well, I’m sure you’re tired,” Jenna said, squeezing my arm. “Why don’t you get some rest? We’ll stop by in the next few days when you’re all settled back at home, okay?”

I nodded. “I’d like that.”

Everyone said their goodbyes and began to file out of the room. “Dad, wait,” I said, grabbing his hand as he was about to follow everyone else.

“Yes,
mi bichito
?” he asked, his eyes brimming with love and affection.

Once the last person had left and it was just Tyler and us, I faced him. His shoulder was in a sling, but other than that, it didn’t appear as if he had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest just a week ago. “How did you know?” I asked. The question had been eating me up for days.

“Know what?”

“Where I would be?”

A smile crossed his face as he kept my hand clasped in his. “I knew Agent Suarez was dirty, particularly when I made arrangements to turn myself in and he asked me to surrender at a location other than the local police department. When he took me into ‘custody’, he didn’t really search me too well, so as he was driving around the island with me handcuffed in the back seat, I put one of my old skills to use. It’s amazing what a bobby pin can get you out of these days.” He winked.

“So you got out of your handcuffs, then what?”

“Suarez stopped in front of the house, saying it would be his big pay day. When he opened the back door to let me out, I easily overtook him and snatched his weapon from him. Then I made him call 911 and confess to everything. How do you think the police arrived so quickly?”

He raised his eyebrows at me, a satisfied look crossing his face. “It’s a good thing, too, because during the internal investigation, they found a video file Suarez must have confiscated when looking into Charlie’s death. Charlie hid a camera in your condo and got his murder on video, including Richard’s confession beforehand. He always was a smart guy.” He squeezed my arm and I fought the lump in my throat now that I had confirmation Charlie had sacrificed himself in his quest for the truth. Kissing me on the temple, my dad walked away, leaving Tyler and me alone.

“So he knew all along…,” Tyler mused.

“What do you mean by that?”

“He came to me that day and said he was going to turn himself in. He must have known it was a setup and that he would finally be able to put everything to rest.” He slouched into his chair. “Damn. He’s good.”

A small laugh escaped my mouth. “He
was
in Counterintelligence, after all. What did you expect? The truth?”

 
I tore my eyes from Tyler’s as little Charlie began to stir. I still couldn’t believe we had created this adorable little man in my arms. I never saw myself being a mother, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it, even though he was only a week old. For the first time, I got it. I understood why my father had done what he did all those years ago. I knew I would do everything I could to keep Charlie safe, and that was exactly what my father had done.

Over the past week, I had begun to process everything that had happened. All of the questions I had been searching for were answered. I finally had the closure I had looked for throughout the years. Now that Richard was dead and the truth was revealed, I no longer had to hide who I was. I could finally be me again. The only thing that was missing was Damian. I was desperate to know if anyone had found him, but Tyler only said he was waiting on news. I didn’t know if that meant he was still looking into it or he was trying to shield me from the truth.

Tyler’s cell buzzed, bringing me out of my thoughts. He grabbed it off the side table and looked at the screen before turning to me.

“I need to step out for a minute. Want me to put him down?”

I nodded, my arm growing tired.

I gave Charlie a kiss on the forehead and allowed Tyler to place him in his crib beside me.

“I’ll be right back,” Tyler said as he headed toward the door. Just as he was about to walk outside, he glanced over his shoulder. “I love you, Mrs. Burnham.”

I smiled. “And I love you. Now hurry back. I miss you already.” I closed my eyes and enjoyed the momentary break from visitors.

What seemed like seconds later, the door opened once more and Tyler walked in, a man who was about six-foot with dark scraggly hair and medium build following. I met his eyes through his glasses and gasped, wishing I could get out of my hospital bed and run. But I was still sore, and probably couldn’t make it more than a few steps without needing to take a break.

“Damian?” I said in bewilderment, almost not believing my eyes. For years after I was forced to leave North Carolina, I had dreamt of the day we would be reunited. He was my best friend, my first love. It had been nearly two decades. We had both grown and matured, but I saw the same little boy who used to look at the stars with me.

“Hey, Fi,” he said, gently wrapping his arms around me.

“How did you know I’d be–”

“I told him,” Tyler interrupted and we both turned to him. “The night you were…” He trailed off, taking a deep breath. “Well, Eli found the iPad Richard had at the scene. Maxwell was able to run a trace on where the camera feed was coming from and, although it was being bounced off a dozen different satellites, he finally isolated it and we found him.”

Damian looked down on me and grabbed my hand in his. “I’m so sorry, Fi. You have to understand. I didn’t want anything to do with what that sick bastard was planning, but I didn’t have a choice. He threatened to kill everyone close to me, including you. After I saw what he did to my parents and how they set Charlie up, I just couldn’t take that risk. I never meant for all of those people to get hurt, but I just couldn’t let anything happen to you.”

“How did you know Charlie?”

“Through a mutual acquaintance. I had confided in a friend about you and how I couldn’t shake the feeling you were still alive, but even after using my access at the FBI to locate you, I was coming up empty. He put me in touch with Charlie, saying he could usually see between the lines and find things that aren’t there. In no time at all, he found you. I was thrilled, but Charlie warned me it could be disastrous if I approached you because someone could put the pieces together. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but he made me promise to be patient while he tried to figure things out. Then he was locked up and I couldn’t shake the feeling it had something to do with what I had asked him to look into, so I kept my distance, not wanting anything to happen to you.”

I nodded. “But it all caught up to you, didn’t it?”

“I wasn’t tracked down because I asked Charlie to help.”

“It was your father,” I muttered, recalling Richard’s confession.

“I suppose this guy wanted to make sure my dad didn’t stray too far from the plan and he used me as a guarantee. I don’t know how he figured it out, but he knew about my…computer skills.”

“You mean hacking?” I raised my eyebrows.

He shrugged. “More or less. One day, as I was leaving work and heading to the gym, my car was pushed off the road and into a ditch. The next thing I remember was waking up in a cold cement room, chained to the wall. Two days later, my father joined me. I hadn’t seen him in years and, at first, I didn’t believe it was him. He didn’t look like the man I remembered him to be. Hell, I thought he was dead. When I heard his voice, I knew it was him, despite how he had changed his appearance for whatever deep cover job he was on. He told me everything… How he had been blackmailed into killing your father. How he planned the embassy attack to do just that, never expecting him to make it out of the fire. How he planted evidence to cover up all the deals so no one caught on. How relieved he was when his superiors signed off on the results of his investigation that your dad was responsible. How things started spinning out of control once Charlie began to ask questions. How he followed him one night, saw him with your mother, and grew concerned all over again that someone would figure it all out. How he had Charlie locked up and did nothing when Richard planned to kill your mother.

“He told me he jumped at the opportunity the CIA gave him to go under deep cover. He was scared for us, and for himself. This gave him an out and he took it, disappearing from my life and leaving me with a thousand questions…and a thousand more when he showed up that day in that cold cement room. He said he had tried to make amends, had told Richard he was done and was going to turn himself in. Apparently, that didn’t go over too well.” He swallowed hard, closing his eyes. “Two days later, my father was gone, and I knew he was…”

“Damian, I’m–”

“This guy kept me down there for what seemed like an eternity,” he interrupted. “I was under constant surveillance. He had me use what I knew to look into anything and everything, to use my skills to plant evidence, incriminating certain people in crimes I’m certain
he
committed. Sick of being there, I tried to send a message to someone one day about where I was and what was going on. Hell, I had all these computers in front of me. I was done living in fear.”

“Who did you try to send a message to?”

“My mother.”

I nodded, briefly closing my eyes.

“It’s my fault she’s gone,” he admitted, a quiver in his voice. “I was stupid and didn’t think about the repercussions. I was valuable to this guy. He needed me, but that didn’t mean he was willing for me to get away with what I had done. So, the following day, he placed a newspaper on the floor in front of me. The headline announced my mother’s and her new husband’s death. From that day forward, I did everything asked of me, not wanting this guy to get to anyone else I cared about, including you.”

“It’s okay,” Tyler said, giving Damian a sympathetic look. “No one here could have done anything to stop this. You did what you had to in order to survive.”

He nodded, squeezing my hand. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“And I’m glad you never stopped trying to find me.”

“Never,” he said. “Like I told you all those years ago, it would take a hell of a lot more than just new orders to tear us apart.”

He wrapped his arms around me and I relished in his embrace for the first time in nearly two decades. I met Tyler’s eyes, a satisfied smile on his face. Everything had come full circle. All my prayers had finally been answered. That was the moment I learned to never give up hope. I had shielded myself for years, remembering how alone I felt when I was younger, wishing upon a star and praying to whomever would listen. I thought all those prayers and wishes had gone unanswered, but that wasn’t the case at all. They were just waiting until I
needed
them to be answered.

Two Years Later

Tyler

S
NOW
FELL
AGAINST
THE
windows of our house in Beacon Hill, the streets of Boston sporting a fluffy white coat.

“I have no idea how you suffer through this, Mack,” Brayden’s boisterous voice cut through all the laughter and frivolity surrounding us as we celebrated Charlie’s second birthday. I couldn’t believe two years had passed since he entered this world in what I thought would be the worst night of my life. Instead, it ended up being the night I received the two greatest gifts a man could ask for…a son and a second chance – or third, depending on how you looked at it – with the woman of my dreams, my lightning strike.

About three months after Charlie was born, Mackenzie was finally cleared to travel and she couldn’t wait to get to Boston. We finally got the new start we both needed and left the past in the past. True, everything Mackenzie had endured made her into the person she was today, but she stopped living in the shadows.

For the first time in her life, Mackenzie finally had everything she ever wanted. Her father was back in her life. In fact, he had been recruited by one of the top private security firms in the country…mine. Now that his name was cleared, he was more than eager to get back into investigations. Plus, he was close by so he could spend as much time as he wanted with Mackenzie and Charlie.

Even better, Mackenzie finally had Damian back in her life, who came up to visit as much as he could. The sound of her laughter echoing through the house as they reminisced about their childhood always brought a smile to my face, knowing I was able to give that to her.

Jenna and Brayden remained in South Padre, where she continued looking after the restaurant operations, although she had been spending quite a bit of time in Boston to prepare for the opening of a second location of their restaurant in the Financial District. She seemed to have forgotten all about Richard, although it was hard to tell with her.