Wayward Son

Readers love
Unfortunate Son

by
S
HAE
C
ONNOR

“Connor’s writing is engaging, sexy, and sensitive, nimbly depicting scorching sex scenes followed by harrowing accounts of violence overseas. …An excellent pick for readers seeking a sexy drama, with a generous sprinkling of humor and a happy ending.”

—
Library Journal

“I just can’t deny that I was still totally captivated enough to not want to put this down once I got into it and I was sad when it finished.”

—Sinfully… Addicted to All Male Romance

“I could probably find hundreds of things about this book that I liked, but… It’s truly a journey you need to take for yourself as a reader to appreciate all of the wonderful things about it.”

—Love Bytes

“…from the start I loved this book and got stuck right into the storylines and the characters.”

—MM Good Book Reviews

“This is one of those stories that steps beyond romance and is exploring life and its challenges… I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to the next books in the series…”

—Prism Book Alliance

“I enjoyed it. And with certainty I can say
Unfortunate Son
is aptly named and worth a read.”

—Joyfully Jay

By
S
HAE
C
ONNOR

All in a Day’s Work (Multiple Author Anthology)

Cabin on the Hill

Chicago

En Fuego

Grand Adventures (Dreamspinner Anthology)

Model Student

Of Holiday Spirits, Wake-Up Calls, and Happily Ever Afters

Playing Ball (Multiple Author Anthology)

Sand & Water

Sharing Christmas

S
ONS

Unfortunate Son

Wayward Son

Published by
D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Published by

D
REAMSPINNER
P
RESS

5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886  USA

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Wayward Son

© 2015 Shae Connor.

Cover Art

© 2015 Paul Richmond.

http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com

Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/.

ISBN: 978-1-63476-078-2

Digital ISBN: 978-1-63476-079-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015930658

First Edition May 2015

Printed in the United States of America

This paper meets the requirements of

ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

For Heidi, who introduced me to Sam, Mitch, and Randy.

Special thanks go out to Derek, Cody, Scotty, Charlie, Joey, Perry, Chip, Sue, and Posy for the (sometimes inadvertent) inspiration, and to Shira Anthony for answering my legal questions. Heartfelt appreciation to my alpha/beta reader, D.M. Grace, who whipped through this sucker like lightning so I could make the deadline, and to my postsubmission betas, CJane Elliott and J.P. Barnaby, for helping me work out the last of the kinks. Extra doses of gratitude to my Senior Editor, Jane, and the other Dreamspinner editorial and production staff for putting up with my quirks. And finally, thanks to everyone on Twitter and Facebook who cheered me on, and particularly to Adam for offering a loan of a machete for use during revisions. It came in quite handy.

“O
KAY
!” M
IKEY
O’Malley clapped his hands together and smiled at his charges. “So what do we do first?”

“Strap in!” A chorus of voices both deep and high answered him, and Mikey’s smile widened.

“You got it! So let’s get hooked up and we can start hiking!”

The kids surged forward, adults in close pursuit, and Mikey and his coworkers stayed busy for the next few minutes getting everyone into their harnesses and hooked in to the safety system. The AirHike attraction at Forest in the City Nature Park sent people climbing into the treetops through a series of rope bridges and platforms, strapped in securely so they wouldn’t fall. This group of parents with children who barely reached the minimum height would only be taking the lower third of the climb, but for the park—and for Mikey—making sure they made it through safely was priority number one.

Once the group had been sent safely off on their adventure, Mikey checked the time—an hour until his lunch break—and jogged over to the tangle of harnesses from the last group that came through. He grabbed a handful and started trying to straighten them out, checking all of them for any damage but paying particular attention to the smaller sets. In another couple of weeks, once he was fully trained and all the paperwork cleared, Mikey would be leading groups of summer-camp kids through the process, so he had extra incentive not just for taking more care with things but for keeping a close eye on the equipment he’d be using.

“Hey, Mikey!” Mikey looked over to where his supervisor stood near the tiny building that served as half storage and half office. Joey waved him over, so Mikey set down what he was working on and headed over. Before he could ask what was up, Joey said, “HR needs you to head over to the main office ASAP. Wouldn’t say why.”

A knot formed in Mikey’s stomach. “I was just going to finish—”

Joey shook his head. “Sorry. They said now. We’ll get things cleaned up here.”

Mikey swallowed hard and nodded before turning to head toward the clump of buildings at the center of the park. He couldn’t imagine why he’d been called in, especially for something his supervisor didn’t know about. Maybe it was something stupid, like a complaint from the parents of that Kevin kid yesterday who kept trying to get out of wearing a harness. He tried not to let his imagination run too far down the rabbit hole, but they certainly weren’t about to offer him a raise. He’d been working there less than a week.

The summer sun seared his back and shoulders as he crossed to the entry gates and waved his employee badge to be let through. Walking into the main office felt like crossing from a sauna into a deep freeze, and he shivered, only partly from the temperature drop. He remembered where to find HR, but it took him a few seconds of staring at the nameplate next to the door—
Valerie deLuca, MBA, SPHR
—and a few deep breaths before he could bring himself to knock.

“Come in.”

Mikey opened the door slowly. “You needed to see me?”

The woman behind the desk didn’t smile. “Mr. O’Malley. Please come in, and have a seat. Close the door.”

Oh, this doesn’t sound good at all
. Mikey followed instructions, twining his fingers together in his lap so he wouldn’t fidget. He couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing, though.

The woman—Valerie, Mikey reminded himself—reached for a folder. “Mr. O’Malley, I’m afraid we’re going to have to suspend your employment temporarily.”

Shock like touching a live wire ran through Mikey. “
Suspend
? What did I do? I can’t—” He stopped and took a breath. “What happened?”

Valerie shook her head. “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say at this point. As we informed you when you were hired, we perform enhanced background checks for staff members whose job duties may involve working with children without direct supervision. Unfortunately that check has found information of a nature that will require us to remove you from the schedule until we investigate more fully.”

She gave him a look that he supposed carried some degree of sympathy, but he had trouble feeling it. “I’ll need your badge for now. You may keep your parking permit and uniforms during the investigation, but please do not visit the park unless you are requested to come in to the office.”