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“You seem to have a lot on your mind. Is everything okay?”
Logan turned to Brice who didn’t normally ask. Is it that obvious? He’d never shared anything about his other patients, and if he brought up Cordelia, it would sound odd. Hell, it sounds weird to me. “Just one of those days.”
Brice nodded. “That it is. I wanted to talk to you about Tabiq.”
That was one subject he was interested in. It’d been almost a year since Alex uncovered the truth about their father’s so-called business affairs in Tabiq. His other brothers had all traveled there. Everyone had located their mother except Logan and Shaun. He knew it was going to take time. He understood that if they found them, it was important to ensure they were safe going forward. No matter what they seemed to do, the people of Tabiq were leery of the Henderson name. It was with good reason, but Logan was tired of being held accountable for his father’s actions.
“What’s going on now?” Guessing wasn’t even worth his time. Things were so volatile he didn’t even want his siblings going there. They could hire people to go and gather information. It made absolutely no sense to him for any of them to be physically there. One of these times one of you will be returning in a box.
“Bennett has been working closely with the Turchettas, and everyone believes they are close to locating Shaun’s mother.”
Logan continued to sit face-forward as he sipped his beer. “That’s good.”
“I thought you might want to travel with him since you haven’t been there yet.”
He downed his beer and waved to the bartender for another. “My schedule is booked solid.”
“I don’t get it, Logan. You’re the one I thought would’ve gone first, setting up hospitals and treatment centers. Yet, when we talk about it, you show no emotion. That’s not like you.”
There were damn good reasons for that. He wasn’t going to share why with anyone until they confirmed Shaun’s mother had been found and was well. If they knew the truth about his mother, the joy and hope that had enveloped and unified them all might disappear.
“What do you want from me, Brice? Should I jump up and down and scream to the entire world that another brother found his mother? What does this all really mean anyway? Have any of them chosen to come here? No, they haven’t. They’re all in Tabiq. Have you asked yourself why?” Logan and Brice glared at each other. “I’ll tell you why. Because they don’t want a Henderson as a son any more than we want to be one.”
“You really can’t believe that bullshit, Logan,” Brice said gruffly.
“How many times have you gone, Brice? Between you, Bennett, and Alex, there is almost always someone there. Yet, are they coming forward seeking you out?” He could tell by Brice’s expression he’d considered that himself. “Exactly. It’s like we have a billboard saying ‘We’re looking for you, Mom. Where are you?’ And no one raises her hand.”
“Logan, there are reasons why they don’t. If you’d just go one time, you might understand.”
“I’ve traveled to enough countries like that to treat patients.”
“Logan, this isn’t just another country. Whether you like it or not, this is where we’re from. If our father hadn’t brought out mothers here to have us, we wouldn’t even be US citizens.”
“Do you hear yourself, Brice? You’re talking like you’ve accepted what happened. I don’t know about you, but I’m not thrilled about how I came into this world. It’s fucked up.” And so am I.
He normally was the one in control, yet here he was snapping at Brice over something he had no more ability to change than Logan did. Growing up with James as a father was horrible, and he never thought it could get any worse. That’s why he’d distanced himself, even when his father was sick. Yet, now with these developments, it was like his father was still tormenting them from the grave. Damn you, Dad.
“We can’t change how we got here, but what we’re doing in Tabiq is trying to make up for what was done.”
Logan shook his head. “Do you seriously believe that can ever happen? Dad took a poor but somewhat peaceful country and crushed every beautiful thing about it.” Just like he tried doing with us. “No matter how you try to fix it, it’s like putting makeup on to cover a scar. You can hide it, but it doesn’t change the fact that it will always be there.” No different than the ones we hide.
Brice stared at him. Ordinarily, he was the hard-ass that told everyone what they should or shouldn’t do. It came with the role of being the oldest, but Brice did neither at that moment. Instead, he turned the tables on him. “Logan, have you ever gone into surgery knowing the person would never be the same but tried anyway?”
Just about every time.He loved his brother, but this new version of Brice was going to take some getting used to. Logan had noticed slight changes in him since he married Lena. She was good for Brice. He wasn’t such an asshole anymore. That didn’t mean he knew everything.
“Brice, don’t you have work to do in your lab? I heard you were looking at a new formula to enhance the flexibility of body armor while increasing the penetration levels.”
“Logan, is this your way of saying you’re done talking about—”
“Yes. So talk about you and your work or even the weather, but I’m done talking about Dad and Tabiq.”
Brice nodded. “I’ve submitted the latest prototype. Now all I can do is wait, but I have faith this is ready for production.”
“Are Bennett and his team still working closely with you on that?”
“They’re actually wearing it now in... the field.”
No matter how they tried, everything came back to Tabiq. The only place he could escape it was at work. Maybe that’s why he was working longer hours than ever before. If he had his way, he’d be there right now. “Testing on your brother-in-law doesn’t seem like a wise decision.”
