AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“All right now, give the boy some space, Melissa,” Pop said and hugged me. Pop was big like his son with the same dark skin, tall frame, full lips, wide shoulders, and big chest.
“Joe, leave me alone. Both of my boys are here. I can be happy to see them,” she retorted good-naturedly. Hearing her call me one of her boys made my heart swell. I loved the love they gave me, an orphan in the world.
“Okay, Cassie. Turn him loose so he can give me a hug!” Momma made her way down the stairs, and Lucas wrapped her up, pulling her off her feet. By the time he set her down, he had several kiss marks on his cheeks.
Lucas made his way onto the porch to us, both of his girls under his arms. Pop held his arms out and said gruffly, “Hey, son.” His eyes were shiny, and he had to clear his throat before he said anything else. “Good to see you. You look good.”
“You too, Pop,” Lucas said in an equally gruff voice. It hit me that he hadn’t seen his family since he went on his last vacation, which he said was five years ago.
“Come on in.” Momma shooed us inside, looking happier than I had ever seen her. I hated that the look would be wiped off her face when Lucas sat them down.
She led us into the living room, where there was iced tea and cookies on the table. Southern women and their iced tea.
We all took a seat on the various couches. I sat in the armchair by myself, wiping lipstick off my cheek. After helping him clean his face, Cass sat beside Lucas, leaning her head on his bicep on the loveseat. Momma and Pop sat on the couch, facing Lucas.
“It’s been a while,” Momma said, not unkindly.
“I know, and I’m sorry it took me so long to come home. It’s been case after case for so long that I lost track of time.”
Pop waved a hand and said, “Water under the bridge. You’re here now, and that’s all that matters. How long do we have you?”
Lucas looked over at me, and I nodded, letting him know I had his back and would support him if he needed me. He stared a moment longer, then faced his parents. I faced them too, but I didn’t miss how Cass caught our brief staredown. She looked back and forth between us, but I didn’t look in her direction. She would read on my face how I felt about him.
“That’s the thing…” he started, “… I’m only here for an hour, tops.”
Cass moved from his arm and looked at him. “An hour? We haven’t seen you in years. You can’t leave so soon.”
“I know. I’m not leaving. You are. You, Momma, Pop… and Tristan.”
I whipped my head around to look at him. I didn’t agree to leave… but I did agree to be there for Cass. Fuck. He tricked me. He looked at me and pleaded with his eyes for me to forgive him. I’m sure he saw the hurt in my eyes because it was reflected to me from his.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Momma told him, sitting up straighter in her seat. “Why would we leave?”
“I have to start from the beginning, so don’t interrupt me, please. None of you. It’s bad enough that I’ve been keeping this from you. I don’t want to have to start over when I start talking. Okay?”
Momma, Pop, and Cass looked at each other, then back at Lucas and nodded, and he launched into his story. He told them how, after the Army, he’d meant to be a cop, but an agent from Quantico made him want to join the FBI. How he really did have cases, but they were undercover and for the Bureau. How he was integral in the capture of the Darkstream Killer. How he almost beat him to death after he was taunted during the interrogation. How he was forced on vacation after an internal review. And how his Division Director and supervisor were murdered two days ago by the accomplice of the guy he’d help put away.
“No one knows we’re related, but I can’t be sure that whoever is after me won’t find out. So you have to get out of town. He’s after me, and I won’t have any of you in danger because of the job I chose. I know I have a lot of nerve coming back after five years and asking this of you, but I’m asking anyway. Will you please go? We have the timeshare in Mexico. I called last night to have them prepare it for you guys, just in case.” He took a deep breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. “It’ll be bad enough being on edge alone. I can’t worry about you guys too. I can’t do it. My mental health can’t take that.” He sounded so broken, so defeated. My heart stuttered, aching to leap out of my chest and comfort him. I wanted to reach out to him so badly, but this wasn’t the time or place for him to come out to his parents.
Momma and Pop had a silent conversation with their eyes. Their decades of marriage were apparent in their gaze. They came to a mental agreement and told Lucas they’d go. “But as soon as this is over,” Momma declared, “I want answers. You hear me, boy?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied quickly.
Cass was sitting next to him, crying silently. “I wish you had told us what was going on, big brother. I would have come to you. God, it must have been awful for you.” She sank into his arms, rubbing his back, and he kissed the top of her head.
When he pulled away from her, he said, “It might have been presumptuous of me, but I already booked your flights. You can pick up your tickets at the counter. It leaves in three hours from Atlanta. If y’all are gonna make it, you have to get going. You have a layover in Miami, but it’s a short one. By the end of the day, you should be far enough away that I won’t worry too much.”
Pop stood up and said, “Well, looks like we have to get packed. We can take small things we might need for the flight and buy what we need when we arrive. Is that agreeable?”
Cass and Momma nodded, and they all left the room. Cass stayed at her parents’ house at least two days a week, so she kept things she needed here and didn’t have to go home to pack. Lucas sighed and put his head in his hands. I went to sit beside him, and without hesitation, he leaned over and put his head on my shoulder. I leaned back into him, rubbing his back and kissing the top of his head. “You did good,” I told him. “They’re going to get out of town, and you won’t have to worry.”
“You gotta go too. Cassie will need you.”
I pursed my lips, wanting to ask if that was what he really wanted to say, but I realized I was projecting my feelings onto him. “Yeah, I know. I heard. You could have told me you wanted me to leave the country.”
“Do you have your passport with you?” he asked, skipping over what I said to him. I sighed again, not wanting to argue.
“Yes, I do. I have it packed in the stuff I took with me to the cabin.”
