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The old man wore a gold wedding band on his left hand. He’d had an affair, then. Gage was his dirty secret.
He looked around and spotted a framed photo on the fake fireplace. “You were a cop?”
“In Seattle,” Alistair said. “Moved to Benson when the kids were teenagers, trying to give them a better life in a smaller city. A family-friendly environment.”
“How did you meet Renee?”
“I arrested her.” Alistair smoothed out an imaginary wrinkle over his knee. “She became an informant for me.”
Gage winced. This type of thing was the reason why there were regulations about working with confidential informants, but maybe the rules had been more relaxed back then. “Who did she give you info on?”
“Local family. One of the brothers was making meth, and they were driving it over to Seattle for distribution.” Alistair shook his head. “One of them decided to fill a truck and get it to Alaska. Your mom gave us the heads-up, and we stopped them before they hit the Canadian border.”
“That’s good.” He never knew his mom had been a confidential informant for the police.
“She and I… It was a one-time thing. A mistake. I had a family, and when I broke it off”—the old man paused, tears glinting in his eyes—“I hurt her.”
Gage couldn’t speak past the lump in his throat.
“I always wondered.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. The longing in his father’s tone was the yearning he’d always had in his heart for his own child. The one he’d made with Clare.A mistake.But he’d never thought about it like that.
Now he knew it ended in tragedy. Loss.
His life had been this way because his mother made the choice to bury her hurt and tell him nothing.
“Thank you for seeing me,” Gage managed to say. “I know you had no idea why I was here. I sprung this on you.”
“I’m glad you did.” Alistair nodded. “Now I know.”
“Now you know what, Pops?” A woman strode in, carrying a stuffed tote bag. Fifties, dressed like she’d been at an office all day. Lines on her forehead as she glanced back and forth between them. “Who’s your friend?” She dumped the bag on the kitchen counter and started unpacking groceries.
Alistair opened his mouth, then pursed his lips.
“Just a new friend,” Gage said. “Do you need a hand with that?”
“No thanks…whoever you are.”
If he told her his name, it might get back to McCauley. Then Gage would have to answer uncomfortable questions about why he was visiting the captain’s father. Since he didn’t know how Alistair felt about them all knowing, he kept his mouth shut.
“Someone who should be going, since visiting hours are almost over.” Gage got up and went to stand in front of Alistair McCauley, then stuck his hand out. “It was very nice to meet you.”
The old man clasped his hand and shifted to the edge of the seat.
Gage helped him get to his feet.
He pulled Gage close to his chest. Slapped him on the back—though there wasn’t much strength to it.
Gage hugged his father for the first time.
“Very nice to meet you, Gage.” The older man’s voice was thick.
Gage swallowed back the emotion in his throat. “You too, sir.”
“Come back soon.” Alistair studied his face. “And get some sleep. You look tired.”
THIRTY
