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ONE
“What the hell do you want, Cole?”
It wasn’t like he’d been expecting a joyful reunion with Kelsey Reeves given their rocky past, but the expression on her face was still a shock. Mouth downturned, eyes hard. She stared at him through the cracked front door like she didn’t trust him.
Given what he was about to tell her, that had to change. Immediately.
“Well?” She crossed her arms protectively over her chest.
Cole realized with a start that he’d been staring at her. It wasn’t like he could help it. Angry or not, Kelsey was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Porcelain skin, hair that changed with her moods. A smile that made everyone want to smile back at her.
Not like he’d be seeingthatany time soon.
But he could understand why her walls were up. Their breakup had left them both wounded even though he’d been the one to end things.
“I came to talk about your dad,” he said, and her dark hazel eyes instantly flared to life. “Can I come in? I don’t want to get into it on your front porch, if you know what I mean.”
“Have you heard from him? Is he okay?” Her arms dropped along with her defensive posture, and she leaned toward Cole. “I’ve appealed to the Navy for information, but they’ve been no help. They keep stonewalling me.”
“We need to talk inside,” he repeated. “Somewhere where we can’t be overheard.” He’d parked down the street and watched her house for several minutes before approaching. He hadn’t seen anything to worry him, but he didn’t like to be exposed standing outside her door.
“Oh, I guess.” She stepped back through the door, holding it open so he could enter. With one last scan of the street, Cole stepped inside the small foyer. Once the door was shut, he threw the deadbolt behind him. Kelsey raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. The extra lock wasn’t a great deterrent, but it was better than nothing. He blinked and looked around as his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light. From what he could see, her house hadn’t changed much, except for a diaper bag sitting on the floor near the door.
His son was here.
The thought of the baby,hisbaby, somewhere in the house left Cole feeling off-balance. He pushed the feelings down. He’d made a choice—even if it was one that he doubted every day. He’d have to shoulder the consequences.
Kelsey led Cole down the hall and as they passed the family room he could see a dark-haired woman he didn’t know kneeling in front of the sofa, blocking his view of the babbling infant. He paused briefly, hoping that the woman would shift, and he’d get a glimpse of his child.
“This way,” Kelsey said as she shot him a look over her shoulder. It was clear that she didn’t want him anywhere near Eddy.
It’s not like he could blame her.
She wheeled around once she walked into the small kitchen. “What do you know? Tell me my father is all right.”
Cole wished he could say that and bring her some comfort, but the situation involving Lieutenant Commander Edwin Reeves wasn’t looking good. The Navy had officially listed her father as AWOL and viewed his disappearance a month ago as both voluntary and suspicious. No one had heard from him since…until that morning.
“I’m not sure how he is,” Cole said, “but I got an email from him today.”
“Oh my God, I’ve been so worried about him.” Kelsey clutched her hand over her heart and dropped her head so that the mass of her pink ombre hair obscured her face. She sniffled then cleared her throat and composed herself. “So he’s alive and well enough to get a message to you. What did he say?”
Cole held back for a minute, knowing that what he had to tell her wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Edwin was under a shadow of suspicion for his unsanctioned disappearance—and the suspicious timing. Cole wasn’t buying any of it, since he’d trained under and fought beside the man and knew he was no traitor. Edwin was the straightest arrow Cole had ever known, but the situation looked damning.
“Cole, talk to me,” Kelsey demanded, her tone sharpening at his silence.
“The email was scheduled, so I can’t speak to how he is currently.” He hesitated and then went on. He wasn’t really supposed to share this information with civilians, but she deserved to have some details that might explain her father’s actions. “Kelsey, about a week before your dad went AWOL, a SEAL team was ambushed—it seems that the attackers were tipped off by someone who knew where they’d be. The team was almost wiped out.”
“Almost?” Her fair skin paled.
“Only two survivors.” The loss of so many good men had rippled through the ranks. The SEALs worked in teams, but the teams weren’t isolated from each other. They often shared training and even missions. Cole had personally known four of the men who lost their lives, and knew of others. “They’re both in critical condition still and are unable to tell what happened.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that, but what does it have to do with my dad?” He watched her frown and knew that even as she asked the question, she was already starting to piece the intel together in her head. She understood the military as only a kid who’d grown up in it could, and she possessed a sharp, analytical brain from her work as a software coder.
“The ambush has been linked to a leak in military intelligence,” he said. “It’s believed that someone high up, someone who would know where that team was, sold the coordinates.”
She slumped back against the wall, her hand going to her mouth in shock as she realized what he meant. “Dad would never…never…you know that.”
“I do, but not everyone is seeing it that way.” Cole would stake his own life on Edwin’s loyalty to the Navy and his country. But that wasn’t enough to clear his name. “The timing of his disappearance may be unrelated, but it’s calling his integrity into question.”
