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“Sorry if I woke you.” She should have known he wouldn’t sleep through someone walking around the house, no matter how quiet she’d tried to be.
“I wasn’t sleeping,” he said. He brought his mug to the table and sat down across from her. “Was he sick?”
“No, just unsettled. It happens,” she said, enjoying this quiet moment with Cole with only a trace of wistfulness. Things had been good between them, so good at one time, but life changed their circumstances and they had to move on. Not without a pang of regret. But she pushed that aside since she wouldn’t trade having Eddy for anything. If she could have both her babyandthis man…but that wasn’t possible. Cole had made that clear, and she wasn’t foolish enough to think that had changed.
A loud knocking on the door made her jump. “Who could that be so early?”
“Stay here.” Cole went through the swinging door to the dark dining room where he could see the street in front of her house. “Shoot,” she heard him mutter, and then he was back in the kitchen, reaching for his phone. “There are news vans in the street. Three of them.”
“What? Why?” She resisted the urge to jump up and go look for herself.
“I’m guessing something about your father leaked out to the media.” Cole’s eyes were on his phone screen. He swore again and placed his phone on the table where they could both see the video that was playing. It was from the previous evening’s eleven o’clock news broadcast. A female reporter stood in front of the entrance gate to the Coronado Naval Base and spoke in a serious tone.
“Late today the Navy released limited information regarding an incident that occurred four weeks ago when a Navy SEAL team was ambushed and suffered heavy casualties. The Navy isn’t supplying details but did confirm that the disappearance of Lieutenant Commander Edwin Reeves, a senior officer with the SEALs, might be linked to the tragedy. Commander Reeves’s location is currently unknown, but his actions prior to his disappearance are being investigated thoroughly.”
“Oh, no,” Kelsey whispered as Cole checked another news source where a similar report was running. This one more strongly implicated that her father was responsible for the ambush and had disappeared in order to flee justice. On a third channel, she could see the front of her house where the reporter was live on the air. “They’re on my lawn.” No longer able to stay still, she hopped up from the table, dashed through the dining room, and pulled back the curtain. Her actions made her immediately visible to the news agencies. But she could see them, too. Five news vans were now on the street, blocking it. She gulped and dropped the curtain.
“There she is,” someone shouted from outside, and then more voices called out in rapid succession.
“How does it feel to have a traitor for a father?”
“Miss Reeves, we have questions, will you come outside?”
“Where is Commander Reeves hiding?”
“Did you know your father was responsible for the deaths of his fellow servicemen?”
Kelsey felt frozen in place, a coldness creeping through her limbs. Cole’s warm hand on her arm snapped her out of it.
“Come back in the kitchen,” he said, his hold on her gentle. “You need to sit down.”
White-hot anger shot through her. “I need to go out there and tell them the truth. How can they say my father’s a traitor? Do they have any idea what he’s sacrificed for this country? How dare they even suggest he’d be disloyal?” Her father loved his country. He’d joined the Navy straight out of high school and given everything to the service.
“It’ll be okay. We’ll clear his name.” Cole was tugging her back to the kitchen. Once there, he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her into a chair. “Drink some coffee.”
Her fingers were trembling, but she managed to steady them enough to take a sip. “Why did the Navy give the news outlets his name? Why was it even mentioned in connection with the ambush?”
“Not sure, but the fact that he’s AWOL doesn’t look good,” Cole said.
What was he saying? “You don’t think—”
“Not for a minute,” he cut her off. “I trust your father, but this is about appearances. The media has that nugget of intel, and they are running with it, hoping for a juicy story. We’re not going to give them one.”
“I have to make a statement,” she insisted. “I can’t just let them—and their viewers—assume the worst about Dad.”
“I don’t advise that, but…” He glanced toward the clock. “We need to leave soon if I’m going to report for duty on time.” Unspoken was the fact that with the street blocked, there was no way for them to leave.
“Which is why I have to talk to the media. They’ll get something to report and clear out.” And she wasn’t going to let her father’s name be run through the wringer without trying to set the record straight. Besides, wouldn’t her silence only be seen to confirm his guilt?
“It’s too risky,” Cole said. “Those reporters are after blood.”
“I can handle it,” she insisted.
He scrubbed his hand over his jaw, a sign that he was considering her idea. “Okay, but the door stays open behind us so we can retreat if it gets ugly, and I’m going to be out there with you.”
“Do you think you should be?” she asked. “It might look bad for you.” If the press realized he was a SEAL, too, and had served with her father, they might come after him. And his superiors might not be pleased to have him so openly taking a side in an ongoing investigation.
“I don’t give a damn how it looks,” he growled. “I’m not sending you out there alone.”
