Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet (28 page)

“
About my father.” Nate
snorted, and Marianna’s breath caught. Nate had long despised his
father, and how could she blame him? “About my mom.
Genetics.”

“
I’ll admit genetics aren’t
my strength. I’m not a good scientist at all. But maybe I can help
you figure some things out.”

“
My biological father is a
real bastard. He hurt us. Hurt my mom. A lot and bad.”

“
I know, son.” She
appreciated Ed’s matter-of-fact tone and suspected Nate did as
well. She’d always tried to be honest with the boys about what had
happened between her and their father, without demonizing her ex.
She hadn’t had to paint him in a bad light—the older boys
remembered enough on their own.

“
If Uncle
Fin and Lorcan hadn’t helped us—even though they didn’t
have
to—my mom and Bobby
would have died.”

“
Possibly.”

“
They
are
good
men.”

“
Some of the best I
know.”

“
Unlike
my father. They are
better
men.”

“
Possibly.”

“
Not possibly, definitely.”
Nate paused a moment. “I don’t want to be like him. At all. I want
to be like Uncle Fin, and Lorcan. And you, I guess. I want to join
the FBI. And…I don’t think my mom will like that.”

“
Maybe not. But if you’re
serious, and that’s what makes you happy, I think your mom will
understand.”

“
I hope
so. Because next year I’m taking less science and more history and
political science. As well as psychology and sociology, if I can
fit it into my schedule. Brynlock offers enough AP courses that I
should be able to complete my freshman requirements by the end of
my eleventh grade year.
If
I can convince the school to wave the rule that
says you have to be a junior to take the AP
classes.”

“
Can you handle the
classes, if you make that request?”

“
Yes, sir. I’ve been
thinking about it, and I borrowed a psychology book and have been
doing some of the assignments to see if I like the subject. I know
I can do this.”

“
Then let me make a few
calls tomorrow. I may be able to arrange a meeting for you and your
mother with the board at Brynlock to discuss the
matter.”

“
Would you? That would be
awesome!”

“
Sure. But you need to
promise me this is something you are serious about. And you have to
give each class your full attention, no quitting
halfway.”

“
I won’t, sir. I can
promise that.”

“
Then I’ll be happy to help
in any way that I can.”

“
You already have. Thank
you. I…uh…should probably go to bed.”

“
Good night.”

Marianna chose that moment
to enter. “Nate? Why are you still up?” Maybe he’d tell
her
what was on his mind?
Should she be upset that he’d turned to
Ed
instead? A man he apparently
admired enough to follow in his footsteps? She sank onto the couch
next to Ed.

“
Nothing, just talking,
Mom. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She waited until her son
was up the stairs before turning back to the man. “Thank you for
listening to him.”

“
So you heard? I thought as
much. He reminds me of my daughter.” A dark look crossed his
expression and puzzled her. “She had some things happen to her
around that age that drew her to the Bureau.”

“
I take it they weren’t
good things?” Marianna had heard very little about his daughter in
her time with the St. Louis division. Just about her and Hellbrook,
and a former agent. And she’d spent very little time with the
younger woman.

He shook his head, a
haunted look on his face. One of regret and sorrow that only
another parent could understand. “No. Definitely not. But they did
have lasting repercussions. Still do. And I’ll never forget that
if
I
hadn’t been a
part of the Bureau, she never would have been targeted. But Nate
will do just fine. He’s a good kid. You’ve done a wonderful job
with him.”

“
But
he—and the rest of my kids—need someone besides just me, don’t
they?” It was her biggest fear, her biggest worry. She’d tried to
expand her sons’ support system. They had Ally, and Kelly, and even
Fin and Lorcan. But Fin and Lorcan had lived in different cities
for the last several years, until St. Louis, how much support could
they really provide to her boys? Boys to whom they shared no
real
family
connection?

“
Possibly. At least some of
the times. I struggled in the opposite direction with Georgia, ya
know? My sister moved to Washington state just as Georgia hit her
midteens. Then it was just me and my daughter, and I was gone more
than half the time. I didn’t know what to do with a traumatized
teen girl. But we muddled through.”

Traumatized?
What had happened to his daughter? She was too
afraid to ask. She just covered his hand with hers. He turned his
palm up and laced his fingers through hers. Marianna was comforted
by the gesture. Ed liked to touch. He’d touched Ana McLaughlin
several times in front of her, and Paige Daviess, Alessandra
Brockman, the female members of his daughter’s team. He’d slapped
the backs of the male members of those teams. Had rested a hand on
Ted’s shoulder many times during the last nine weeks, as they’d
talked. At the various school functions they’d attended, they’d
always ended up sitting together. Ed would end up holding one of
her younger three boys or his grandson Matthew.

At first it had made her
nervous, but not now. Now it seemed natural, normal.
Comfortable.

When had he shifted from
being intimidating to comforting? Was it just something in
her
that had shifted? “I
can’t be everything to them anymore. At least not the older
boys.”

“
No. They
are wanting to branch out. But you’ve done your job well—they all
have the confidence they need
to
branch out. And isn’t that what it’s about?
Preparing them to leave us?”

She’d never put it that way
before. “Does it get easier as they get older?” She settled against
his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around hers.

He laughed softly. “Not
really.
Especially
when they join the damned FBI.”

“
I didn’t even know he had
any plans yet. Let alone the Bureau.” How did she feel about it?
She thought of the teams she knew, of the men and women who worked
for PAVAD and those who’d worked the other field offices she’d been
assigned to. Was that the kind of life she wanted for her
son?

“
Georgia didn’t tell me
until she’d already been accepted. I had no idea—and I’ll admit I
wasn’t too happy. I didn’t want my daughter anywhere near this
life.”

Georgia Ed Hellbrook had
one of the best reputations in the division. He had to know that.
“She’s very good at what she does.”

“
Yes, she is. And I’m
certainly proud. But at the time I knew the battles she would face,
being a female and being my daughter. But she was determined—and is
stronger than I ever knew.”

“
She and her husband seem
very happy.”

Ed laughed. “They are,
now.”

“
They weren’t
always?”

“
You’ve probably not heard
much about it, but Georgia and Hell used to battle each other
almost daily. They hated each other on sight, that was for sure. It
took six months for them to get over their enmity, then less than a
week to turn things around. I never pictured her with him, that’s
for sure.”

She’d heard bits and
pieces, and she and Ally had thought it was a bit
romantic—especially seeing the way the couple acted toward each
other now. “They’re good together. And Matthew really likes his
stepfather.”

“
Hellbrook practically
worships her and Mattie. I couldn’t ask for more for them. And
apparently I’m going to be a grandfather again. This time from the
very beginning.” He tightened his arm around her. Marianna didn’t
mind. “It will be different with a newborn. Mattie was a year old
when Georgia met his father.”

“
Matthew’s not your
daughter’s biological child?”

“
No. His mother died when
he was extremely young. His father died a few months before he and
Georgia were to be married. Georgia adopted Matthew, then. Matthew
had no one else; not really. But it wouldn’t have mattered; his
father wanted Georgia to have him, and Georgia would have fought to
make that happen. We love him.”

And that was what mattered
to the man who held her. She admired that about him. This man who
held her was a
good
man; the kind of man her oldest son obviously admired. She was
glad Nate and Ted, and the rest of her children liked and respected
him.

“
We should try to get some
sleep…Nate…thank you, by the way. Nate doesn’t form relationships
with men very easily. He must really trust you for him to open up
like he did tonight. I can’t say thank you enough for
that.”

“
Anytime
they—
you—
need me,
Mari, I’ll be here, sweetheart. You need to know that. Regardless
of how you feel about
you and
me.
”

“
To be honest, I’m not sure
how I feel about things.” Marianna whispered the words, opening her
soul more than she was really comfortable with to add the last
part. Maybe it was what had happened to Cody, maybe it was him
helping her son, or maybe it was just the semi-dark of the living
room, the late hour, and the man himself that had her words
slipping free. “Or you.”

He leaned in closer to her,
and she found herself mirroring the movement. “I can deal with
that,” he said, as his hands slipped up her arms. “If you promise
to at least give me a chance.”

Closer.

Marianna didn’t pull
away.

His lips brushed over hers;
once, then again. Marianna kissed him back. For the first time
since she’d left her ex-husband six years ago, she kissed a man she
was attracted to. And didn’t pull away, or feel intimidated, or
rushed. Instead, she actually found she
liked
it.

Tires squealed and an
engine revved on the street less than forty feet from her front
room, breaking the stillness of the night. Hard, strong arms
wrapped around her and he pulled her to the floor. He covered her
with his body, tucking his arms over her head.

Glass shattered behind
him.

Ed rolled her to rest
between the couch and coffee table. “Stay here!”

She didn’t listen, but he
didn’t expect her to. She was on her feet less than a second after
him. “My boys!”

“
Ed heard Nate or one of
the older twins running down the hall. He grabbed the boy when he
was about to enter the living room barefoot. “Get to your brothers
and stay there! Marianna, my agents are on their way. Get to Bobby
and the twins.” He could hear them crying for their mother,
frightened by the sounds of something they could not
understand.

He had his weapon pulled
free of the holster he’d placed on the end table after the boys had
gone to bed; he didn’t want any of the boys to see him with it and
make the situation worse. They shouldn’t have been sitting in front
of it. That was a rookie mistake on his part, and one he wouldn’t
make again.

Thank God it had been a
rock hurled through the window and not a rain of
bullets.

He bent down and grabbed
the rock. It was bigger than his palm, and had traveled a decent
distance from the road. That told him whomever had thrown it was
marginally athletic. It told him little else.

Painted on the rock in red
paint were the words
You’re next,
Bitch.

His agents and security
detail burst through the doors, using the key Marianna had given
them earlier.

Ed ordered them to search
the perimeter, and the neighboring streets, though he knew it would
do no good. Whoever had tossed the rock had accomplished what he’d
set out to do.

Marianna and her kids were
too damned vulnerable here.

He joined her in the
younger boys’ room. “Pack a few bags for you and the boys. You’ll
all come home with me tonight. I have tighter security, and plenty
of room.”

“
But—”

“
No buts. If you’ll join me
in the hall?” He wasn’t changing his mind. Not with seven kids to
think about.

She followed him into the
hall. He showed her the rock and it’s cryptic message. “Do you
really want to take the chance that something else will happen with
the boys around?”

He knew she didn’t, but
dammit, he hated pressuring her like this. Hated pressuring her in
any way. But what else was he supposed to do? They could only
increase security so much. And even with that tighter security,
someone had managed to get close enough tonight. They couldn’t
close her street down; that wasn’t in the least bit
possible.