UnLoved Forever Read online

  He stopped and stared into his water glass, though his gaze was distant. Seeing something that wasn’t there. “I couldn’t say anything, do anything, I swear I thought he was taking you from me, and I’d already lost your mother. I couldn’t lose you, too.”

  When he looked up at her, his eyes pleaded with her to understand. She looked away. No, she wasn’t ready to forgive him. Hell, she wasn’t ready to believe him. “When did you know she was alive?” she asked, her voice so harsh that even she flinched a little even as she said it.

  “A few years ago. You joined the military, and then you kind of vanished for a while. I didn’t know where you went, but I later learned that you had some...” He looked at the other two men there, and hesitated while he decided on a word. “...assignments. David was off at college when she contacted me.”

  “What did she say?” Dani asked, leaning across the table, hanging on every word despite her intention to keep a distance. To not ask.

  “I walked into my office at Markland one morning and she was there, behind my desk, her feet propped up on the blotter. I almost didn’t recognize her; it had been what...a dozen years?” He smiled and shook his head. “The first thing she said was, ‘Drop your ass in that chair’.”

  “Lovely,” Luke smiled, his lips bright with grease. Dani shuddered.

  “Touching,” Marcus added, drinking the last dregs of his coffee. Dani wondered if he could read his fortune in the grounds that clung to the bottom of the mug.

  “She’d been collecting information for years, and needed me to help her. I got some of it, she got the bulk of it.” He turned to Luke. “You would not believe some of the people on that stick. Important people. From all over.”

  “Like Ray...” Luke murmured. Dani could see the pain that memory caused him, and placed her hand on his arm.

  “Former boss,” Dani said, turning her head in an aside to her father and Marcus, figuring they may as well have the truth of it. “FBI.”

  “FBI?” Edwin chortled, and shook his head. “Please. I’m talking senators. CEOs of multinational corporations. The people who form the foundation of society.”

  The four of them let that soak in for a moment.

  “So, tell me,” Edwin asked Luke, “why are we talking about this in the present tense? If Katie burned it....”

  Luke cleared his throat, his turn to look awkward as he looked from Dani to her father. “Er... There’s a copy.”

  “You can’t copy an encrypted drive,” Edwin protested. “The device and the file...”

  “...are considered the same thing,” Luke finished. “Not in Unix. At least in Ubuntu. You can copy the file independently of the device.”

  “But...” Edwin thought for a moment. “It’s still worthless without the key.”

  Luke gave him a sharp look. “Which I presume you have?”

  Edwin nodded.

  “Excuse me for interrupting,” Marcus said quietly, dabbing at his lips with a napkin as though he’d just finished a divine gourmet repast, even if the napkin was paper, and torn from having gotten caught in the dispenser on the table. “But it seems to me that simply knowing about such a device is enough for several foreign and domestic governments to want to kill us. This is a very, very bad thing to have.”

  “You’re Navy,” Luke smiled. “Bravest of the brave.”

  “I’m also a single person against several countries.” He looked at the other three, arms crossed across his broad chest as he leaned back, vinyl protesting as he shifted position. “And, I’m a hired hand. This really isn’t my fight. This is a lot bigger than anything I signed up for.”

  Dani quailed inside. She hadn’t thought about it from his point of view, and she should have. He was right: he was a bodyguard, not a merc. This wasn’t his fight, and it was a hopeless situation. But somehow everything seemed a little bit scarier when she considered facing whatever came next without his calm demeanor.

  “Anyone else know how to fly a helicopter in the dark?” she asked, wondering just how much she remembered from a certain lesson she’d been given once, entirely off the books. Yeah, she was a Ranger. But she’d never done any night-flying. No one moved. “You’re stuck,” she informed Marcus, “There’s no hope for us now, you have to stick around.”

  “As flattered as I am that you appreciate my flying skills, there isn’t enough money in the world to hire someone on something like this. It’s a suicide run.”

  “Marcus,” Edwin said, picking up a roll and examining it carefully before putting it down again. “You’re bored as hell and you know it.”

  Marcus looked at his employer for a long moment, and swore in a fashion that Dani envied. Only military training could have produced the profanity he said, and it was all without emotion, as though he were reading it off a menu.

  When he was spent, he only nodded and looked at Luke. “I’m in.”

  “Where’s the stick?” Dani asked.

  “I gave it to my mommy,” Luke said, and dropped several twenties on the table. “Let’s find a car.”

  Chapter Three

  Marcus sat sprawled in the seat with his face against the window, making little streaks with his nose against the glass. Dani watched as the car bounced on an uneven bit of pavement and he circled the pane with his face, never waking.

  “Wow, he’s out,” she said to Luke.

  Luke shrugged, and though he smiled he didn’t take his eyes off the road. It was pitch black, the kind of black that only happens in the country when all the electricity was huddled into city pockets for the night. “I knew a guy who flew helicopters at night,” he said. “Didn’t last long. Eventually, he caught on a powerline and the whole thing blew up.”

  “I can’t imagine how Marcus put that thing down in that little courtyard.” Dani twisted in her seat, checking on the passengers in the back before facing forward again. She whistled. “That was some skill.”

  “Is that why you wanted him to stay?” This time Luke did glance at her, taking his eyes and his mind from the endless stretch of blacktop. “So he could fly? You were a Ranger. You know how to.”

  “Not at night. And maybe.” She shrugged. “You never know when that kind of skill is going to come in handy. But it’s more than that.” She sat silently for a long time, twisting once to turn around and look at her father who slumped against the seat, arms crossed in front of his chest, as though even in slumber he needed to rule the world. Luke eyed him in the rearview mirror, not trusting him to stay asleep when he shifted a little, snorting and making an ugly snoring sound. Dani shook her head and turned to face the front again. “I’ve known Marcus a long time. He watched David and me sometimes when we was small.”

  “Armed babysitter?” Luke chuckled, and then nodded as he seriously thought about it. “Yeah, I can see that for you. You probably needed an armed sitter, didn’t you?”

  “Still do,” she said tersely, folding her own arms in a gesture that mirrored the man in the back seat. He almost chuckled, then thought better of it, not wanting to have to explain what was so funny. “I just... I felt better. Daddy’s going to try to take charge, you know that, right? It was just nice to have someone else who would take orders without doubting everything you had to say.”

  Luke glanced at her again.

  “What?”

  “Just trying to figure out if I’m supposed to take orders or give them.”

  “So am I,” she answered, and he sensed more than saw her shift so that her body faced him fully. “How about we go as a team?”

  “Right.” Luke nodded once, decisively. That he could do.

  “Good.”

  “Good.”

  The car ate up the miles. In the darkness, a light amount of traffic passed in one direction or another. The moon reluctantly made an appearance, as if loath to break out of its bed. In the silence of the night, with only the steady humming of the tires on the asphalt, Dani said suddenly, “It won’t work.”

  “Not in a crisis,” Luke agreed, h
aving been thinking the same thing.

  “No, there has to be a single point of command.”

  “One person giving the orders.”

  “It gets too confusing otherwise; you can’t have a committee.” Dani nodded.

  “We need to decide, then, which of us is actually... you know...”

  “In charge?”

  “Yeah. Who gives the final orders. Who follows.” Luke watched her cautiously out of the corner of his eye, keeping his focus on the road.

  “Well, I have had some experience in this...”

  “You think I haven’t?”

  “As a cop, but...”

  “I became a cop after the Marines, you know. And for the record, I’m a federal agent now. That’s different.”

  “I respect the Marines. And your work as a fed. But my experience was a little more...”

  “HEY!” Edwin roused himself enough to sit up and point a finger at the two of them. Luke didn’t need the rearview to know this. He felt the sharp point of it in his shoulder blade. Jabbing hard. Several times. “Shut up! We’re trying to sleep.”

  “Sorry.” Dani shot a look over her shoulder, ducking a little in a way that might have seemed submissive if Luke hadn’t known her.

  “Beg your pardon, sir.” Luke waved an apology, focusing a little more intently on the road than was necessary.

  Dani looked at Luke. She pointed to herself. Luke shook his head and pointed to himself.

  And behind them, Marcus was laughing.

  AS THE SUN CLEARED the horizon and back-lit some of the tallest and most spindly palm trees Dani had ever seen, the smell of orange blossoms mixed with industrial pollution let her know they were close. “I haven’t been to Florida in a very long time,” she said, cracking the window open.

  “Smells like an old person,” Luke groused, and Dani caught movement from the corner of her eye. Edwin blocked Marcus’ arm, which was suspiciously close to Luke’s head.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, to distract Luke from the action in the rear seat.

  “I don’t know, there’s a rest home...” He fished in his pocket and pulled out a billfold. “It’s under the license.”

  Dani ignored the ID. She’d seen enough, held enough, to know when one was fake—even one as good as the FBI could make. Anything that he would have on him at this point would only be part of the cover. Under the license was a folded slip of paper. It had an address and nothing else. Dani plugged it into her phone.

  “Your mother is in a rest home?” Edwin asked from the back, seeming surprised.

  Luke shrugged. “She had a place in Colorado, but she wanted to get out of the cold.”

  “When was the last time you saw her?”

  “Colorado.” Luke glanced around and rolled his eyes. “What? I call her!” Edwin sat back in his seat and waved a dismissive hand toward Luke. “At least I didn’t run out on her... I mean, when she needed...”

  Dani stared out the passenger window as Luke’s high morals disintegrated. Really, she just couldn’t watch.

  “Destination on the left,” Dani’s phone announced. As one they all looked. Dani let a low whistle.

  “That’s some retirement home,” Marcus said, not quite under his breath.

  It was true, the houses looked very unlike a group home of any sort. They were set back from the road, the lawns trimmed to putting-green perfection. Palm trees swayed in the breeze, fountains danced water over naked stone nymphs and cherubs. Flowers were everywhere, more kinds than Dani could even name, lined up in long rows alongside the sidewalks, in giant urns flanking the doors of the main building. In every conceivable planter. The correct address was in front of a building that might more properly be defined as a bungalow. Or a tiny mansion.

  “Wow,” Luke said quietly as he pulled up in front and put the car in park. “This is a nice place.”

  Dani narrowed her eyes and glared at him when she realized he’d never even seen it, ignoring for the moment the niggling feeling that she wasn’t exactly winning any awards as dutiful daughter this year either.

  “All right then!” Luke turned to the others after fumbling with his seatbelt until he’d gotten it undone. Was he nervous? Seriously? Luke was nervous? Dani turned her eyes again to the building, wondering just what dragon lay in that particular lair. “Wait here; I’ll go grab what we came for, and we can be on our way.”

  “You really think I’m going to wait in the car?” Dani said, her shock at being expected to stay giving an edge to her tone. She was halfway out the door before he could even form any kind of protest.

  Edwin clapped Luke’s shoulder. “Let’s meet the family,” he said a little too cheerfully.

  “Last time someone said that to me it didn’t turn out so well, you remember that?”

  “But this time, you have me!” Edwin chortled. Marcus bypassed the conversation and opened his door to climb out, meeting Dani’s eyes over the roof of the car as if to say, ‘I’m not missing this for the world.’

  “Fine! You people are crazy, you know that? Just for the record. Cuckoo.” Luke twirled a finger by his temple and then threw open his door.

  The four of them walked to the front door. After a little mock fight with Marcus for the honor, Luke rang the bell. Dani rolled her eyes. Men.

  They didn’t have long to wait. A pattering of feet from inside sent Dani skittering backwards, in a defensive stance. Running? Who the hell—

  “LUKE!” The door swung wide and Luke’s mother came flying out like she was set on springs. She hit Luke hard, in a full body blow that ended in a hug so strong Dani could hear the air being pressed out of his lungs from where she stood.

  “Mom, this is my fiancée, Dani.” Luke’s words came out strangled. It took Dani a moment to realize what he was saying... and why. A moment later she was the one fighting for breath.

  “Fiancée?” the woman half-screamed, enveloping Dani in an embrace that a boa constrictor would be envious of. His mother looked from one to the other in the small group. “That’s a boy’s name, isn’t it? But it’s you he’s talking about. Tell me it’s you...”

  “It’s me,” Dani said, forcibly breaking the woman’s grip and stepping out of the embrace carefully, lest she get buried again. She smiled, and held out her hand for a shake. Setting a boundary.

  Just remember that. Keep boundaries. Boundaries are your friend.

  “Oh, thank goodness!” Luke’s mother said and turned the suffocation hug on her again, if anything squeezing even tighter the second time around. “With that boy, you can never tell anything.”

  THE LITTLE BUNGALOW turned out to be beautifully furnished, if a touch busy. Dani wandered around the little displays of sculptures and flowers, the images on the walls, the knick-knacks that dotted the shelves. Although the décor was lovely, and obviously had some quality to it, it didn’t really register to her what she was looking at until a small square piece of paper in an overly large frame caught her eye. It was a line drawing, a hurried sketch, but it was one she’d seen before. In books.

  She caught her breath and looked closer. Her heart tried to stop and start at the same time. She turned to their hostess, wondering if she looked as pale as she felt. “Is that...”

  Elaina, Luke’s mother, came from the kitchen carrying a tray with coffee and cookies. “Yes, dear, it’s all right. I had it sealed when it was framed; it was almost as expensive as the drawing to have it done, but you must protect the Master, yes?”

  Marcus raised an eyebrow and grunted as he glanced at Luke.

  “Rembrandt,” she breathed, and backed away from the image. It was probably worth as much as the mansion she’d been born in. Her father’s eyes bulged, and for once he was silent.

  Dani looked again at the woman, this time trying to put away any preconceived notions. The woman was still vibrant and youthful; she couldn’t have been older than mid-fifties. Her black hair had a few vivid streaks of white, but for the most part she looked much, much younger. She was tri
m and fit, her teeth still shone white, and her smile was ready and free.

  Elaina perched on the edge of the couch, and handed out coffee cups with small plates to each of her guests. It looked so old-world that the men seemed to be dressed incorrectly, as though they didn’t fit in the room.

  “Dani, dear, come join us.” She patted the empty seat beside her, and Dani broke through her trance to find her way past a statue of... She stopped again and stared.

  “Do you like it, dear?” Elaina asked. “I rather preferred his sculptures to the whole messy cubist stuff in his later years, but I seem to be alone in that.”

  Dani nodded mutely, and sat on the other side of the woman from her father. It wasn’t until then that she noticed he was staring at Elaina. It was the same stare that a cow gets when hit between the eyes with a large hammer. Oh, shit.

  “Dear, it was wonderful of you to bring your fiancée and her...” She looked at Marcus as though suddenly unsure how to proceed, “...family down to meet me, but I do wish you would have called first.” She smiled brightly and handed Dani a cookie. “I could have gotten the day off, or traded with someone. It’s not often my boy comes to see me!”

  “Wait, you got job?” Luke sat up straight, his coffee cup clattering dangerously in the saucer he had balanced on one knee. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Yes, I got a job. Three years ago. And why do I have to tell you?”

  “Well, if you needed money...” Luke waved his arms, nearly upsetting a vase. Dani didn’t want to know about the vase. She closed her eyes, unable to look.

  “Oh heavens, I don’t do it for the money.” She turned to Edwin. “The truth is, I’m quite bored. Retirement seems to drag on day after day. You understand what I’m saying, don’t you, Edwin?”