As Gage reached the door, Abdulla spoke quietly behind him, none of the hate in his gaze reaching his voice. It stopped Gage and Porter in their tracks. Abdulla’s eyes were still on Gage when he turned back to the table. “My children have nothing to fear from me. Trent Cooper is a good man, raising my children as they should be raised. I’ve been watching. I’ve been watching you, Gage Synclair Layne, as you have watched me. Know you have me to thank for his job in your gallery. As for the children, I don’t want them to ever know of this. I want them to believe I was the soldier who died in war. That’s my condition as to how this will play out.” His accent was thick with Middle Eastern influence, and in a long line of mastered accents, Gage knew this was his real voice.
“You don’t get a condition, but you’re fortunate, they won’t ever know because it would hurt them,” Gage said, and Abdulla’s eyes cut back to the wall in front of him, again giving his blank stare, saying nothing more. Gage stood there a minute more, letting all the little bombs Abdulla had dropped fill in the silence of his stare. Porter ushered him from the room.
“You can turn back on the audio portion of the feed,” Porter said to the guard, as the other guard stepped back into the room.
“Just did, sir,” the guard at the desk said. Porter’s eyes stayed on Gage as he released a long breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
“You all right, Synclair?” Porter asked as they were escorted out the way they’d come in.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s hard to hear the person I hate most in the world could possibly be the matchmaker, giving me the person I love most in the world… I need to get to a phone,” Gage said, changing subjects, not welcoming any further conversation on the topic.
“This way,” Porter said, allowing the discussion to drop. He was led to the administration area of the prison, to a small conference room. The light came on automatically as they walked in and Porter left Gage alone. “When you’re done, open the door, but wait inside. I’m going down the hall to make some calls of my own. I’ll be back to get you, then we’re off to DC to present this case to legal.”
Gage gave a nod and took a seat at the desk where a landline phone sat. He waited for the door to close with a solid click, offering him the moment of privacy he so desperately needed. The full weight of the moment settled in on Gage, and he took a deep breath, exhaling all the stress of the last few days out in a deep huff. It was over, well, almost over. He dreaded the idea of being at Washington’s disposal for any reason. He knew this next twenty-four hours would suck no matter how he spun it. Regardless, Gage had pulled it off, and who would have thought he could? Wasn’t that just a complete freaking surprise?
He grinned on a sigh of relief as he palmed his cell to get Trent’s phone number. He’d gotten a commitment from Abdulla and the United States government…Wow! And the case he’d spent the last six years working came to an end. Not with the bang he’d expected, but a small fizzle and for some reason he felt better about this case than any he’d worked before. Gage picked up the phone and dialed Trent’s number.
“Coop Electric,” Trent said.
“Baby,” Gage paused. His voice sounded tired and drained even to him, and he was met with silence. What was with all the silence today? Trent didn’t say anything and Gage looked down at the pad on the phone to see if the call was still connected. He tried again. “It’s done.”
“What does that mean?” Trent asked cautiously.
“It means he’s in custody, and I’ve got an agreement with the government, as well as Abdulla, to remove you and the children from this,” Gage said and waited for Trent’s reaction.
“What?” Trent asked. Gage smiled at the disbelief he heard on the other end. He hadn’t told Trent his plan because he didn’t want to give him false hope, and seriously, who would have ever thought he could have pulled this off?
“It’s been a long few hours. I’ve waited to call you until I had it confirmed from both sides. The president even verified it. I heard him say it myself.”
“So the kids won’t be brought into this?” Trent asked.
“No,” Gage said. “We’ll watch it, but they’ve given me their word.”
“For sure?” Trent asked.
“Yes.”
“Gage…” The relief in Trent voice caused Gage to smile and loosen his tight grip on the phone.
“I know,” Gage said.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Trent,” Gage said quietly back.
“I didn’t even realize this was an option on the table. Gage… did you get your story?” Trent asked.
“No, I gave it up to get the agreement,” Gage said. Trent was silent. “It’s really okay, baby. You’re more important than anything to me. I want forever with you, and I can’t have forever while jeopardizing everything you hold dear.”
“I’m sorry… Are you okay?” Trent asked.
“No apologies, Trent. This was all my idea. I’m good, actually relieved. Wait a minute, you weren’t saying I’m sorry because you don’t feel the same way anymore?” Gage asked. His hands started to shake as he waited for Trent’s answer.
“No, not at all,” Trent said. Gage could hear the smile in his voice.
“Good!” And he looked up to the heavens and mouthed a quick thank you.
“When will you be home?” Trent asked.
“Not for a while. I agreed to fly to Washington DC. I’m theirs for at least the next twenty-four hours, and then I’ll be back.”
“I’m in serious shock here, Gage. You spoke to him?” Trent asked.
“Yes, I did. It was hard; he’s gone religious or something. He’s taken a vow of silence, but he did speak about the kids and about you too, nothing else. It was about three or four sentences. The main points are you have nothing to fear from him and you’re raising the children as they should be raised. You’re a good man, per him.”