The explosion took Thatcher’s breath away. He’d not heard all of it, but enough to know that it was close. Rogen tossed her headset off and put her hands over her ears. She was cursing up a shit storm when he asked her if she was all right. It was then that he realized that the Private Jones was simply gone—there was nothing left of him but his rifle and one boot.
Before he could tell her to shut things down, she was moving from the place she was at to the monitors that were down at the other end. She was moving the curser so quickly that all Thatcher saw was blurred blues and greens. When she had whatever she’d been looking for, the cameras stopped.
When Rogen called out for an air strike it surprised him. She not only directed them where to go by giving them the longitude and latitude, but she told them what the man was wearing and what he was doing.
“He’ll be packed and out of there in about four seconds. If you don’t get him there, I don’t know if I can keep him under surveillance.” He heard the man answer her at the other end. He told her that they were in sight of the location and were firing in one second. The building that the man had been in disappeared and the low flying jets zoomed by without another sound. “Job complete. Make sure you mark the area too. It’s not a place they might use again, but we have to clean out the nest.”
He had an idea what she meant but didn’t ask. When she picked up the headset again and hung it on the hook by the computer, she turned to look at him. She looked pained, worried even, and he asked her to come sit on his lap.
“You need to be down here with me all the time, I think. When you hold me like this, it makes me feel better. I hate having to guide them to kill someone.” He asked her if it had been necessary. “Yes. He killed an American soldier, and he’d continue doing so if he wasn’t taken out. It’s bad enough that the man that we’re tracking needs to be taken out as well, but that isn’t for me to say. They have an idea that he’s got bigger bosses. How was your day?”
“I heard from your father today.” Not the way that he wanted to tell her, but she didn’t move except to stiffen up. “He wants to meet you and Jamie. I talked to him for a good hour, and he only wants to tell you both how sorry he is for being a shitty parent.”
“What did you tell him?” Thatcher told her that it was up to her if she wanted to see him. “You’re not going not make me? You’re not going to say, ‘It would do you good to finally end it with them’?”
“No. I won’t tell you that. I think it would be good for you to be able to tell them off, but no, I’d never make you do anything.” She got up off his lap and he felt chilled without her warmth. “He’s dying. He has stage four soft tissue sarcoma. Cancer all over his major organs as well as his brain. He doesn’t have long left.”
“Why did he call you?” Thatcher told her what Jimmy had said, how he’d just wanted to leave a message, but they put it through. “Did he mention my mother?”
“Yes. He told me that he was teaching her to read while they drove. And that they’re eating better, though he did mention it was too late for him, and they were getting out more. I even asked him how they got here. Jimmy told me that he wanted to talk to you about that as well. Both of us. Do you think Jamie will want to see them?” She said probably not, but she didn’t know his mind. “Me either. I told him that I’d get back to him about it. That I wasn’t going to talk you into anything, nor was I going to tell you to do it.”
“You think I should? I’m not asking for you to tell me what to do, just a question.” Thatcher told her that it couldn’t do any harm for her to speak to them. “And if they get out of hand? Or want more from me than I’m willing to give?”
“My mother said that she’d take them out for you.” Rogen laughed, and then asked him how she knew. “I went to her. For my own peace of mind. I didn’t want you to do this unless you wanted to, so I asked her to show me how to tell you without coming across as demanding that you did it.”
“Thank you for that.” She paced a little bit more and then sat down. “I think they have bank robbery money. I’ve traced the money to a couple that robbed the bank and killed three people. Not my parents, but somehow they ended up with the truck that was used. Not somehow—they stole it. And so far as I can trace it, the people that did the deed have no idea who it is that took their truck. Because it was stolen, they can’t involve the police either.”
Thatcher laughed. It was funny, really. They robbed a bank, stole a truck to get away, only to end up with nothing. And a couple of people that probably needed it to see their children took it and had been living it up since. He told Rogen what he’d been thinking.
“No, they’re not living it up. I don’t think so anyway. The only money that has shown up from the robbery is two one hundred-dollar bills. One was used to buy food, the other for camping. I’ve found out that they’re in a camper.”
“You knew they were coming.” She said that she’d hoped they weren’t, but yes, she had an idea. “And I would assume that you’ve thought about what you’d say to them? If they showed up?”
“No. I mean, I did until you told me that he was dying and sorry. I don’t know if I believe him on either thing, but I want to talk to Jamie first.” Thatcher thought that was a good idea and told her. “Will you be there if I do want to see them?”
“I promise you, Rogen, I will never leave your side. This I promise to you.” He hugged her and told her that he loved her. “Also, I wanted to warn you that the newspaper has a picture of us on our wedding day. I didn’t think that they’d be able to print that without our permission.”
“Free press. And it’s fine. I got a copy of it, and I’m thinking of having Jamie frame it.” She smiled at him, and Thatcher felt his heart melt for her. “I’m going to keep my men on standby, just in case this goes badly.”
He would never play poker with her. Right now, like a lot of the time, he had no idea if she was joking or not. Morgan said the same thing. She was just that good at keeping her face neutral.
Chapter 8
Lisha didn’t want to get out of the truck. They’d not been able to park their camper anywhere, so she had it with her. Even Jimmy, who was sleeping more and more, wasn’t aware that she’d made it all the way to Rogen’s home. Sitting there, trying to decide what she should do, she finally got out just as someone came out of the big house.
They stared at each other for several minutes. It was Rogen; she knew who it was from the picture. Jimmy had cut it out of the paper and hung it on their refrigerator. It was silly, she supposed, but they had nothing else of their children. When Rogen came toward her, the big man came out too, but he never left the porch. Lisha was glad. If Rogen was going to cuss her out, she didn’t need others to hear it.
“Hello, Mother.” Lisha couldn’t help it. She broke down. Sitting on her knees in the gravel, she cried hard. It had been so long since she’d heard those words that she thought never to hear again. “Where’s Dad? Did he decide not to come?”
“No, he’s resting. He’s not well. We know that it’s not right to be riding back there while we’re driving, but he’s been so ill.” Lisha looked up at her daughter. “You’re beautiful. I’m sure that your new husband tells you that a great deal.”
“He does. And that he loves me. Something I never heard from you.” It was no less than she deserved, and Lisha stood up. “Thatcher’s family is here. They want to meet you.”
“And you, Rogen, do you want to talk to me too? I know that we were never good people, and we’ve come to terms with that, I think. Coming to see you, we only wanted to tell you how sorry we were. You never did anything to us, but...I’m messing this all up.” Rogen told her that she was doing fine. “We stole this truck and camper. I mean, we knew what we were doing, but we only had o
ne thought, and that was to get to you and Jamie.”
“He’s not coming to see you. I’m not even sure that he wants to see either of you.” Lisha nodded and looked away from the pain in Rogen’s eyes. She had caused this, and there was no doubt in her mind that she was getting just what she deserved. “Why don’t we get Dad, and then we can go in the house? That way we can talk.”