Page 61 of Fatal Mistake
Tara bit down on her lower lip and shook her head. “I had no idea Oren could be this devious. His thought patterns used to be so much simpler.”
Cal met her gaze and held it. “The kind of terrorism he’s engaging in is simple. Kill people. Do so publicly, with much media attention, and then don’t get caught so you can do it all over again.”
Chapter 19
Spotsylvania County, Virginia
2:00 p.m.
Despite precautions, Cal was on high alert for the drive to June’s place. After he’d started analysts tracking down counterfeit RC parts, he’d sent Shane and Kaci along with four other agents to scope out the farm and to sit sentry along their travel route, but he wouldn’t let down his guard until he had Tara back at the safe house.
Fortunately, she seemed more relaxed than she’d been on the drive to headquarters. She was so eager to see her aunt that her knee kept bouncing like a kid on Christmas morning. He even caught a broad smile on her face when they passed familiar countryside.
“That was my parents’ farm.” She pointed out the window. “I wish we could have kept it in the family, but when my uncle Earl passed away, June had her hands full and couldn’t continue to run both properties.” She sat back with a wistful sigh and looked at him. “You know, you’ve never mentioned your parents.”
Not willingly. “I didn’t, did I?”
“C’mon, you know all about me, and I know very little about you.”
“As it should be in our business relationship.”
Tara jerked back as if he’d slapped her.
Great. Now he’d hurt her feelings, and she didn’t deserve it. They’d strayed from the professional long ago, and he could easily tell her about his family. He just didn’t want to talk about his past where his parents bickered all the time, ignoring him in the process, and the moment he could he’d left home for the navy. Why hash over that old news or even discuss his empty personal life, which was the direction he was certain this conversation would go?
He gestured ahead on the road. “We’re almost at June’s place, and I need to focus on the op.” The truth, but it sounded like a lie to him.
Tara clasped her hands in her lap and turned her gaze back to the side window. Cal tried to ignore the rigid set of her shoulders and watched ahead for Shane’s car instead. When he spotted it parked at the end of the drive, he slowed. Shane reached out his window and waved them on, so Cal turned into the driveway. The tires crunched over gravel as the car rolled down to Kaci, where she stood guard next to the agents assigned to June’s detail. Kaci gave him a nod of clearance, and he pulled up to the house.
He lifted his sunglasses to peer at Tara. “Stay close to me, okay?”
She nodded but didn’t look at him. He pushed open his door and hoped his refusal to talk didn’t distract her. He joined her on her side of the vehicle, where she paused to look up at the house. The white clapboard siding on the two-story home and the small front porch with worn rocking chairs seemed welcoming and a great place to grow up. So different from his family’s small bungalow in a dingy suburb of Toledo.
“Looks like a place built for making good memories,” he said, hoping to restore her good mood and keep her mind off the pump house for now.
“It was.” He’d have to be deaf not to hear the residual disappointment in her voice and he suspected it was from his failure to share his past with her.
The screen door groaned open, and June stepped onto the porch. She wore serviceable jeans and a purple tank top. Her silvery-gray shoulder-length hair was pulled back in a ponytail, fitting her down-to-earth personality. Cal had questioned her at length, and he respected the sincerity and strength she displayed. Perhaps that’s where Tara got her strong-willed attitude. June was also a woman of faith, and Cal had to admire how she remained calm and peaceful in times of adversity.
“Aunt June!” Tara ran up the steps with abandon.
Cal knew she’d forgotten all about him, but he couldn’t forget about protecting her. He climbed the stairs, too.
A wide smile on her face, June opened her arms, and Tara rushed into them. A warm feeling settled into Cal’s heart. They were obviously close; they had the exact thing he’d been missing all of his life. Camaraderie with his SEAL team was the closest family connection he’d ever found. He could have the same bond with the Knights, but he’d drawn a line between himself and the team so they didn’t push him into opening up.
Maybe he’d been too hasty with them. His time with Tara told him he needed closer friends and letting the team in might help him cope with his stress.
And what about Tara? Should that line be erased with her as well?
“I’m so happy to see you, sweetheart.” June pulled back and pushed Tara’s hair from her face.
Tara flashed a dazzling smile, and pure joy washed over her face. A look of contentment—of homecoming—replaced the narrowed eyes, the clenched jaw, the uncertainly that had been present since he’d met her.
Cal’s heart melted into a big old puddle of mush. He suddenly knew as clearly as he knew he was standing in the warm sunshine that women like Tara didn’t come along very often, and only a fool would write off the potential of a relationship with her.
“Car slowing by the drive.” Kaci’s voice came over Cal’s earbud. “Will let you know if it turns in.”
Relationship. Right. Not now. Not while Keeler was out to kill Tara. Maybe never.
