Chapter 21 #2
Jack sighed, as if he resigned himself to something.
“Shortly before I agreed to let Jack fake my death, they threatened my family.
" Jack turned from the railing. He looked at Trent straight, the way Dove had noticed he did when the thing he was saying cost him. “I had to protect you and your mother and WITSEC wasn’t an option. Not when the case was already falling apart.” Jack spoke so fast, and his voice cracked on each word.
"And then it became about protecting Slade’s career.
The only person we had on the inside who could still move, still access information, still build a case.
" He looked at his hands. "And then years went by. And they kept going by. There was nothing I could do but stay dead. If I came out of the shadows, there would have been consequences. Legal ones. I couldn’t do that to you. Or your mother.”
The porch was quiet except for the frogs, the water, and the low hum of the night.
"At some point," Jack said quietly, "a temporary decision becomes the only life you have left."
Dove had been watching Trent's face. Somewhere behind his clenched jaw, rage, frustration, grief, gave way to something deeper. Something truer. Something that two men who obviously loved each other still could build on.
Her heart dropped to her gut. She’d never have that with her uncle again. He was dead. Gone forever. A sudden need to call her parents filled her soul.
Jack rubbed his face with his palms. “Last year, things started to heat up. We had more and more information, but still no proof. And then Dove here left the Army, and both Slade and I worried about Trent and Linda.”
“Excuse me?” Dove stared at Jack.
“Slade knew you were hurting and thought the Aegis Network would be a good fit for you and even better if you were down here and—”
"I was recruited," she interrupted Jack. "I was told I was hand-picked. That Buddy had specifically identified me as someone who—"
"Buddy did pick you," Jack said. "That part is true. Your record spoke for itself. Your skills. The work you'd done." He held her gaze. "But Slade may have put the idea in Buddy's ear first. And in the owners’.”
The words landed like someone dropped a twenty-pound sledge on her head.
She looked at the tequila in her glass. Looked at the dark water beyond the railing and caught a glimpse of Dolly rolling through the moat. She paused, and Dove couldn’t have sworn the damn gator smiled at her, as if say, I’m here for you, sister. Right. Dove was losing her fucking mind.
She picked up the glass and drank.
“I’m still confused,” Trent said. “I feel like all we’ve done is talk in circles.”
“Slade had the documents connecting Courtney and her father to Sovereign's ownership. He had testimony from clients who'd used their evidence disposal service. Enough to open an investigation." Jack looked at Trent. "Not enough to bury them. And burial is what they deserve."
“Again, circles,” Trent said.
“The last piece of this puzzle came when we learned Sovereign Resources was making a move on this property.” Jack turned back toward the table.
“Through the Hendersons.” He sat back down.
“Slade paid them a visit. Turned out Courtney had done the Henderson family a significant favor.
Their son had been brought up on vehicular manslaughter charges that should have gone to trial.
But Courtney buried it. Case closed." He spread his hands.
"The Hendersons owed her. And this—pressuring you to sell, using what Karl gave them to threaten you—this was how they paid the debt. "
Trent slowly rose . He crossed to the railing where his father had stood, put his hands on it, and stared out at the moat, saying nothing for a long moment. Then he turned.
"You're telling me that for the last several weeks, while I've been losing sleep, thinking these people are trying to take my land—while I've been standing in my equipment shed, getting threatened— While Dove's house was getting torn apart—" He stared at his father.
"The Hendersons have been working for your side this whole time? "
Jack nodded. "Not the entire time, but even after they flipped, they had to—"
"Don't." Trent held up one hand. "Don't tell me it was the only way.
I've been hearing that for twenty years about everything.
" He wasn't shouting. That was the thing about Trent’s anger—the quieter it got, the deeper it ran.
"So everything… the threat? The photograph?
Coming up to me at the town meeting with a smile and a warning—"
“They had to make it look good, so they had to do what was expected. They knew you’d never cave,” Jack said.
Trent laughed. It didn’t sound anything like the way he’d laughed at the Jeep story. Not even close.
“That was a dangerous game. Mom actually asked me if I wanted to sell. If I was happy here. She said she’d understand if I wanted to leave.
To experience something else.” He walked to the far end of the porch and stood there with his back to both of them, hands locked behind his head, staring at the night sky.
Dove couldn’t stand it. She inched her way closer, looping an arm around his waist.
Trent wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple. “Mom thought that since I kept insisting Dove and I were just friends, there was nothing holding me here. That I might walk away from the legacy when she passed..”
Jack chuckled.
“I don’t see what’s so funny.” Trent glared.
“Your mother was always the smartest woman in any room,” Jack said.
“She known you’d turn down the offer just like she’d known you’re in love with this lovely young woman.
” He smiled. “She told me all about how you fought your feelings for Dove, but she had faith, that in the end, you’d come to your senses. Looks like she was right.”
“Mom was always annoyingly right," Trent said softly. He dropped his chin to the top of Dove's head. "I miss her."
“So, do I,” Jack said, turning toward the Everglades.
“But we need to think about other things because once the exhumation results come back, and the news breaks that I'm not in that coffin—everything accelerates. Dutton. Courtney. All of them. They've been patient because they didn’t have any reason not to be. And honestly, my remains not being in that coffin might not scare them.”
Trent turned around and glanced at Dove. His expression had settled into determination. She knew that look, and Trent could be dangerous when he allowed himself to settle. “But it will make them nervous, and that will make them push harder,” he said.
“That's what I'm guessing, too. And while I missed the last twenty years with the only woman I’ll ever love, I’m not going to lose another second with my son.” Jack stepped closer, resting his hand on Trent's shoulder. “Or the girl who stole his heart and already feels like family.”
Dove’s cheeks flushed. She could only hope that Trent’s heart belonged to her, because she was so far gone she’d be lost without him.