A
twinge
of
regret,
a
fleeting
moment
of
sadness
for
the
ten
years
of
fatherhood
she
had
taken
away
from
him
touched
Shelly.
She
had
to
make
him
understand
why
she
had
made
the
decision
she
had
that
night.
“That
night
you
stood
before
me
and
said
that
becoming
a
FBI
agent
was
all
you
had
ever
wanted,
Dare,
all
you
had
ever
dreamed
about,
and
that
the
reason
we
couldn’t
be
together
any
longer
was
because
of
the
nature
of
the
work.
You
felt
it
was
best
that
as
an
agent,
you
shouldn’t
have
a
wife
or
family.”
She
blinked
back
tears
when
she
added.
“You
even
said
you
were
glad
I
hadn’t
gotten
pregnant
any
of
those
times
we
had
made
love.”
She
wiped
at
her
eyes.
“How
do
you
think
I
felt
hearing
you
say
that,
two
months
pregnant
and
knowing
that
our
baby
and
I
stood
in
the
way
of
you
having
what
you
desired
most?”
When
AJ’s
laughter
floated
in
from
the
outside,
Shelly
slowly
walked
over
to
the
window
and
looked
into
the
yard
below.
The
boy
was
watching
a
uniformed
officer
give
a
police
dog
a
bath.
This
was
the
first
time
she
had
heard
AJ
laugh
in
months,
and
the
sheer
look
of
enjoyment
on
his
face
at
that
moment
was
priceless.
She
turned
back
around
to
face
Dare,
knowing
she
had
to
let
him
know
how
she
felt.
“When
I
found
out
I
was
pregnant
there
was
no
question
in
my
mind
that
I
wouldn’t
tell
you,
Dare.
In
fact,
I
had
been
anxiously
waiting
all
that
night
for
the
perfect
time
to
do
so.
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