Matt Archer: Blade's Edge (5 page)

Video chats instead of going out for pizza. Phone calls instead of Sunday brunch at my house, laughing while Mom nagged him over pancakes. Missions instead of campouts. I held in a frustrated sigh. “Yeah, that’s right.”

We left the gym and didn’t talk much as we walked to quarters. I hit the shower as soon as we got back. The hot water loosened up muscles the workout hadn’t and I felt my body-clock reset. I’d make it through dinner without falling asleep. But nothing helped the hollow feeling in my chest; the one Mike left when he moved to Washington.

We left early on New Year’s Day. I followed Murphy and Klimmett up the C-17’s ramp, dragging my feet. Schmitz had kept me up late, playing pool in the rec center—and winning my pocket money, the bastard. Seven a.m. seemed too early to be up, and I really hated the idea of two more days of travel, but we’d be home. I couldn’t wait. I’d gotten a text from Ella, telling me she couldn’t wait for me to get home, either. Apparently I was in for the “kiss of my life” as soon as I arrived.

It was kind of nice to be missed like that.

“Matt, get on the plane,” Mike said, giving me a shove. “Quick, move.”

I trotted up the ramp as commanded, really irritated with him. “Major, I’m ready to go home, too, but crap, what’s your hurry?”

Uncle Mike stared out the back end of the aircraft, waving people inside. Johnson hurried aboard, and we settled into our seats, ready for the transport to Ramstein Air Force base and our commercial flight home.

Mike jerked his head at me. “They see anything?”

Why was he so paranoid all of a sudden? “Did who see what?”

“I’m sorry, sir.” Johnson said, sounding worried. “They caught Archer straight-on with their cameras. Stupid reporters are everywhere these days.”

Reporters? “Wait…are you saying…?”

Mike nodded. “The Public Information Officer was out showing a news crew around. I think they caught you on video. If they did, we’re in for a rough time back home. You better buckle up.”

The flight to Ramstein took most of the day, and I freaked with each passing minute. It felt like aliens were trying to claw their way out of my guts. Would I be on TV? If so, what then? Who would see me?

The next morning, Mike got a call from Aunt Julie while we trotted through the Frankfurt Airport for our connection back to the States. With her job at the Pentagon, if anyone had the scoop, she would.

“Hey, lady. Hear anything?” Mike stared at me, his eyes narrowed, while he listened. “Okay, fly into Billings and head to my loft. I’ll come home with Matt and meet you there…. I don’t know….Has she called you?...Good…. Love you, too.”

He hung up. “Dani hasn’t called Julie yet, so I’m guessing we’re safe for now.”

“Maybe they didn’t get me on camera, then.”

Uncle Mike ground his teeth. “No, they caught you. They were filming base operations. The crew wanted stock footage of a C-17 loading up, and there we were. Julie called her contact at CNN, saying they inadvertently took pictures of a top secret operation, to see if they’d pull the story. Unfortunately, they’d already run the piece. It got out.”

“Oops,” Johnson said. “Did CNN start asking any awkward questions about a kid boarding military transport?”

“No,” Mike said. “Matt looks like he’s at least eighteen, so I’m guessing they didn’t even notice.”

“Uncle Mike, you said they ran the piece.” I took a shaking breath. “What did they show?”

“They ran a story about Kadena last night, US time. Some fluff piece about military life overseas. The camera zoomed in on us as we boarded the plane. Julie said they got a full shot of your face. You weren’t on camera for long, but it was enough for someone who knows you well to recognize you.” Mike stopped walking. “Chief, it’s out, and there’s nothing we can do but hope your mom didn’t see it.”

The twelve-hour flight from Germany to Chicago was the longest of my life. I tried to stay calm, telling myself that Mom didn’t watch CNN. She didn’t watch TV much at all, really. But what if someone we knew saw the story and asked her about it? Or, worse, what if someone from school saw me? Every time we hit turbulence, I jumped, like my secrets were trying to rattle me out of my seat. That didn’t do much for the sick feeling circling the drain of my stomach, and I kept getting hot, then cold. Johnson sighed when I took off my hoodie for the fifth time—then put it back on two minutes later—but I couldn’t help it.

How was I going explain my double life?

My cell phone rang at the precise second my feet hit the terminal at O’Hare. My sister’s timing was on the scary side, sometimes.

“How’d you know I was in the States already?” I asked.

“I was monitoring your flight online.” Mamie said. She sounded out of breath. “Brent and Mom are going nuts. She’s been calling you and Uncle Mike for hours. She even called Aunt Julie, who said she was flying into Billings. I’m completely freaking out!”

I stopped walking, having a hard time holding my phone to my ear because my hands were shaking so hard. “Mom saw me didn’t she?”

“Yes!”

An iron fist of fear squeezed my windpipe. If anyone could get me out of this mess, it was genius-girl. “Mamie, what do I do?”

“I don’t know,” she squealed. I could almost see my sister twisting her pigtails in agitation. It was my fault she was in this mess; she’d been my inside man all this time, and lying to Mom had nearly ripped her to shreds.

“Well, why the heck were they watching CNN?” I asked. Of all the dumb luck.

“Brent was glued to the TV, watching the Rose Bowl. He kept going on and on about how Washington State has a shot next year. I’m really tired of hearing—”

“Mamie,” I growled, “focus.”

“Oh, sorry! Well, he kept shushing Mom, so she flipped the channel to tease him. I wasn’t paying attention until Brent said ‘hey, is that Uncle Mike?’ Then it got really quiet and Mom raced right up to the TV screen. They saw you. They saw you!”

There wasn’t anything else I could say, not now. “Okay. We’ll be home soon. Try to stay calm until we get there.”

“Not sure I can, but I’ll try,” Mamie said. “Be safe traveling.”

After she hung up, I stumbled over to the guys to find them watching a replay of the newscast on Mike’s laptop. The side of Murphy’s head showed for just a second before he boarded the plane, but they caught me full-on, staring in the direction of the camera. The video was shot from a distance, and a little blurry—easy enough to fool people at school. But not enough to fool my family. Not by a longshot.

“Mom saw this. She knows.”

Mike rubbed his eyes. “We’re going to have some explaining to do.”

I stared at the freeze-frame of my face. I looked battle-hardened, tired. No way could I lie and say it was all part of my “field trip” for school. This was the picture of a soldier, without a doubt, and my mom would surely take issue with her fifteen-year-old son globe-trotting with the Green Berets, no matter how important the reason. Saving my spot on the team would hinge on how well we told the story. And even then, it might not be enough.

“Not ‘some explaining,’ Uncle Mike,” I said. “We’ve got a
year’s
worth of explaining to do.”

Chapter Five

“T
ell me
why
my child
was on CNN, Mike! Tell me why!” Mom yelled. She got up and paced, jabbing her finger in Mike’s direction. “Dressed up like a soldier, getting on a military transport plane in the middle of Christmas break? He was supposed to be in Greece on a field trip. Not in Asia with the Army!”

We were assembled in our living room, like criminals on trial. Given Mom’s day job as a high-powered attorney, I assumed that’s exactly what she had in mind. She’d even dressed in work clothes—nice pants and a sweater—for this little encounter, rather than her usual Saturday yoga pants and sweatshirt.

My brother and sister also bore witness to the tirade. Brent, a hulking mass of college football player, had somehow crammed his bulk into the corner of the sofa. He had his arm around Mamie, whose expression had frozen somewhere between guilt and relief. We’d only been cross-examined by Mom for five minutes and Mamie was already twirling her pigtails around her finger, probably terrified Mom would find out her part in all this and yell at her, too.

Mom raked her hands over her scalp, tugging her short brown hair into a wild mess. In contrast, Aunt Julie looked like a retired supermodel in a pair of expensive jeans and green top, with her black hair falling down her back in waves. She and Mike had commandeered the love seat, leaving me to sit beside my stunned sibs.

“Well,” Mom said, “is anyone going to bother to explain?”

I cleared my throat, not sure where to start. “Mom, we’re really sorry, but—”

“Not you,” she snapped. Mom turned to my aunt and uncle. “I want to hear this from the adults who committed reckless endangerment with my child.”

Julie squeezed Uncle Mike’s arm and nodded, telling him without words to get on with it. Mike fidgeted in his seat before saying, “It’s long story. Why don’t you calm down—”

“Calm down? Calm down!” Mom shouted. “You’ve been lying to me! My own brother. You had no right—”

Mike’s face went stone cold. “Dani—”

Mom kept pacing.

Aunt Julie stepped in. “Danielle, Matt’s part of an elite task force…well, that part takes a while to explain. Why don’t you sit, let us give you the details.” Julie stood, put an arm around Mom and steered her to the recliner. “Matt has certain…talents that are critical to a mission that ensures global safety. It’s true we’ve kept this from you. We thought it would be kinder if you were unaware, so you wouldn’t worry.”

“Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of joke?” Mom pointed at me. “He’s fifteen years old! What in the world would the Army want with him?”

“I’m almost sixteen,” I muttered. Mamie shot me a warning look and shook her head. The panic in her eyes practically reached out and smacked my forehead. I hated hurting my sister, so I clamped my mouth shut to let the “adults” hash things out.

“It’s not a joke,” Julie answered, giving Mom a level stare. “Matt’s mission is of grave importance. You know we would never put him in harm’s way if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. In this case, it is. He was chosen, hand-picked, really—”

“A mission? Hand-picked?” Mom turned to Mike, her face wild with fear. “No! Not again! It was bad enough with Erik, but this is my child. My son.”

Erik? Mamie, Brent and I exchanged tense glances. What did our deadbeat dad have to do with any of this?

Mike watched us, his jaw clenched so tight I thought I heard a tendon pop. “Don’t.”

“No!” Mom shouted. “I won’t keep quiet any longer, Mike. They need to know. I may have let Erik go, but I still loved him. You know that! I did what the two of you told me to do—I pretended he ran out on us to protect the kids. Do you have any idea how hard that’s been? I don’t even know if he’s still alive! We haven’t heard from him for over a year.”

“Uncle Mike,” Mamie asked, “what’s Mom talking about?”

Mom ignored the question, saying, “The intrigues, the danger, the flat-out lies…it nearly killed me. If you think I’ll allow the same life for my son, my fifteen-year-old baby, you’re crazy!”

With that, she collapsed onto the couch, buried her face in her hands and burst into sobs. I’d never seen my mother cry like this, not once in my life.

I turned to Mike. “Dad walked out on us.
He
left
us.
”

Mike shifted on the couch. Mom cried harder. Mamie burst into tears, too, and Brent pulled her close so she could cry on his shoulder. His face had turned green.

Still, no one said anything. All this time, they’d been lying to us, yet they wouldn’t talk. Mamie, Brent and I had been blasted backward in the last two minutes and Mom was pissed that we had lied to
her
? Seeing Mamie crying her eyes out snapped the thin grasp I had on my self-control and my temper boiled over.

“What the hell is going on?” I yelled.

Aunt Julie flinched. Mike patted her knee and said, “Matt…all the stuff about wielders being special, what the knives recognized about us? Ancient power from our fathers? We all have special families, full of warriors, but it’s clear to everyone you have an enhanced tie to your blade. Haven’t you wondered why?”

I shook my head, not because I hadn’t wondered—because I didn’t want to hear what came next.

Brent stared at me. “What’s he talking about, Matt?”

Mike went on, ignoring Brent. “I’ve suspected why the knife chose you for quite some time. You got power from both sides of your family. Erik is an exceptional man, no matter what we’ve said or done to make you believe otherwise.”

Mamie reached for my hand and squeezed. Chill crept over me…exceptional?

Mike looked at each of us in turn, stopping with me, and said, “Your dad is CIA—part of the Special Operations Group.”

“Special Operations?” Mamie asked in a whisper. “What does that mean?”

“Erik is an agent for the government,” he said. “A spy, but not just any kind of spy. He goes into hot zones to scope out very dangerous situations, gathering intelligence of a kind that very few people have the ability to obtain. He speaks eight languages, has superior weapons training, and has forgotten more about the martial arts than I ever learned to begin with.”

“He’s a spy?” I asked. “Like Aunt Julie?”

I looked at all three adults: Mom was still bawling; Mike stared uncomfortably at the floor; Julie was the only one to meet my eyes. “Not like me, honey. I’m not a tenth of what your dad is.”

This from the woman Mike said could kill us with just her thumbs.

Uncle Mike sighed. “When your Mom was pregnant with you, Matt, Erik got a call. He was asked to go deep undercover—somewhere in Asia is all I know. Dani was so scared he’d die over there she just couldn’t take it anymore, and Erik had already made some pretty big enemies during his career. To keep you safe, she and Erik decided he should leave the family rather than endanger the three of you.”

My dad wasn’t a deadbeat? He could have been part of my life? And he wasn’t because Mom was scared? I jumped to my feet, anger banging uneven jolts in my heart. Who cared if I had lied about my secret job—she’d lied about the most important thing in my life. I knew I was about to say something I’d never get to take back, but it was like my mouth had a mind of its own.