Uncovering His SECRET (14 page)

“My boss didn’t
tell me that.”

“Of course not.”

“But why would the
Halls buy it from Cal if it’s not going to make money right away?”

“Theirs is an old
company. They’ve weathered ups and downs for many years, and his
grandfather understands that they need to be forward thinking. He’s
willing to take a chance because he thinks it’s the right thing to
do, and because he loves his grandson.”

“Why are you helping
him, Tegan? What he said and did to you was unforgivable.”

“Which was your plan
all along back then. But like I said, I’m not here for a walk down
memory lane. Law enforcement will be here soon.” I glance at Nate,
and he nods. “They’re on their way to get your boss, and then I
can go back to my life.”

Phil’s moving his
head like he wants to talk, so I remove his tape. “My wife. She
went to Vegas, and I haven’t heard from her.”

“Oh yeah, we have her
in custody there. She has a crush on me, so you may want to rethink
the whole marriage thing.” His eyes bug out, and I laugh. “You
look almost as shocked as she did when I was messing with her. Nice
touch, by the way, using pageant girls. People don’t realize how
tough they can be. So bravo ladies for stepping outside your
stereotype. You’re still going to jail, but hey, you know as well
as anyone that you can’t win them all.”

We wait for our friends
from the FBI to arrive, and the sheriff comes in soon after. I’m
talking to one of the guys about the Houston takedown—which netted
them more guys, and girls, when he saunters up to us.

“I saw you were back
in town causing trouble, Tegan. And in a sexy red dress to boot.”

“If saving someone is
trouble, then yes, that’s what I was doing here.”

“This town is going
to crucify you all over again. So I suggest you leave as fast as you
came.”

“I own this house,
and this is my hometown. I’ll leave when I’m good and ready to.”

“Don’t say I didn’t
warn you when something happens.”

“If something were to
happen, I’d expect you to protect her, Sheriff,” the agent I was
speaking to says to him.

“The trash needs to
take itself out. I can’t be responsible for what happens.”

“What did you just
say?” Nate asks, coming up behind me.

“Just leave it, Nate.
He’s just a sad little man. What he says can’t hurt me.”

“I could take you in
for that smart mouth of yours.”

“No, you can’t. And
don’t think I won’t report this. You should count on a visit from
the State Police, and possibly my boss. Tegan has helped us out
several times, and she is well respected in the Bureau.”

“I just bet she is.”

“Get out of my house,
Sheriff. You’re not welcome here.”

“Bitch,” he mutters
under his breath as I hold Nate back.

I meant what I said.
His words can’t hurt me. But I probably shouldn’t have
antagonized him quite so much. He is the law here, and I won’t
always have back-up.

Tegan

I’m exhausted by the
time everyone except Nate leaves, but I can’t wait to get back to
Vegas. I turn my phone back on as I change clothes. It goes a little
crazy, beeping over and over to let me know all I’ve missed. I sit
down and decide to check Caleb’s first. I know he’s going to be
upset, but I did tell him not to believe everything he was going to
see. I realize that he didn’t do that at all when I see what he
wrote.

Caleb: What in the
fucking Hell, Teeg?

Caleb: You’re with
Greg? In that dress?

Caleb: Too busy
letting Greg grab your tits to answer me?

Caleb: Fucking
answer me, Tegan.

Caleb: Answer your
damn phone.

Caleb: You’re
partying with some other guy, along with Greg and his latest fuck?

Caleb: Phil too? I’m
done. Do you understand me, Tegan? DONE.

Caleb: I’ve got
Ethan. I’m keeping him with me, and I’ll be fighting for full
custody in our divorce.

I immediately call him,
praying that he’ll answer.

“Well, if it isn’t
my loving wife.”

“I do love you, Cal.”

“How was your
threesome?”

“I told you not to
believe everything you saw. I meant for that to extend to hearing
things, too. You know I wouldn’t go off with Greg and Phil.”

“You did Greg before.
Why not now? And we both know you like multiples.”

“For the last time,
I. Never. Slept. With. Greg. And I never will. As for that last
comment, well, that’s real classy.”

“Just bringing myself
down to your level for a moment.”

I felt the verbal slap
as if he’d really hit me. “You can’t take my son.”

“
Our
son. We’re married, and I’m on his birth certificate. Thanks for
that, by the way. It’s going to make all of this so much easier.”

“I’ll find you.”

“I’m not hiding.
We’re going to the ranch. Apparently they caught the guy behind the
threats. He’s an oil guy from Houston, a competitor.”

“You think I can’t
get onto the ranch? That my friends can’t?”

“You may think you’re
above the law, but the sheriff hates you. He won’t let you near
us.”

“That little prick
couldn’t stop me.
Nothing
and no one can keep me from Ethan. If you don’t know that by now,
you’re dumber than anyone thinks you are.”

“The only dumb thing
I ever did was to let you back into my life.”

“I’m the stupid
one. I thought you really cared about me.”

“Don’t you dare put
this on me. You’re the one who married me one day, and then went
out whoring it up the next.”

“I was coming home to
explain it all to you, but there’s really no point, is there?
You’re just going to believe whatever you want. Whatever makes it
easy for you to walk away from me again.”

“Forget walking, I’m
running.”

“I’ll give you some
time with Ethan, because he needs you in his life. But make no
mistake, my son will be with me. If you think I can’t make us
disappear, you’re delusional. I would rather share him with you
than take him away, but I’ll do whatever I have to do in order to
keep my son.”

“I just recorded you
saying that. The judge is going to love it. Judge Rawlins. You
remember him, right? He’s hated you since you accidentally spilled
your punch on him at one of my family’s parties years ago. Which is
why I’m filing the custody and divorce paperwork at home. I guess I
owe you another thanks for being a homeowner there. For a super spy,
you really have made this too easy for me.”

“You will not win,
Cal.”

“I already have.”

“Let me talk to
Ethan.”

“No.”

“You think he’s
just going to go along with this? That he’s going to stay with
you?”

“He’ll have no
choice.”

“You’re going to
watch him night and day? Because he’ll run once he realizes you’re
keeping him from me. And then you’ll have nothing but your fucking
formula to keep you warm at night. All because you refuse to let me
explain things to you. You did it to me years ago, and now you’re
letting that cycle repeat.”

“I’m not going to
indulge in your selective storytelling talents.”

“You don’t want the
truth. I can’t believe I didn’t see that sooner. You want to be
the victim, the martyr. Poor little Caleb who was tricked by Tegan.
No matter what I say or do, it would never be enough. Because
realizing you’re wrong about me would make you have to face the
fact that you’ve persecuted me for things I never did.”

“Bullshit.”

“Prove it then. Prove
me wrong. If you don’t want to listen to me, ask Brad. Tell him I
said to tell you.”

“You’ve got him
snowed. He’d believe anything you told him.”

“You just proved my
point. Now put my son on the phone.”

“You’ve got two
minutes. Ethan,” he yells. “Come talk to your mom.”

A few seconds later,
he’s there on the line. “Mama, when are you getting here?”

“I’m not.”

“What? Why?”

“You dad doesn’t
want me there. He wants a divorce.”

“You’re coming to
get me then, right?”

“Not right away.
Spend time with him. I’ll be at my house on the hill. I
will
come for you when I can, but I want you to behave until then.”

“I don’t want to be
without you.”

“I know, E. Just
pretend it’s like when you were in Chicago without me. Only this
time it’s going to be your dad you’re with instead of Cyndi.”

“Why is he doing
this?”

“He’s angry at me.”

“Did he call you
names again?”

“Kind of, but you
don’t need to worry about that.”

“He can’t keep me.”

“No. He cannot.”

“Time’s up,”
Caleb says.”

“I love you, E.”

“I love you too,
Mama.”

As soon as his last
word is said, the phone goes dead. If Caleb thinks this is over, he’s
in for a big surprise. After I tell Nate I’m staying, I call Reina
and start to plan. He has a crooked sheriff and his family. I have
all the major law enforcement groups in the country, and my family,
too. I’d place odds on me.

* * *

Caleb

“You ready for your
cowboy lessons?” I ask Ethan two days after we arrive at the ranch.

He just looks out the
window, pretending that he didn’t hear me. He hasn’t spoken to me
since we arrived; although, he let my mom and dad fawn all over him.
Even my grandpa got in on the act. I know they’re excited, and so I
let the fact that he was ignoring me go. I won’t do that today.

“You will be
respectful and speak when spoken to.”

Still nothing.

“Ethan, I love you.”

“Those words mean
nothing to you.”

I reel back like I’ve
been slapped. And I guess I have. “They mean everything to me.”

“You said them to
Mama.”

“I meant them when I
said them.”

“Liar.”

“Ethan, I understand
that you’re upset, but there is only so much lip I will take from
you.”

“You made me a
promise, and you broke it. That makes you a liar.”

“For God’s sake
kid, give me a break here. I’m trying.”

“No. You promised you
would never try and take me from her, and now you’re doing it. I
will
never
forgive
you if you try and make this permanent. And I’m not learning some
stupid cowboy stuff unless my mama’s here to watch.”

“She wasn’t going
to watch everything. She’s a busy person.”

“She would’ve for
me. She always makes time for me. If I need her, she’s always
there. Even if she’s on a mission somewhere. All I had to do was
tell Ainsley I needed her, and she got her on a Skype with me.
Always.”

“We can videotape the
stuff I teach you and send it to her.”

“You don’t get it.
All I want from you is to let me see her. I don’t want to ride a
horse, or anything else. Not when I know how sad she is.”

“I can’t let you be
with her. She’s lied to me too much.”

“Just because you say
it, that doesn’t make it right. Or true. My mama loves you. She
doesn’t lie to people she loves.”

“We’ll just have to
agree to disagree about her.”

“Whatever you say,
Father
.”

Damn it. We’re back
to square one. Or more than likely, negative squares. Maybe I do need
to just talk to my uncle. He arrived last night, at her request I’m
sure. I head downstairs to see what he has to tell me. But when I
walk into the kitchen, the conversation between him and my mom stops,
letting me know they were discussing me.

“Caleb, where’s
Ethan?” my mom asks.

“Sitting in his room,
cursing me.”

“Did you really think
he’d be okay with you taking him from his mother?” Brad asks me.

“Yeah. She’s a
liar.”

“Really? She’s the
liar? When you had Ethan pack a bag and get on that plane with you,
did you tell him you were planning on divorcing his mother and going
to fight for full custody of him?”

“No. He wouldn’t
have gone with me if I’d told him that.”

“So you lied.”

“He did what he had
to, Brad,” my mom says.

“No, he didn’t.
What he had to do was trust Tegan.”

“You didn’t see the
pictures,” I tell him.

“Actually, I did see
them.”

“She was letting him
put his hands on her.”

“For good reason.
You’d know that if you actually asked her. But I believe she’s
correct in her assessment of the situation. You don’t want to
know—about the past, or now.”

“Of course he wants
to know.”

“Really? Because
Tegan said she told him to ask me.”

“You must have
misunderstood. Or Caleb did, right sweetie?”

“No,” I say,
dropping my head into my hands. “She told me that, but I don’t
know if I’m ready to hear it.”

“Because she’s
right. You’ll no longer be a victim once you know what really
happened. Both times.”

“Caleb Hall, I did
not raise you to be like this. I didn’t raise a coward. Or a man
who would give up the woman he loves just because he doesn’t want
to be wrong.”

“You think I’m
wrong?”

“I think we all may
be wrong. I’ve been focused on supporting you and going along with
whatever you decide, but when I actually stop and think about
everything, I have doubts. I remember how Tegan used to look at you
like you hung the moon. Why would she sleep with your friend?”

“Because I wasn’t
good enough,” I blurt out without meaning to. I’ve never admitted
my biggest fear to anyone, not even myself.

“What?”

“Greg was always
sleeping with different girls. He had more experience pleasing them.
Obviously I was doing something wrong, so Tegan went looking for what
she was missing with me.”