“I understand, sir, but we have been assured that Senator Khor is your biological father.”
A nearly uncontrollable anger welled up inside of Will. He narrowed his eyes. “If he’s alive, then where has he been all this time?”
“Until recently, Senator Khor was unaware of your existence. When his father passed away earlier this year, he left the senator a letter stating who you were and what he had done to keep the senator from finding out about you.”
Will felt a cry of anguish well up inside of him and pressed his lips together to keep it to himself. He swallowed several times before he could speak again. “Why would he do that? Why would he keep me from my father?”
He had always known the man didn’t like him, even if they had never met. He never realized the man hated him.
“From what we’ve been able to discover from the letter Mr. Khor senior left his son, he wanted Senator Khor to go into politics, and he didn’t think his son would have that opportunity if he had a child out of wedlock. He felt his son needed to marry a woman handpicked to be a senator’s wife, and not someone…uh…”
“From the wrong side of the tracks,” Will finished for the man. He’d heard that story before. Now, he was getting the rest of the story.
“Yes, sir.”
It was really too bad the old man was dead. Will would have loved to punch him right square in the mouth. “Okay, so why are you here?”
“Your father would like to see you.”
“Why?”
The agent glanced at Hector, almost as if looking for assistance. “He’s your father.”
“I’ve spent my entire life without a father. I’ve spent half of it without a mother. I’m not sure I’m ready for some man who feels guilty about not being around to come into my life at this point.”
“Will.”
Will huffed as he turned to look at Hector.
“Your father is just as much a victim in this as you are. If you remember what Agent Darcy said, your father didn’t even know about you until earlier this year.”
“But he never looked,” Will insisted. “If he had come looking for my mother, he would have found me.”
“Maybe, but maybe not. You won’t know until you talk to him. Besides, if his father was willing to go as far as he did to make sure your father never knew about you, then you can probably bet he made sure he created some sort of rift between your parents to keep them apart.”
Will couldn’t really argue with that logic, no matter how much he might want to. “What do you think I should do?”
“I think you should follow your heart, tesoro. It won’t lead you astray.”
That was true. It had led him to Hector after all.
He drew in a breath then turned back to the agent. “Okay, I’ll meet with him, but I’m not making any promises past that.”
“I’ll let him know, Mr. Jacks.” The man stood and started for the door as if he was going to leave.
“I’m sorry about your agents, Agent Darcy. If they hadn’t been here, they wouldn’t have been shot.”
The agent frowned as he glanced toward the sheriff. “My understanding was that it was a robbery gone wrong.”
“Yes.” The sheriff stood, as well. “We found a cash of diamonds buried in the basement by the previous owner totaling over a million dollars. Doug and Gill had found out about the diamonds from a former resident in Cade Creek who is serving time for assault and theft. They were ransacking the house when your agents arrived to talk to Will. Doug and Gill panicked when Agent Frisk and Agent Abrams showed them their badges and started firing. Gill and your agents were killed during the firefight.”
“I’m afraid our line of work can be very dangerous,” the agent said. “It’s something we’re all well aware of when we become agents.”
Will frowned. “Why is the FBI talking to me? Isn’t this a little bit out of the realm of your usual cases?”
“Normally that would be true,” the agent replied, “but your father is a senator. There was also no record of you after you left foster care, so he asked my agency to look into it.”
Huh. Must be nice to have that sort of pull.
