“Mitch?” I asked, remembering he’d been there that night, too.
“No,” Alejandro said, joining us now, too. “Beth went with Hobbs while I was deployed. He was her plus-one since I was in Afghanistan.”
No, no, no.
Ryder held up his hand as if he could physically push away the facts. “You’re saying Beth, Mitch, and Will were all at the same military ball in 2017?Andyou and Trevor were also there.”
Alejandro’s eyes narrowed, gaze focused on my brother. “This means I have to talk to her, doesn’t it? I have to talk to Beth.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Alejandro
The screen blinked to life, splitting between Secretary Chandler at the Pentagon and Trevor with Chase in what looked to be a nearly as secure location.
“Got a new friend, do you?” Audrey leaned in toward the screen, reaching out instinctively as if she could actually touch her son as he petted a golden retriever wagging its tail beside him.
“He just wanted to say hi real quick.” Trevor knelt beside Chase and the dog, wrapping his tattooed arm behind his son’s back.
“I miss you.” Audrey pressed her hand to the screen, ignoring the fact we had the secretary of defense watching. “We’ll be together soon, I promise.”
“I know. Daddy says we’ll all be together again.”
Together again.His small voice and those words hit me hard. The thought that I could possibly be a roadblock to that happening sent guilt splicing through me.
Chase glanced at his uncle, who was hovering at my side along with Reed, as if they were both worried I might go find a cliff to jump from after realizing Beth was in the mix more than we’d thought.
“Keep Mommy safe—okay, Uncle Ryder?”
“You got it,” Ryder said with a firm nod. “And then we’ll hit the ice. Play hockey together like we did at Christmas.”
Chase smiled, but it felt a little forced, like the kid knew how bad shit really was, but he was trying to put on a brave face for his mom’s sake.
Like father, like son. Like uncle, like nephew.
“Love you, baby.” Audrey pulled her hand away from the screen and stepped aside.
“Okay, go back with Michael and the others. Give your mom and me a minute.” Trevor ruffled Chase’s blond hair, then gently guided him and the dog from the room.
He returned in front of the screen a moment later, his expression hardening, letting his own mask of bravery slip even though I knew he’d want to keep it up for Audrey, too.
“I had no clue Beth Rodriguez was your wife.” Trevor laid his comment on me quickly.
“Ex-wife,” I clarified, the word always bitter in my mouth. I hated that she’d never dropped my last name after the divorce, clinging to it more than she had to the sanctity of our marriage vows. Ten years together before we split. Ten years of lies.
“Tell us what you know,” Chandler prompted, the monitors pulsing behind him with data, the Pentagon’s hum of activity alive in the background.
Trevor looked to Audrey. “I take it you now know about the job offer with Charlie Team I turned down?” When she nodded, his shoulders slumped. “What you don’t know is that it was the second time I was asked, and I said yes the first time.”
“I beg your pardon?” Chandler leaned forward, hands braced on the table in front of him.
“I figured you didn’t know. The first offer came under the previous secretary. That’s why I didn’t mention it when you tried to recruit me for Charlie. I assumed if you knew, you’d have said something.” Heexhaled and met Audrey’s eyes. “Beth introduced me to Will Hobbs at the military ball in 2017.”
Reed had already delivered that shocking blow to us before the call, but it still managed to hit me with just as much intensity a second time.
“I was at the bar getting a drink, and you were off talking with friends. Beth approached me with Hobbs and introduced us. He said he’d been watching my career and was impressed. He told me he had a proposition that was of the classified nature, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Asked if we could meet privately in the morning.”
“I remember waking up at the hotel alone,” Audrey cut in. “And when you came back you said you were jogging, which was weird, because you hate running, and you—”
