Secret Agent Father

“She told me that once you knew about Cody being your son, you’d help keep him safe.”

Unable to sit still, Alex jumped up to pace the length of the room. How was this possible?

One night. They were only together for one night. He swallowed hard. “Okay, but if that’s true, why wouldn’t Trina have told me that she was pregnant? Why marry Stephan?”

“I don’t know. Trina didn’t confide in me, either.”

He jammed his fingers through his hair in frustration. Alex met Trina shortly after arriving in Green Bay. He’d been trying to dig up information on a tip about possible drug trafficking in the area. Trina seemed to know all about the boats entering and leaving the harbor so he had asked her out a few times to see if she’d let anything slip.

He hadn’t meant for things to go so far. He wasn’t proud of his actions, and had distanced himself from her after the night they’d spent together.

“I knew Trina had a child, but when Trina married Stephan a few months after the boy was born, I assumed the child was his,” he admitted in a low tone. “Frankly, I was relieved that she’d moved on to someone else after our night together.” And he’d never made the mistake of getting too close to anyone on the job ever again. “So why have you decided to spring this news on me now?”

“Because Cody’s in danger. And Trina obviously thought you needed to know he was your son, in order to protect him. Early this morning, Trina called and asked me to meet her down at the marina. She asked me to take Cody and made me promise to call you. She was going to come with us, but then…” her voice trailed off.

A chill snaked down his spine and he stopped in the center of the room, slowly turning to face her. On the phone she’d mentioned something about a man with a gun. “And then what? What happened?”

Shelby hesitated, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. He glanced at her upset expression, feeling an uncharacteristic spurt of sympathy for her, before abruptly turning away. Don’t go there, he warned himself. He’d help Cody and Shelby but becoming emotionally involved was out of the question.

“On the way to my car, Trina spotted someone. She told me to run and she took off, heading back toward the marina. I caught a glimpse of a man with a gun. I—I grabbed Cody and ran.”

“And Trina?” Alex forced himself to ask, although he could guess what happened next by the stricken look in Shelby’s gaze.

“I think he killed her.” Shelby’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I dialed 9–1–1 but…”

Alex winced, unable to bear the frank pain in her eyes, crossing over to where Shelby sat on the edge of the sofa. He couldn’t imagine how terrified she must have felt—witnessing an attack on her sister.

“She risked her life to save us,” Shelby continued, her eyes welling with tears. “She drew the gunman away, sacrificing herself to safe her son. Your son.”

Awkwardly, he sat beside her and placed his injured arm around her shoulders. For a moment she held herself stiff, but then sank against him, burying her face in his chest. Muffled sobs reached his ears and his shirt became damp with tears, but still he held her close. He murmured soothingly even as his hand delved into the softness of her hair. The sweet, spicy scent of it teased his nostrils. Holding her soothed him, too. Trina’s death was a shock. She’d put her life on the line for them, to help bring the drug smugglers to justice. Who had killed her?

“I’m sorry.” Shelby sniffled loudly and pulled away from his embrace. “It’s just that every time I think of trying to tell Cody that his mother might never come home, I get all choked up. How do you tell a four-year-old something like that?”

Stunned, the full implication of her statement hit him like a snow-laden log falling on his head. If Trina was dead, and if he was the boy’s father, then he was the child’s only living parent. Ten minutes ago he hadn’t known he had a son, much less one he might be solely responsible for. “Wait a minute, maybe there’s some mistake….”

“I don’t think so.” Shelby misunderstood his murmured comment and took a deep shuddering breath. “I saw the guy aim at her and shoot. She fell to the ground and didn’t get up.”

Alex fought back a surge of panic. A father? No. This couldn’t be happening. He wasn’t father material. Look at the role model he’d had. His old man drank too much and hadn’t hesitated to lash out if he and Kayla said the wrong thing. Alex had vowed he’d never have children.

Yet, Cody had his green eyes.

Taking a deep breath he concentrated on identifying one problem at a time. It had been dark and Shelby only thought she saw her sister get shot. Even if she fell to the ground, Trina may have survived. Trina knew how to take care of herself.

He focused his attention on the problem at hand. Shelby and Cody needed protection from whomever had attacked Trina. Trina had been leaking information to the coast guard and DEA for the past two years, playing a very dangerous role. Someone on the drug smuggler’s payroll must have caught onto her. She may have gotten careless, digging too hard to find proof that Alex was targeting the wrong suspect. Whatever she’d found, he could only imagine she’d been shot to keep her mouth shut. He couldn’t help but wonder what she’d learned, and if her theory had been right. She’d vowed her father was innocent, but Alex had never been totally convinced.

Drugs were coming in on Russ Jacobson’s ships and Alex believed that Jacobson had to know what was going on right under his nose. In Alex’s opinion, Jacobson himself could be the mastermind behind the entire drug smuggling operation.

But did that mean Russ Jacobson was capable of having his own daughter killed? It was a stretch, but without proof one way or the other, he had no way of knowing for sure.

“Tell me what’s going on,” Shelby pleaded.

“It’s complicated,” he warned. “But first, are you sure the person with the gun was a man? Did you see him clearly?”

“No, I couldn’t see him much at all, but I’m pretty sure he was a man.” Shelby stared at him, her brow furrowed. “And in the car when we were driving away, Cody asked me if the bad man hurt his mom.”

“What? You mean Cody actually saw the guy?” This news changed everything. The danger was worse than he’d imagined if Cody was a witness to the potential leader behind the smuggling.

Alex eased away, trying to unobtrusively disentangle his hand from her hair. The silky strands seemingly had a will of their own as they clung to his fingers. He glanced toward the kitchen where the boy had disappeared. “I need to talk to him.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” Shelby’s tone was sharp and she tugged on his arm when he moved to get up. He hid a wince as a tender nerve zinged with a shaft of pain. “Not until you tell me what’s going on. Besides, Cody has been through an awful ordeal. He practically saw his mother being murdered. I don’t want him to relive the horror all over again so soon.”

“But if he’s seen the bad guy, maybe we can get a description or at least something to go on.” Alex understood her reluctance to expose the boy to more distress, but this was a possible murder investigation. Not to mention, a potential lead to the organizer behind the drug smuggling ring. Trina’s murder was obviously linked to his case. Or rather, to Rafe’s case.

“Maybe you can talk to him later,” she hedged. She stood up and walked closer to the fireplace, as if needing the warmth. “I brought him here so that you’d keep him safe. We need to protect him, not traumatize him.”

Alex frowned, understanding her logic to a certain extent. But decided to let the subject go for now when Kayla and Cody emerged from the kitchen trailed by the clumsy puppy.

“Shelby, look at Clyde,” Cody said happily. “Isn’t he great?”

“He sure is.” Shelby’s face softened into a warm smile and Alex couldn’t dismiss her obvious love for the boy.

In a daze, Alex did the mental math and came to the conclusion that the timing was right for him to have fathered Cody, although for all he knew Trina could have been sleeping with both him and Stephan at the same time. He’d request a DNA test at the very least, so that he would know for sure.

During the time he’d been undercover as a longshoreman, he hadn’t seen Trina’s son at all. Wisely, she’d kept him far away from the unsavory characters who had often hung out at the docks.

One look at Cody now, though, told him almost as much as a DNA test. At first he was so focused on Cody’s blond hair, he hadn’t really looked at the rest of his facial features. He could see that aside from the hair and the stubborn chin, Cody was the mirror image of himself at that age. Kayla had a box full of their baby pictures in the attic to prove it. The kid’s green eyes haunted him.

Not the kid, he admonished himself. My son. I’d better get used to the fact that Cody could really be my son.

Shelby knelt beside Cody and scratched the pup behind the ears. “So how were the cookies? Did Clyde get any?”

Cody giggled as he petted the puppy. “No. Dogs can’t eat people food. It’s bad for them, ’specially chocolate. The cookies were good, but not as good as yours,” he loyally added.

“I can show you to your rooms.” Kayla’s intensely curious gaze bounced back and forth between the three of them. “That way you’ll have some time to freshen up or to take a nap, if you prefer, before dinner.”

“Oh, well—” Shelby’s hesitant gaze swung around to collide with Alex’s.

Alex raised a brow at her dismay. Clearly Shelby hadn’t thought any further than tracking him down. Logically, he knew he should turn both of them over to Rafe. But now that they were here, he’d rather keep them close at hand. At least, until he’d gotten a chance to talk to Cody.

“Kay’s right. You’re both safe here, so there’s no point in you leaving to go somewhere else. Especially when this place has more than enough room.” He flashed a crooked smile, waving a hand at the various rooms overhead. “There’s plenty of privacy, I’m the only guest at the moment.”

Shelby drew in a long breath, reaching up to rub at her temple. “All right, then,” she agreed slowly. She stabbed him with a fierce glance. “But we still need to talk.”

Alex hesitated, glancing down at Cody who was watching them both curiously. “We will, but for now, why don’t you get settled into your rooms. I have some phone calls to make.”

“Me, too,” she said with a frown.

“That’s not a good idea. You can’t tell anyone you’re here or what you’ve seen,” he warned. “I’ll explain more later.”