Secret Agent Father. Laura Scott
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gaze narrowed with annoyance, but he pivoted and gestured toward the great room. His eyes fell once more on the boy, who stopped crying long enough to stare at him with wide green eyes, identical to his own. A sick feeling settled in his gut. Irritably, he thrust it away. “Come in and take off your coats.”
“Thank you,” Shelby murmured helping Cody remove his bulky jacket before shrugging out of hers. She tossed them over a nearby chair and then crossed over to the wide sofa facing the tall fireplace.
Alex sent Rafe, his coast guard liaison, a quick text message telling him that he’d be in touch soon. Rafe was on standby, after having checked out Shelby at the truck stop to make sure she hadn’t been followed, but Alex wouldn’t require backup yet. He needed time to figure out what happened to Trina that forced her to give her sister the code phrase and her phone.
The boy climbed up next to Shelby on the couch and pressed against her. She put a protective arm around his shoulders. The two shared the same golden shade of blond hair and the same stubborn chin.
His sister Kayla came into the great room, sending him a wary glance before greeting Shelby. “Hi, I’m Kayla. I don’t want to interrupt, but I just finished making a batch of chocolate chip cookies.” She flashed Cody a warm smile. “Are you interested in sampling a few?”
Cody eagerly looked up, then hesitated and shook his head, scooting closer to Shelby. Alex frowned. What was the boy so afraid of? He tried to wipe the scowl from his features. “Kayla’s cookies are the best. And you’d better get a couple, before Clyde finds them.”
Cody threw him a puzzled look. “Clyde?”
“Our new cocker spaniel puppy, although no matter how many times we tell him that he’s a puppy, he still thinks he’s a boy, spending his entire day trying to eat people food.” Alex wrinkled his face in mock disgust as he sat in a nearby chair.
The lure of a puppy who liked people food was too much to resist. Cody’s gaze shifted between Alex and Shelby, his tiny brow furrowed as if leaving Shelby’s side was a monumental decision.
“It’s okay, Cody. I promise I won’t leave without you. Go ahead and see the puppy.” She let him off the hook, seemingly relieved at having him out of the way. Alex understood she was scared and wanted answers. But what exactly did Shelby have to gain by claiming the boy was his son?
She’d claimed they were in danger, but he needed to know exactly what happened, what had brought them here. After all, Trina had been his inside contact, not Shelby.
“Okay,” Cody agreed readily enough but moved reluctantly away from her.
Kayla held out her hand. Cody trustingly took it. “You know, I have a daughter about your age. Her name is Brianna and she’s spending the day with her grandmother. Maybe if you’re still here later this afternoon, you’ll get to meet her.” Kayla chatted to the boy as she led him into the kitchen.
Shelby turned toward him with a look of abject horror etched on her face. “You have a daughter about the same age as Cody?”
Alex hissed a long breath between his teeth. “Kayla is my sister, not my wife. And let me make one thing perfectly clear. You and I did not create a child together.”
Her eyes widened in frank dismay. “Of course we didn’t. Cody is Trina’s son.”
For a moment he was taken aback. Then he scowled. “You mean he’s Trina and Stephan’s son.”
“Trina told me you were his biological father.” Shelby twisted her hands in her lap although he admired how she kept her voice steady. “Cody was born September tenth, roughly four years and six months ago. And Trina gave me this.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled slip of paper.
Alex took the scrap of paper from her and stared at his own handwriting in shock. This was the initial note he’d given Trina all those years ago, after their night together.
“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