Page 22 of No More Lies

“What about pinging the phone?”

“Can only do that at the Farm. I don’t have the GPS tracking capability at home. I can do it if no one’s around. Just need to ensure I erase any footprint. Should be fine.”

He didn’t understand what Mackie was talking about, but he wasn’t risking Mackie doing anything that might get on Sam’s radar.

“No, I don’t want to put you in that position. The texts should be good enough.”

“Steve? What’s this about?”

“Just a bad feeling. Listen, I’ll let you know if I want you to do it. Thanks, brother.”

“Anytime, but you know we might be spinning up at short notice?”

“Yeah. Any idea when?”

“Dex had a brief with Sam today, we’re having a team brief tomorrow, and need to get our physical and psych clearances done. Don’t know anything other than that.”

“OK. I’ll let you know tomorrow if I need it. If you spin up before, I’ll find another way. And, Mackie, can we keep this between us?”

“Sure thing.”

“Thanks, man.”

He ended the call. Spying on his wife’s phone. Is this what it had come to? He didn’t want to. He wanted Diane to tell him voluntarily what was going on, but if she didn’t, what was he supposed to do? He would try talking to her tonight, but if he wasn’t satisfied with her answers, then he would have Mackie run the phone. Yes, it might be an invasion of privacy, but her safety was more important. After she’d got that text this morning, her face had gone pale even though she tried to hide it by turning her face away. He was totally convinced she was hiding something, and he would do whatever it took to make sure she was OK.

Chapter 7

After an afternoon of softball, Steve and Megan got to Jerry’s around five. They settled into a booth. Megan was engrossed in coloring her menu when he spotted Donnie walking in. Steve watched Donnie creep up behind Megan. When he grabbed her on each side, tickling her silly, Megan screamed. Then she burst into giggles.

“Hey, squirt. Do your parents know you’re hanging out in bars?”

“Stop it, Uncle Donnie, stop it! My dad’s right here.” Megan could barely get the words out between giggles. Donnie stopped, dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and then held out his hand to Steve for a shake.

“So what brings you guys to Jerry’s?”

“Burgers!” Megan grinned, her coloring forgotten.

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