Page 12 of Ricochet

CHAPTER SIX

The voicemail notification stayed on Colin’s phone from the time he saw it when the plane touched down in Iowa. He, Javier, and Sophia deplaned, walked to baggage claim and then picked up their separate cars. Sophia had talked Javier into a few days off, mini-vacation to see the sites of Iowa. Javier said he didn’t care, so long as he could get her naked, and that was Colin’s firstclue he needed to put space between his buddy and his sister.

But his father wasn’t calling Sophia. Colin had casually checked-in, and she didn’t have a clue, but guessed it had to do with the news quickly making its way through Titan Group. Right after their talk before the op debriefing, Jared and Brock made their announcement, and Delta had welcomed it with hoots, hollers, table-slaps, andcongrats. He wasn’t one to get red in the face, but his cheeks might’ve tinged with color.

Safe in the confines of a purposefully generic, mid-sized vehicle in a color that could only be described as dirty car but was labeled as off-white, Colin hit the voicemail button.

What’s your old man have to do to get a call back? Your mother says to call.

That’s what he had to do. Play the mom card.Colin knocked his head against the rest and hit the call back button, keeping the speakerphone on to exert as little energy as possible on the call. God love his father, but at times, living up to his expectations was killing Colin, and he still hadn’t recovered from that hellhole floating in the Indian Ocean.

“It’s about time.”

His eyes sank shut. If he’d called back after the first text, therewould have been a similar response. The timing didn’t matter. “How’s it going, Dad?”

“Good. Got anything you want to share?”

“Sounds like you already know?” Where was the fun in sharing when he wasn’t sharing? There was no surprise, no hope or anticipation. All Colin was going to do was give a confirmation of what the man already knew—and how? He didn’t want to know, since Jared and Brock saidhis father had nothing to do with his nearly secured promotion. “It’s not a done deal, anyway.”

“Of course, it is. You’re just younger than someone who would normally nab that job. Strictly precautionary.”

How do you know?It hung on his tongue, begging to be released, but Colin didn’t waste his time. It didn’t matter. “What’s new with you and Mom?”

“She’s working on her Mandarin.”

“That’scool. And you?”

“I’ve been waiting for this call.”

Colin pinched the bridge of his nose. There were a hundred things his father had done since he’d first sent the text days ago that were infinitely more interesting than this phone call, but this was the only thing on his mind. Didn’t they have anything in common anymore? “Thanks. That means a lot.” He glanced around the rental car parking lot.“I’m getting ready to pull into my hotel. I’ll call you when I have a minute. Sound good?”

“Great. I can’t wait to hear more about it.”

Colin ended the call, tossing the phone onto the passenger side, and dropped his head against the steering wheel. Where had everything gone so wrong?

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