Page 9 of Engaging his Enemy
Time he would be spending with Davina and Wyatt. The thought made him tense up. He was a trained warrior, ever prepared to do battle, but he was powerless against the two of them. “What was it like?”
“Getting arrested?”
“Raising my kid.” He hadn’t planned on asking. For the first time in their lives, the tables were turned—Zach was jealous of Ben, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“He’s the best thing in my life.”
Zach winced. He’d asked the question, but he hadn’t expected the answer to be so painful. He’d never seen himself as a father, never planned on having kids, but now that he knew he had one, he was slowly understanding just how much he’d missed.
Ben absently fingered the label on his bottle of beer. “I saw him a couple of times a week. Babysat. Helped Davina when I could. She went back to school, you know, got her associate’s degree. Works as an ultrasound tech up at the hospital. She’s done real good for herself.”
Moto pointed with his chin. “Give me one of those after all.” Ben moved to the kitchen. “She wanted to be a doctor,” Moto called after him, remembering her dreams. “Go to medical school.”
“She’s trying, but she can only do two courses a semester with her job.”
“She’s in med school?”
Ben shook his head. “Got to finish her undergrad first.”
Guilt was a physical force pushing down on Moto, and he drank deeply. He’d been out West pursuing his dreams, reaching for the stars unencumbered, while she’d be back here struggling for what she wanted, her entire timetable turned upside down by parenting his child. “Shit.”
“Looks like you did pretty well for yourself. Navy?”
“SEALs.” He pushed the bottle of beer away from him. It tasted like bad decisions and an utter lack of control.
“I know. Degree?”
“Master’s.”
“Surprised you didn’t go right for the doctorate. Why’d you leave the SEALs?”
That was a complicated question for him to answer to himself, and one he’d been struggling with for some time. But the answer surprised him, coming quickly to his lips. “I needed more control over my own life.”
Ben laughed without humor. “You always wanted to be in charge.”
“I love my country. I thought I could serve.”
“And you let yourself down when you couldn’t. Failure comes in all different forms, little brother.”
His eyes met Ben’s. Failure wasn’t the word Zach would use, and he hated that it was appropriate. He had failed as a Navy SEAL. He wasn’t able to put his love of country before his love of self. He’d served with Razorback, for God’s sake—had watched the other man lose his face in the name of freedom. And shame upon shame, he hadn’t wanted it to be him. “I do good work for HERO Force.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“But I do it on my terms.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
Moto clenched his teeth, then took another sip of his drink. Ben was goading him. He took several deep breaths, then pointed to Ben’s files on the computer screen. “Who are these people you were working with? Whoever planted this shit has top-notch computer skills.”
“Foreign investors. That’s all I know. Moved into the area a couple of years ago, started buying everything up.”
“And you were their Realtor.”
“I thought it was my lucky day. I was finally coming into my own. Business went from middle-of-the-road to booming literally overnight. My commissions were three times what they used to be, then four, then five. All the transactions were anonymous.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“Not here. Some places. Too many concerns about money laundering. I had no reason to suspect anything was out of the ordinary until that federal agent showed up, asking questions.”
