she heard the front door open and the sweetest words filled her ears.
“Ma, we’re home! Where are you?”
She turned just as Joe and Nathan rounded the corner, both grinning like idiots, with bags slung over their shoulders. They let them fall to the floor about the time her mouth did the same.
“Nathan! Joe!”
She dropped the casserole dish on the table and flew around to hug them both. Joe gathered her in his arms and swung her around, and she was promptly swept into Nathan’s as soon as Joe let go.
“My boys, oh my God, what are you two doing home?”
“Hey, Dad,” Nathan said as Frank got up.
Frank enfolded both the boys in a hearty embrace. When he pulled away, his eyes were suspiciously wet.
“What the hell are you two doing home? Why didn’t you call us?”
“We weren’t sure we were going to wrangle the leave,” Joe said. “We tried to get home for . . .”
“We’d hoped to get home on the sixteenth,” Nathan said quietly .
“That was good of you,” Marlene said. “I’m sure Ethan would have appreciated it.”
“Where is Ethan? We stopped by his house on the way in but no one was home.”
Marlene exchanged a look with Frank.
Nathan and Joe didn’t miss it.
“What’s going on, Mom?” Nathan asked.
And then for the first time he and Joe seemed to notice Rusty, who was sitting at the table looking very much as if she’d like to sink into the floor.
“Boys, I want you to meet Rusty. She’s staying here for a while.”
As Marlene had expected, they both scowled and immediately looked at their father. To his credit, Frank didn’t so much as flinch.
“Boys, say hello to Rusty,” he said in a gruff voice.
“Hello, Rusty,” Nathan said. Joe just nodded and then flashed a questioning look at his mother.
“Sit down, sit down,” she urged. “You’re just in time to eat. You’re probably starving.”
“It wouldn’t matter if we weren’t,” Joe said with a grin. “It’s been so long since we had home cooking that I’d eat even if I was about to bust a gut.”
Marlene managed to get them all herded to the table, and she dished up generous portions. She gave Rusty’s hand a reassuring pat as she passed her a plate. It was inevitable that she’d meet all the boys at some point. Better that it happened in stages than all at once. Marlene knew her boys were a handful, and even she was overwhelmed when they all got together.
“Now what’s the story with Ethan?” Joe asked after things had settled down a bit.
“He went to work with your brothers,” Frank said. “That’s all.”
Marlene pressed her lips together but didn’t say a word.
“Uh-huh, okay, what are you about to pop a blood vessel over there about, Mom?” Nathan asked.
She sighed and glared at her youngest child. Never could fool any of them any more than they could fool her.
“I don’t rightly know,” she admitted. “Just something’s off about the whole thing. Your father called Ethan on the morning of the sixteenth, and Ethan sounded horrible. The next thing we know, Sam, Donovan and Garrett are off on some classified mission. With Ethan.”
Joe frowned. “All of them?”
Frank’s brows drew together. “You know I didn’t even consider that. They never all go. Sam’s adamant about it.”
Marlene nodded vigorously. “You see, I’m not crazy. There is something going on. I don’t like it one bit.”
Joe turned to Nathan. “You said Van emailed you a few days ago. Did he say anything?”
Nathan shook his head. “Just the usual bullshitting.”
“Are you all a bunch of spies or something?” Rusty blurted out.
Joe and Nathan both jerked around like they’d forgotten she was there. Not difficult since she hadn’t uttered a peep the entire time.
The corner of Joe’s mouth turned up. “No, not spies. Military.”
Rusty looked suspiciously at him. “Military spies?”
Nathan laughed. “If we told you, then we’d have to kill you.”
Rusty rolled her eyes and went back to her food, muttering something under her breath.
“How long have they been gone?” Joe asked.
Frank’s brow creased in concentration for a moment. “Few days. They left about a week after the sixteenth.”
“Well, hell, they had to have been in the planning stages when Van emailed that they were doing absolutely nothing and that things were quiet.”
“They probably didn’t want to worry you,” Marlene said soothingly.
“That’s just it.” Nathan piped up. “They’ve never been worried about telling us shit before. Why would they start now, ironically when Ethan crawls out of his hole?”