there? Maybe whoever did this is just as talented, or more so, than Maxwell is. Mackenzie’s friend, Damian, has been missing for months now, and he just happens to be one of my most skilled hackers out there. Maybe he was taken, like his FBI colleagues think, and is being forced to do this guy’s dirty work. From what I’ve read about him, he’s more than capable of putting a trace on the file, and maybe when Maxwell hacked into it, he could have stirred up something that had been left dormant for years. Think about it… The members of the team who had died or gone missing did so years ago. And now, all of a sudden, the remaining two, who had been practically impossible to even track down, end up dead, their houses wired to explode. I think we may have found out the link as to why Galloway was set up. I have a feeling it has something to do with the mission in Bosnia and how two of his men ended up not coming home from that mission.”
“Well, in light of recent events, there’s an unfortunate reality we need to face,” Alexander said.
“That Galloway is the only remaining member of his Ranger team still alive,” Tyler responded, dejected.
“Precisely… Suspicious or just a coincidence?”
“I know. I just…”
I began to stir, not wanting to listen to any more. I didn’t want to hear anything else that could taint the picture of my father I had in my head.
“There you are,” Tyler crooned, meeting my eyes as they adjusted to the light in the room. “I hope we didn’t wake you.”
“No, you didn’t.” I sat up in the chair, rubbing my sore neck, my entire body aching from whatever position I had fallen asleep in.
“Well,” Alexander said, eyeing both Tyler and me. “I’ll give you two a bit of privacy. I’ll be back sometime this afternoon with Olivia and Melanie.” He placed his hand on Tyler’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “I’m glad you’re okay, Ty.”
Tyler met his brother’s eyes, placing his hand over his. “Me, too. See you in a bit.”
“You bet.” Alexander released his hold on him and retreated from the room, closing the door behind him.
“Good morning,” I said, grabbing his hand in mine. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I jumped off a deck.”
I smiled warmly at his ability to make light of what he had been through.
“How’s Eli doing? Have you heard?” I asked. I had been so concerned with Tyler’s well-being, I had completely forgotten about Eli.
“He’s actually doing a lot better than I am. From what they said, they figure I pushed him out of the way and took the brunt of the explosion. He dislocated his shoulder and has a mild concussion, but he’s up and walking today.”
“What happened?” I asked now that he seemed much more coherent than he did just twelve hours earlier.
He sighed. I could tell he was tired of repeating the story over and over. I had heard the basics from Alexander, but I wanted Tyler’s point of view.
“Friday, Benson came to me with a potential lead,” he began, repeating what I already knew about a link between my father and a classified mission in Bosnia. “When we got to the guy’s house, there was no answer. We peeked in and saw signs that struck us as odd, so we decided to break in, just in case something was amiss. That’s when I got the phone call from Benson about the explosion at the house of the guy they were supposed to question. Just as Eli turned the knob, I heard a click and pushed him out of the way. Everything after that was kind of a blur. I remember hoisting myself over the railing of the deck and landing on the beach below. The last thing I could recall before waking up here was seeing your eyes.”
“My eyes?”
He nodded. “I was so worried I wasn’t going to make it and you’d have to raise our son without me. I began to regret so many things, Mackenzie…missed opportunities, missed moments, missed kisses. And I swore, if I survived, I’d do everything to make up for all of that lost time with you. I’ve been so focused on finally figuring out what happened with your father all those years ago. I lost sight of what’s really important.” His voice had an urgent and demanding quality to it. I was lost in his words and eyes as his hand caressed my knuckles, a