“He was in Counterintelligence, after all. What did you expect? The truth?”
I tore my eyes from Tyler’s as little Charlie began to stir. I still couldn’t believe we had created this adorable little man in my arms. I never saw myself being a mother, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it, even though he was only a week old. For the first time, I got it. I understood why my father had done what he did all those years ago. I knew I would do everything I could to keep Charlie safe, and that was exactly what my father had done.
Over the past week, I had begun to process everything that had happened. All of the questions I had been searching for were answered. I finally had the closure I had looked for throughout the years. Now that Richard was dead and the truth was revealed, I no longer had to hide who I was. I could finally be me again. The only thing that was missing was Damian. I was desperate to know if anyone had found him, but Tyler only said he was waiting on news. I didn’t know if that meant he was still looking into it or he was trying to shield me from the truth.
Tyler’s cell buzzed, bringing me out of my thoughts. He grabbed it off the side table and looked at the screen before turning to me.
“I need to step out for a minute. Want me to put him down?”
I nodded, my arm growing tired.
I gave Charlie a kiss on the forehead and allowed Tyler to place him in his crib beside me.
“I’ll be right back,” Tyler said as he headed toward the door. Just as he was about to walk outside, he glanced over his shoulder. “I love you, Mrs. Burnham.”
I smiled. “And I love you. Now hurry back. I miss you already.” I closed my eyes and enjoyed the momentary break from visitors.
What seemed like seconds later, the door opened once more and Tyler walked in, a man who was about six-foot with dark scraggly hair and medium build following. I met his eyes through his glasses and gasped, wishing I could get out of my hospital bed and run. But I was still sore, and probably couldn’t make it more than a few steps without needing to take a break.
“Damian?” I said in bewilderment, almost not believing my eyes. For years after I was forced to leave North Carolina, I had dreamt of the day we would be reunited. He was my best friend, my first love. It had been nearly two decades. We had both grown and matured, but I saw the same little boy who used to look at the stars with me.
“Hey, Fi,” he said, gently wrapping his arms around me.
“How did you know I’d be–”
“I told him,” Tyler interrupted and we both turned to him. “The night you were…” He trailed off, taking a deep breath. “Well, Eli found the iPad Richard had at the scene. Maxwell was able to run a trace on where the camera feed was coming from and, although it was being bounced off a dozen different satellites, he finally isolated it and we found him.”
Damian looked down on me and grabbed my hand in his. “I’m so sorry, Fi. You have to understand. I didn’t want anything to do with what that sick bastard was planning, but I didn’t have a choice. He threatened to kill everyone close to me, including you. After I saw what he did to my parents and how they set Charlie up, I just couldn’t take that risk. I never meant for all of those people to get hurt, but I just couldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“How did you know Charlie?”
“Through a mutual acquaintance. I had confided in a friend about you and how I couldn’t shake the feeling you were still alive, but even after using my access at the FBI to locate you, I was coming up empty. He put me in touch with Charlie, saying he could usually see between the lines and find things that aren’t there. In no time at all, he found you. I was thrilled, but Charlie warned me it could be disastrous if I approached you because someone could put the pieces together. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but he made me promise to be patient while he tried to figure things out. Then he was locked up and I