couldn’t shake the feeling it had something to do with what I had asked him to look into, so I kept my distance, not wanting anything to happen to you.”
I nodded. “But it all caught up to you, didn’t it?”
“I wasn’t tracked down because I asked Charlie to help.”
“It was your father,” I muttered, recalling Richard’s confession.
“I suppose this guy wanted to make sure my dad didn’t stray too far from the plan and he used me as a guarantee. I don’t know how he figured it out, but he knew about my…computer skills.”
“You mean hacking?” I raised my eyebrows.
He shrugged. “More or less. One day, as I was leaving work and heading to the gym, my car was pushed off the road and into a ditch. The next thing I remember was waking up in a cold cement room, chained to the wall. Two days later, my father joined me. I hadn’t seen him in years and, at first, I didn’t believe it was him. He didn’t look like the man I remembered him to be. Hell, I thought he was dead. When I heard his voice, I knew it was him, despite how he had changed his appearance for whatever deep cover job he was on. He told me everything… How he had been blackmailed into killing your father. How he planned the embassy attack to do just that, never expecting him to make it out of the fire. How he planted evidence to cover up all the deals so no one caught on. How relieved he was when his superiors signed off on the results of his investigation that your dad was responsible. How things started spinning out of control once Charlie began to ask questions. How he followed him one night, saw him with your mother, and grew concerned all over again that someone would figure it all out. How he had Charlie locked up and did nothing when Richard planned to kill your mother.
“He told me he jumped at the opportunity the CIA gave him to go under deep cover. He was scared for us, and for himself. This gave him an out and he took it, disappearing from my life and leaving me with a thousand questions…and a thousand more when he showed up that day in that cold cement room. He said he had tried to make amends, had told Richard he was done and was going to turn himself in. Apparently, that didn’t go over too well.” He swallowed hard, closing his eyes. “Two days later, my father was gone, and I knew he was…”
“Damian, I’m–”
“This guy kept me down there for what seemed like an eternity,” he interrupted. “I was under constant surveillance. He had me use what I knew to look into anything and everything, to use my skills to plant evidence, incriminating certain people in crimes I’m certain he committed. Sick of being there, I tried to send a message to someone one day about where I was and what was going on. Hell, I had all these computers in front of me. I was done living in fear.”
“Who did you try to send a message to?”
“My mother.”
I nodded, briefly closing my eyes.
“It’s my fault she’s gone,” he admitted, a quiver in his voice. “I was stupid and didn’t think about the repercussions. I was valuable to this guy. He needed me, but that didn’t mean he was willing for me to get away with what I had done. So, the following day, he placed a newspaper on the floor in front of me. The headline announced my mother’s and her new husband’s death. From that day forward, I did everything asked of me, not wanting this guy to get to anyone else I cared about, including you.”
“It’s okay,” Tyler said, giving Damian a sympathetic look. “No one here could have done anything to stop this. You did what you had to in order to survive.”
He nodded, squeezing my hand. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“And I’m glad you never stopped trying to find me.”
“Never,” he said. “Like I told you all those years ago, it would take a hell of a lot more than just new orders to tear us apart.”
He wrapped his arms around me and I relished in his embrace for the first time in nearly two decades. I met Tyler’s eyes, a satisfied smile on his face. Everything had come full circle. All my prayers had finally been answered. That was the moment I learned to