Luscious (Topped #1)(35)

Adam shook his head. “No. He’s still in remission. You know I think the old goat will likely outlast the rest of us. He was looking for you. He said he doesn’t have your new cell number.”

“Why? He said everything he needed to say when I tried to come home.” He relaxed a little. It didn’t matter. What mattered was Ally and she was getting ready for breakfast and then they would go down and help out with the cleanup at Top.

“It seems that Elise has had a change of heart. She left Alan three days ago and dear old Dad thinks she’s on her way down here.”

Warmth spread through his system. This was what revenge felt like. Big Tag talked about it a lot. Now he got it. “Oh, she figured out Alan went through his trust fund years ago. This is a good day.”

Now he could go back to his waffles. He started to warm up the iron and opened the fridge to grab the blueberries for his compote.

“He asked about you. About how you’re doing with the leg,” Adam said.

Macon shrugged. “He didn’t care before. I’m not sure why he does now.”

“I know why he cares. A private investigator called asking him about the incident that cost you your leg.”

And just like that his appetite was blown. “That was a year ago.”

“The PI thinks there’s something you’re covering up,” Adam explained. “Apparently he got information from Private First Class Rowe’s family. They don’t believe that things went down the way you said they did.”

“I told the Army everything.”

Adam’s voice went soft. “Macon, you were trapped underneath that car for two days.”

That was only supposed to be in the official, classified report. “How do you know that?”

Adam’s eyes rolled. “Do you know who I am? Do you think I can’t get hold of a couple of non-sanitized reports? Hell, I didn’t even have to hack anything. Big Tag got them for me. I read them on my way to pick you up.”

Macon’s chest felt too tight. Adam had known all along. “You read them months ago and you’re only now asking about it?”

Adam shook his head. “It didn’t matter before. Now it does. Now it looks like some PI is going to come after you. I need to know if you lied on that report, Macon. I need to know what happened so I can clean it up for you.”

“There is nothing to clean up. We got hit by an IED and then attacked by a small group of insurgents. They took apart my whole team and I was the only one left alive. We were so deep in enemy territory that I wasn’t extracted for days. I was the only survivor. Why would I lie?” Because the truth would be too painful for everyone, including himself. Because Rowe deserved better than what happened to him out in that desert.

“They did a good job on the reports. They pushed them through very quickly. Someone was watching out for you, but I wish they’d fudged that one bullet. The bullet that killed Private First Class Rowe wasn’t the same as the rest of your unit. They were killed with AK-47s, typical of the Taliban. Rowe was killed with a nine-millimeter handgun.”

“Don’t push me Adam.” He wasn’t ready for this. Not even close.

“You need to talk to his mother.”

“I know.” He needed to face the mother and the sister. What was her name? Sarah. Carla and Sarah Rowe. He would explain everything to them. Everything except the truth. They didn’t need to know that. Maybe once he talked about how brave Ronnie was, how much he’d liked the man, maybe they would back off. As for the investigator, he didn’t even know how to handle that.

“You know what Dad thinks, right?” Adam stared at him, the ugly truth sitting between them.

He nodded. It was one more reason for his father to hate him.

“You know I understand,” Adam said, sympathy plain on his face. “I know why you’re being quiet. You have to tell them. You have to tell that family why you lied. No one who understands what it’s really like out there would think twice about doing what you did. It’s exactly the reason they pushed that report through as fast as they did. Everyone knows what really happened and why you would lie about it.”

“Rowe’s mother and sister don’t know and I can’t tell them, Adam. I can’t f*cking tell them the truth.” At least his brother didn’t think the worst of him.

A long sigh came from Adam as he obviously decided to give up the fight. For now. “All right. I’m going to put Ian on the investigator. He’ll get it all shut down and I’ll look into the family. I’ll see what I can do, but I still think you should talk to them.”

“Find out if they’re okay.” Guilt sat in his gut. He should have talked to them before now, but he’d been so lost. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he couldn’t really move on with Ally until he’d dealt with the Rowes. “Find out about them. I know he was born in Alabama, but I think his family moved all up and down the Gulf.”

“I’ll get started on it tomorrow.”

“Or maybe I should reply to his sister’s e-mail.” She hadn’t written him for weeks now, but he could find the address.

Adam shook his head. “You could have done that in the beginning, but not now. They’ve complicated the situation by bringing in private detectives. Let me handle this part. Let me and Jake figure out exactly what their situation is. I think it’s best if you go in knowing what to expect.”