Before Sunrise (38 page)

Vasquez looked at him doubtfully. “You’ve
been through a lot, Liam. You need help.”

“
I’ll get it. Listen, I got
Eric on it. He found a doctor. And this evening he’s hooking me and
Kay up to work our stuff out. We’ll spend time together. I just got
to get this right, before I lose my chance. I’m okay. Fuck, man,
one more chance. I swear. I won’t lose it again. You
know
me. You know I can
do this.”

He saw Vasquez waver for a moment. He
exhaled. “I can fix this. Please.”

“
Let’s get out of
here.”

Liam nodded. He and Vasquez fixed the desk
and he was handed his cane. He saw the tremors in his hand and
tried to cover them. First the explosion in front of Kennedy and
now this. He had to get himself under control. Fast.

***

Phil ran the zipper along the seam of his
bag. “So that’s it. The rest of my things I can send for.”

Kennedy rose from the bed with a push of her
hands. She walked over to him. He’d avoided looking her in the eye
since they agreed to part as friends. Four long hours of tears and
honesty between them led them both to the same conclusion. They’d
only hurt each other if they didn’t face the reality of their
marriage and let go.

“
Phil.” She touched the side
of his face. “Look at me, please.”

“
I can’t Kennedy.
I—”

“
Look at me,” she said,
taking both sides of his face into her hands. “You are a wonderful
man. My hero. Your friendship and love saved my life. You made my
daughter whole. I will forever love you because of it. Please tell
me that you understand?”

“
What can I say? It hurts so
fucking much. I can’t give up any more of my pride.” He tried to
break away.

“
Then just say goodbye to
me. To us. This is where we say goodbye.”

He drew her into his arms and kissed her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss, a final
parting between them. It felt different than all other kisses she
shared with him in their marriage. There was so much sadness and
regret in their exchange. The kiss grew deeper, lasting, then
ended. Kennedy dropped her face to his shirt and hugged him. She
inhaled his rich cologne, felt the hard strength of his chest and
his strong arms closing around her. She never thought she could
care for a man other than Liam. She did care for Phil. She would
miss their friendship, their talks, and even some parts of their
life together. But mostly, she was relieved she had found the
strength to be honest with him. Baby or no baby, their journey
ended here.

“
Can I take you to the
doctor?” he asked, still holding her.

“
No. I’ll go alone.” She
released him. “I’ll call you and let you know, okay?”

He grabbed the suitcase and another bag.
Kennedy led him out of the bedroom, down the stairs to the front
door. She did a peek first to make sure the news vans weren’t back.
“Looks like the coast is clear.”

She opened the door. When she turned, she
saw Phil staring at the Christmas tree. “We talked about this. Come
back tomorrow. You and Mac can decorate it. She looks forward to
it.”

“
And Liam? Will he now move
in?”

“
This is your house. I’ll
start looking for a place.”

“
No. This is Mackenzie’s
house. We’ll work it out.” Phil smiled. He looked past her to the
open door. She knew this was hard for him. She couldn’t know how
hard. If Liam had chosen another over her, Kennedy wouldn’t want to
live. She couldn’t compare Phil’s feelings for her to the ones she
had for Liam, of course. In her mind they didn’t have that kind of
history. But Kennedy had always been a strong believer in the
heart, and she could attest to the fact that it wants what it
wants.

“
I don’t want the news over
the phone about the baby. After you know, let’s have dinner. We can
work out some of the financial things, house, car, bank accounts.
All of it. I mean it, Kennedy. I want us to remain
friends.”

“
I’m sorry Phil. I can’t. I
have to focus on Mackenzie and Liam. I can’t…if I meet with you…. I
want him to know that I’m serious about my commitment to him. I
explained this. We’ll work out the visits with Mac. As far as the
baby, I’ll call you and, well, I just don’t think we should see
each other…outside of—”

“
Lunch, Kennedy. If I’m a
father or not let me hear the news face to face.
Please.”

“
Okay, Phil. Of
course.”

He walked out. Kennedy closed the door
softly behind him. She let go a deep breath. She looked around her
and relaxed. Now all that was left was to talk to Liam. “Today is
the first day of the rest of my life.”

***

“
Hello?” Eric passed off his
keys to the valet.

“
Hey, it’s me.” Harper’s
voice sang in his ear.

He had to smile. He had left her a message
that morning and patiently waited for her return call. Eric
strolled through the restaurant doors eyeing the patrons. Harper’s
beauty pushed up to the front of his mind. Her flawless brown skin,
almond-shaped eyes and heart-shaped lips. Add to the mix her fresh
mouth and flirty ways and Eric was a goner.

“
Hi, you. So you got my
message?”

“
I sure did. You know I’m
all down for operation get-those-fools-back-together.” She
giggled.

“
Okay, well I will be at
Kennedy’s in about two hours. A plan?”

“
Eric, um, maybe we can have
dinner tonight.”

“
That might not be wise,
Harper.”

“
Oh c’mon. I’m eighteen.
Totally legal. Besides I haven’t seen you since my
birthday.”

Eric wiped his hand down his face. He
spotted his lunch date seated to the back of the restaurant.
Harper’s crush was cute at sixteen, and dangerously tempting when
she came on to him at her eighteenth birthday party that Kennedy
insisted he fly back into town for. But even he knew better than to
go there. “Can’t make it, Harper. I’ll see you this evening,
beautiful.”

“
Eric wait—”

“
Bye.” He hung up before she
could tempt him further with her sweet voice. He made his way over
to the table. Alexa lifted her glass of water to her lips and gave
him a hard glance when he approached. Eric sighed, drawing out the
chair and taking a seat. “Why couldn’t we meet on base?”

“
I was hungry.” She held her
palms up on either side of the entrée she’d already been served,
and smiled.

The waiter immediately darted over to their
table, proffering a menu. Eric waved him off. He had no intentions
of sitting through lunch with her. He wasn’t in the mood. “Okay. So
what is this about?”

“
You’ve been a busy bee,
haven’t you? I heard about the issuance of hazard pay to Liam. Now
that wasn’t exactly protocol.”

“
He had it coming. The man
needed to be on his feet,” replied Eric.

“
And we plan to take care of
him. I can’t have you going around my office to disrupt those
plans. You of all people know I won’t put up with it.”

“
What is it exactly you
expect me to do? The media is circling, the president has already
proclaimed him a hero, but he’s holed up in one shitty room at the
Marriott.”

“
That’s enough, Eric.” Alexa
hissed. “Don’t play me dumb. You’re trying to get him to set down
roots.”

“
I’m his friend. And he
already has roots.”

“
And I’m your superior. I
told you. Step aside, and stay out of my way. That’s your final
warning.”

Eric rose.

“
Sit down,” Alexa stated
dryly.

His jaw clenched. Her smile was a borderline
sneer. “Do you need me to make it an order?” She took a sip of ice
water. “Sit down.”

Eric did as he was told. Alexa picked up her
fork and knife. She took her time slicing into her halibut and
lifting a bite to her mouth. He watched her chew it down to an
appropriate swallow. “Now. I’m moving you.”

“
You’re what?”

“
We need you in Jakarta.
There’s a situation there. I would say the assignment will be for a
year. You ship out in two days. Safe travels.” Alexa flipped her
eyes up with a smirk.

“
I got leave. I was taking a
month to handle personal affairs.”

“
Sucks to be you.” Alexa
continued to slice and nibble on her fish.

Eric let go a deep sigh. She did outrank
him, but he had a few friends of his own. She hadn’t gotten those
promotions by accident; she must be conspiring with Capitol Hill to
keep the failures of the war concealed from the public. He also
knew Senator Clayton wanted Liam contained, something Alexa was
only too happy to support. He would need to work fast to stop the
wheels of injustice from grinding his boy to dust. So he tried
another tactic.

“
He’s in a lot of pain,
Alex.”

Alexa kept eating as if she didn’t hear
him.

“
He’s suffering from
PTSD.”

“
I know that. Why do you
think I want him brought in?”

“
You know him. Us. We don’t
respond to force. He’s been held hostage for five years. He needs
to be his own man. If you care about him, cut him some slack. Don’t
back him into a corner and—” The light dawned for Eric. “That’s it,
isn’t it? You want to strip him of everything so he breaks. Then
what?”

Alexa glared.

Eric lowered his voice. “You don’t know his
limits. I’m telling you, if you push him too far we could all lose
him. The man doesn’t know why Operation Scorpion cost him his life.
None of us knew what was on that rock when we dropped in. There is
nothing in his head but a lot of bullshit pain. He’s a brother to
us all. We owe him his life and our own.”

“
I’m the only person that
understands Liam. I know what I’m doing. Besides, his marriage is
over.” She sighed as if bored with the topic.

“
You wish.”

Her eyes flashed cold rage and narrowed on
him. “It’s over when he learns the truth.”

“
What truth?”

Alexa relaxed. She had that fat-cat look on
her face. That smugness he’d seen over the years as she steadily
climbed ahead of him in the ranks. “His precious Kennedy is
pregnant. What do you think that news will do to him?”

Eric frowned. “That’s bullshit. How the hell
would you know?”

Alexa smiled. “There’s nothing I don’t know.
But apparently there are some things you don’t. Now, don’t you have
some packing to do?”

Eric bit hard on his lip. He wondered if
he’d be court-martialed and shot for grabbing her by the throat.
The temptation eased. He gave her a mocking salute then rose and
walked briskly to the front of the restaurant. “Two days my ass,
you sick bitch. I won’t let you get away with this,” he mumbled,
stalking toward the valet.

***

“
Kennedy?”

Her gaze swung upward. The doctor walked in
with her file folder. His name was Clark Kent. An ongoing joke for
most when they met him, considering he looked nothing like the
superhero. He was short with a protruding belly and receding
hairline. He wore his glasses on his nose, which added more of
drawl to his nasal speech. He was the doctor who'd saved Kennedy’s
life. The one she went to about fertility and getting off the Pill.
The one man she really wanted to be Superman in disguise. She
needed a miracle.

“
How are we feeling
today?”

“
Okay. I um, I’m sorry for
being so insistent. I had to see you.”

He waved it off. “I completely understand.
I’ve seen the news.”

Kennedy blushed. “Yes, so you know my life
is in an upheaval now.”

“
I had them rush on the
exam. We have the results.”

“
It’s been seven days. Is
that too soon?”

The doctor chuckled. “I’d prefer twelve. It
can take that long to detect HCG in your blood. However, if you are
looking for an answer today, I have one.”

“
Okay?”

“
It’s negative.”

“
It is.” Kennedy
sighed.

“
I still think you should
see me next week. One more test to be sure. But at this time, the
test shows no qualitative traces of HCG hormone in your
system.”

Kennedy leapt from the exam bed and threw
her arms around the doctor. “Thank you. Thank you so much!”

“
Ah, well, again, let’s do
this in five days. To make sure you have the all-clear.”

“
Yes! Yes. Thank you. Thank
you!” she grabbed her purse. He said something else but she was out
the door. She dialed Angelina first. She had to share the
news.

Chapter Sixteen

“
How am I doing,
daddy?”

Liam had gotten down on all fours,
sandwiched between the tree and the wall. The final strand of
lights barely reached the plug. He would need to turn the stand,
which proved difficult, considering the tree’s height and
weight.

“
Daddy? Where you at? Look
at what I done.”‘

“
Give me a minute,
princess.” Liam pressed a hand to the wall for support, and pushed
himself up with his good leg. Vasquez had cut him a break. A small
one. He'd kept his eyes on him throughout the day. Even came over
for a few, until he’d been convinced that he and Mac would be okay.
Still, he called and checked in with him twice to ensure he
remained cool. Liam refused to think on the incident in the arcade.
What he thought he saw. He was better now. He'd just had a
moment.