thank God, he was free to begin his life over, to hope that he had rejoined the ranks of normal people living normal lives. But underneath his outward calm, fear festered. Since he’d been living and dealing with the scum of the earth, he was no longer sure where he belonged or even who he was. Hell, maybe he’d become one of the scumbags himself. Only time would tell.
One thing he did know, he would never go back into the dark, which had nearly driven him over the edge. He winced inwardly, recalling the lighted stick of dynamite that had just been dropped in his lap.
Hell, if this child was his—and he wasn’t ready to admit or accept that yet—he wasn’t fit to be a parent. He could learn to be, if it turned out this baby had his blood flowing through its veins.
He might be a sonofabitch in many ways, but he was never one to shirk his duty, and he wasn’t about to start now.
“Cal, are you with me?”
He let go of a pent-up breath, then whipped around and met his friend’s inquiring gaze. “My mind’s still trying to process what you just told me.”
“You can get a DNA test done, of course,” Hammond said. “Probably should, since that’s within your rights since she lived with another man.”
“I could forget you ever told me there was a child.” Cal kicked up an eyebrow. “That’s also an option. Right?”
Hammond shrugged. “That’s your call, of course.”
“Only you know I’m not about to do that,” Cal said with force. “If my name’s on the birth certificate, then he’s my child, and I aim to accept the responsibility.”
“That doesn’t surprise me, my friend. You’ve never been one to do things by halves. It’s all or nothing with you. And that ain’t a bad way to be either.” Hammond moved his tall, lanky body out of his chair to the bar where he helped himself to a cup of coffee, then gestured to Cal.
Cal shook his head.
After blowing on the liquid, then taking a swig, Hammond added, “On second thought, maybe this is one time you should let sleeping dogs lie, if you get my drift. Maybe you should just walk away from this, start your life over and simply forget about the child. That wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen.”
“For me it would,” Cal said harshly.
“I’m sorry to hit you with this when you’ve only been back in town two days. But I wanted you to find out from me rather than the gossip mill. You know how Tyler, Texas, is. It’s not quite large enough for people to mind their own business.”
“Don’t apologize. I had to know, and I’d rather hear it from you than anyone else. At least, I can trust you.”
“You can trust a lot of people, Cal.” While Hammond’s tone was solemn, it also had a confident ring to it. “You have friends who are delighted you’re back in civilization.”
“I know. It’s just going to take me a long time to convince myself of that.”
“It’s a given you can’t discuss what you went through or even where you were, but was it as bad as it appears?”
“Worse than bad,” Cal said tersely.
“Well, at least you’re done with the whole shebang.”
“If this security company gig works out,” Cal responded, “I will be for sure.”
Hammond sat down and sipped on his coffee. “I thought you’d been hired.”
“I have—if I want the job, that is. I have six weeks to make up my mind.”
“Even before I told you about the child, I got the impression you were hesitating.”
“Hell, Hammond, it’s in a foreign country, albeit a safe one.”
“So?”
“So, maybe I want to stick around the good ol’ U.S. of A. for a while.”
“Which tells me you’ve been out of the country.”
Cal narrowed his eyes on his friend. “I didn’t say that.”
“Okay. Again, I know I’m not privy to anything that pertains to your work, that it’s all top-secret mumbo jumbo.”
“You’re right, so stop fishing.”
Hammond’s mouth turned up in a half smile. “Just curious, that’s all.”
“Well, you might as well put a lid on that curiosity because my tenure with Uncle Sam’s not something we can ever discuss.”
Hammond grinned. “I bet you were damned good at your job, whatever the hell it was. You’ve always had a reputation for being a real bad-ass.”
“You must’ve been talking to my ex father-in-law.” Cal meant that as a sarcastic joke, but when Hammond didn’t smile, an alarm bell went off in his head. But then, his brain was trained to pick up on the slightest thing that seemed out of sync.
“Strange that you should say that,” Hammond drawled, looking away.
Cal went into full alert mode. “Have you been in contact with Patrick Jenkins?”
“Nope,” Hammond said, his gaze returning to Cal.
“I hear a ‘but’ coming, right?”
“Right.” Hammond stared down at his highly polished boots.
“He has the baby,” Cal said in a flat, brutal tone.
“Actually it’s his daughter, Emma, who has him.”
Cal muttered a string of curses.
“I knew you weren’t going to like that.”
Cal cursed again. “That’s an understatement. That bastard hates my guts. And so does his daughter, I’m sure, even though I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting her.” Rich sarcasm accented Cal’s every word, for which he made no apologies. He had no use for his ex-wife’s family, either. In fact, he’d planned on never having anything to do with them again. Now, though, the dynamics had changed.
“I’m willing to bet you aren’t exactly at the top of their friends list either. But then I don’t have to tell you that.”
Cal rubbed the back of his neck, the muscles so tight they felt like cords of rope—a feeling he had hoped he wouldn’t experience again, at least not anytime soon. “Personally I could care less what they think, only—”
“Only now they have something that belongs to you.”
“You’re damn right.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that, Cal.” Hammond rose to full height, then ambled over to the coffeepot and refilled his cup. When he looked at Cal again, his usually pleasant features were grim. “For all my earlier posturing, I was afraid that
