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“I’m starting to see you don’t know as much as we hoped. We’ll get out of your way. Sorry to have wasted your time.”

Garth made a noise that was a combination of a shout and a grunt. Deb responded with a chuckle.

“Sit back down,” she said. “We can probably be of some help, but you need to settle down first. I can see you have English’s impatience, even if you aren’t his son by blood.”

Jackson scowled, but he sat back down. Easton spoke, using his natural charm to ease the tension.

“You seem to know English well. You’ll have to forgive us if we seem anxious. English taught us a lot, but there are some things he kept us in the dark about. We think it would be helpful to know them now.”

“You two are as English described. Aren’t there more of you?” Deb asked, and Jackson wanted to punch the wall in frustration. She enjoyed evading their questions too much, and he was tired of the game.

“There are four of us boys, but we recently learned he has a daughter.” Easton paused. “But you already knew that.”

His brother was bluffing. Jackson could read nothing in the woman’s expression, so he doubted Easton could either. This woman was skilled at keeping her thoughts and feelings hidden. He wanted to get in her face and demand the truth or leave. Either option was better than waiting to see if Easton’s trick worked.

Garth uttered another grunt, but this time it was quieter and meant only for his wife. She sighed and nodded in response to their private communication.

“I don’t think I have anything to offer for your investigation, but we agree it’s high time you boys knew more about English’s past. He should be the one to tell you. Since he can’t, I’ll tell you what I know. If he comes out of the coma and he’s mad that I spoke with you, he can take that up with me himself.”

“How do you know English?” Jackson asked again.

“Through Garth. He and English went through basic training together, but they were recruited to serve with the government before they completed a tour with the Army. Garth went with the FBI and English with the CIA. I never liked English. Whenever he got into trouble, he always called Garth, and Garth always came to his aid. It felt too much like English was using my husband without really caring about him.”

Garth grunted again, and Deb’s lips curved slightly with a ghost of a smile. “Yes, I did learn I was wrong. Garth had a stroke several years ago before we married. He pushed me away, determined I live my life without being burdened by him. Nothing I did or said changed his mind. I was desperate, so I reached out to English. He was on assignment and had not heard what happened. As soon as he found out, he abandoned his assignment and came to see Garth. He told Garth to get his head out of his ass and marry me. He stayed around long enough to be Garth’s best man at our wedding, even though his bosses were giving him a hard time about getting back in the field. It was the start of his trouble with the CIA. Nothing was the same for him after that.”

“Was the CIA aware of his relationship with Traci Bell?”

Deb looked troubled, the first indication of emotion she’d shown. Garth attempted to raise his right hand only to have it fall to the arm of his wheelchair almost instantly. Deb reached over to grab his hand and sat holding it as she spoke.

“Not at first, but we knew. He was in love with her. He confided in Garth that he intended to marry her. Garth warned him to stay away. I know it seems like the stroke left Garth with very little, but he has ways of getting his point across. And he made sure English understood it wasn’t a good idea to involve Traci when his work was so dangerous. English was too far gone to listen. He didn’t speak to Garth for a while. He was furious we didn’t support what he was doing. Then Traci found out she was pregnant on the same day English was called back up for a case — the same case he’d left when he came home to be with me and Garth.”

“What was the case?” Easton asked.

“We don’t know. Like I said, English wasn’t really talking to us, and even if he was, he probably wouldn’t have said anything. English was good at keeping secrets. It’s why the CIA put him in the field so much. When it came to his work, he kept the details to himself. I suppose it was safer, but he was always haunted by the demons that came with the job. I think that was the appeal for him to be with Traci. It gave him a chance to believe he could have a life for himself outside the Agency. When his daughter was born, he was ready to quit.”

“Did he tell you why he didn’t?” Easton shifted in his seat and leaned forward as he hung on Deb’s every word. “He ended up leaving Traci and Reagan and kept working for the CIA for several more years.”

Deb shook her head. “No. He came by to mend fences and ask for me and Garth to watch out for Traci and Reagan. We tried to find out what had changed for him, but he wouldn’t tell us. I have to wonder if the CIA didn’t have something on him they were using to blackmail him back into the field, but I don’t know. Before he left though, he asked us if he could use our address to have his mail routed to. He wanted to receive updates from Traci without anyone being able to connect him to her. I always believed he would go back to them once he found a way to slither out from under the CIA’s thumb. It never happened. Traci remarried, and Reagan grew up hating him. He left the CIA and was content to live his life alone. Believe me, no one was more surprised than me to find out he decided to take in you boys.”

“Do you have any idea who could have attacked him? It would have to be someone who knew about Traci and Reagan,” Jackson said.

Deb looked over at Garth, and Jackson balled his fists at their silent communication. They knew something, and they were debating whether or not to share it with Jackson and Easton. The fact they didn’t readily share intel with them had Jackson’s gut churning.

“English has made a lot of enemies, but he was always careful. His true identity was buried so deep, it would take a lot to connect him to Legend. When he met Traci and had Reagan, he was more cautious than ever. The only people he trusted to watch out for them was us and Reagan’s stepdad. He’s good people. We made sure of that.”

Deb hesitated, and Jackson forced himself to wait for her to continue. “There was one person within the CIA who found out about Traci and Reagan, but there was no reason for him to try and harm them or English for that matter. I think it would be a waste of time, but if you want to check him out, feel free. His name is Tom Harrison. He’s a higher up at the CIA now, but he was Legend’s handler back in the day.”

“What was your impression of Harrison?” Easton questioned.

“I don’t know him personally, and English didn’t talk about him much. From what he did tell us, Harrison seemed like a ball buster to me, so I never understood why English liked working with him. Sorry, boys. I know you were hoping we could give you more intel, but we don’t know much.”

Jackson scowled. “You don’t know much, or you don’t want to tell us what you know?”

Garth started his forceful grunting again, and Deb patted his hand to settle him down. “It’s alright, honey. He’s under a lot of pressure.” Despite her words of understanding, she pierced Jackson with a glare of pure steel. “We don’t know much. English didn’t want to compromise us by sharing about his cases. We were fine with it. I’m sorry English is hurt, and I do wish we could help. But you know what we know. If you need a safe place for Traci and Reagan, you can bring them here. It doesn’t look like much, but this home is as protected as they come. We would protect them with our lives.”

Easton nudged Jackson’s arm, and they both stood. “Thank you for talking with us. We’re sorry to have bothered you. We can show ourselves out.”

Jackson could barely contain his anger until he and Easton were back in the truck and speeding down the driveway.