Page 110 of Critical Doubt

The living room was sparsely furnished, with a couch and an armchair surrounding a coffee table laden with books. There was no television in the room. When her father wasn't working or keeping himself in impeccable shape, he read.

There was a round table with two chairs next to the kitchen, and there appeared to be two bedrooms, accessed by a short hallway.

They stood in the middle of the room. She didn't want to sit down. She didn't plan on being there that long.

She folded her arms in front of her chest. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"What's going on at Spear. I was with the CEO, Randy Jepsen, when the FBI called. I understand someone has stolen a shipment of weapons."

"That's correct. It doesn't sound like you need to talk to me at all."

"Are there suspects?"

"Yes."

"Well?"

She debated whether or not she wanted to tell him more. She doubted Parisa had told the CEO of Spear about Todd's arrest. But she was more than a little curious to get her father's reaction. He knew Todd and Paul. In fact, he knew Ryker's entire team. He'd trained them. He'd helped Mason get the job at Spear. He was tied up in this in a lot of ways, which also concerned her.Was he looking for information that might help him protect himself?

But he couldn't be involved. It wouldn't make sense.

On the other hand, very little of this made sense.

"Jepsen seems to think Mason might have sold us out," her father continued. "If he did, that's going to be on me, because I helped him get the job. I convinced Vance to take him on, to give him a chance."

"Why does the CEO think Mason sold out the company?"

"He's heavily involved with the details of our shipping program. And he's conveniently gone the day the shipment goes missing."

"He's having surgery. That's not exactly convenient."

"Are you saying he's not involved?"

"No. Look, I really can't tell you anything."

Anger ran through his eyes. "This is bigger than our relationship. I understand you blame me for everything that went wrong in your life, but this is about weapons going to the enemy, innocent lives being lost. This is about your country."

"Don't lecture me about patriotism. I know exactly what this is about. I was a soldier, Dad. And now I'm an FBI agent. I am just as dedicated to protecting the innocent and serving justice as you are."

He seemed taken aback by her response.

"And I'm not petty enough to withhold information because you shipped me off to live with my aunt and uncle when I was thirteen years old."

"It always comes back to that," he said heavily.

"It does, doesn't it? Funny how something so simple as abandoning your daughter would keep coming up." As soon as she heard the bitterness in her voice, she got mad at herself.Why was she letting him rile her up?She was making a mockery of what she'd just told him about being professional.

"I didn't abandon you. I thought you would be better off with Stephanie. You needed a woman in your life, and you got a sister, too."

"But I lost my father. Look, we don’t need to talk about this. We don't need to talk about anything. I have moved on."

"It doesn't sound like you have."

She was shocked to see a small smile cross his lips. "You find this funny?"

"Not funny. You just remind me of your mother. She was the only one who would call me on my bullshit. Everyone else was afraid of me."

"You wanted everyone to be afraid of you."