She looks as anguished as I feel, but I have zero sympathy at the moment. She lied to us all this time.
“Callie, my hands were tied. I didn’t want to give anyone false hope. I wanted you and your father to have closure . . .”
“Does Dad know?” I blurt.
She heaves a long sigh and rubs her temples, then drops her hands in defeat, shaking her head. She’s always looked good for her age, but at the moment, her crow’s feet are etched deep, betraying every one of her sixty-three years.
“No one knows except Captain Watts, the commander of the black ops team we’re assembling to infiltrate Amador’s compound. Which we can’t do until we have all the intel we need to carry out a successful mission. I can’t make it look like my only agenda is bringing him home, if he’s still alive. The priority still has to be taking Amador out.”
“Amador isn’t stupid,” Mason says, redirecting our attention to him. “You were DEA Administrator when Chris was taken, so if Amador knew, he’d have kept him alive on the off chance he could use him somehow. You’re even higher profile now, which means he’s more valuable. Be prepared to have him used as leverage at some point.”
His voice turns hard as granite, and when I glance at him, his jaw is clenched, gray eyes blazing with anger as he and Mom share a long look. It hits me that he knows what this means all too well already. He knows what it feels like to have a child in the clutches of a monster.
And Mom . . . Oh, God, Mom . . .
I release Mason’s hand and rush to her, forgetting the sting of her lies altogether in the face of what she’s had to endure all these years.
“Mom, I’m so sorry.” I fling my arms around her. “I didn’t know. If I had . . .” Emotion clogs my throat and hot tears well in my eyes as we hold each other.
She sniffles lightly and brushes a tentative touch over my hair, reminding me of how tender she could be when I was young. Then she pulls back to look me in the eyes, her brow knit with worry. “You cannot tell your father, do you understand? It would do no good, and I just can’t deal with the accusations he’d fling at me if he knew I kept this from him.”
I shake my head. “I won’t.” But then I frown. “Nina . . .”
“Callie, no. Nina can’t know either.”
“I can’t lie to my best friend. She’s already involved in this. Wyatt should know too, shouldn’t he?” I look at Mason, mentally begging for an answer. He winces, and I realize how complicated a conversation that would be, especially after seeing how close our two friends have become over only a couple days.
I shake my head and sigh. “No, you’re right. Maybe it’s better if she doesn’t know yet.”
“We can revisit telling her after we get the rest of the intel. Adrian too,” Mom says, squeezing my arms and releasing me to turn back to Mason. “And on that note, I believe we all have other places to be. I believe you can be confident I’ll do everything in my power to get the approval we need for this exchange with Zavala. You’ll hear from me soon.” She reaches both hands out to him and takes his in hers, squeezing, then nodding. “And whatever you do, please don’t let Callie get any more tangled up in this than she already is. I like you, Mason. Don’t jeopardize my opinion of you.”
“I’ll do my best, ma’am,” he says. Then, to my astonishment, she pulls him into a hug and kisses him on the cheek before turning back to me and embracing me once again. I stare over her shoulder at him, amused by the stunned look in his eyes and almost as stunned myself.
After she gathers her things and departs, I say, “Well, that was about the closest thing to her blessing that she’s ever given one of my relationships. Please tell me there aren’t pigs flying through the sky outside right now.”
He emits a gruff laugh. “I like her. She doesn’t tolerate bullshit.” He closes the distance between us and slips his arm around me, nuzzling into my hair and inhaling. “Also . . . you just said relationship.”
“Don’t let it go to your head, mister,” I warn, though I really do like the sound of it. It’s far too easy to sink against him and let the euphoria of his warm strength take over. I could get used to this, but letting my mind go down that road so soon is only going to get me wound up in knots, because I know I can’t have that with him yet. I still let myself savor it for a few moments, letting his gentle kisses against my jaw and neck banish the remaining tension tangled up in my limbs.
With a sigh, I finally extract myself and give him a peck on the lips. “I need to go shower so we can go. Can you find us a place to eat close to the hospital?”
When we arrive at the hospital and head to Wyatt’s floor, I step off the elevator and stop cold. Mason strides ahead a few more feet before glancing back at me with a frown. “What’s wrong?”
“How can I face her, knowing what I know? I’ve never kept secrets from Nina before.”
He takes a deep breath and turns to face me fully, closing the distance so we’re eye-to-eye. “Just don’t bring it up. I can’t imagine your brother’s significance to her is a welcome topic if Wyatt’s in the room, assuming she’s told him already. Chances are, Booth will be read in once he’s back at work, and you can leave it up to him to tell her then, if he wants to.”
I wince. “That’s even worse! If she finds out I knew and didn’t tell her, she’ll never forgive me!”
He sighs and gives
