Sarah gave a light snort. “No, he doesn’t. He’s learned he needs to put on the appearance of loving us—such as flying to Afghanistan when he thought I was going to die—but he doesn’t.”

Gavin thought he was beyond feeling shocked these days, but found himself stunned that she truly believed what she was saying. “He wouldn’t do the things he does if love wasn’t behind it.” Would he? He flashed to the man’s devastation when he’d walked into her hospital room to tell her Dustin was dead. That kind of agony couldn’t be faked. And the worry on his face when he practically ordered Gavin to be her personal bodyguard? Was that fake? If he didn’t care, why bother?

She shot him a look that could only be described as pity. “Are you really that naive?”

“Naive? I don’t think I’ve ever been accused of that before.” Was he? He knew it was a sad fact that not everyone loved their children, but he didn’t get that from the general. Quite the opposite, actually.

“Just because you have a great relationship with your father,” she said, “doesn’t mean everyone does.”

“What makes you think my relationship is great with him?”

“The tat.”

Gavin glanced at his right forearm. A man and young child sat on the end of a dock, fishing lines dipped in the water. They wore matching jerseys with the name Black across the top. “Oh. Okay, yeah, I consider him one of my best friends, but that doesn’t mean I have blinders on. Trust me, your father loves you.”

She gave a small sigh. “I’m sorry you’ve fallen for his act. I won’t. So, let’s just agree to disagree and figure out what the next step in Plan B is.”

“Plan B? What’s Plan B and what happened to Plan A?”

“Plan A is to figure out what truly was going on with Dustin. Plan B is to find Brianne.”

Okay, apparently this time there was going to be a Plan B.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

After reassuring Caden that she was fine and asking him one more time to try a little harder to find Brianne, the next few hours consisted of naps, food, movies, and watching Gavin pace to the window, then step outside to walk the perimeter—“just to make sure there aren’t any surprises out there.”

And waiting for Caden to bring news about Brianne.

Not to mention the nonstop thinking about the fact that her kidnapping may not have been a random terrorist thing due to threats against her father. Truthfully, she wasn’t surprised at the threats—only that it hadn’t happened before now.