“I’m free. Remember, I’m not in the military anymore.” He winked, trying.

“That’s not what I meant, Colt, and you know it. You’re a mercenary, son.”

Colt drew in a breath. “I’m not. I work security.”

“You’re a hired soldier, bargaining your life.”

Okay, that was enough. “No. I’m not. I go into hot spots and keep people alive. Or try to.” He walked over to the sink and poured his coffee out. Turned. “And sure, maybe I’m the guy who acts with his gut, but it’s not because my life doesn’t matter. It’s that I see a way to do something—and then I do it.”

“What were you thinking?” Ranger’s words yesterday morning, as he stood almost right in this place, came back at him.

Colt scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m not saying that I don’t make mistakes. Too many, actually. But it’s the way I’m built. Keep moving. Don’t look back.”

“Don’t come home?”

Colt braced his hands on the island, hung his head, closed his eyes. Took a breath. And found the truth. “I don’t belong here. I haven’t for years.”

Silence.

He lifted his head. His father had stood up. He walked to the island. Met Colt’s eyes.

“You’ve always belonged here. But until you forgive yourself, you’re going to keep running, going to keep believing that you’re trouble. Until you let God tell you how much he loves you, how much he has done for you, you’ll believe you’re not worth saving.”

He stared at his father. Took a breath. “Maybe I’m not.”

Silence stretched between them. A heartbeat. Two.

“No one is beyond God’s love,” his father said. Then he sighed. “It’s the same thing I told Tae this morning when she asked me for the keys to the truck. But she’s a lot like you, Colt. She’s got it in her head that she needs to go it alone.”

What? “Wait, you gave her the keys?”

“She’ll leave the truck at the airport and the key with Sylvie at the desk.”

Colt took a step back. “You know she’s not coming back, right?”

“I do.”

Colt stared at him. “Why did you let her go?”

“She’s not a prisoner.”

“She’s in danger!” Colt shook his head, rounding the counter.

“You don’t have to go after her, son.”

Colt stopped at the stairs. “Yes, Dad. Actually, I do.”

FIVE

This might have been Tae’s worst decision yet. And she’d made some doozies recently. Like dating a terrorist. And probably, she shouldn’t have spent a month lying to the Kingston family.

And there was the swift and brutal memory of nearly dying in a plane after insisting she grab her backpack.