“Great, I was out of the loop. Glad to know you had a good reason.”
He stood and went over to the window, looking out.
“Tyler, keep away from there!” exclaimed Wingo.
“Don’t worry about me, Dad. I’m not in the loop. I’m not part of the mission.”
“Tyler, please. I couldn’t tell you.”
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?” Tyler turned to face him. “I didn’t even know you were still in the Army. I thought you had a job at some company.”
“That was also part of the cover,” Wingo said miserably.
“Right, cover. From everybody, including me.”
“I took an oath, son. To serve my country to the best of my ability.”
“Yep, and country trumps family every time, right. Maybe I’ll join the Army when I get out of high school. Then I can keep shit from you and you won’t be able to complain. Because I’m serving my country.”
“I’m not proud of how I handled this, son. I feel awful how this turned out.”
“Not as bad as me.”
Wingo started to say something and then closed his mouth.
Tyler looked back out the window. “What do we do now?”
Wingo glanced at him. “I need to find out who set me up.”
“How?”
“I’ve got a few leads.”
“And what about me?”
“You can’t go back to school. Not now. You have to stay with me. I’ll be able to keep you safe.”
Tyler turned to face him. “You killed a man. I saw it.”
Wingo rose and stood next to him. “I’m sorry you had to see that. But I had to do it. He was going to shoot her.”
“Michelle Maxwell. I like her. I like them both.”
“Do you trust them?”
“Yes. And you should too. They can help you. They’re smart.”
Wingo pulled his son away from the window and sat him back on the bed.
“I’m not sure we can trust anyone, Tyler.”
“They can help you, Dad!”
“They led those men right to us.”
“That wasn’t their fault.”
“There’s no room for mistakes, Tyler.”