door, he ordered a wheat beer and drank it slowly, savoring the taste and enjoying the icy coolness of the frosted mug.
The restaurant was crowded with an early lunch crowd. Normally, he enjoyed people-watching, but his thoughts kept returning to Lucy. And Sean. Engaged. WTH?
Picturing them together made him feel sick. Still stunned from the revelation that he’d come home to learn he had nothing, he took another long drink of his beer, signaling the bartender for another. Lucy, the woman who’d always claimed he was The One, who’d claimed she’d love him forever, had moved on. Pretty damn quickly, as far as he was concerned.
Part of him couldn’t blame her. After all, she’d truly believed him to be dead. She had a baby to look after and, as she’d said, Sean clearly adored both her and Eli.
The other part of him couldn’t help but feel something was wrong. She and Sean? They’d been pals for years, for chrissake. Even if Sean had carried a torch for her, as far as Tucker’d been able to tell, they had zero chemistry between them.
So what gives?
The bartender brought his second beer just as he’d drained the first. Accepting it gratefully, he was about to take a drink when movement at the doorway caught his attention.
A man stepped into the bar, so tall he had to duck under the low doorway. Long-haired with an unkempt beard, he would have looked perfectly at home panhandling at the corner. When his clear gaze met Tucker’s, the sharp intelligence in his brown eyes contrasted with his appearance. This had to be his contact, the DEA agent he’d come to meet.
Sliding onto the bar stool next to Tucker, the man he knew on the phone only as Finn gave him a curt nod before ordering.
“How’d the homecoming go? It hasn’t even been an hour since my agents dropped you off and already you call wanting to meet. What happened?”
Tucker grimaced, not wanting to go into detail. “Things changed while I was gone. Enough said.”
Finn nodded. Waiting until the bartender brought the beer, collected Finn’s money, and moved off, Finn took a long drink before he replied. “Sorry to hear that. But I’m guessing that’s why you wanted to have a meeting.”
“Yep,” Tucker agreed. “I have a few questions first.”
Finn gave a barely perceptible nod. “Go ahead.”
“What’s your full name?”
“Finn Warshaw.” IF the DEA agent was surprised at the question, he didn’t show it. “What else?”
“Who has the missing ten million dollars?”
Narrowing his eyes, the other man studied him. “We don’t know,” he admitted. “But we are aware that the cartel thinks you might have a clue where it’s stashed.”
“Still?”
Finn nodded.
“I was afraid of that. Are they still searching for me?”
“Yes. At first, they thought you were killed in the shootout. Right now they have no idea where you are. But they will soon.”
Tucker clenched his jaw. “I can’t be captured again. I barely survived the last time. I’m telling you up front. I’ll shoot to kill before I let them take me. Understood?”
A barely imperceptible nod. “Understood.”
Taking a deep breath, Tucker leaned closer. “Then I’m in. Tell me what you want me to do.”
Finn took a long drink of his beer, then wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “First thing we need to do is move you out of Boulder. We’ve got a place set up for you in Niwot.”
Stunned, Tucker shook his head. “I just got back. I’d prefer not to leave town.”
At his words, Finn’s pleasant expression vanished. “Do you have family here, friends, a girlfriend? Need I remind you how ruthless the cartel is? If they find out you have someone you care about, they won’t hesitate to use her against you. You don’t want to endanger anyone else now, do you?”
He was right, damn it. He just had to figure out a way to tell Lucy.
“You can always just vanish, if it’d be easier,” Finn said.
“Out of the question.” Tucker didn’t even have to think about that one. “I disappeared once and she thought I was dead. I won’t do that to her again. I owe her some sort of explanation.”
“Not a good idea. If you say anything, remember that you can’t come even remotely close to telling the truth. You can’t tell anyone about this operation, understand? If you do, not only do you risk blowing your own cover, but also the agents we have in place now. You could endanger their lives. Do you understand?”
Tucker nodded. Finishing his beer, he stood and pushed back his bar stool. “Give me a couple of hours. Where do you want to meet?”
“How about here? I’ll pick you up out front in two hours. Don’t be late.”
Inclining his head, Tucker headed out the door, hoping that during the walk home, he could come up with an explanation that made sense to Lucy. He didn’t want her to think he was abandoning her and his son for a second time. Unfortunately, no matter how he was able to spin it, he knew that was exactly what she’d think he was doing.
Unable to relax, Lucy took to pacing in front of the living room bay window. Obviously humoring her, Sean simply watched, playing with baby Eli.
The first hour seemed to crawl by. At the ninety minute mark, she’d begun to toy with the idea of going in search of him. “He can’t just reappear in our lives and then vanish,” she said. “Maybe we should go see if we can find him.”
Sean shrugged. “He’s a grown man. I’m thinking he can do pretty much whatever the hell he wants.”
Torn between wanting to agree and wanting to argue, she glanced once more out the window. Her heart leapt in her chest at the sight of Tucker striding down the street toward them.
“He’s coming back,” she cried, absurdly on the verge of tears once again.
Sean gave her a long look. “Would you like to run outside and greet him?” he asked, sounding annoyed.
She couldn’t really blame him. She supposed she’d feel the same, if the situation were reversed. “Of course not.” Managing a smile, hoping to ease the tension that had instantly returned, she crossed the room and hugged him. “Don’t worry so much,” she murmured.
“I’m not worried,” he denied instantly. But she could feel tension in the stiff way he held her and she knew he was lying. He must feel really threatened because in the entire time she’d known him, Sean had never lied to her. Not even once.
A moment later, Tucker knocked softly on the front door. Again, she couldn’t help but remember how, before he’d gone to Mexico, he would have walked right in. Of course, he’d lived with her then. Now, he couldn’t. He’d have to find someplace else to live. Maybe he could stay with Sean.
Tucker knocked again.
“Let him in,” Sean said, sounding resigned.
Giving him a quick kiss, Lucy crossed to the door and opened it, finding a desolate look on Tucker’s face.
“Are you all right?” she asked, letting her gaze roam over him, still amazed at how much it hurt to do so.
“I’m fine.” He smiled, a wan ghost of his former smile, though she thought she saw a trace of warmth lurking in it.
Her heart skipped a beat as his incredibly blue gaze met and held hers. Again, she had to fight the urge to go to him and wrap her arms around him and breathe in his familiar, masculine scent.
Damn.
Flustered, she looked away, only