Page 24 of The Lazarus Protocol

Noah shook his head. “Jay seems happy. I should be happy for him, not bothered that being on the team didn’t give him that.”

“He’s still on the team, and this is a different kind of happy. That was more like satisfaction.”

“Maybe.” Noah didn’t argue with him. “You’re usually not the one who is right, so I’ll give you this one.”

Caleb shoved his shoulder.

“Boys.” Pops shuffled by the archway that led into the living room, continuing out the front door. The screen door creaked, then snapped back on its hinges.

“How does he always know?” Noah glanced at his twin.

Caleb shrugged. “Makes me wonder if he knows more about Mom and Dad than he’s ever said.”

Noah rubbed a hand across his sternum.

Caleb shoved Noah’s shoulder again, till they were facing each other. “Spill.”

“And you wonder how Pop knows?” Noah wanted to roll his eyes. “I should be paranoid that everyone can see right through me, but it’s only you and Pops. Thank goodness.”

“Quit with the preamble and get to the point.”

Noah blew out a breath. When he inhaled again, the scent of coffee left on the burner too long tickled his nose, along with boots worn to do real work and a hint of the cows currently grazing the west pasture.

“You went to the CIA…”

Noah slumped into Pops’ recliner and put one boot on the coffee table. “You ever meet the Division Chief, Thomas Kraus?”

“I doubt it.” Caleb didn’t sit. Sunlight through the wide window lit him from behind, shadowed his face. The edge that all DEA agents had remained in him, even though Caleb had quit the job. These days he was as much of a family man as Jay was turning out to be, and a rancher who helped Pops keep things running—doing what Noah didn’t have the time to do.

Being here would feel far too much like being trapped. Something he’d never done well with—which was the whole problem with the CIA.

“I don’t think they work any other way,” Noah muttered. “Back room deals. Holding what you want over your head so they can get what they want.”

“What do they want?”

“The team is their new Division Zero.”

Caleb shifted. “That’s great.”

“In exchange for information about Mom and Dad, the team works for them.” Noah winced. “Budget cuts.”

Caleb sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. “Does Adam know?”

“I need to tell them, but they’re working on their plan to retrieve the drone first.”

“Don’t put it off.”

Noah winced, nodding. “It’s a real good thing they got another job from Earthnet.”

“I wouldn’t have turned down the CIA’s offer, either. I want to know as badly as you do what happened to Mom and Dad.”

Noah glanced at his twin. “But…”

“They aren’t here,” Caleb finished. “Tessa is pregnant. Pops won’t be around forever. Life is moving on without them, and they’re missing it.”

“They’ve been gone so long it has to be because they can’t come back. Because staying away keeps us safe.”

“Or they’ve been gone so long they think they can’t. Like when you build it up bigger in your mind, and it seems more than it really is.”