Page 99 of Freeing Lark

Hoot turned off the burner. “My dad was Army.”

Her eyebrows rose. “And you joined the Navy?”

“Yeah. Caused some family arguments.”

She laughed. “Not serious ones, I hope.”

“No. Mostly good-natured rivalry.” He carried the plates to the table. “Dad insisted the Army was better. I reminded him the Navy had ships.”

“And that settled it?”

“Absolutely not. He then informed me that ships were just boats with delusions of grandeur.”

Lark burst out laughing. Hoot smiled. He hadn’t thought about some of those old arguments in years.

He told her about his father teasing him relentlessly when he’d chosen the Navy. About his mother pretending to referee their arguments while secretly taking his side. About family dinners where Army versus Navy debates somehow became competitive sporting events.

Lark listened, laughing at the right moments. But Hoot noticed something else. The longer he talked about his parents, the quieter she became.

“You miss them,” she said.

“Every day.” She looked down at her plate. Hoot reached across the table and covered her hand. “They’d love you.”

Her eyes lifted. “You think?”

“I know.” Her lips tipped up into a small smile. “Mom would probably buy every piece of art you’d ever made. And Dad would enable her.”

She laughed. “My parents don’t own any of my art,” she said morosely and that fact pissed him off. How could parents not support their kids’ endeavors? Even if they’d disagreed on their respective branches of military, his dad had been proud as fuck when he’d told them he was training to be a SEAL.

Even his mom had beamed with pride despite her fear for her baby in his dangerous profession. She always made sure to send him care packages when she could. Not an easy feat since SEALs were often deployed at the drop of a hat and family members never knew where they were being sent.

But she’d never experienced anything like that with her parents. Nothing but condemnation. The thought of wanting to make it up to her niggled at the forefront of his mind. He wasn’t just speaking out of his ass when he said his parents would love her. He hesitated before adding, “You remind me of my mother.”

Lark’s eyes widened. “Is that good or bad?”

“Very good.”

She smiled, but there was something wistful about it. He squeezed her hand. “You deserved what I had growing up, Lark.”

She looked away for a moment. He didn’t press. Instead, he kept talking about his parents until her smile returned.

By the time they finished breakfast, Hoot realized he’d told her more about his childhood in one morning than he’d told most people in years.

They were halfway through cleaning up when his phone pinged. Seeing Flint’s name, his mood shifted instantly.

“I need to take this.” Lark nodded. He headed upstairs to his home office and opened the computer.

The video call was already waiting. Flint appeared first, followed by Voodoo, Eggs, Jeeves, Spark, and Haley. Everyone looked tired.

Hoot’s instincts immediately tightened. “What happened?”

Flint leaned back. “We found four of them.”

Hoot’s stomach dropped at their dark expressions. “Dead?”

“Yeah.”

“Cause?”