“Are you planning on telling me what this is all about?” If he was going to help, Marcus couldn’t keep him totally in the dark.
“Some,” Marcus agreed. “But only what you need to know.”
Blake shook his head. “Everything. Marcus, I know something is up. I’ve sensed it for a while now. Come clean with me. This isn’t just about the CIA stuff.”
“No. It has nothing to do with that. Look, I want to tell you, but it’s an election year for you, and I know you’d never lie. It might be better if you didn’t know too much. Then you could honestly claim you didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what? If I’m going to help you, I need details.”
Marcus paced the small patio, his expression grave. “I’ll tell you, if that’s what it’s going to take to get your help.”
Blake listened while Marcus started explaining. To say he was surprised at what he didn’t know about his twin was an understatement. Marcus led an entire portion of his life that not a single one of the Colter family even knew about.
When had he lost track of his twin brother and exactly what was going on in his life? They used to share everything.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Because I gave my word that I wouldn’t.”
“Your plan will never work.”
“It has to,” Marcus countered. “The consequences of failing are not an option.”
His brother was right. If the plan failed, lives could be lost.
“You two need to come in and eat,” Aileen Colter directed them from the doorway of the patio. “Now,” she insisted. “You both just got in last night. You have to be hungry.”
Blake and Marcus exchanged a silent communication as they started to leave the patio. “We’re on our way,” Blake said loudly enough for his mother to hear. In a softer tone, he said to Marcus, “We need to talk about this later.”
“We’ll get together at my place when the reception is over,” Marcus agreed.
“Actually, I am hungry,” Blake confessed.
“Me, too. And we have a bride and groom to celebrate with. I didn’t think Zane would ever get married.”
“He’s happy,” Blake informed his brother as they stepped back into the ballroom.
“So is Ellie.”
He and Marcus started filling their plates once they hit the buffet table. Blake drifted away from his twin in the large crowd, but it didn’t matter. He’d see him later that night, and when he did, Blake still had plenty of questions for him. He knew he’d help Marcus, but he wasn’t going into anything blind. Before the evening ended, he’d get the answers he needed from his twin to play the very dangerous game Marcus was planning.
~The End~