Page 29 of Guarding Truth
Juliette took a big bite of eggs. “You’re really good with Ivy,” she said. “It’s nice to see you in a fatherly role. She’s lucky to have you.” Maybe he wouldn’t say anything about her subject change.
He put down his fork and took a sip of coffee. “Well, she might not think that all the time. I try and challenge her to grow her computer skills, but she gets out of hand with her hacking. I want her to enjoy her childhood, but she’s in such a hurry to grow up and do adult things. I just wish I could provide a normal childhood for her.”
“But she’s extraordinary. Just like you.”
Heat climbed into his cheeks at the comment. “I do the best I can. I even found her a counselor through our church, and it seems to be helping. I think.”
“Maybe I’ll go with you sometime.” She took a few more bites of the bear claw.
Had he heard her right? “To church?”
Two things raced through Caleb’s mind. First, Juliette had changed her position about God.
And second, she wanted to see him again.
She met his gaze, and he forced himself to not look away. “Yes. Church, as much as I’m uncomfortable with it. You’re the most logical person I know. With all of your intellect, if you believe in something, I can’t write it off completely. Plus, things changed when I went through cancer treatment. Suddenly I was faced with a situation I couldn’t control. It makes a person think, that’s all. Sometimes on my sickest days, I just had to believe there was more to life than living and dying. There must be some kind of hope in the middle.”
“God’s there, Jules. In the midst of our darkest times. You just need to rely on him and not on your own strength and understanding.”
The waitress interrupted them and dropped off the check. Juliette poured herself another cup of coffee, and Caleb paid the bill.
“I’m sure Ivy would love it if you joined us for church,” Caleb said. And so would he. Which was why he needed to be careful, or he’d be in the same situation he’d been in three years ago. Wanting something he couldn’t have. She’d left him. Just like everyone else he’d ever loved. His mom had abandoned him. His dad had died. His sister had been taken from him in that senseless accident.
He wasn’t willing to risk his heart only to be disappointed again.
The two walked out of the restaurant. At the corner, they waited for the light to change.
“I’ll only be an hour,” he said. “I can set you up in a spare office if you have some work to do?—”
A tremor moved the ground under his feet. Earthquake? A lamp post in front of them swayed. He blinked, and he was in Afghanistan, watching Juliette fall off a cliff.
He yanked Juliette to the ground behind the smoking Humvee, shielding her from the impending blast. But it wasn’t a military vehicle, rather a mailbox. And the screams weren’t his teammates trapped in a burning car but people pouring out of his office building.
He forced his mind into the present and watched black smoke and flames engulf the side of his office building.
* * *
WEDNESDAY, 9:20 A.M.
Ivy checked her phone. She’d ditched second period and headed to the soccer field. A PE class ran laps on the track, but under the bleachers made a perfect hiding spot.
What if CyberLane didn’t show?
She paced in the confined area under the rows of concrete seats. Why was she so nervous? It’s not like she was worried about cutting class. She and CyberLane had been chatting for a few weeks now. And while Ivy wanted to find out more about the hacker group, what she really wanted was a friend. And CyberLane had connected with Ivy in a way most people couldn’t.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be brave enough to skip Mrs. Hillard’s class,” a female voice said from behind her. Ivy turned and found a girl, probably around sixteen years old, with long, dark hair and a neatly pressed uniform that matched Ivy’s own.
“CyberLane?”
“Call me Layna.”
“Ok. I’m Ivy.”
The girl gave Ivy a quirky smile. “I know who you are, Ivy. We’ve been chatting for a while, and I’ve been watching you. You’ve got some mad hacking skills. I hear you have a photographic memory as well.”
Ivy shrugged. She had an eidetic memory but didn’t want to correct her friend.
“Look,” Layna said. “My brother wants to give you a chance to use your hacker skills for good. Can I trust you to keep our secret? Just until he gets the approval to hire us, and then you can tell everyone that you have a government job as a white hacker.”