Mirrored Man: The Rob Tyler Chronicles Book 1 (14 page)

“What about the hot dogs? You know Christian
won't eat a burger.”

“Got 'em.” Rob looked at Christian’s
reflection in the rear view mirror. “I can't believe that a red
blooded American boy …
my son
… won't eat a burger.”
Christian stuck his tongue out in reply.

“You should try one,” C. C. advised her
brother. “They're yummy. With gooey cheese … and cat-soup …” She
emphasized the point by licking her lips.

But Christian simply directed his tongue at
her in answer.

“Christian, stop sticking your tongue out at
people. It's not nice,” Carol instructed without turning
around.

The boy's tongue darted back behind his
lips. He had learned through distasteful experience that his mother
had an uncanny talent for producing a bar of soap out of nowhere to
rub on the exposed appendage.

It was quiet in the car for some time after
the rebuke. Rob was considering turning on the radio when Carol
asked, “Who all is coming today?”

Rob tallied the names. “Dad and Mary, Sack
and his new girlfriend, Becca—”

Carol closed her eyes. “Please do not call
him that in front of …
ever
.”

Rob used his closest friend’s partial
nickname from years of habit. “Sorry,” he said sincerely. “He's
been Sack to me for almost eighteen years.”

Carol threw her head back against the
headrest, then reached over and pinched Rob on the forearm.

“Ouch! That hurt,” he protested as he rubbed
the affected area on the steering wheel, making the car swerve
slightly back and forth.

“Who's Sack, Mama?” came C. C.’s query.

Carol glared menacingly at Rob.

Quick on his feet, he constructed a lie.
“No, no, honey. Daddy didn't say Sack. Daddy said back, because …
because Uncle Stacey is coming
back
from … where he's been
to come to Papa's barbecue.” He looked at Carol, fearing a rebuke
for lying. But she simply stared at him and waited to see if C. C.
bought it.

“Hurray! Uncle Stacey is coming.” She
reached over and grabbed Christian's arm. “I like Uncle Stacey. He
dunks,” she said excitedly.

Rob sighed in relief as Carol continued.
“Becca? Do I know her?”

“No,” he replied. “Neither do I.”

“How old is this one?” she asked with a
smile. She had a good idea of the likely answer.

“Twenty-four … twenty-five. Something like
that.”

“What?” Carol laughed. “Will that man ever
settle down with someone his own age?”

“No,” Rob said stoically.

“That's how old Karina is.” She looked back
at Rob, her smile fading. “I'll kill him.”

“I know,” he replied. He knew she was
only half serious. Though he wasn't sure which half.

Carol was fond of Sack. After all, he had
literally saved Rob's life several times. She owed him.
Not to
mention the fact that Sack was the only member of his old team who
would even speak to him since he left their ranks
. She did
allow herself to
think
his nickname.

“No,” she continued, “I won't kill him. I'll
make him wish that I'd killed him.”

Rob didn't doubt her.

“Who else is coming?” She asked.

“I assume your folks are gonna be
there.”

“Yeah. They said they were coming. Anyone
else?”

“
Danny and Carla.
” He placed a bit
more emphasis on these names.

Carol’s head snapped back. “Danny and
Carla?” It was almost a gasp. She would have never guessed that the
couple would be coming.

“Yup,” he replied, not looking at her.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Carol took a
moment for her mind to switch gears. “Are you gonna ask ‘em?”

Rob’s smile faded. “Yup.”

* * * * *

“
ARE YOU ABOUT READY?”
Carla called
from downstairs.

Danny Carter took one last look around his
makeshift office in the townhouse where he had been living for more
than ten months. He wanted to make sure he hadn't left anything.
They would be leaving South Carolina for good the next day, and he
was being thorough, having checked the room three times that
morning.

“Here I come.” He closed the door behind
him. His wife was at the bottom of the stairs setting plastic bags
containing an assortment of sodas that they had bought the night
before on the floor next to the front door. She wore blue jean
shorts, a white tee shirt and red flip-flops, the perfect attire
for a barbecue. There was timeless beauty in her flawless
mocha skin. Her short black hair, and the face that it framed, made
him smile.
How did I get so lucky?

He was dressed similarly in khaki shorts, a
black tee shirt, and sandals.

He started down the stairs. “Everything
packed?” He really didn't need to ask. He knew how meticulous she
was about such things.

“Yes,” she declared. Her smile nearly took
up her entire face, revealing her perfect teeth. Her brown eyes
shined brightly with anticipation as she turned to face him. “I
can't believe we're actually going home.”

He scooped her up and spun her around. “I
know, I know! We get to sleep in our own bed.”

“Cook in our own kitchen,” she added.

“Watch our own TV … in our own living
room!”

“And eat at The Magic Gourd,” she finished,
referring to her favorite Chinese restaurant.

The two were psychologists, Navy lieutenant
commanders, who had been assigned this temporary duty in September
of the previous year. It hadn’t been a typical assignment by any
means. They were there observing and evaluating a candidate and his
family for a classified DOD project. They hadn't been told anything
about the project. They were instructed to befriend the couple,
perform an intensive psychological examination, and report their
findings to Captain Bernard Walsh at the Pentagon. Danny often
wondered if it was simply the fact that his office was in close
proximity to the captain’s that had gotten him this assignment, or
if the captain was being honest when he said that he considered
Danny and Carla exceptionally talented professionals who came
highly recommended.

The one hitch was that they couldn't let the
subjects know that they were being evaluated. This fact had made
the couple uncomfortable in their assignment. Although they hadn't
hidden their identities and they continued their practices at the
naval base in Charleston, it was understandably difficult for the
doctors to perform their duty.

When they arrived in Charleston, it had been
much easier than Danny had anticipated it would be for him to make
fast friends with the potential candidate. When he had the occasion
to invite the commander out for lunch one Friday, Danny mentioned
that he was feeling a bit out of shape. It was widely known that
Commander Rob Tyler had, at one time, been a SEAL. So he asked his
new “friend” if he would teach him the SEAL workout routine. Rob
was more than happy to do as Danny requested, but only if Danny
committed to workout with him five days a week without fail.

Danny felt he was in pretty good shape,
despite what he had said. So he agreed.

They’d met the following Monday at the
physical training area on base at 0400 hours, and Danny had quickly
realized his error. Rob’s SEAL workout was extremely intensive, and
it was followed alternately by a five kilometer run or a one
thousand yard swim.

By January, Danny had been able to complete
the routine plus the run or swim. Carla had become quite adept at
giving him post-workout massages. After six months, Danny had
discovered that the recommended frequency for the workout was twice
per week, not five times, as Rob had required. But by that time he
had gotten accustomed to the routine. And he had to admit that he
was in the best physical shape of his life. He had thanked the
commander sincerely several times for his assistance. Carla had
even playfully suggested that he try out for the SEALs, but Danny
was profoundly relieved when he found out the cut-off age was
twenty-eight.

Carla, on the other hand, had found it
extremely difficult to get to know the commander's wife. Although
the four had gone out for dinner occasionally, Carla had gotten the
feeling that Carol didn't like her. The Carters had been assured
that the assignment would take only six months, which seemed an
inordinately long period of time for them to complete such a task.
But time and again, the assignment had been extended because of
Carla's difficulty. It was only a couple of months ago that she had
been able to get Carol to agree to a shopping trip, followed by a
girl’s night out a few nights later. Ever since those events, Carla
felt that they had become close friends.

But now they were going home.

Danny received the sealed envelope
containing the commander’s orders by special courier the day
before, and it was his intention to give them to him at the
party.

Carla stood on her toes and kissed him. Then
her mood dimmed a bit. “It's kinda sad, in a way.”

“What is?”

She turned to pick the bags of soda up, but
Danny beat her to them, making her smile again.
It's nice being
married to a gentleman
. “Carol and I have gotten pretty close.
I'm gonna miss her. And I’ll miss those kids. They're adorable!”
Looking coyly at her husband, she gave him a wink. “Kinda makes me
want one.”

“Okay, do you want Christian or C. C.?”

She slapped him lightly on the chest. “You
know what I mean.”

He struggled to open the door, then stepped
out into the warm, bright sunshine in the breezeway.

“Danny,” she almost shouted, stopping him in
his tracks.

He turned to see her standing in the
doorway, hands on her hips and wearing a pout. “How come every time
I start to talk about kids, you clam up?”

He put the bags on the walkway, then walked
to her and threaded his arms through hers and around her waist.
When she didn't immediately return the embrace, he took a deep
breath and asked, “Do you know how much I love you?”

“How much? And don't forget, I can tell if
your lyin'.” She draped her arms over his shoulders.

“I love you so much … and I'm enjoying it
just being us for a while. We've only been married for three years.
I don't wanna share you with anybody else yet.”

She smiled and kissed him lightly on the
lips.

“Besides,” he added, “I haven't gotten tired
of
you
yet. I don't need anything
new
in my
life.”

Danny kissed her a little harder, and she
melted into him in response. “We can be a little late …”

Carla pulled away and gazed into his eyes.
“Tempting, but we’d better get this done.” After one more quick
kiss, she pulled away from Danny and turned to lock the door. He
gave her backside a couple of pats, then bent to grab the bags.

“The thing that's gonna suck is telling them
what we've been doing here. Rob and I have gotten pretty close,
too.”

Carla laced her arm around his, taking his
hand as they made their way into the parking lot. Opening the
driver’s door of their red Jeep Wrangler, Danny placed the bags of
soda in the back and closed the door as Carla got into the driver’s
seat.

As he trotted around to the passenger’s side
and climbed in, Carla asked, “Do you think they'll forgive us?”

Danny sighed. “Would you?”

She looked at him thoughtfully but said
nothing.

“Oops. Hold on a minute,” Danny said
suddenly.

“What is it?”

“I forgot Rob's orders.” He jumped out of
the car. “Be right back.”

She watched him as he ran back into the
townhouse, and then she locked eyes with herself in the rear-view
mirror.

I wonder if that was a Freudian slip.

CAROL CRINGED AS C. C.
sailed up and
out of the water, screeching as she went and splashing down a few
feet away from where
Uncle
Stacey had thrown her. The big
man let go a gravelly laugh as he watched her. Christian was
already lined up to be launched next and Becca, Sack’s latest
girlfriend, was waiting her turn behind him.

Carol wasn't concerned about the children as
much as she was Sack. Rob had taught the kids to swim at an early
age, and they were quite adept at it. But Sack’s large solid frame
displayed the many scars he had collected over his years in the
Navy. He was standing waist deep in the pool. His bare barrel
chest, muscled back, and tree-trunk arms were no strangers to a
surgeon’s scalpel.  His hair was white as snow, which struck
Carol as odd, since he was the same age as Rob. There wasn't much
left of it though, and he kept it closely cropped. But his
mustache, while it was the same color as the hair on his head, was
as thick as it was the day Carol met him fifteen years before.
Sack’s past injuries were always a concern for Carol when he
roughhoused with the twins.

“Does doing that hurt him?” she asked Rob
from her lounge chair next to the kidney-shaped pool in his
father’s back yard.

Rob was standing next to her, a croquet
mallet in his hand, as he watched his twins in the pool with Sack
and his young girlfriend.
Three kids and an old man
, he
mused. He glanced at Carol and then back at Sack as he watched the
big man propel Christian through the air to splash down noisily
next to C. C. “If it does, he doesn't care.”

The fourth of July had turned out to be a
beautiful one. Wispy clouds could be seen here and there,
punctuating the bluest of skies. The temperature had remained in
the mid-eighties throughout the afternoon. A light breeze blew just
enough to make the trees whistle and sway, like ballet dancers
keeping time with the music playing in the background.

“It's your turn, Rob.” It was Melissa,
Carol’s mother. Rob was amazed and often commented that the older
Carol got, the more she looked like her mother. And that was a
compliment to both women. They both had the same auburn hair and
petite build. And they both had those dazzling green eyes, though
Rob teased his wife that his mother-in-law’s were a smidgen
brighter than hers.