The Medium Kid

Chapter 63

Koda carried Alfie inside, following Molly and Tom towards the living room. Everyone knew it was Tom's turn to speak, and there was an unspoken preparation between those who followed.

Morlen and Connor tagged along too. Morlen wouldn't usually care, but he was too intrigued by Tom's lies. He wanted to know his secrets just as much as Molly.

When seats were taken, Alfie didn't waste the opportunity to stay as close to Koda as he could get. His seat was a snug place on Koda's lap, with Koda's arms securely around him and the back of his head against Koda's shoulder. Alfie felt protected. He felt even better when he placed his hands on top of Koda's and their fingers intertwined. Koda's head subconsciously moved closer until Alfie felt his breath stroke his ear.

"Tom," Molly said eventually. She chose to sit next to him, though it felt strange to think about physically comforting Tom when a touch of the hand used to mean so much. "I think everyone here deserves to know the truth about what's been going on over the past few months."

Morlen settled on the chair, staring at Tom through his intense eyes. He would listen to Tom's explanation before yelling at him for letting his son and himself believe that his wife was buried in the ground.

Tom's eyes lingered on Alfie until they pointed at the rug. Alfie didn't miss the guilt that poured from him.

"I work for the Special Covert Service. I've worked for them for around ten years now." Tom paused to catch Molly's expression. She looked hurt. "A few months ago, we were keeping track of an organisation that was breaching the law. Then they turned to murder, and I forced my boss to let me work on the case. I knew the scientists were obsessed with the afterlife, and when I knew they were killing for answers, that was a red flag for my family. Alfie had always been heavily involved with that stuff. I thought he might be in danger. I knew he was when I learned that the woman they killed was Koda's mother."

Alfie felt Koda tense underneath him. He squeezed his hands, hoping to add to his comfort.

"You know, the hardest part of being undercover this time was lying to your face." Tom looked directly at Koda. "So many times, I wanted to pull you aside and let you know what was really happening."

"Why didn't you?" Morlen asked, sterner than what he wanted. His voice was like a knife resting against the skin, waiting to be angry enough to apply the pressure.

"If I told you that your wife's body was held in some basement by lunatic scientists, I knew you wouldn't sit back and let me carry on with my undercover work. You'd want to do everything in your power to stop it."

"How do you know we wouldn't trust you to get on with it?"

"Because if that were Molly, there's no way I'd sit back and let her fate rest in someone else's hands. I couldn't."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Molly blurted as soon as Tom had finished. "Ten years, you said. All that time and you pretend like you had moved from job to job. Was that so I'd stop asking?"

Tom turned and his heart buckled at Molly's betrayed expression. It was a long time to lie, but it was a lie that potentially saved her life. "I lied because it was safer for you to think that I couldn't hold down a job than to know I was an undercover agent working for a government funded company." Tom looked up. The only person nodding in agreement was Connor. He seemed to sense the awkwardness and shrank into his seat.

"Ma, I understand why dad lied. He was protecting us," Alfie said before the silence turned dense.

Molly stared at her son. Her mind made excuses for why he would think that. Concussion, going through a life-threatening incident, loving his father enough to forgive him. "I think we need to speak about this in private."