Teacher and the Thief

Chapter 30

I was out of the car before Dad was parked. Mom's car was still here, making me burst through the door, but found no one in my direct sight. I heard my brothers upstairs playing whatever video game they were playing, but Mom was nowhere to be seen.

"Where are they?" Dad asked lowly, and I pointed upstairs. He let out a sigh of relief when he heard their voices, "Thank God."

"Yeah, but where's Mom?" I questioned, and he shut the door.

"Out to a movie with Abby." He stated, but then took me by the shoulders. "You have to listen to me very closely. Use your brilliant spy mind of yours. I don't care what she says or what she wants you to tell her. You can't tell her I still work for them."

"You didn't tell her!" I shrieked, and he cupped his hand over my mouth to stop me from speaking, but I shoved it away. "Why not?"

"Because she thinks I quit working for them a long time ago." He said lowly, "And it has to stay that way."

"Why wouldn't you tell her, though?" His hand went back to my shoulder, and his head darted around the room and to the windows.

"It doesn't matter now, but you can't, not in a million years, tell her that I'm still a spy." He ordered, "Do you understand? Or your brothers, you can't tell them either."

My mind was still frazzled, but I agreed. "I guess, but why wouldn't you tell her? You're allowed to tell your wife."

"It's a long story that I won't get into." He stated, "It's for her own good. It's for everyone's own good. If you tell her, I'll lose her. And if you tell her that you're also a spy, she's going to lose her mind. She'll break, and I can't see that happen. You have to promise me that you will not tell her anything!"

And then the lights flicked on.

We both froze. Our heart rates sped up, his probably faster than mine. He was trembling more than me, and everything that he was at the agency, calm, collected, together…  it wasn't there anymore. We didn't turn to see who it was, but whoever it was, it couldn't be good. Either someone broke in, or it was Mom. And honestly, we both would've taken an intruder.

I turned first, seeing my Mom, eyes already prickled with tears, arms crossed, standing against the wall with the light switch. And I could tell it was hard for her to contain herself.

"What?" She breathed, not taking a step. "You… you still work for them?"

Dad finally turned towards her, "I thought you were out with Abby."

"The highway was shut down because of an attack on the agency." She growled, shaking her head. "You still work for them!?"

Dad was thinking. He had multiple scenarios running through his head, and by the look on his face, none were good.

"Answer me!"

"Yes." He breathed, trying to keep calm, but it wasn't working. "I still work for them."

She shut her eyes, letting the tears fall from her face. "How could you…" She cried, and when Dad took a step forward, she took a step back. "Stay away from me."

"Okay." He obeyed, "But let's talk this out."

"Talk it out!?" She shrieked, keeping her arms as support by the wall to balance. "You've been lying to me for almost twenty years! I’m not going to talk. You’re going to explain yourself. You’re going to tell me the reason you betrayed me and stayed there."

“Cindy, I couldn’t just leave.” He started, “After that attack, and when I went back, they were trying so hard to find whoever did that to us. I couldn’t leave. Not when we could’ve found the group the ruined our wedding day.”