CHAPTER THREE

Charlemagne was the name of Hammer's sprawling home in the mountains of Montreal. The limousine drove up the steep hill and stopped at the main house. Ozzie Jones, a former Green Beret and SPS agent once assigned to be then-CIA Director Hammer Reese's bodyguard, opened the back passenger-side door and Hammer stepped out. He and Ozzie were now best friends. When Hammer left the CIA, he took Ozzie with him.

Hammer got out buttoning his suit coat. He saw the extra SUV on his driveway. He knew who would be driving it.

"Need me for anything else, Boss?" asked Ozzie.

"Hang tight for a few minutes. Let me see what this is about first," Hammer said, motioning toward the SUV, as he made his way up to his front door and walked on in.

Ozzie glanced upstairs. And just as he suspected, Amelia was standing at that window looking down at him. They used to have a great relationship before things began going south for her and Hammer. Now she looked at him as an extension of Hammer, which he knew he was. Then she left the window. Ozzie hated that it had come to this, but what could he do about it? He went over to the guard station to speak with grounds security.

JoJo was lounging in the living room playing video games when Hammer walked in. He hadn't seen his boy since he left on that mission in the Peruvian jungles. It always warmed his heart just to see his gorgeous face again. "Hello son."

"Hey Dad," JoJo said without looking away from that TV. Then he realized what he had just said, and what was just said to him, and he quickly turned. When he realized it was actually his father, he dropped his controller. "Daddy!" he said excitedly and ran to his father. Hammer laughed as his growing son hugged him vigorously. "You're home now?" he asked him. "You don't have to go back right away?"

"I don't have to go back right away, no," said Hammer as they stopped embracing. "How are you, son?"

"I'm great. Got straight A's again." JoJo attended the most elite private school in Canada. "The teacher said I'm so great at scientific problem-solving that once I graduate med school I could discover a cure for cancer someday."

"Or just become an excellent doctor," said Hammer, and JoJo laughed. "That'll be great in and of itself."

"Yes, sir."

"Don't let people force you to put so much pressure on yourself."

"Yes, sir."

Then Hammer asked the question he'd wanted to ask since he saw that SUV. "Mom here?"

Jojo's smile lessened. He knew things weren't great between his parents. "Yes, sir. She's getting her things."

"What things?"

"Her clothes, her shoes. Stuff like that."

That sounded odd to Hammer. Amelia had her own house in Baltimore. She kept a full wardrobe of clothes at Hammer's house because she was there so often. And he kept a wardrobe of his clothes at her house because he spent the night there often. It was how their marriage rolled. Why would she need to take clothes out of his house?

But they did all they could to keep their tension away from Joey. "Finish your game," he said as he ruffled his biracial son's curly hair and made his way to the newest addition to his mansion: an upstairs master bedroom even larger than his previous one.

When he walked into the bedroom and saw Amelia tossing clothes into the suitcase that sat on his bed, his heart sank. He loved her so much it hurt. But he could never figure out a way to make them work.

She heard him come in. She'd stood at the window and watched him drive up. It wasn't an easy decision for her to make ever. But she had to make it.

Hammer walked over to the bed. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm packing."

"Why, Millie? You know what I mean."

"I'm leaving." Then she added: "She said for the hundredth time. But a hundred is the charm this time. I'm done. I'm out of here."

"I was on assignment, Millie."

Amelia didn't want to hear it. "I don't care if you were on the moon."

"I was on assignment in Peru. How was I to know you would have a miscarriage?"

Just the thought of that awful event two weeks ago stopped her cold. It was still a staggering reality for her to face. She lost their child. She was only two months pregnant and lost their child.

"How was I to know you would miscarry, Millie?" Hammer said again.

"Because I was threatening one before your ass left!" Amelia yelled out so forcefully that it caused Hammer's ear to ring. "But you not only left anyway, but you stayed gone two whole weeks and never checked on me once."

"I was in the jungle trying to free hostages. We aborted but had to go right back in. Children were among those hostages. What was I supposed to do? Let them die?"

Amelia knew he had an important job. But she and JoJo were important too. He couldn't keep taking them for granted.

"Believe it or not," he added, "there's no cellphone towers in the jungle."

"Don't you dare talk to me like I'm stupid. There's satellite phone service in those jungles. Don't you dare talk to me like that!"

"I'm not going through this shit with you every time I have an assignment," Hammer shot back. "It was a matter of national security. I had no choice in the matter."

Amelia zipped shut her suitcase. And looked at him. "There's always a choice," she said. "And you made it," she added as she grabbed her suitcase off of his bed and began heading for the door.

But Hammer stood in front of her. And they looked each other dead in the eyes. It was sad. There was no doubt about it. It cut to the marrow for both of them. But Amelia had that look Hammer knew so well. There was no stopping her now.

But he missed her. And needed her. He loved her! "Let's talk about it," he said.

But Amelia was already shaking her head. "I knew you were a busy man when I first married you. I signed up for that. But for you to be busy ALL THE TIME and never home for me and JoJo?" She shook her head. "I'll never sign up for that."

Then she was about to move past him. But she looked at him again. Just so he understood how this time wasn't going to be like all those other I'm leaving you times before. "I asked Joey if he would rather make my home his primary residence instead of here. But he still wants to stay with his father. Despite all your shit, he still wants to live with you. And I understand that. A boy needs his dad. I'll never stand in the way of that. But you got to do better by him, Hammer. Or I will take a stand whether he likes it or not."

"What are you talking about?"

"I filed for divorce," she said. "That's what I'm talking about!"

When she said those words, it rocked Hammer to his core. It felt like a wallop. He looked at her as if he couldn't believe his ears. But he believed her eyes. She was done with his ass.

And then she walked out of the room.

Hammer found himself in need of sudden support. He leaned against the bedpost. She left many times before, but always came back to him. But this time felt different. That look in her eyes looked different.

A missile could not have rocked him more.