Trust Me

dashed past him out of the kitchen.
    Kyle waited until Jason had disappeared down the hall. “Our shrink says Jason hasn’t accepted Mom and Dad’s divorce yet.”
    “Takes a while,” Stark said.
    “Yeah. I guess.”
    Stark set his empty cereal bowl down on the counter. “What made you decide to look me up?”
    “I dunno. Been thinking about it ever since Dad came home to get the last of his stuff.”
    “When was that?”
    “A couple of months ago.” Kyle lowered his voice until his words were almost inaudible. “When he moved out he said that he’d come see me and Jason two or three times a week. He did for a while. But I guess he got busy.”
    Stark recalled hearing the same vague promise when he had been ten. Hudson had visited dutifully for a couple of months or so, and then the excuses had started. Got an out of town trip, Sam. Got some business people coming in next week. Going to have to take a rain check on that fishing trip, son. You’ll understand when you’re older.
    Jason sauntered back into the kitchen. His cheeks were flushed. He did not look at Stark as he took his seat at the table.
    Kyle made an obvious bid to change the subject. “Dad says you used to work for the government. He said you invented stuff that was supposed to keep terrorists and people like that from getting into computers.”
    “I don’t work for the government now,” Stark said. “I have my own business.”
    “Oh.” Kyle looked momentarily disappointed. “Do you still do stuff with secret codes?”
    “Yes.”
    Kyle brightened. “Jason and I have a computer at home.”
    “Do you?” Stark asked politely.
    “Dad bought it for us a year ago,” Jason said. “We learned how to use one in school, of course, but Dad taught us how to do some really great things on it. Stuff the other kids don’t know.”
    Stark was not surprised by that news. A talent for things technical ran in the family. Hudson was an electrical engineer who had once one pioneering work on aircraft guidance systems. He was now a vice president of a successful engineering consulting firm.
    “You’re not going to let us stay, are you?” Kyle finally asked.
    “I doubt that your mother would let you spend the whole summer here in Seattle,” Stark temporized.
    “Sure she would,” Jason insisted eagerly. “She’d be glad to get rid of us for the summer. She says we’re making everything a lot harder for her.”
    “I’ll bet you could talk Mom into it with no trouble at all,” Kyle said. “Dr. Titus says she’s under terrible stress. Getting us out of the house for the summer would probably relieve a lot of it.”
    The phone on the wall rang. Stark glanced at the number illuminated on the screen of the incoming-call indicator. He didn’t recognize the area code. He hoped it was Portland.
    He picked up the receiver. “This is Stark.”
    “Sam, is that you? It’s your old man. Haven’t talked to you since you called me on my birthday.” Hudson’s vibrant, mellow voice boomed down the line. “Shit, that was what? Seven months ago? Time flies at my age. How’s it hangin’, son?”
    The lid that concealed the cauldron simmering deep in Stark’s guts lifted for a fraction of a second. Just long enough for him to glance inside and see the witch’s brew of chaos that swirled in the bottomless vessel.
    With a skill born of long practice, he slammed the lid back into place.
    “Kyle and Jason are here,” Stark said without inflection.
    “Yeah, I know,” Hudson said impatiently. “It’s four o’clock in the morning here. We just got in. Alison’s called the hotel three times. She’s really ridin’ me hard. Acts like it’s all my fault that the boys took off for Seattle. She expects me to do something.”
    “Will you?” Stark saw that both Kyle and Jason had stopped eating. They sat very still, trying and failing to look unconcerned.
    “Will I what?” Hudson asked blankly.
    “Do something.”
    “Hell, not much I can do.” Hudson heaved a deep sigh that was probably meant to convey regret. “I’m calling you from Maui. Jennifer and I just got in yesterday. We both needed a break.”
    “Sure.”
    “You know what it’s like. Sixteen-hour days when the pressure’s on. Nights and weekends, too.”
    “Nights and weekends with Jennifer.”
    “Don’t know what I would have done without her,” Hudson said. “She’s fantastic. Helped me close the biggest deal of my life last week. I really owed her this trip to