Page 54 of Operation: Return

She peered in at him, suddenly nervous about her ideas. She had seen a man sneaking around out back. She had seen one man break off from the others when they were supposed to stay in pairs to look for Pete and to check the perimeter.

“I had an idea and I wanted to run it past someone.” She stood in the doorway, waiting for him to motion her in. Unlike Connor’s office, Brendon’s had a feeling of privacy, like she wasn’t necessarily welcome to come in and sit down.

“Come in. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

He probably said that a lot, but her stomach still knotted with unease. “I’ve been nervous about all these guys from The Guardians since they arrived. I don’t know what bothers me, exactly, but I don’t feel good about their presence. Pete was frightened too when he saw them.”

Brendon nodded and furrowed his brow. “Military men can have that mien about them.”

“All of you guys are veterans. This didn’t have that feel. It was like we were in . . . a war zone. The gear, the clothes, the visible weapons, all made us feel scared. I’m sure Pete and I weren’t the only ones.”

“It’s my hope they won’t be around for long. Was there anything else?”

For a bare second, she felt dismissed. She sat up straighter and cleared her throat. “I was watching them out my window and one of them was acting suspiciously. He separated from the group and headed off. To the east.”

Brendon’s brow rose slightly. “You’re sure? Dominic was adamant that his men could be trusted.”

“I am. And I know. I think he does. But trust has to be earned and I don’t trust them.”

Brendon tugged out a drawer and flicked through files. He pulled out a file and slapped it down on the desk. “I’ve always been a fan of paper over web-based files. Let’s take a look at what The Guardian’s sent to us.” He opened the file and quickly scanned a page, then another.

Erica wasn’t sure what she should do. She wanted to leave, as watching him look over the security files of the men felt intrusive. Then again, she was the one who was missing a son. “See anything?”

“Not yet. So far, everything looks pretty normal. Dominic was the only one so far who served with Cole. Looks like Dominic formed his team about three years ago. They are an elite security force. I’m telling you what you have clearance to know. Nothing more. Wait . . .” His finger stalled halfway down a page. “That’s interesting.”

“What?” she hated being expected to read minds. Half the time she’d lost jobs she felt it was because people expected her to read their mind.

“I might not have noticed this if I was scanning online, but these two men,” Brendon picked up the sheet on top, then flipped to a page five before and tugged it out, “have the exact same history. What are the chances of that?”

“In the military? Maybe more common than outside of it?” Even though she’d brought the issue to Brendon’s attention, she hated feeling like an accuser. What if she was wrong?

“I’m not talking about just the history. I’m talking about everything, right down to the social security number. One of those men is not who they say they are. Maybe both.” He rolled back from his desk and grabbed a landline on the back wall. He punched a few numbers in and held it to his ear.

“We’ve got trouble. I need Edwyn in here pronto.” He hung up the phone.

“I don’t have images with these files. I didn’t bother to print those off because I wouldn’t be looking at the files when I saw their faces. All I cared about was the factual information. I wish now that I’d looked over all of them. Edwyn gave me half the stack and he did the other half. It was a big risk for them to send the files that way.”

“You noticed it quickly with all the pages in front of you. What were they hoping to accomplish?” If Edwyn had looked at all of them like Cole had requested, this team wouldn’t even be here and her son would still be with her.

“I don’t know. What Idoknow is that Dominic is with the trade team right now and if he’s the one who orchestrated all of this, Cole, Trace, Scarlet, and Pete are in grave danger.”

ChapterTwenty-One

“We need to call Cole and stop them right now.” Edwyn glanced at the two sheets. “This has to be a trap.”

“That’s what I thought, but if Dominic is the one behind all this, how do we get Cole and the others out without tipping Dominic off that we know?” Brendon shifted in his chair.

Erica resisted the urge to ask if he was alright. He looked uncomfortable, but he could also just be the kind of person who would rather be pacing in a stressful situation. Pacing probably didn’t work so well in a room full of people when he was in a wheelchair.

Edwyn grabbed his phone and started punching in a text. “Cole isn’t the one driving. He’ll see this and pull back, then we can meet here and regroup.”

Brendon stopped him. “But they have to be there by now. He could be standing right next to Dominic. Lakely ranch is only two miles away and that’s as the crow flies. Driving, it has to be less than two minutes. They were probably there before Erica walked through my door.” Brendon drummed his fingers over the pages. “Cole trusts Dominic and I don’t want to disrespect him until we know the facts. What are the other possibilities? Are any of these other guys connected to Cole in any way? What are we not thinking of?”

Erica swallowed hard, knowing she might have the information they probably didn’t. Cole didn’t share his name with other people. She’d thought he might not be telling the truth, but now she saw it was probably more to prevent confusion. “Look for the name Taylor Creed. He worked as a medic for a short time, so that might be a clue too.”

Brendon paused for a moment and his eyes seemed to read her soul, from the moment she was born until now. At least he didn’t seem to find her life lacking. “He’s already gotten to the point where he’s comfortable telling you his name?”

She hadn’t admitted to anyone, not even Cole out loud, that she believed him. If Cole was risking his life to help Pete, the son he didn’t even know he had, then she had to trust he was being honest with her.

---