Page 72 of Operation: Return

Connor leaned forward and opened his computer, then typed a few things in and the printer across the room started printing sheets of paper. Lacy stood and gathered them, tapped them on the desk, then slid them toward Scarlet and Trace. “These are your release papers. You are free to go whenever you’d like.” She smiled at Trace. “Before Erica left, she let me know about your dental struggles. I’ve called an orthodontist, but he can get a referral wherever you choose to go. Be sure to let us know so we can do that for you.”

Cole had allowed himself to zone out of the conversation, but Lacy had his full attention now. “Erica left?” Was it even safe for her to leave? They hadn’t discussed anything since the night before. He’d needed more than twelve hours to decide what he was going to do about being a father.

“Yes, about two hours ago, as far as I can tell.” Lacy glanced at her watch.

Connor nodded. “I stopped in to pay her and she sounded like she wanted to leave right away.”

Scarlet and Trace quickly signed the sheets and pushed them back toward Connor. “We’re going to go pack so we don’t miss Dominic.”

“I’m sorry that we aren’t going to get the opportunity to give you a graduation.” Connor held out his hand for them to shake and both took their turn.

“We’re not ready for a graduation yet. Maybe when we are, we can come back and visit.” Scarlet gave a pinched smile. “I’m so sorry to have brought all of this to your ranch and I pray that with our departure, the threat goes away.”

“We don’t blame you.” Connor’s face shifted to one of deep concern. “My first concern is your safety. If you’re leaving because you think it will be safer for us but more dangerous for you, then I want you to stop now. We’ll handle this. We’ll find a way.”

Scarlet held up her hand and waved away his words. “It’s safer for both of us and for you. Duluth will be new to the Guardians and new to us. Viceroy can’t trace us there. And if they do, we’ll be protected. I hope he is eventually caught and goes to jail, but somehow I doubt it. The powerful never do.”

Cole didn’t want to rush the goodbye, but he needed to get more information from Lacy and Connor. Where had Erica gone? How had she gone? He’d offered to take her home. There was no other way to get to Rock Point.

Scarlet and Trace left, leaving the door open behind them. “I don’t like this. I need to know everything you know about where Erica went.”

“She said she talked to you.” Connor’s brow furrowed. “That you both said what you needed to say, and all was well.”

“Yeah, she told me last night, after I was still processing, after rescuing a boy from a burning building and fighting my way through bullets, that the boy I rescued was my son.”

Lacy snorted. “Like you didn’t know he was yours before then. He is literally a tiny you.”

Whether or not he’d suspected was different from knowing. She’d said Pete’s father was dead. She hadn’t played fair. “I’d asked her. She never said he was mine. She had the opportunity. Plenty of them.”

Lacy stood and went over to the plaque on the wall with the ten rules and pointed at number nine. “We strive for truth, honesty, all the time here but Erica only lived here a week. She has had to be the sole protector over that boy for years. As a woman, I can tell you that in protecting your children, you learn to bend the truth.”

“And how do you know?” Connor’s brow furrowed.

Cole stepped in. The arguments between Connor and Lacy could be legendary. “What does it matter how she knows?”

Even if she didn’t love him, he could provide for her. He could find somewhere safe for her and Pete to live. She wouldn’t have to be the sole provider and caregiver, parent, to Pete anymore. He wanted to help. He wanted to be someone Pete could turn to, not because his mom wasn’t good enough, she was, but because having two was better than one.

“I need to be able to offer her something. Somewhere to live that isn’t just a few cabins from me. I need her to be able to be away from the guests if she wants to be.”

Connor closed his computer. “I offered to give her a permanent job with Lacy.”

Lacy’s head snapped up. “You did?”

He nodded. “I know you need help, and you never ask. Erica would be good to have around. Plus, you never take vacations and taking care of me in the hospital doesn’t count. You should be able to go once in a while.”

She turned away from him. “You don’t leave either.” She glanced over her shoulder at Cole. “As far as I know, she was just going into town. I don’t know where she was going, maybe to the motel?”

He cringed. “I hope not.” But where else would she go?

Connor said, “There is one more room upstairs. If she wants to stay away from the cabins, then she can stay there. She’ll have to share the room with Pete though because I don’t have two.”

“And I would love help if she’s willing to come back. I’m sorry she ran off without talking to you, Cole. But maybe that means both of you have more to say?”

He grabbed his hat off the peg on the wall. “I think you’re right. I have a nice drive into town to figure out exactly how I’m going to say it.”

ChapterTwenty-Eight

Cole had driven halfway to town when his phone rang. He grabbed it off the dash and answered without looking at who was calling.

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