Page 20 of Operation: Return

“That’s fallible. It takes one hacker one day to figure that out. If any of these guys have a tech or military background, maybe less,” Brendon said.

“I would hope they aren’t military, but you can never count on any group as large as the military to be all good or all bad.” Edwyn glanced around the room for more comments.

“Except the marines. They’re all good.” Cole grinned as he flexed the anchor and earth tattoo on his arm. He’d done it to break the tension and every man there felt their branch was the best.

“Whatever.” Sam rolled his eyes. “Army. All the way.”

“Guys. Back to the issue at hand.” Edwyn tapped the table. “These are good things to talk about. You’re right. If someone has the code to the gate, we’ve got seconds to prepare. We can’t act like it will hold them back forever. So, starting tomorrow, we’ll do drills whenever we can and master what we’ll do in an emergency.”

Which meant he’d have even less time with Erica. Though with how she felt about him and his ‘lies’ he doubted there was any chance of really making things right with her. He’d done what he’d told Junior to do from the start, tell the truth. She hadn’t accepted the truth because it was too big of a pill to swallow.

While truth was one of the ten creeds they lived by, it hadn’t worked for Cole. He wasn’t sure what he had to do to earn her trust. He’d done and said things that only Taylor would’ve known, like getting her favorite soda. What else could he do to make her see the truth? Wasn’t his face enough?

Honestly, he hadn’t considered that she might not believe him. He knew his appearance would shake her to her core, but he never thought she’d refuse to see what was in front of her face. Lots of people refused to see the truth every day, until they had no other choice. What would have to happen for Erica to do that?

He wasn’t sure and now he saw the time in front of them slipping between his fingers because he’d be spending it making sure she could go home safely. In the end, that’s what mattered most. She had to be safe. Pete had to be safe. His forgiveness was secondary.

Bringing her forced her to cross a line and he would die before he allowed her agreement to be there to change her life forever. Viceroy wouldn’t touch her or Pete. That was a promise.

* * *

Erica satat Teddy’s desk and sighed at the huge piles of papers. She wasn’t even sure where to start. On the wall, etched in what looked like walnut, was a plaque with pretty scrollwork around the edge and a numbered list.

Faith

Clean Slate

No Foul Language

Rest

Honor

Brotherhood

Respect

Protection

Truth

Release

She’d seen the plaques literally all over around the ranch when Edwyn had given her a tour that morning, but she’d been afraid to ask about what it meant. Obviously, they were some rules or creeds or something important. They almost reminded her of the Ten Commandments that had been on the wall at Cole’s parents’ house.

Cole’s parents? She couldn’t believe she’d allowed her thoughts to trip up like that. No. They wereTaylor’sparents. Not Cole’s. She forced her thoughts off the wall and onto the stack Edwyn had told her to start with.

The pile was full of orders for food from Veronica, the Wayside chef. There was a certain supplier they used who was vetted and could deliver once a month. But since Lacy had been gone, they hadn’t ordered. Food was running low and according to the notes for Teddy, Victoria was having to get creative with meals. Erica had only met Victoria briefly at supper and at breakfast that morning. She seemed nice, but busy. Erica didn’t want to bother her with collecting all the information, but the stack was a mess.

She started matching up the duplicates and sorting them when Teddy knocked on the door jamb. “Can I come in?”

She’d met him that morning over breakfast and she motioned for him to come sit. “Teddy, right?” He’d impressed on her that he didn’t want to be mister anyone, he was just Teddy and if this was Teddy, it was his desk anyway.

“That’s right. How are things going? I know there isn’t really anyone around to train you in since Lacy is in Cheyenne. Edwyn tries, but he’s so busy doing all of Connor’s duties that he doesn’t really have time to help you.”

She nodded. “I know. I was struggling for a while, but I didn’t want to bother him.”

He chuckled. “Well, you can bother me. I helped Lacy quite a bit. I’ve tried to keep up, but with Conrad gone and helping Edwyn, things have gotten too far gone for me. I’m too old to be head of security and do Lacy’s job too.”

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