Page 40 of Operation: Chosen

“One more chance. No more options.” Brendon tapped the folder again. “I can see your pasts as a reason to give leeway, but at some point it’s your choice to continue acting as you have. From this moment on, when you have a session scheduled with me, you’ll attend. When you have a riding session, you’ll go. If you’re expected in the dining room, you’ll be there.”

Connor followed Brendon’s lead. “You’ll keep your cabin clean, and that will start now. I’ll be joining you this morning to make sure you do a good job.”

“What about him?” Big E pointed his thumb at Terrell. “He’s guilty too.”

“I looked through his belongings last night, and everything he shouldn’t have was given to Connor. All of it will be turned over to the police if we have to call them. Those charges will be added on to whatever sentence you already had,” Eric said.

Big E shook his head. “Just like jail.”

Terrell grinned. “Jail doesn’t have horses.” He got up and headed for the door. “This time, no one is tricking me into doing something I don’t want. If you two want to waste your life, go ahead. I’m going to have a future.”

Eric watched him leave and waited for the others, hoping they would see the light. Connor had given them more than enough chances. Big E crossed his arms. “I know how this works. If I give you information, then I get out early. What if I give the cops some information? Can we get out of here then?”

Eric wanted information, especially if they knew something about Skyfall, but he suspected they were just fishing for a guarantee they could leave. Connor glanced over his shoulder the bright light against the side of his face making the other appear dark and shadowed. “This isn’t like anywhere you’ve ever been before, and you’ve exhausted my ability to trust you.”

Big E swung his gaze to Eric and smirked. “Too bad for you.”

ChapterSixteen

The laptop sitting on Ali’s bed was like a billboard drawing her eye. She hadn’t worked much since she’d arrived at Wayside other than meeting with Lacy about what Cole might want. Turned out, Cole, like so many other military men she knew, kept what he wanted close to the vest. No one seemed to know for sure if he planned to take back his old name or just register the new name change under his old identification information.

She headed for her computer to check in as her phone rang.Saved by the bell…She snorted. Not many people at this ranch would even get that reference, not only to the show, but that it was even a phrase before then. The realization made her feel old. What had she done with her life?I’ve served people. That means something…

“Hello?” she silenced her invasive thoughts by pressing the speaker phone icon so she didn’t have to hold her phone.

“Namaste,” Amelia, the only other JAG she spoke to outside of work, replied.

Ali bit her lip. Work calling? She was supposed to have had three weeks basically as a vacation, though she’d said she’d check her emails more than she had been. “Is something wrong?”

“Perhaps this would be better explained over a video chat. I’ve sent you a link. Check your email.” Amelia’s curt reply then disconnect left Ali a little shaken. Was her position in jeopardy? She’d arranged to be away ahead of time, not that the office always knew when a big case would come in. Surely they wouldn’t fire her for taking a scheduled vacation.

She logged into her laptop and quickly opened her email. Splattered across the top were messages with red exclamation marks. There were a half-dozen important messages she’d missed because she’d needed the time off more than she’d realized. “Oh no…” She clenched down on her lip again.

Words like “please answer” and “urgent” jumped off the page from the last two days. She went to the top email from Amelia and opened it. The link for the video call was the only thing in it. She pressed the link, and the web application opened up, then started.

As soon as Ali connected, she jumped right in. “Amelia, I’m so sorry I didn’t check my messages. I was on vacation and assumed everything important was handled.”

Amelia slowly nodded, closing her eyes. “Most of what has come in was taken care of easily. However, a case came in about four days ago that needs your specific expertise. No one else could possibly do it. Worse, the client…”

Ali held her breath. Amelia was known for being meticulous and a little cold, and, as far as business was concerned, unflappable. So, why was she hesitating now? “What is it? I can take it.”

“Gene Forsyth.” Amelia’s dark eyes looked at her through the screen. “You see now why a video chat is easier?”

With a single name, Amelia had knocked the wind right out of Ali. Gene had been her husband’s best friend. He’d helped Frank cheat on her, had sat on the witness stand against her during the divorce, and had made her life after the divorce almost as miserable as her childhood before marriage.

“I can’t do it. I can’t help him. No matter what the issue is. There’s too much past there. Someone else in the office can handle it. Hire someone else if you have to.” Especially because she wasn’t a criminal lawyer. She handled paperwork cases. They mattered. They helped families more than the military men themselves.

“Someone on base stole his identity and not only did a lot of damage to his credit, they somehow managed to get hold of his security clearance. There was a massive breach. This is huge. If this case gets out… Well, it would be very bad all around. This might go all the way up to the president.”

All the more reason for her to avoid it, though before now she would’ve fought to be assigned to a huge case that would get her name out there. “I’m not a criminal attorney. That’s what you need right now.” Anyone but her. “Why do you feel I would be good for this case when I don’t have the credentials to take this on?”

Amelia ignored her question like it wasn’t worth asking. “There are investigators trying to find the group that did this. We’re certain it was a group because of the scope of the damage. His credentials were used to gain access to information he never should’ve had. National security information. We need to prove he didn’t request the information, that he had no reason to want it.”

Knowing Gene and his willingness to bend the truth, she couldn’t be sure he didn’t. “Are you certain he’s innocent?”

“Does it matter?” Amelia tilted her head. “When have we ever asked if someone was guilty or not? That’s not for us to decide. I haven’t seen any paperwork come in for the case you are there to work on, and a simple name change isn’t as important as this. You know I don’t like to pull rank on you, and I know this isn’t just work, you applied for leave. But… We need you to cut it short and come back. The whole office will be putting time in on this case.”

“I need time to decide.” Every case had been easy to justify in the past. Whether she thought her client had done anything wrong or not, she’d just imagined what she would do if it were her uncle who’d done whatever deed had landed those people in her office. In this case, Gene was too close to acting like her uncle for her to be able to defend him.

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