Page 59 of Operation: Chosen

“Why? Because she has similar issues to you?”

“You know why.” Brendon bit out each word like they physically hurt.

“Because of Dee,” Connor said.

“You could’ve found any other nurse, but you had to pick that one. So, I don’t approve of this application.”

At first Eric kept his mouth shut, knowing there was more going on than what was on the face of the discussion. He suspected Dee was Brendon’s regret. If so, Brendon was about to face the same situation Eric had just gone through.

“I may not be planning a wedding, but having Ali here has been good,” Eric told him. “We’ve talked.” Eric wasn’t to the point of being at peace about what had happened, but he was closer, and that was the whole point of the mission.

Connor raised his chin and stared at Brendon. “Don’t you think your decision is selfish? This woman needs us. Maybe more than others. Her spine was broken. When her handler brought her to the hospital for treatment, the nurse figured out what was going on and called the police. She doesn’t know how to deal with life in any sense. Before she was captured, she could walk. Now she is relearning how to not only live, but how to live a full life from a wheelchair. Who better to help her than us?”

“We can help her just fine, but you and I both know that’s not what this is about. You’re using this client’s disability to get me to agree to this. That’s wrong on every level. So, who’s being selfish?” Brendon stared at Connor until the tension in the room was palpable.

“I have the final say. You can agree or disagree, but this is how it will go, and you will work closely with Dee to get the client to a place of safety and contentment.”

“If that’s what you want, Dee is one hundred percent the wrong candidate, and that’s my last word on this.” Brendon looked away and visibly hardened his jaw. Eric had never seen the man wrestle with what to say, or not say, more than at that moment.

“Maybe we should switch gears here and talk about the fire, the boys, and the truth.” Eric glanced between the two men as Junior and Sam walked in and sat down.

“Fine with me.” Brendon pushed aside the rest of the files on his desk. “What happened?”

Connor nodded toward Eric, giving him the floor. “This morning, when I returned with Ali from our stakeout of the abandoned ranch, we came back and noticed the smell of smoke. It was still dark outside, and seeing where the fire was coming from wasn’t easy.” That had to be why he hadn’t noticed it when they were walking, but he had also been distracted by Ali and her reaction to his forgiveness.

“We discovered that one of the empty cabins was on fire.” He paused and nodded toward Junior. “I got Junior up, since his house was immediately in danger, and together we got it under control. But that’s not the end of the story.”

“Nope, that’s the surface story.” Brendon tapped his pen on his desk calendar. “What else?”

“I went to talk to Terrell when I noticed the three melted tracking devices on the charred bed. Those had to be from the boys. Terrell admitted after a few minutes that he was the one who started the fire.”

“What?” Connor turned to look at him. “Are you serious? He was the one I was least worried about.”

Eric nodded, knowing the feeling. “He did it under threat. I don’t know how, but Big E is somehow getting correspondence from the outside. Someone put a hit on Terrell, and Big E is the one who says he’ll do the job. But he’s using the opportunity to play with Terrell’s mind. We need to get the other two boys out of here and back where they can be monitored better.”

Brendon tugged out a drawer, fished around for a file, then drew one from his desk and opened it in front of him. He ran his finger down the first page, then tapped a section. “I don’t know how we’ll split them up. Micha seemed convinced these boys were nonviolent, and if one made trouble, they would all have to return.”

Connor nodded. “Unless I try to manipulate Micha like he did with me. He knew we needed the help, and he offered us a situation that benefited him more than us, with a lot of hoops to jump through. I think that counts as a favor. Which means I can push for a favor from him in return now.”

“You want to see if Terrell can stay? How will that work with offering space to our regular clients?” Brendon asked. “Or is he going to be counted among those?”

Eric wasn’t sure, but Terrell had been a good student there on the ranch and had the potential of doing really great things once he learned to make the right choices. Or at least avoid the bad ones. “We can try. If he gets charged with arson, there’s no way they’ll let him stay though, and he admitted to starting the fire. Our police and fire units might be small, but it won’t take them long to determine what happened.”

“Then we’ll need to trust that God will find a way where there is no way.” Connor stood and went around to the back of his chair and gripped the seatback. “We’re halfway through our missions. Only Brendon, Sam, and Edwyn to go.”

“I think you’re forgetting one very important member of Wayside.” Brendon looked up from his file directly at Connor.

“My dad won’t because Mom is…unreachable. So, three left,” Connor evaded.

“Four,” Eric agreed. If he had to go through the discomfort to get to the truth that was on the other side of regret, then so did Connor. “You need to do this for Lacy too.”

Connor slowly shook his head. “If you want to see Lacy leave, then you keep right on pushing this. She told me that if I ever tried to win her back, she would leave. No questions asked. She wants nothing to do with my sorry heart ever again.”

“Then we’ll have to work to change her mind. Or you will.” Eric shrugged. He’d seen the two of them talking together, and romance didn’t seem like a huge stretch for them.

“I’m not going to push her, and I won’t see her leave because I’ve done something stupid again. I’ve done enough to her.” Connor headed for the door. “But that doesn’t mean you’ll be getting out of it.” He grinned at Brendon. “You’ve encouraged everyone else, now you need to give yourself a pep talk.” Connor held the handle as he turned back to face Eric. “Eric, I’ll let you know what Micha says. In the meantime, plan for that trip to the auction. That’s the only lead we have left to find out who stole Skyfall.”

Eric nodded, wishing he had some other information or offer of support for Brendon, but Brendon wouldn’t want that. Eric hadn’t when Ali had shown up.

---