Page 8 of Operation: Chosen

The boys were completely unaffected by Sam’s statement, even though throwing rocks could’ve hurt the dogs tremendously. “Don’t you have any sense of decency or what causes pain?” She crossed her arms, angry that no one seemed to be taking the matter all that seriously. The boys were going to get a talking-to? That meant nothing and wouldn’t get through to them. “Well?”

“Mrs. Wellthorp, I have this under control.” Connor stepped forward, putting himself between her and the boys.

She stared at him and raised her brows to challenge his definition of “under control”. “What if they’d broken a window and a dog had been hit? What if one of them had died?” The windows in the kennel were small and narrow, probably difficult to hit, but she had to assume that was their intent. Why else would they aim stones at a building?

One of the boys looked away. “We didn’t mean to hurt any of them.”

“Shut up, Terrell. You’re useless.” The biggest boy said.

Her heart stuttered for a mere second as memories of her childhood washed over her.You’re useless.How often had she heard that? Too many times to count. Her mother had been an addict and everyone she’d met as a child had assumed she was from the same stock.

Her aunt and uncle hadn’t wanted her and had let her know that in what they’d said and how they’d treated her. She’d vowed to make herself so wealthy, so stable, that they would someday beg her for help. That had never happened before they died, but at least she never had to worry about being useless anymore.

“If you all don’t accept the help you’re offered here, you’ll end up in a situation so bad you’ll never get out. You’ll suffocate from it,” Ali intentionally added emotion to get their attention.

Eric strode toward her and turned her with a firm but gentle hand to her back. He guided her behind the barn, then dropped his hand from her like he never wanted to touch her again. She hadn’t realized how much she’d craved his touch until he took it away.

“You need to leave the boys to Connor and the rest of us. This isn’t for you. This isn’t a case you can win by twisting what you think you know. These boys are in our care, not yours.”

Her need to argue and defend herself outweighed what he’d said. “I don’t see an issue with anything I said. Obviously you don’t have control over them, or they would’ve been busy doing something productive instead of trying to kill dogs.” Maybe that was a stretch, but it could’ve happened.

He took a step closer to her, and his warm brown eyes ignited a fire inside her. She wanted to close the gap between them and tell him to let her prove herself. They had a chance if they could just leave the past behind.

“Ali, these boys have been told lies their entire lives. You just told them that we are no different from anyone else. We’re here to prove that people don’t have to act the way these boys expect us to. What you did just made our jobs much harder. We’re trying to reach them. Connor had already established that if they don’t put forth some effort here, they aren’t going home where they thought they were going. They’ll go back to jail, and it won’t be better or good for them.”

Her way would work if he’d listen, to everything. “I don’t want to argue with you. I just want to talk to you. Give me a chance.”

Eric backed away a few steps, and the heat in his eyes died as he hid his emotions from her. “I don’t want to talk to you. We talked when we were twenty-one, not much older than those boys there. And just like those boys will change completely in the next ten years with the right instruction, you and I both changed from who we were. The past is the past. Leave it be.” He turned slightly.

Ali gripped his arm, a shock jolting her with the touch, and he stopped. She drew her hand back and found him staring at his arm, just as she wanted to at her hand, but that would’ve given away her feelings. She could never do that, but what hadthatbeen? Loving him had been exciting when she was young, but she didn’t remember feeling anything so instinctual.

“Eric, please. This isn’t easy for me either. I’m here to work, and I want to help you. I can’t leave this be. I’m here. Don’t you think that’s a sign or something?” She’d never believed in signs from God or whomever, but Eric had even back then. He’d tried to bring her into the fold, but she’d resisted. Why would a God who cared allow the only parent who cared about her die and let the other give her away to a relative who didn’t want her? If He existed, He wouldn’t. But Eric believed, and she’d use that to bring him back to her if she had to.

“A sign?” Eric quirked his brow. “A sign of what? That I’m supposed to listen to how good we were together until you found someone who would help your career more? Or maybe I should listen to grand stories of how you climbed the ranks with his help?” Eric’s voice held steady, but she caught the faintest hint of anger. He was good at controlling it. She could read those things from a mile away after years of court litigation.

“I never asked you to dredge up our past. I never look back. I want to look forward. Don’t you want that? Doesn’t your neck hurt from looking back and holding on to the past?”

He raised a hand, palm flat and facing forward, like a crossing guard telling her to wait. “There’s very little I hold on to. I don’t have a family anymore, and my friends are all here. In this case, looking back is my safety net. I did nothing to you but care, and you rejected me. Publicly. I’m not volunteering to go through that again.” He strode away with rigid shoulders and a stiff walk.

Failure? It wasn’t even in her vocabulary. She looked down at her hand, still tingling from touching him. She’d remind him how good they’d been together. If that didn’t work, then she’d just show him how good he’d have it with her now. Letting him look back had been a bad idea anyway. She never looked back, and she wouldn’t let him either.

ChapterFour

Coffee wasn’t going to cut through the fatigue that morning. Eric bowed his head and tried to release the anger that clung to him like a second skin. How could Ali just show up and expect him to forget what she’d done? He didn’t see any remorse from her, probably because she didn’t feel any.

Looking back, he wondered if any of her feeling had been genuine. She’d loved hard, then had shut her heart off like a faucet. Could anyone do that if they really felt anything? Maybe she was as good an actress with him as he’d heard she’d become in the courtroom.

“Can I sit with you, or is this spot taken?” Edwyn Brookings, the foreman, pointed to the chair across from him at the table.

The cafeteria had plenty of other open tables, but Eric wasn’t going to spread his foul mood to everyone else. “You can sit where you’d like.”

Edwyn tugged out the chair with one hand and lowered his tray with the other. It was piled high with pancakes, sausages, hashbrowns, and even a muffin balanced on top like a baked castle. Though the guy was solid, he had very little fat on him. “You eaten yet?” He raised a brow and eyed Eric’s coffee.

“Nope. Didn’t have the stomach for it this morning.” Eric lifted his cup but found he no longer had the stomach for that either.

“Word got around quickly that Ali is here for you.” Edwyn grabbed the plastic handle of the glass jar of maple syrup from the center of the table and poured a liberal portion over his pancakes and muffin.

Eric flinched at all the sugar, but Edwyn worked hard. He’d need the calories. Eric would have to eat more for lunch or be exhausted by the end of the day after skipping breakfast. “She’s here to help Cole. Nothing more.”

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