Page 31 of Operation: Discovery

He leaned against the low back of his chair and regarded her. She wanted to squirm because he didn’t answer for a full minute, as if he were running through in his head exactly what he wanted to say.

“Brendon. I’m not going to hurt her feelings. I’m not going to assume she can’t do anything. I’m not going to help her when she doesn’t want it. You can stop worrying about that.”

He glanced down at the papers on his desk, giving away that she’d hit the nail on the head with her assessment. He may not have realized he was doing it, but in his questions, he’d given away his reason for leaving.

Her eyes burned at the implications. Her support, or what she’d thought was support, had driven him away. She’d cost herself the love of her life because she hadn’t understood his needs. Her encouragement had not only fallen on deaf ears but had actually turned Brendon against her.

She wanted to reach out and tell him she was sorry for pushing him, but she still wanted those things for him. She still wanted him to try to be everything he could be. Was that bipedal bias? Was she pushing her own desires onto him?

“I’m glad I can trust you to do the right thing.” Brendon finally acknowledged what she’d said, then said no more.

If he wasn’t going to tell her and he wasn’t going to talk about what had happened, then she’d show him with her treatment of their mutual patient that she wouldn’t be how he expected her to be. She could be the person he’d hoped her to be before. The truth would then come from Rebecca, not her. It would be defending her actions, but coming from someone Brendon might see as being in the same situation as he’d been.

“What is your load like today?” She switched up the subject on him just like he’d done to her.

He crooked a brow at her, and she almost laughed. She could keep him guessing, too.

“I have one client coming in at eleven. Eric postponed his meeting until tomorrow as he and Ali had a rare chance to see each other. She’s been away, training to be a PI. He hasn’t seen her in weeks and didn’t want to interrupt their scarce time together with a session when I had the power and time to move it.”

The window into the lives of the other men at Wayside was nice. They were more human when they had histories, desires, likes, and schedules. She’d only met Sam, Teddy, Connor, and Brendon since coming, but there had to be more men who worked and lived at Wayside. “What job does he have?”

“He’s what we’d call a wrangler, just like the other guys. Though Sam does the least riding. He also acquires and trains all of our horses. He’s the man we trust to find horses that will work well with people who are frightened to try new things or who have never touched a horse in their lives.”

“Because the last thing you want to do is to scare them more,” she guessed.

“That’s it exactly. Some people never ride and that’s okay. The riding isn’t even the goal here, but it does give them a sense of freedom and accomplishment. That’s what we’re trying to do, give them something they can be proud of and carry with them when they decide the outside world isn’t as scary as it is when they arrived.”

She nodded, hoping Rebecca would be one of those who was able to find a place of accomplishment, whatever that looked like. She slid forward in her chair and locked gazes with Brendon. She had to help in some way, just like he was giving people hope, this washerhope.

“You help all these people and that’s wonderful. But we were the ones who found that fake blood drive. What if we drive around and look for another? They didn’t get what they wanted, and they must be desperate. If we act now, we could stop them.”

“You mean Adam? What about Jacob? Don’t you think he might have met their needs?”

Dee closed her eyes and hoped not. She hoped that whatever happened to Jacob, it wasn’t death on a cold metal table. “I think we should try. You said yourself that the police force out here is small and spread thin. We don’t have to do anything. We don’t have to act. If we find anything suspicious, we can call it in to the police. We need to use our eyes and our instincts. Our prayers.”

He took a deep breath. “I don’t disagree with you. I’m just worried about your safety and mine, frankly. These are people who won’t hesitate to kill us if they see us poking around.”

She nodded, knowing that if she met Jesus because she was trying to help children, especially lost children, he wouldn’t call her death a waste. “I am too, but I think we should do it, anyway.”

* * *

With swift movements,Brendon kept pace with Dee as she sped toward the front door. The moment he’d agreed to go with her, she was on a mission and couldn’t seem to slow down. She’d even asked that he reschedule his appointment that day so they could leave immediately. He had, only because he was worried Dee would race out without anyone at her side.

While he couldn’t prevent danger from happening, there was some safety in numbers. Thankfully, his client had been more than happy to postpone meeting with him until the late afternoon, when he was sure he would be back. He was sure because he would use that appointment as a very good reason to return to Wayside.

Dee’s heart was in the right place, and he couldn’t fault her for that, but they were not detectives. He worried that if they didn’t have a concrete reason to return, she might just keep them out there. He chuckled to himself. Dee and Ali would probably get along very well if they had the opportunity to meet.

His arms slowed and he fell behind slightly. What good would it do her to meet and befriend people from Wayside? Was that what he wanted? Was his subconscious trying to tell him something? He’d already slipped up earlier, letting her in on his state of mind more than he’d planned.

When she’d expounded on her reasons for treating Rebecca the way she had, he’d known he’d pushed her too far. He’d shown his thoughts without intending to. If he brought out the past and got all the of painful things out in the open, would that lead to healing or heartache? He’d seen both in his practice.

Dee dug in her purse for her keys and pressed the unlock button as she rushed for her car. His new rental sat in the lot, right where his old car used to. It wasn’t the same make or model. It was more compact than he was used to. He’d have Sam install his portable driving device, but he hoped the insurance company got back to him soon. That car wasn’t going to meet his needs for long.

He got into the car and waited for Dee to start the engine. “So, where did you have in mind to look?” Though he doubted they would try the same method. If there were nurses working for whoever was leading this group, then they had access to medical facilities. Making someone disappear from a hospital was probably difficult, but not impossible. They would only have to wait until someone came into the ER without family and no one to care for them. People died in the ER with enough frequency that no one would question what had happened.

“I’m not sure. But if we know that the head of the one group is out of Cheyenne, we should try going that way. Are there a lot of small towns in Wyoming?” She draped her arm over the seat, brushing her thumb against the back of his neck as she backed the car out of her parking spot. The slight touch unsettled him, making him want more.

“We can try. This feels a little like a needle in a haystack.”

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