Page 43 of Operation: Unify

“Connor!”

He laughed, despite the fact that she stared daggers at him. “Lacy, I know that there are risks either way. One way risks your life and I’m not willing to look at that option. The other has risk too, but as soon as Tod is caught, the risk is gone.” He wasn’t ready to admit that he didn’t want to build a bridge between himself and his brothers if it meant hurting Lacy.

“How do you expect me to have a comeback for that?” She planted her hands on her hips.

He slid his own to her waist and pulled her in close, then rested his forehead to hers. “You can say whatever you want,darlin’, and I will listen. I may not change my mind, but that’s because I’m a stubborn, old, good-for-nothing cowboy.”

She leaned in and kissed him so soft and quick he almost missed it. “I know quite well what you’re good at.” She walked off down the hallway, leaving him standing there. “Are you coming?”

He shook his head and caught up to her quickly. He held his tongue because he knew he hadn’t won yet and he wasn’t going to take her back home just yet.

“Admit that your brothers are part of the reason you don’t want to. All I need is for you to be honest with me.” She kept walking, gaze straight ahead.

“Fine. That’s a very small part of it. You mean more to me than they do. That’s history. You’ve treated me better, even after what I did to you.”

She stopped dead in her tracks and looked over at him. “You mean that?”

He snorted as he finished walking to the door and held it open for her. “I’ve never been more serious.”

Chapter Sixteen

Spending the night in Connor’s truck wasn’t an option so they had to find somewhere to go that was close enough to respond if Melinda needed them and far enough away that Tod couldn’t find them. Lacy let him make that decision, since it relieved her of the stress.

He drove out of town and took the entrance ramp onto the highway. She didn’t remember anything along the road, so they had to be heading out of town in a direction she’d never gone. She stared out the window, waiting for Connor to break the silence.

She was still mulling over the idea that Connor had placed her safety above the importance of seeing his family. She’d assumed because he’d wanted the divorce that her importance was equal or less than that of his blood family.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me that you thought I was important?” she mumbled, trying not to sound like she was accusing him of anything.

He took a deep breath and scratched his jaw, the whiskers making a loud raspy sound. “I don’t know. After our divorce, there were a lot of landmines in our relationship. We had tonavigate everything all over again. What right did I have to tell you that you were the most important person in my life when, by my own actions, I showed you that you weren’t? It’s a convoluted mess, but feelings are just that.”

His honesty didn’t surprise her. He could be counted on, without question. “When you came home from serving, and you didn’t want to talk to me anymore. I was broken. I wanted to help you return to civilian life. I’d read books that talked about what spouses could do to help their soldiers make the switch. I even understood that you might always think or act like those men were family. I wasn’t prepared for you to remove me as part of your family so you could replace my friendship with that of others.”

He shook his head slowly. “That was never the case. My guys are family, but they didn’t replace you. It’s a long story and I’m all out of words today. I just want you to know, from where I’m sitting, from my thought process, I wasn’t replacing you with friends.”

She didn’t press any further for information. He’d already said more than she’d expected him to. A text came through on his phone and she pulled it from the cubby where he’d stored it. The text was from Randy.

Dad is kicking me out. He thinks I’m making the wrong choices as usual. I’ve decided to drive around and look for Tod or Cal. I’ll call them in if I see them.

She read the text out loud to Connor and the area between his eyes puckered slightly. “He’s going to find himself in the line of fire. I should call him and tell him to come to the hotel where we are. He can stay away from the action that way.”

Lacy stared at the road ahead and tried to remember why the other local hotel was a bad idea, but she was too focused on Randy. “Unless he doesn’t want to. Maybe he feels like some of this is his fault, since his phone led to us being found?”

“I hope not. His father thought he was doing the right thing. Sounds like his father isn’t the greatest guy in the world either.”

She’d gotten the impression that his father like to push him to be better but kept moving the bar higher and higher until Randy had simply given up ever reaching ‘good enough’. “I pray that he doesn’t get hurt and isn’t seen.” But if he could help the police find the brothers, then Melinda and Lacy would be safe.

Connor said, “He mentioned there were bars where the brothers drank all night. I wonder if that’s where he was headed?”

“Want me to ask him?” Lacy held up the phone. That seemed like the easiest way to find out.

“Sure.” He flipped on his blinker and went around a slower car.

Lacy typed out the message and hit send. An answer came back in less than a minute.

Yes. The Pretty Pint is where they go. I’m waiting down the street to see if they come tonight. They may decide not to since they’re wanted.

“They would be smart to lay low, but no one ever said they were smart,” Connor said after she read the text aloud.

---