Page 67 of Operation: Unify

“If they do, we’ll rebuild it. That place is too important. I say that even though I rarely go out there.” He snorted.

“Is Dee alright?” She had been in the lodge when Lacy had left with Ferd. Hopefully, she was still there and safe.

“Yes, she was playing checkers with Rebecca until about midnight when Rebecca wanted to go to bed. Now she’s hereasleep on the couch.” His voice changed when he talked about her.

Did Connor’s do that when he talked about Lacy, or had they been friends for so long that he was merely used to her? Was the ‘cute love’ gone?

“Will you tell him that we’re okay?”

Brendon made a sound of agreement. “Yes. I’ll also let you know when it’s safe for you to come back. Now is not it. While they think the two are in the chapel, the truth is, they don’t know. There are a ton of men canvasing the whole ranch. If they see anyone wandering around, it might be dangerous.”

She shivered. “I’d rather wait. I want to talk to him, but I don’t want to get shot trying to talk to him.”

“That’s the best plan. His phone is charging in his office right now, so he won’t know where you are, but I’ll do my best to get the message to him. I’ve been in contact with Edwyn most of the night.”

“Thank you, Brendon. Not sure what we’d do without you as the command center.” She wondered if sometimes he felt like he wasn’t as much of an asset to the ranch as he was, simply because he was in a wheelchair. It wasn’t true, so she hoped he didn’t.

“Thanks. My strengths aren’t of much use in the snow, but I was able to give Nadine a break after she’d been watching cameras for twelve hours. At this point, you should probably get some rest. Finding these guys could take a long time, then they have to process them and ready them for transport. All that takes time. There’s nothing fast about bringing criminals to justice.”

That was true, but the peace would hopefully last a long time. She was more than ready for a little of that. She signed off with Brendon and headed for the living room where all the women were gathered. Some had been at Wayside for about six months,others had just arrived. Though they ate meals together every day, they didn’t always get together to talk. This was probably the first time they had done so.

“Lacy, how is it going over at Wayside?” Kelly, Sam’s fiancée looked over at her with wide eyes. “Is . . . everyone okay?” Kelly swallowed so hard Lacy heard it across the room.

“Yes, Brendon said everyone is okay over there.” She repeated the details about the two men as she sat cross-legged on the floor.

“If none of the four were Viceroy, that means he’s still out there,” Kelly said, pointing toward the nearest window.

“Brendon is watching the cameras, and all the men are out looking for them. We are as safe here as we can be.” Though she suddenly felt a lot less tired.

Kelly drew her knees up to her chin. “I think I’ll stay awake until all of them are caught. And if they aren’t, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m not going back.”

Many heads slowly shook back and forth.

Lacy held up her hands, hoping to give them peace. “We’re all together and there are a dozen men hunting for them. Let’s keep praying and believing that this will work out for good.”

And Lord, forgive my own doubting heart.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Flickering light from inside the chapel alerted the group that someone was inside. Whoever was in there had covered the bottom half of all the windows to eliminate glow. Unfortunately for them, there was still enough light produced that the upper part of the windows revealed a glow visible from outside. They’d probably assumed the candles weren’t bright enough to see.

Trent pulled his service pistol from his holster beneath his FBI emblazoned coat. He and two of his men approached the door. He looked to Connor for the approval to open it. Connor had given the okay as they were walking out there. The men hiding had no rights, since they were on the property illegally.

Ross pulled out a tool that looked like a small battering ram. He’d jokingly called it the ‘big key’ when they’d told him how this would go down. It couldn’t be this easy. They’d said they were going to bust in the door, hopefully on the first try. Usually, the surprise was enough to allow them to move in and make arrests.

Connor had his doubts. Viceroy was slippery. He would try anything in order to get away, even if it was unplanned and risky. Viceroy didn’t care if anyone else was hurt, as long as he wasfree. Connor waited off to the side since that’s the job he was given to do. His men were supposed to leave the agents to their work.

Trent took the big key and slammed it right above the knob. The door splintered near the knob and gave way, squeaking open and leaving a split hole in the jamb. Before any of the feds could move in, shots blasted out from inside and everyone around him dove for cover.

Blood trickled down Ross’s face and he held his hand to his temple. He was calm but his hands were already shaking.

“Edwyn, call that in,” Connor yelled from his position. He was closest to Ross.

Edwyn glanced at his phone. “The emergency number hasn’t worked for over 24 hours. I’ll call the fire department. They have an ambulance.” He fiddled with hunting for the direct number for a minute, then called.

Connor crawled over to pull Ross out of the open and into cover. He hadn’t been able to move far. His earpiece had been severed where the bullet grazed his cheek. Now he was bleeding profusely.

With shaking hands, Ross dug into his cargo pants and tugged a bandana free. Connor grabbed it from him and used it to staunch the bleeding. He listened for the other two men, but the area was eerily silent.

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