Page 1 of Operation: Integrity

Prologue

Connor hung up his desk phone and massaged the tender skin between his eyes as a reluctant sigh escaped his lips. Why weren’t there any easy decisions in his world? Six months of work would come crashing down around him if he didn’t make a serious decision. One that would involve making a change to the very fabric of Wayside Ranch.

“Anything I can do?” Lacy, his ex-wife, strode into his office without knocking and sat in a chair opposite his desk. “You look like you’ve had a rough year, which is interesting because you’ve married off three of your men in the last six months. You’d think you’d be overjoyed that your plan is working.”

That hadn’t been his intended goal, but it pleased him to hear it. The positivity from his men was a nice bonus. Months ago, he’d challenged all his men to take a good, hard look at one big regret when it came to women. They’d all had them, even himself, to be honest. He’d hoped they all would be better at helping the human trafficking victims who came their way if each of his mencould understand what facing those regrets was like in real life.

He didn’t expect any of those who stayed at Wayside to look for marriage, so in that way things were different, but at least each of his men had a new perspective. Those who had been through the process were more understanding than those who hadn’t been.

“I don’t think so.” He closed his laptop. “Kelly Chambers isn’t coming for another week and only if I can prove there are no tracking devices on the premises. Since I have so many cameras for security and safety, I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said there aren’t any. After we took the gate down at Deputy Blake’s request, the cameras are our best means of defense.”

Lacy leaned toward his desk, her pretty dark brows furrowed. “I’m still torn over this. I know you want Sam to face his regret, but this will be hard on both of them. As to our security, they can’t expect a place like this to run without any protection. We’ve removed the gate, like you said. I’m not okay with even less security. How are any of us supposed to feel safe when anyone could walk on the property? Did you tell them we had someone literally row a boat down the river to get to us just a month ago?”

He massaged his nose again, the pressure in his head deepening. “Deputy Blake didn’t appreciate that either. He’s of a mind that we keep the cameras. I’m just not sure how to do thatandsay we have no tracking devices.” The local deputy had offered to deputize all of them because he didn’t have the manpower to run security way out there, but the gate hadn’t been a deterrent and could instead slow down police response.

She tucked her feet under her, curled in a ball in his chair. No one else ever looked so comfortable in his officeand he would never ask her to act any other way. Lacy glanced off at the ceiling. “What about Dominic and The Guardians? Could they come back here in place of the cameras?”

He’d thought about that. Dominic was trustworthy, but that option came with snags, too. “For how long? They have their own work to do. I could ask him to send a person or two, but what if Kelly is here for six months or a year?”

“Or forever?” Lacy’s eyes laser focused on him. “I know you’re worried because she’s a victim. I’m worried, too. I certainly don’t think it will happen the moment they see each other, but we’ve had guests stay for years before. Even before these missions started. Knowing that, we can’t assume she won’t ever fall in love or heal because of what she’s been through. Either you believe the power of God is strong enough to heal even this, or you’re limiting His power.”

Maybe he was, but he was also trying to be realistic. He’d never witnessed a victim who’d stayed with them willingly turn to a romantic relationship. Maybe they did long after they were done with Wayside, but never while he was following their progress. “I can’t hope for that. She has been victimized just like so many other people who come through that door. I really think this is the one regret mission that will lead to . . . who knows. I’m hoping for reconciliation, nothing more.”

She stared at him for a moment and an uneasy feeling passed over him, one he wasn’t unfamiliar with. She was about to tell him exactly why he was wrong. “The only one, huh?”

How could he know how the others would go? He’d only just reached out to Edwyn’s past relationship,Nadine, and she was still pensive about coming. His father wouldn’t be able to because Mom had passed away years ago. Those were the only two left after Sam.

“I have no idea if Edwyn will have success. How can I know that? I only know Sam has the world stacked against him. He even told me he has no desire to start anything romantic with Kelly.”

“All the men have said that so far, but that’s not what I meant.” She unfurled her legs, put her feet square in front of her and leaned forward, looking at him. “I’ve told you what I think of these second chance missions. We,” she pointed to herself first, then him, “willnotbe doing that. So, you’d better keep any thoughts you have about trying this for yourself, to yourself.”

He’d hoped after watching the positive outcomes with the others her mind would change, but why would it? He’d inflicted darkness on her life. He’d come back from his time in the service as a completely different man than the one she’d married. He didn’t deserve a second chance like the others. His men were good. He was not.

“I never said I would try. I was talking about my men.”

She stood and crossed her arms, a rare moment of weakness splashing over her face. “Good, because I don’t want to leave. I like it here.” She turned and left, leaving the door open wide.

He let his shoulders fall, the weight of his desire to repair what he’d done to Lacy weighing so heavily on him he almost felt the imaginary boulder on him. There would never be another Lacy. He didn’t even want to find anyone else. He’d hoped that, with time, she would want to be with him again. She cared about him, that had never stopped, but she couldn’t be married to him. She insisted they were better as friends than anything else.

So, his second chance had already come and gone.

No time to think about that now. He had to do what he could to make sure Sam had the best chance possible. He picked up the phone one more time and punched in the number for Dominic Anderson, head of The Guardians, a security force that worked with him on another project months before.

Dominic answered on the third ring. “Connor, this is a surprise.”

He held in a chuckle. Dominic was always one step ahead. “Probably not. You seem to know everything, sometimes before we think of it. Not sure how.”

Dominic laughed softly. “I’m not omniscient, by any means. What can I do for you?”

Connor took a deep breath and laid out the issues the same way he had with Lacy a few minutes before. “So, our hands are tied. Kelly’s caseworker is concerned about tracking devices being hacked. Not sure why they are so convinced she will be targeted for tracking. Kelly was directly linked to Evie Carvel, though we didn’t find that out until after we’d accepted her application, meaning her life is in danger.”

“You would have invited her, anyway. You don’t need the whole team? Just a few?”

Connor couldn’t risk upsetting the applecart. There were currently four residents working through their anxieties and trying to regain some stability at Wayside. Asking for a bunch of guys in tactical gear to come and be present would make their temporary home a lot less of an escape. “No more than two. I’m going to ask her caseworker for understanding. If you have someone on your team who knows tech better than my dad, then we can use that to our advantage. Preventing anyone from hackinginto our security system is better than reacting when something happens.”

“I’ve got just the people. They’ll be there in a few days.”

“Thanks, man.” And he truly meant it. Dominic and his team were professionals, and he hoped they’d gotten their feet off the ground at their new home in Duluth, MN.

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