Page 28 of Operation: Integrity

The image of Kelly and Nathan haunted his thoughtseven after he’d put the pictures back in the box. He’d been trained to see signs of human trafficking now, but if he’d known back then, he might have saved her. If he’d only tried to be a little more assertive, but that just wasn’t who he was. One of the women he’d served with in the Army had called him a cinnamon roll, whatever that was. He was still fit, no muffin top to speak of, so he had to assume that was a dig at his character.

“If I apologize for walking away and tell her that I know she knew Nathan before I left, will that encourage her to tell me the truth now?” he mumbled as he headed to the bathroom to wash the dust off his hands, He scrubbed all the dark smudges away, then feeling a tickle in his nose he splashed water on his face for good measure. That picture needed to go to Connor, so he would know about what had happened and when, but was Kelly ready for that? Maybe asking Brendon would be a good idea? He just didn’t know. There was so much between them, yet they couldn’t deal with any of it until she’d had a chance to deal with being trafficked first. He’d never thought the two issues would be so intertwined.

Sam grabbed a duffle bag and slowly packed some of his clothes, his alarm clock, some items from his bathroom, and his favorite pair of slippers. If he needed anything else, he could come back and get it. The ring was warm against his skin from the hot water and caught his eye. Would she notice it? She’d told him to leave earlier. There had to be some way to call a truce between them and let her know that he was a man of honor. She could trust him. He wouldn’t hold their shared past against them.

He shouldered the duffel and headed for the door, then turned around, gathered the box of memories underhis arm, and headed for the cabin that would be his home for . . . who knew how long. But if he was going to start over, he had to do so understanding that the past was the past. Just because he lived through it, didn’t mean he knew the truth.

Chapter Thirteen

Kelly glanced at her watch, unsure of what she should do next. There was an hour until she was supposed to meet Nathan and darkness already prevented her from knowing where she needed to go. In the daylight, she could find the pasture they’d used. In the dark, she was lost. Maybe she should’ve left her cabin more.

Then again, according to Sam she’d be moving tomorrow.No, you won’t.Her inner voice startled her, mostly because it didn’t sound like her. If she met with Nathan, he wasn’t going to let her go back to her cabin. For the first time, she considered the fact that this might be how those people Nathan had bragged about never getting away had all disappeared. They’d either been rescued, or he’d found and disposed of them after they’d escaped.

She leaned against a tree, trying to find the area where she’d ridden with Sam. Maybe if she had her horse, it would know where to go. Saddling it would be impossible, though. She’d only ridden once and hadn’t paid the slightest attention when Sam had saddled it. No. She hadto do this on her own. The whole point was to make sure Jasmine was still alive and to make Nathan left Wayside alone.

She hadn’t met any of the other guests. Other than seeing Rebecca, she hadn’t even seen them. There were only a few of them, but since she hadn’t gone to a meal yet, she hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to anyone. Nathan wouldn’t want anything to do with a woman in a wheelchair, but what if Nathan wasn’t there just for her? What if his real plan was to take all the women who lived at Wayside Ranch?

A twig snapped in the distance, and she held in a scream. That wasn’t going to help her get there without anyone noticing. A cold, wet nose pressed into her palm. Odd that the feeling was a comfort. She glanced down to find Zeus standing at her side.

She shook her head and kneeled, whispering softly to the dog so no one else would hear her. “You can’t be here. I need to go, and you can’t go where I’m going.” The overwhelming urge to hug the dog and succumb to more tears was almost unbearable.

Zeus gave a soft snort, similar to a whimper, though the muscular dog could barely manage the weak sound. Kelly needed a dog like Zeus in her life. A dog who cared about her safety and found her even when his master didn’t know where he was.

“Kelly?” Sam’s voice cut through the darkness.

Kelly closed her eyes tightly and jumped back to her feet. She pressed her back to the tree, wishing Zeus would go away, yet she wouldn’t hurt him and couldn’t speak to tell him to go. She nodded her head slightly in the other direction, hoping he would get the hint.

Zeus sat down instead and tilted his head, as if he was curious what she was doing.

“Kelly?” He was only a few feet away now. “What’cha got there Zeus?” Sam’s voice was so friendly toward the dog. No one had cared for her like that since Sam, talking to her in a voice laced with care and affection. She hadn’t realized how much she’d craved that, needed that, until that moment.

Sam came around the tree and glanced at her. “Out for a walk?”

She’d expected condemnation. At the very least, she’d expected to hear that she was in trouble. Even with the coat, it was freezing outside. Not the kind of weather that would usually make her want to take a stroll.

“I just needed to be outside,” she said as she lifted her chin in mild defiance. Sam wasn’t her boss. She shouldn’t have to answer to him.

“There are large animals in Wyoming that might appreciate a wandering woman all alone in the dark. If you don’t want me to go with you, take Zeus. It seems like you like his company and he’ll protect you. Though even Zeus can’t do much against a bear.”

“Bear?” her voice definitely squeaked that time.

“Not often, but sometimes.” Sam didn’t seem to want to leave.

Asking him to do that the day before had been one of the hardest things she’d done since coming to Wayside. “Why are you out here, Sam?”

“You missed supper. I brought your tray, and you weren’t home. We don’t care if you go out for walks, but it’s pretty standard procedure to let someone know where you’re going or at least that you won’t be in your cabin, so we don’tthink you’ve been kidnapped. It’s a real fear when all the people we work with have been trafficked. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who become victims a second time: more than one in four. We’re trying to change that, by equipping our guests not only with the means to talk, but to know their surroundings and be aware.”

One in four. And in less than an hour, she would either add to that statistic, or she would help add to another one. “And how many die?” she whispered.

Sam looked away, his face shadowed in the dark. “That’s a tough statistic. Both to think about and to find the answer to. A guess is almost worthless, so why don’t we say that if even one person dies, it’s too many,” he matched her moderated tone.

Everything inside her urged her to tell him. If he knew the situation, maybe he could help her come up with a plan. She’d never been good at thinking ahead, but Sam was a professional at it.

“He’s going to kill her, Sam.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the tree. She didn’t want to talk about her time ‘there’, but Jasmine had been the closest friend she’d had.

Sam moderated his voice, “If you’re ever going to trust me—and I hope you do because we’ll be in the same cabin as of tomorrow—then I have to trust you with what I know. Dominic knows about the texts you’ve been receiving and sending. We’ve read them. I remembered Jasmine and even had her in a picture. I gave that to Dominic.”

---