Page 34 of Operation: Integrity

Zeus laid down, pressing his nose into her side. He was a good boy, the best boy. She’d always wanted a dog, and Zeus was like an answer to prayer. Her mind immediately reminded her that maybe God was providing an answer to her prayers in His time, not hers. “I’ll keep him and take good care of him.”

Sam nodded, as if she’d given the answer he expected. “Then I’ll move his bed and dishes over to your house. I’llbring over some food, too I want you to keep him with you at all times, even when you come to the house to eat. Okay?”

It was somewhat like house arrest with a great big furry protector, but at least she didn’t have to move yet. “Understood.” She scratched Zeus behind the ear, and he raised his head letting his tongue loll to the side. She unclasped the watch and handed it to Sam. Time for Nathan to know she chose freedom.

She wasn’t quite ready to take the plunge and let Sam give her all his time. But a dog . . . that was easy.

Sam grippedthe watch tightly as the sounds of the kennel surrounded him once again. The thing buzzed, shaking him from his thoughts of Kelly and what he needed to do to build her trust. He glanced down at it as a text came through.

A little worked up, are you? Where were you last night?

Max, a sweet golden retriever, came through the dog door, bulldozing a large rock with his nose as he often did. Sam had never figured out why the dog liked rocks, but it didn’t matter how often he scoured the yard for them, Max would find more.

“Bring that here, buddy,” Sam called to Max.

The dog looked up at him with what could only be called a smile on the older dog’s muzzle. He pushed the rock with his nose, like a kid kicking a soccer ball down a street, side-to-side until he’d made it to Sam’s feet.

“Mind if I borrow your toy?” He pointed to the largegranite looking rock roughly the size of a softball by his foot.

Max whined, but laid down, giving Sam permission to play with his toy. Sam picked it up and laid the watch down on the cement floor. Since Max’s ears had been injured a few months back by a bomb, he sent the dog back a few feet. Max didn’t want to go, probably since he’d lost so many rocks to Sam.

“I won’t take it. I’m just borrowing it. I promise.” Max laid down by the dog door, clearly pouting over the loss of his rock.

Sam picked it up and smashed the watch, just enough to make sure it wasn’t going to track anything again, nor would Kelly ever see another text. He hoped Nathan was angry. Angry enough to do something stupid. The police and feds knew he was in the area. All they needed was for him to slither out of hiding.

Sam nudged the rock back toward Max. “Here you go. Thanks, buddy.” He made sure every tiny broken piece of the watch was picked up. The last thing he wanted was for this to cause his dogs any harm. It had done enough damage.

He took the watch to the main house and knocked on Connor’s door. To his surprise, Edwyn was already there. “Can I come in?”

“Probably a good idea. We happened to be talking about you.”

Sam took a seat. “I figured as much. What now?”

“Edwyn feels like I’m not putting enough emphasis on Kelly’s healing. He thinks I’m letting these second chance missions get in the way, and that having you work with Kelly is only going to hurt her. Would you agree?”

He wasn’t sure what to say. In many ways, Edwyn wasright. There was no easy answer in this case. Kelly didn’t trust anyone else, and she currently felt so bad about herself that any change and her healing would continue to be stunted.

“I think we need to not rock the boat right now. She does not want to move from her cabin. She’s already had to switch wranglers and deal with the contention that has caused. Not only that, she doesn’t really get along with Edwyn, yet he keeps trying to help her. It’s not helping. It’s only adding more confusion to the situation. Edwyn spoke to me yesterday, warning me to keep my distance. When I do that, she suffers.”

Edwyn shook his head. “See what I mean? There is no way he can be impartial.”

Sam took a deep breath. “Today at church, she was sure that she’d done something wrong, probably because I didn’t sit with her. The reason I didn’t was because Edwyn told me not to.”

Connor glanced from Sam to Edwyn. “Why did you tell him not to sit with her? It’s customary for wranglers to stay with their guests if they choose to come to chapel. Otherwise, they’re left alone. That’s the last thing we want.”

“I was there. I sat with her. Rebecca actually asked her first. She wasn’t alone.”

Sam couldn’t allow Edwyn to force Connor into doing anything. “Kelly doesn’t know either of you. Why do you think she ran out of the church?” Sam resisted the urge to raise his voice. It wouldn’t change anything, and he’d only end up looking more emotionally invested. He was already walking a fine line here.

“The service got to her. She made small noises allthrough to the end.” Edwyn crossed his arms in an obvious challenge.

“And how did you address her distress?” Connor asked. “I didn’t notice, though I was closer to the front.”

“Since she was being somewhat loud, I gave her a look that I hope let her know that people could hear her.” Edwyn didn’t seem the least bit concerned that his response might be taken as anything but commendable.

Connor frowned and his brows gathered. “And did that work?”

Edwyn shifted in his chair. “Not especially.”

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