Page 34 of Hero's Prize

But the tightness around Lincoln’s lips indicated he obviously didn’t like it. Colton slapped him on the shoulder with a chuckle. “The kids will never know.”

Lincoln’s jaw clenched. “But I’ll know, and I’ll have to live with it.”

That was obviously a line that had been said to his cousin over and over during his life. Colton wasn’t surprised.

“That and the fact that I am not allowed to teach hacking skills to the children next week. Which is ridiculous. Understanding certain hacking principles will do nothing but help make them less susceptible to being hacked.”

Colton laughed at the despondency in Linc’s voice. “You going to catch a bite to eat with Bear?”

“Yes. I enjoy the chicken potpie the Eagle’s Nest has on weekend nights. You are not going to come?”

Colton shook his head. “Nah. I’m not very hungry.”

Lincoln was still studying the wall. “Ah, I misunderstood. I thought it might be because of your abnormal physiological reactions to seemingly temperate events throughout the day. Are you ill?”

Colton froze. Nobody else had noticed him trying to keep his crazy under control. But Lincoln, who had difficulty reading the simplest of nonverbal cues, had picked up on it—or at least thephysical reactions his body was having. Fortunately, the other man was unable to put together that it was panic attacks.

“I think maybe I’m coming down with something. But I’ll be fine. I just need rest.”

Lincoln looked over at him and then nodded. “Rest is good for illness. The body is more able to heal itself when it is fully rested.”

If Colton could manage to get a good night’s sleep, maybe his fucked-up brain would start healing itself.

Maybe not.

“I’ll catch you tomorrow, Linc.”

Colton walked toward his truck, not wanting to say much else to Lincoln, lest he put together what was actually happening. He got into his truck and drove it toward the bunkhouse. He didn’t know why he was staying here rather than at the place his parents still owned just outside of town.

Actually, he did. As soon as his parents found out he was staying in town, he had no doubt they’d be coming for a visit. He’d been avoiding them for good chunks of two months—only talking to them enough that they didn’t initiate some sort of intervention. He wasn’t ready to see them yet here.

As long as they thought he was on the road focusing on work, they wouldn’t get too concerned. But if they knew he was here, they’d swoop in. He was also thankful his brother Tucker had been sent on some extended mystery mission overseas and wasn’t around. Tucker tended to be a jokester, but hiding what was going on from him would’ve been nearly impossible.

That was the problem with being too close to your family—they figured things out damned quickly.

He parked his truck outside the tiny cabin Theo had given him to use, not that he’d been there very much. Hell, he didn’t want to go in there now either. The dark looked stifling, and he knew sitting there with his own thoughts was only going to lead to a long night.

He tapped the hood of his truck as he walked by. “See you soon.”

No doubt, he would be sleeping out here if he even slept at all.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

Ella wanted everything in this test kitchen to be perfect when the kids arrived in a few days.

She stood on her tiptoes to pull down a set of containers from the high counter so she could add flour to each one. That would save time when she taught the fundamentals of baking class next week.

Maybe her subject wasn’t quite as invigorating or important as the other things the kids would be learning—like wilderness survival and basic automotive mechanics—but baking was still fun.

This test kitchen had been built out of one of the old houses on the Linear Tactical property last year. It contained six different work counters, complete with sinks, and just as many ovens and stovetops.

So far, it had been used by some of the therapists who brought clients out to the property, but this was the first time it would be used by Ella. She wanted everything to be perfect.

Thus, being here at nearly midnight to do more setup, when she had to be back at her shop at five a.m. At least the crazy hour gave her time to talk to her sister on the phone while she worked.

“But thank God for no more morning sickness.”

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