Page 70 of A Touch of Frost
It took some doing but I explained what had happened with finding out my father wasn’t my father. “Can you dig to see if you can find anything?”
“I got you, brother.” Tex replied.
“I owe you.”
“That’s not how this family works.” Tex told him. “You need something, and we can help, we help. All we ask, is you have our backs like we have yours.”
“I can do that, for sure.” I sighed. “Thank you, brother.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I have something.”
“Yeah—um, Tex—have you heard from Frost and the others?”
“Um…” Tex paused. “They are on their way back toward you. Stop worrying.”
I nodded. “All right. Thank you.”
When Tex hung up, returned to the table, my appetite was gone, and Paul had been shoving his food around on his plate. There was something on his mind, but I had a feeling, I didn’t want to know what it was.
I didn’t have the brain space for any of that now.
By the time the others returned, I was an irritated mess. Somehow, I was able to hide what I was feeling, and we focused on going after Striker.
Frost kept staring at me and when we moved to take a break, she followed me outside and stood silently by my side. After a while, she shifted close and rested her head on my shoulder.
I exhaled softly.
“Paul remembered something from when he was kidnapped.” I told her after a bit.
“Oh, yeah?”
“A couple of things. He had to do a surgery. But it wasn’t on an American.” I turned and lifted my arm so she could step closer before I embraced her. Frost cuddled against me and I kissed her head. “He said middle eastern with a bullet wound.”
“That’s different,” Frost said. “Maybe we should get Tex to look into that. It would have been easier if he had a name. There are so many middle eastern men in play right now.”
“Tex is on it.” I sighed. “There is one other thing. He overheard them talking about offshore accounts. I told Tex about that bit of it too.”
“Good idea.” She replied, her voice sounded tired. “I can’t wait for this to be over.”
“Me too. Are we going after Striker tonight?”
“That’s the plan.” She replied. “I figure once we get him, life can go on.”
“And the middle eastern man?”
“Not on my radar right now.” She admitted before lifting her head away to look up into my eyes.
For a moment, neither Frost nor I spoke. Though this wasn’t the kind of moment I wanted to spend with her, I would take it.
“Are you staying here when this is all over?” It was a question that had been plaguing me since I realized how I was beginning to feel about her.
“I don’t know.” She replied. “I’ve been thinking of heading home again. It’s been a while since I’ve been state-side. But I—you make me want to go home again.”
I smiled. “Listen, as much as I would love having you back in the States, I don’t want you to do this because you believe it’s what I want.”
“Then why do it?”
“Well, do it because it will make you happy.”
