Page 50 of Forged in Steele

“Thanks, Gran. It all sounds great.” Bristol’s tone lacked the enthusiasm of her words. “But I wish you’d called me before coming.”

Artie raised an eyebrow behind his glasses. “You would’ve said not to come, and we had to do our part to help bring this little baby home.”

A family who believed in service. That’s what Bristol had said last night, and it had come through in the many stories she’d told about her family. That had always stuck with him, as did the fact that her grandfather loved to fish and share tall tales.

“We need to get to our morning report,” Jared said. “Let’s get the food served.”

“I’ve brought everything you need for a buffet,” Eloise said.

“She’s right.” Artie grinned. “I’m pretty sure I loaded up the kitchen sink too.”

Eloise swatted a hand at him. “We’ll set it up and be out of your hair in a flash.”

Bristol looked at Jared. “You can go back to the others, and I’ll help with the food.”

“Thanks again for feeding us,” he said. “I’d heard a lot about you all from Bristol, and you seem just like she described.”

Eloise’s eyebrow rose over her red glasses. “Heard about us?”

“When we worked as camp counselors together,” he said.

That brought a frown from the older woman. “Ah-ha!You’rethe one.”

“The one?” Was she referring to the fact that he bailed on her granddaughter?

“Never mind.” Bristol made shooing motions with her hands. “We’ve got this.”

He wanted to explore the situation more, but she was right. He needed to get back to the table and get his notes organized for the meeting.

He turned.

“So we finally know the mystery man’s identity,” her grandmother said loudly enough for Jared to hear. “And you have to work with him. What are the odds of that?”

“God works in mysterious ways,” Artie said. “Like why do some fish like one bait and other gamefish like another.”

Jared continued on to his seat, but he felt the couple’s eyes on his back. Seemed as if Bristol had told them about a guy she fell for at camp who bailed on her, but not his identity. He’d like a chance to explain himself, but now wasn’t the time. Now was the time to get this group moving forward in finding a baby who’d been missing for nearly twenty-four hours. Each hour that passed reduced the odds of finding her alive.

Bristol usually savored her gran’s cooking, but today the food prepared with love and attention all tasted like sawdust. Even the savory scent of rosemary filling the room didn’t fire off Bristol’s tastebuds like usual. Not so for her fellow teammates. Continued exclamations of joy for their breakfast sounded around the table as the group reviewed the upcoming undercover operation and took long looks at Bristol and Jared. She was proud of her grandparents’ kind gesture. She just didn’t want to stand out in a meeting where she was already the topic of discussion.

Wearing khaki pants, a blue FBI polo, and shoulder holster, Piper lumbered to center stage and scribbled notes regarding their undercover plan on the whiteboard, her marker squeaking with her hasty strokes. Late last night, she’d questioned Jared and Bristol about their pasts, interests, and hobbies and used the information to create a married, but childless couple named Christine and Shawn Young.

Piper snapped the cap on the marker and turned to look at the group. “Christine is a human resource manager, and Shawn a logistics expert. They met as counselors at a middle school camp. They broke up when Shawn was entering the Navy right after camp got out and didn’t think a long-distance relationship would work.”

Adair set down his scone, his focus pinned on Piper. “Good job on the backstory, Thorne, but I don’t buy the breakup. Seems contrived.”

Piper set the marker on the tray below the board. “Might seem that way, but the whole camp story is true.”

Adair swung his gaze to Jared. “Is that right?”

“Yes, sir,” Jared said, his face coloring. “Bristol and I met at camp before I left for my naval officer training.”

Bristol had wanted to sink under the table when her grandparents had shown up, but as all eyes swung to her now, she wished she could melt. Literally into a puddle. Instead, she rubbed her hands over the pleats on her skirt and lifted her shoulders. “We lived the story. Means we can sell it well and use it to our advantage with Holloway. The fewer things we have to make up, the less likely we’ll screw up.”

Adair gave a sharp nod, his dark eyes imposing. “Then we’ll go with the story. Just be sure if you have to share it with Holloway that youdosell it. Try to recall how you felt about each other back then and play it up.”

“We can do that,” Jared said.

Bristol wasn’t as certain and wished Jared would look at her so she could transmit her unease, but he kept his focus on his boss.

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