Page 64 of Target Acquired
After James had decided to call the lake house his permanent home, he’d made some improvements. He’d extended and covered the dock and put an outdoor kitchen and serving area on one end. The flames from the grill danced in the darkness and the water lapped gently against the sides. A direct contrast to the waves of turmoil battling it out inside Cole’s body.
“I need to know how to fix this, James. Without my attempts to do so backfiring on me and making it worse.”
“Yeah. One question.”
“Sure.”
“Was the moment irrelevant and unimportant?”
Cole shut his eyes. “No.”
“It got to you.”
“It did. She did. Does. From the moment she walked into headquarters and claimed her locker, she’s been getting to me. I’ve known her basically all our lives, but never once thought of her as anything other than Logan’s baby sister. But now . . .” He paused and opened his eyes to look at his friend. “I’m in trouble. And not just because I crossed the line as her supervisor, although I’m ashamed to admit that I sort of did. And then messed everything up even further when I tried to backpedal.”
“I know you, Cole. You’d never cross that line. At least not intentionally.”
He appreciated the vote of confidence, but still . . . “I wanted to offer her comfort and, like I said, fumbled it royally. Unintentionally, true, but there it is. If it was anyone else under my authority and they’d done something like that, I’d call them out on it, tell them to apologize and make it right, and that’s the plain truth.”
“Then the only way to fix this is to be honest with her.”
“I know.”
“Great. Glad we got that all worked out.” James patted his shoulder.
“Right. All worked out.” Cole shook his head and rolled his eyes at his friend. “Thanks for listening even though I don’t like your advice.”
“My correct advice.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Now that I’ve solved all your problems, I’m going to get some food before I take the polar plunge in that frigid water. I suggest you do the same. Besides, it takes calories to apologize and do it right.”
Cole directed a glare at his friend’s back. James’ knowing chuckle pulled a sigh from Cole, and he stood. He needed fortification before he talked to Kenzie. He knew that conversation would entail pulling his foot from his mouth while doing his best not to wind up swallowing it.
FIFTEEN
LAKE CITY STATE HOSPITAL
AUGUST 1947
Eliza rolled over and the twin cot creaked. Two days ago, Dr. King hadn’t been able to stop the therapy—how could they call it that?—and her head pounded like wild mustangs racing across the open land. The visual was beautiful. The feeling was not.
Her skull licked with residual flames and her body ached like every muscle had gone through an extreme workout. In a sense it had. She was quite surprised she’d survived. If she had to go through that again, she would surely die.
Her safe home was no longer safe and she had to figure out how to get out. A knock on the door stilled her. She had no energy to get up and greet whoever it was; however, when Dr. King slipped inside, she found the strength to sit up. “Where’s William? Why hasn’t he come for me?” Why wouldn’t her mind work properly? The look in his eyes didn’t bode well. “What is it?” she whispered.
“Betsy found William, remember?”
And just like that, a bolt stronger than any stupid therapy session zipped through her. “Is he coming to get me?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m so sorry, Eliza. You don’t remember this conversation?”
“No.”
“Betsy found William and he was in a horrific car accident. That’s why you haven’t heard from him.”
“What? No.” She stood and wobbled.