Page 11 of Operation: Return

Trace slammed a fist on the table and Pete sat up in bed with a muffled cry. Trace immediately looked contrite and made the sign for sorry. Erica left the little group and headed over to her son. At this point, after sleeping for a few hours, he’d either go right back to sleep or his body would consider what he’d had a good nap and be up for hours.

She kneeled beside the bed. “It’s okay. We stopped for the night at a hotel, but we’re fine. Get some good rest because tomorrow you’ll get to meet the horses.” She brushed the hair off his forehead.

He looked so innocent there, bundled in the covers with his sleepy blue eyes.

“I heard something.”

She tried to smile to keep the worry off her face. “It was nothing. Trace accidentally hit the table. That’s all.” She bit her tongue when she realized Pete wouldn’t know who Trace was and his curiosity might make him question her.

She breathed a sigh of relief as he closed his eyes again and his breathing soon evened out. Slowly, she stood and came back to the table. “So, I don’t have a choice. I have to go to this ranch. What about when I want to go home in a month?” Because she absolutely would. Nothing would get her to stay now.

“This is a threat we need to neutralize. We have too much at stake to push them, but now we may have to. They aren’t going away. Without taking actions to keep our residents safe, we risk losing everything Connor has spent ten years building.”

“Who is Connor?” Every time Cole opened his mouth it muddied the waters with more information, making her more confused.

“He’s the man who owns Wayside Ranch. It is a place for people who have been trapped in human trafficking to heal and slowly regain the ability to live as normal a life as possible.”

Erica held her breath as her mind screamed a warning. Human trafficking. She glanced at Trace and he’d hung his head, refusing to look up at anyone. Bubbles moved from her side to his and nosed his knee until Trace moved to pet him. She couldn’t help but think the dog was going to do well in a place for healing.

But what about her? For her, this ranch would be like a well-appointed jail. She and her son couldn’t leave until this threat was gone. Her little gun in the back of her jeans was great, but that would only keep men away for so long. She couldn’t even claim she’d used the gun often enough to shoot well. Her son was with her all the time, so when could she practice?

“So Connor is going to get some sort of investigation going?” And how long would that take? Granted, she didn’t watch much television, but crime shows made the process seem really long. She didn’t want to celebrate Pete’s graduation by finally being able to leave Wayside.

“Connor is in the hospital recuperating from getting shot.” Cole’s voice didn’t change modulation at all, making her feel like he was trying to be honest but also to give her the barest of facts.

“Someone shot him?” If she couldn’t go home, she’d catch a bus. Somewhere. Anywhere but on this ranch with these guys and this danger. What in the world had she done?

“Yes, he was protecting Scarlet.”

Trace flew to his feet. Bubbles yelped and ducked under the table.

Cole held up his hand for calm. “She’s fine. She requested that we look for you. That’s the thing. We weren’t sure what to think. After Connor was shot, things went silent. We learned not long ago that every one of the men and the one woman who were arrested all died in custody. Viceroy must have been focused on them. If there had been any hint of danger before I left, I wouldn’t have come to get you.”

“Why did you?” She had to know. Taylor wouldn’t have joined a ranch like this. He’d planned to be in the military for life. The marines and the United States were the most important things in the world to Taylor. He’d planned to marry her after he’d returned from deployment, but he’d told her he was a lifer.

Nothing could’ve been more true. He’d given his life for his country.

“It was time you knew the truth.”

She shook her head, refusing to give in. “You might look like him and know a few things, things he could’ve told you at some point, but there’s one thing you will never replicate and that’s Taylor’s heart. I’ve watched you and the way you look cold. You aren’t Taylor and I will never believe that you are.”

ChapterFive

Trace stood, silently and effectively excusing himself from the conversation that obviously bothered him. Cole wished he didn’t have to put Trace through this, but, if this was Viceroy’s men, they had most likely been looking for Trace. He had the biggest connection to Scarlet and they’d probably been watching for someone to get him.

He couldn’t tell Trace that his timing was a miracle when Trace would feel that it was anything but. Trace yanked a blanket from the small dresser in the room, grabbed a pillow from the middle of one of the unused beds, and headed for the sofa.

Cole had planned to tell him to take the bed since he likely wouldn’t get much, if any, sleep but the man looked like he didn’t want to hear anything Cole had to say.

Erica looked at him, waiting. Just seeing her was killing him. He wanted to start right back where they’d been when he’d last seen her. He wanted to caress her cheeks and guide those lovely lips to his own, claiming them. He wanted to hold her until she knew for sure that he was who he said he was.

Except in a lot of ways, she was right. When the military had let him down, he’d lost more than his name. He’d lost his whole identity. He was an officer, some would say a hero. He’d had aspirations of becoming a Warrant Officer. Their ‘mistake’ and the red tape to fix it had left no room for the military in his life. He would always act like a marine, but he would never again be a marine.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” He kept his voice low in the small room.

“You don’t look it. You don’t even sound like it.” She stood and crossed her arms.

Trace started softly snoring and the realization that he was—basically—alone with Erica hit him. He’d only loved this woman. No other. There had never been anyone else he’d wanted. But that wasn’t the case with her. She’d loved someone else. And now he had to protect Erica and the child she’d had with some other man.