Page 18 of Operation: Return

The thought stopped her as she riffled through the towels someone had left in the linen closet. Was she only thinking that way because of the job offer? Her reflection caught her eye in the mirror. When had she gotten so . . . old looking? Dark bags under her eyes aged her more than her years. Her once lush hair had thinned a little with stress and a constant ponytail or mom-bun.

“Who am I kidding. I should not be worried at all that taking a job here will mean permanence. When was the last time I even had hope of keeping a job longer than six months?” She shook her head and opened the medicine cabinet to get rid of her own reflection. Inside on the shelves were a few bottles of generic pain relievers, antihistamine cream, lotion, and a bottle of lavender essential oil scented bath salts with a hand written label that said, ‘1 scoop in bath’.

With directions like that, she couldn’t go wrong. A few minutes later, steam wafted from the old, claw-foot tub and the scent of lavender filled the room. After a little more hunting, Erica found shampoo and conditioner and promised herself she would sit for at least ten minutes without moving a muscle that didn’t involve breathing. She might be out of practice and struggle to sit long enough for the water to get cold, but she could promise herself ten minutes.

She lowered into the steaming hot water and a sigh escaped her that she hadn’t realized she needed. She slid down until the water almost touched her chin, closed her eyes, and focused on breathing in and out. In that quiet moment, her choice to come to the ranch seemed like the best decision in the world.

There, behind the quiet of her closed eyes, she could think rationally about her choices. She’d literally been looking for a job when Cole had driven up. Without one, she would lose her home. How could she dismiss a job offer just because she was afraid of keeping it? That was silly. She could cross that bridge at the end of the month. Even if they didn’t pay much, she could save every penny while they lived here since she wasn’t paying for housing or food.

Taylor’s mother had always said to never look a gift horse in the mouth. She’d never had an opportunity to use that phrase, until now. Thinking of Taylor was still painful and seeing his lookalike had only made it worse. What if she was being a fool and Cole was Taylor?

But wouldn’t the government have tried to correct the mistake if that were true? Wouldn’t they have notified Taylor’s parents and said, “I’m so sorry, but we made a dreadful mistake and your son is still alive?”

Unless they had and his parents were already dead . . . That hadn’t occurred to her when Cole had told her his story. He’d seemed sure the government wouldn’t bother to try. And maybe that was the case. But would they tell her the truth if she contacted them?

She shivered, realizing in all her musing about the job, her life, and Cole’s appearance the water had gone cold. Maybe holding still for ten minutes wasn’t so hard after all. She pulled the plug from the drain and let the water run out as she toweled herself off. The question of whether or not someone in the military or government would tell her the truth about Cole and Taylor wouldn’t let her go.

She would have to find out who his commander was and there was no easy way to ask that question, especially of a man who wanted her to believe he was a dead man. Even as she had the thought, uneasiness tensed her spine.

Why couldn’t she look at this rationally? Because she’d mourned him already, that was the easy answer. She’d mourned the loss with Taylor’s parents and that was the last time she’d really felt like part of a family until her son had come. The news of Taylor’s death and the reality of his parents’ deaths had come almost back-to-back and her life had been a dismal, dysfunctional torture until Pete had arrived.

Then she’d become part of something she’d never had, a family. Granted, it was just the two of them. They had no aunts or uncles, no grandparents, or any other branches to their tree. Pete never complained. He loved her wholeheartedly.

Admitting that Taylor was still alive, no matter how good that would be, would mean a change for them. Their little family would change. Even if they never formed a friendship, Taylor would have a right to see his son.IfCole was Taylor, then he deserved to know and part of her didn’t want to give up the relationships she’d always had or the right to parent like she always had.

What if Pete preferred his father? Pete had been the only one to ever love her unconditionally and she would be crushed if she lost that to anyone. Hadn’t he just an hour ago soaked up the attention from the men around him while ignoring her? She couldn’t ignore the possibility that he would prefer living with, and being raised by, a father.

Erica glanced in the mirror one more time. Her dark hair curled slightly on the ends where it had gotten wet and she shivered. She couldn’t just assume Cole was telling the truth. No one had looked out for her as a child until she’d met Taylor’s parents. Not one set of foster parents had ever treated her like she was one of their own. They’d been kind, but she’d never fit in.

Pete would come first. Always. No one would look out for him better than she would. That meant that Cole would not find out Pete was Taylor’s son until she was certain Cole was Taylor.

Was there another way? Was it possible the information she needed was right in the office where she was being asked to work? There had to be hiring records. Places like this didn’t hire just anyone off the street, they had to be vetted for safety reasons. Whatever they’d done to look into Cole’s past would be somewhere in that office.

She headed to the kitchen and picked up the phone on the counter, then followed the instructions to talk to Edwyn, though on the directions it said Connor’s office.

“Edwyn speaking.”

“Yes, this is Erica Jameson. I’ve decided to take you up on that job offer. I’d like to help out as much as I can, to make sure Lacy has an easier time when she returns.” While that was true, she felt like a liar. She would be spying on Cole, but Edwyn couldn’t know that.

“That’s great. I just finished the entrance interview with Trace and I was about to go check on Sam with Bubbles. He should be finished with the vet now. I’ll stop by your place on my way back through and show you where Teddy’s office is, since that’s where we’ve been putting everything. We can figure out from there what can be done.”

He wasn’t going to ask for any other information? Wasn’t he concerned about her or had they already looked into her past before Cole had come to find her? Unease gripped her stomach. “That’s fine. What do you need from me?”

“I’ll need your driver’s license and social security card. The rest is just a formality. You won’t have access to any client information, that’s private.”

Good, she didn’t want to know any more than she already did. But now that she had Edwyn on the phone, there were things she wanted to know that Cole hadn’t told her. “I will need to be able to return home in less than a month. What are the chances that can happen?”

Edwyn paused for a moment. “I think it’s best if we cross that bridge when we come to it. You’re not a prisoner here any more than anyone else. But if you were followed, you’ll want to make sure you’re safe before you return home.”

She swallowed, knowing the answer to her question before she even asked. “And what has to happen before I can be safe?”

“We need to stop the threat of Viceroy.”

She flinched as she thanked him and hung up. That was exactly what she was afraid of.

ChapterEight

Cole sat in Edwyn’s office waiting for the morning meeting to start. Brendon rolled into the meeting and closed the door behind him. “I see we have a new hire?” He arched a brow. Cole wasn’t sure how to answer, so he let Edwyn.