Page 56 of Operation: Return

Cole broke with the usual rules forbidding touching the guests, since he already had and gripped Trace’s shoulder lightly until he looked Cole in the eyes. “Edwyn has more information and he wants us to return now. I don’t know what this was about, but we will find Pete.”

Trace firmed his jaw and turned away from him, climbing back into the car next to Katrina. Cole took one last glance around the ranch buildings. He felt the tingly sense of eyes on him. Someone was watching from somewhere.

He and Dominic had looked in the obvious places. Unless whoever was there had managed to get into one of the barns, there were few other places to hide on the wide-open ranch. He wished they had more time to look, but Edwyn had given an order. Fall back.

Time to regroup.

* * *

Spenser strodeinto Brendon’s office and Erica jumped at the sudden intrusion. Dominic’s men were different from the Wayside men. They were a little more brash, a little less cognizant of the people around them. She assumed it was because they hadn’t trained to work near people who needed that extra understanding. Maybe she needed the special treatment as much as those who’d come to heal.

“Sir? You needed me?” He widened his stance and clasped his hands behind his back, at ease.

Brendon rolled his chair over to the whiteboard along his wall and wrote the names of the two men who had identical credentials he’d found earlier. He turned to Spenser. “What do you know about these two?”

Spenser glanced at the board then at Brendon and Edwyn and said nothing for a few moments. “The first name is a man I trust with my life. Ihavetrusted him with my life. He’s been with our team almost since the start. The other is new. He only joined us within the last month. He was a relative of someone who works in our administrative office.”

Brendon took over the questioning. “Has Dominic ever said anything that might suggest this man is not trustworthy?”

“Nothing to me. He’s new though, still getting the grunt jobs and taking the green work. He doesn’t even go on teams with most of us, only a select few.”

“Who does he team up with?” Brendon waited and Erica had to hand it to him, he gave nothing away. If he wanted information from Spenser, and not to clue him in they suspected him of anything.

“Usually Artemis. He’s trustworthy though. Why all the questions? I don’t feel right about answering anything without Dominic here. Why aren’t you asking him?”

Someone knocked on the door and Brendon told them to enter. Dominic and Cole came in and suddenly the room felt overly full. Erica felt out of place, like she didn’t belong there anymore.

“Something I should know?” Dominic looked up at the board, then at Spenser.

“One of your guys hasn’t been honest with you.” Brendon handed Dominic the two sheets.

“That’s not Frank’s information. I interviewed him myself.” He turned the page over. “Where did you get this?”

Edwyn answered, “From your office. They sent over all the background information when I asked for it.”

“So, this Frank whose information isn’t correct, is here on our property, and he isn’t who he says he is?” Cole stated what Erica was thinking but was too afraid to say.

Dominic reached for his phone and Edwyn held up his hand to stop him. “If you say anything right now, and he’s the one who has Pete, what do you think he’s going to do?”

Dominic nodded and shoved his phone back in his pocket. “Fine. What’s your plan?”

“First, thank you for being honest and understanding that we had to look at everyone. Second, we need to draw this guy away from whoever else he’s with. He couldn’t possibly be doing this alone since you always have your men work in pairs.”

“Agreed,” said Dominic.

“Is it possible Artemis is working with him? Or Spenser?” Edwyn asked, only looking to Dominic and not the potentially guilty man in the room.

Dominic made a negative sound in his throat. “Not possible on either count. Both of those men are solid. Is there anywhere close to the ranch Frank could be keeping the boy? I expect my men to be available on command. No questions asked. The man I pair him with, I trust. I don’t know how he’s managing to do anything without being seen.”

“Then the first thing we need to figure out is if he’s working alone or with someone who’s helping him when Artemis isn’t looking.” Brendon flipped to another page and ran his finger down the sheet. “There’s nothing that stands out on Artemis’ bio or history. That doesn’t mean he’s clean though.”

Dominic visibly tensed. “I know you have no reason to trust him, but I do. None of them will know that we had this conversation. Spenser, you will not say a word about any of this. If you see anything, notify me immediately. I’ll keep an eye on both Artemis and Frank. I’ll split them up and see what happens.”

“That’s great, but that’s not good enough. We have a little boy who has now been away from his mother for going on five hours. He’ll be tired, hungry, and scared. We need to get him home which means we need to act right now,” Brendon pointed at the papers so hard the tap scared Erica.

“You want me to bring them in?”

Dominic’s question surprised Erica. She’d assumed he would put up more of a fight about his men. Then again, if he trusted them as implicitly as it seemed, he either had nothing or everything to lose.