Page 67 of Operation: Return
“Oh.” Erica crossed her arms and glanced between Pete and Lacy, obviously unsure if she should work or take her son.
Cole didn’t want to give him up quite yet, but they still hadn’t caught Frank or any of the men who’d held Pete for ransom. Until those men were found, he’d be a fool to leave Pete alone. “He can stay with me.”
Lacy glanced at the little area where guests sometimes sat under an awning in the morning for breakfast. “Are we here too early? Where is everyone?”
Erica took a deep breath. “I think you have a lot to catch up on. This last week has brought a lot of new dangers to light. Everyone is still in hiding as far as I know.”
“In hiding?” Lacy looked at Cole, then Pete. “I’d better go inside and find out what’s going on. Erica, I’m glad to have your help. Why don’t you meet me in Teddy’s office in about twenty minutes.”
Cole watched the two women head for the house as Junior came to his side. “Have you talked to Erica at all? I mentioned the ranch not only for myself, but others.”
At least he’d kept what he had to say vague. “I don’t know that I’ll need it.” He tried to smile at Pete. “But I think Erica mentioned she was going to be struggling to pay for housing after this summer. Maybe that would be an option. I should ask Lacy if she’s looking for help into the future.”
“You mean we might be able to stay? Maybe I could work with you?” Pete bounced in Cole’s arms.
He didn’t want to give the boy false hope, but found he was excited about the prospect of Erica and Pete living so close. “I have to talk to your mom first. She may want to move back to Rock Point. Maybe she likes the school or has friends there.”
Pete shook his head. “Mom never goes out with friends. She doesn’t talk to anyone when I have stuff at school either. I hope she wants to stay here. I like it here.”
He refused to get choked up over Pete wanting to stay when it was still likely he wouldn’t. He bent forward to put Pete down when two dogs burst from the kennel building with Sam on their tails. He whistled twice to stop them, but both dogs were too new to have learned the commands yet.
“Bubbles . . .” Cole noticed the poor emaciated puppy immediately. But in the lead was Zeus, the German shepherd that had tried to attack Pete earlier.
Both dogs barked as they raced for one of the Guardians walking along the fence surrounding the riding trails. He froze and pulled his gun, aiming it at the dogs.
“No!” Cole yelled to stop the man.
Pete covered his eyes. Sam raced after the dogs. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. About six Guardians appeared from various points around the ranch, all in pairs. Cole recalled that Dominic had said they always worked in pairs, but that guy was alone.
“It’s Frank!” Cole tried to get Sam’s attention, but he couldn’t leave Pete there.
The shepherd ducked its head and launched toward Frank. Two shots rang out in quick succession but nothing happened and the dog buried its teeth into his arm. Frank screamed and tried to fling the dog off, making the situation worse.
Cole crouched next to Pete. “I need you to run into the house right now. Do not stop for anyone. Scream if anyone even talks to you who is not your mom, Lacy, or Teddy. Understand?” He had to get over there and help Sam contain the dogs so they could arrest Frank.
Pete nodded and raced toward the house without asking any further questions. The moment Pete was at least safely inside where his mother would be, he raced in to help Sam.
Bubbles was under control growling and snapping, but Sam couldn’t get the shepherd to release Frank. Commands nor coercion were working. All three teams of Guardians slowly approached, guns lowered but ready to help.
Cole grabbed the dog’s collar and hauled him off, ordering him down. The dog finally released Frank, who curled in a protective ball holding his arm and cursing the dog. “I never should’ve picked you up. I should’ve left you to rot in that field.”
Sam’s face hardened to stone. “You’re the one who beat that dog. That’s why he saw you and attacked.”
Tears coursed down Frank’s face and he started shaking. “Wish I’d loaded some bullets today and saved myself the trouble. I only wanted the money for getting Scarlet. I never wanted to kill anyone.”
Artemis pulled his phone from the thigh pocket of his black camo cargo pants and called the police. When he finished the call he slipped it back in place and flattened the flap to secure it. “They’ll be here shortly. We can watch him if you want to take care of the dogs.”
“Don’t leave me with these guys.” Frank moaned. “Not after Spenser was shot.”
“Oh, you’ve done a lot more than let one of us get shot. You’ve tarnished our whole reputation. We may have to move because of you. But if you think I’ll risk ruiningmyreputation to get back at you, then you think more highly of yourself than you’re worth.”
Cole wasn’t sure if anyone offered Frank aid or if they planned to just guard him until the police arrived, but he was more concerned with getting the dogs back in the kennel and calm then checking on Pete. Erica had only let him run to the restroom and he’d been taken, hopefully he hadn’t misjudged and sent him into another awful situation.
* * *
Dogs barked outsideand Pete raced in right after Erica. She caught him and lifted him to her hip, noticing how big he was getting. When had he suddenly grown? Why hadn’t she noticed?
“What’s wrong? Where’s Cole?” He’d said he was going to watch Pete. Yes, they’d had an argument the night before, but he obviously still cared about his son, so why was he running alone all over the ranch?