Page 73 of Covert Mission
“I know.” She frowns sympathetically. “I’m just trying to trust that some angels are on their shoulders. Sit down. Rest. I am grateful to be off my feet for a few minutes. Not that I’m being callous to everyone else. I’ll help out however I can, but right now the focus seems to be them doing their thing.” She nods toward the beehive of rescue workers.
“I’m going to see if I can help them do something.”
She lunges forward in her seated position and wraps her hands around my ankle. “Camy… I know you’re driven, but—” Her words drop off.
Her expression is so… I don’t even know what that look is. I frown and ask, “Driven, how?”
She lifts a brow and tightens her hold on my ankle. “Not that I’m critiquing you. I’ve got my own baggage to sort, but you, my boss-lady friend, are always on some kind of mission, no matter how large or small. When you set your jaw, look out. Right now you only need to focus on one mission. Waiting. So, set the responsibilities aside and take a breath.”
Crap.
“See,” she says, “I can tell. You’re not going to let yourself rest for a single minute.”
“I’m not going to be the failure everyone expects me to be.”
God bless.Did I just say that?
She sighs and lets go of my leg. “There. You said it. Doesn’t that feel better?”
I cross my arms and look away. “Nope. Not one bit.”
She chuckles warmly. “Sit down here, girl. I get you. I know it’s hard fighting your way out of the ghetto. I did it. Now look, you don’t have to prove yourself to me. I know you’re a badass. It takes one to recognize one.”
When I let myself look her way again, she grins. “I want you to know I’ve got your back.”
I feel bad. I’ve been heads down trying to fulfill my job… jobs. Plural.
“I’ve got your back too.”
She nods her approval. “Appreciate that. Now, why don’t we talk about what we’re going to do now that we only have one truck.”
My head drops. “I know. What a mess.”
We spend the next ten minutes talking. Then it hits me.
Anger makes my temples ache. I pick up a pebble off the dusty ground and throw it at a rock a few feet away from me. Maybe I pretend it’s Ralph’s head.
“Ralph, that weasel didn’t even mention how he’d help us out with that problem. All he was worried about was those damned crates.”
“That’s Ralph for you. Girl, I can’t tell you how happy I am not to have to deal with both WilliamandRalph. Talk about the dynamic duo of rotten.”
I perk up. “What were they up to?”
Her chin tenses. She fiddles with her water bottle. “You know, I’m not sure, but they were always having private meetings. And when William would call in from the field, he was very secretive. Like some teenage girl—not that I acted like that, I’ll add—but he’d sneak around, covering the phone, whispering. All kinds of weird behavior.”
My heart rate ticks up. Not that it wasn’t already up. Waiting for Beast and the team seems to have my pulse in overdrive.
“Do you think they were up to something bad?”
She snorts. “I couldn’t decide if it was that or if it was a bromance.”
I make an ick face. “I can’t imagine anyone romancing or bromancing Ralph. But hey, what do I know about weird man crushes? They’re all about ego.”
“You and me both, sister.”
I twist the end of my hair as I ferret through details about the two men in my head. I already know the answer to my next question, but I want Belle’s take. “William is married, right?”
“He’s married by paper.”