Operation Alpha

by Justine Davis

  Fire was fire.

  On that inanity, she gave up trying to think for the moment and took another sip of the warm, luscious drink. As she did she noticed the fading light through the windows.

  “It’s getting dark,” she said with some surprise.

  “Yes,” Liam said gently. “It’s been a long day.”

  “Kevin,” she began and then stopped. “I’m sorry,” she said. “The last few hours are kind of blurry.”

  “I’m not surprised. Kevin’s fine, physically, but still at the hospital. They’re going to keep him overnight, as much to keep him away from the furor as anything.” He smiled. “He was so excited by the helicopter ride out of there that I think the horror has faded, at least for now. And Cutter’s with him, and that helps. Dog’s got a way.”

  “I know,” she said. “Dylan?”

  “Also still with him. He’ll probably stay the night in that chair.”

  She remembered the moment when Dylan had arrived, with Emily and her adoptive parents. Good people, she’d thought at the time, coming without question when there was need. And that Dylan had been so worried about his brother, almost frantic, had warmed her.

  Her brow furrowed as she tried to think. “Does he...know now? That his father isn’t Kevin’s?”

  “Yes.”

  Something in the way he said it registered. “You told him?”

  “Had to. It’s the only thing that would make sense of it for him. Dunbar offered—he’s used to doing that kind of thing—but I thought it might be easier coming from somebody he knew.”

  Something stirred in her, a different kind of warmth. Whatever else he was, Liam Burnett was a good man. Despite his own doubts on the matter.

  “How did he take it?”

  “Like a man. He’s a stand-up kid. He’ll be there for Kevin.”

  She was glad to hear it, but her heart was hurting for those two boys. “What will happen to them? They have nobody now.”

  He gave her a puzzled look. “They’re going to go stay with my folks until the trial, remember?”

  She did, then, vaguely. Funny, she remembered clearly him telling her a week ago about his parents and the foster kids they’d begun taking in from the time their youngest had been out of the house, but the memory of this today was foggy at best.

  “I’m sorry,” she said again, shaking her head as if it would clear away the fuzziness. “I don’t know why I don’t remember all this.”

  “Ria,” he said gently, “you were kidnapped, dragged up a mountain, nearly thrown off a cliff.”

  “But he didn’t have the knife at my throat.”

  “Exactly,” Liam said. “You could have run, saved yourself.”

  She stared at him. “And left Kevin to die?”

  He smiled, and this time it warmed her to the bone. “And that’s why you’re who you are, Ria. You didn’t run. You kept it together enough to fight back. You saved Kevin.”

  “You did that. And you did it without killing Dylan’s father.”

  “That was luck. Situation like that, you take the shot you’ve got.”

  “But you gave him a chance to give up.”

  “Foxworth policy. You have to give them a chance to do the right thing.”

  She managed a smile at that; she was coming to quite like Foxworth. “And you did.”

  “I never would have had the chance if you hadn’t distracted him. It’s amazing you’re even upright. You’re amazing.”

  The words were sincere—she didn’t doubt that. What she did doubt was that he meant them the way she wished he did. And suddenly the fog in her brain that was lifting now seemed preferable. Maybe it had been self-protection, at least in part. But it was lifting, and she had to deal.

  “I’m still glad he didn’t die,” she said.

  “So am I. Dylan’s got enough on his plate, not just that his dad tried to kill his brother and maybe did kill his mother but that his mother cheated, as well.”

  “And lied,” she said in agreement. “Yes, all that, but I meant I’m glad for you.”

  He blinked. “Me?”

  “Yes. Not another death on your overactive conscience.”

  He looked surprised and then shook his head. “This is different. They were innocents. He wasn’t.”

  She was relieved that he wasn’t blaming himself, not when he’d had no other choice. And she was together enough now to ask something that had occurred to her at the time. “Why didn’t you tell him what we knew?”

  “Thought about it,” Liam said. “Thought he might give up. But he had Kevin too close to the edge, and I couldn’t risk him reacting with despair and jumping, taking Kevin with him.”

  Her eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “My turn,” he said. “When you charged him...you stopped.”

  She nodded, instinctively flexing the knee that had taken the brunt of that sudden cessation of movement. “I’d always known you would come, and the moment I saw Cutter I knew you were there. I thought I’d best leave it to you.”

  “You trusted me.”

  She lifted her gaze back to his face. Looked into his eyes steadily. And did something that took more courage than anything today had.

  “I will always trust you.”

  “Ria—”

  “I know you said not to care about you,” she said. “But you broke that jinx today, didn’t you?”

  She would have sworn she saw hope flare in his eyes. But then his gaze darted away. And without a word, he got up and walked away.

  Chapter 34

  Ria pulled her new cell phone out of her pocket. She was faintly proud of the fact that she no longer jumped when it rang, thinking it might be Liam. It never was. In the two weeks since that day on the cliff, she hadn’t heard a word from him. She’d heard from Foxworth several times, and Hayley in particular had been wonderful helping her deal with the aftereffects of being kidnapped—she had been there herself—and nearly thrown off a cliff.

  But not a single word from the man who had been there every step of the way. That was only to be expected, she lectured herself severely every time she thought of him, which was far too often. He’d been a man on a job, she’d been part of that job and if she’d been foolish enough to fall for him, that was nobody’s fault but her own.

  The call was Hayley this time.

  “You between classes?” she asked.

  “Yes. I’ve got about ten minutes.”

  “Good. I just wanted to let you know Oakley finally broke.”

  She went still. “What?”

  “Brett’s good.” She could hear the smile in Hayley’s voice. “Oakley was still denying everything, saying he only bought the insurance because his wife’s accidental death had scared him into it. But Brett kept at him. In the end he got him to confess to it all, including setting up his wife’s death. Even his lawyer couldn’t shut him up once he got going.”

  “Setting up her death?”

  “Crime of opportunity. He saw from below the trail was iffy after a big storm. So he grabbed the chance, used her love of the eagles to urge her to the edge by saying he’d seen a courting pair, knowing she’d be focused on searching the sky, not on the ground beneath her feet, while he went ahead to be in view of the witness.”

  “My God, that’s cold.”

  “Yes. He just couldn’t handle that she’d cheated on him.”

  “And took it out on an innocent child.” No motivation was forgivable for that, for her.

  She was slipping her phone back into her pocket as students began to arrive. One of the first was Emily, who came straight to her.

  “I talked to Dylan this morning,” she said, smiling.

  Ria returned the smile. And found herself wondering how much
of the girl’s loving, caring nature was founded on the fact that, when she’d been about Kevin’s age, Foxworth had shown her that despite her own tragedy there really were good people, people who cared about doing the right thing.

  “How is he?” she asked.

  Emily’s smile widened. “He sounded really good. Said he and Kevin are having some fun, even. Mr. Burnett’s parents are very kind, and Kevin loves the dogs. And Dylan’s not mad at me, for going to Foxworth. I was afraid he would hate me, but I didn’t care, as long as he was safe.”

  “It was the right thing to do, Emily. And I’m glad they’re doing well.”

  “I’m glad Mr. Foxworth was able to get it worked out.” Ria knew the complications of an out-of-state foster placement had been largely facilitated through Foxworth. “And when they have to come back for the trial, my folks are going to see if they can stay with us.”

  “Dylan,” Ria said, “is very lucky to have a friend like you.”

  “I just remember how I felt when I lost my dad and then my mom,” Emily said simply, as if using what she’d gone through to help someone else was something anyone would do.

  Ria was writing the homework assignment on the board when the chimes sounded, signaling the end of class. Yet not a single student moved.

  She heard a sudden buzz of whispers rippling around the room behind her. She turned. Froze. Stared.

  Liam.

  He was walking up the aisle of her classroom, Cutter at his heels. He paused beside Emily, who reached out to pet Cutter. He put a hand on the girl’s shoulder for a brief moment before continuing. His gaze was fixed on Ria, who knew she was probably gaping but couldn’t help it.

  He came to a halt in front of her. Close. Too close. She could feel his heat. He looked a little tired and his jaw was stubbled, but all she cared about was that he was here. Even if she didn’t know exactly why.

  “Dylan says thank you again,” he said.

  Apparently, Emily hadn’t been the only one the boy had talked to. Ria would be concerned about him airing the boy’s private situation in front of the entire class, if she wasn’t certain they all already knew anyway. News traveled fast in the tight-knit world of Cove, and these kids were as active on social media as anyone.

  “He’d like to call you later, if it’s all right,” Liam said, as if his only reason for being here was to relay that message. Which it might well be, she warned herself.

  “Of course. I’m glad he’s doing all right.”

  Liam nodded. “They both are. And my folks are enjoying having them. Kevin is helping with the dogs. And it’s easy to see that’s helping him.”

  It hit her then. “You’ve been there?”

  He frowned. “Yes. I took them, to get them settled in. I just got back—” he glanced at his watch “—an hour ago.”

  And he’d come straight here? She tried not to read anything into that. Obviously he was just relaying information. Which she appreciated, because her worrying about the boys hadn’t stopped when they were safe.

  “Dylan’s a good kid. When he turns eighteen, he wants to get custody of Kevin.”

  She hadn’t known that. “Will he be able to?”

  “Hopefully. Foxworth will help him with that. And with getting their lives set up after that.”

  She managed a smile, but it was difficult. This was all good news, but it wasn’t making her as happy as it should. “Foxworth really follows through to the end.”

  “Yes.” He smiled back. “That’s Hayley’s doing. She brought that philosophy with her.”

  “I believe that,” she said. “She’s been wonderful to me, checking up on me, talking whenever I need to.”

  Something flashed in his eyes then. Concern? “I kind of assumed that because you were back to work you were okay.”

  “I am,” she said. “Or at least, I will be.” Even without you.

  She was suddenly aware once more that they had an audience. Liam, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care. Not to mention Cutter, who seemed to be ignoring everyone else as he stood barely a foot to one side, watching as if he were waiting for something.

  “I went back home for three reasons, Ria.”

  Something had changed in his voice. The tone of merely updating her had gone, to be replaced by something deeper, more personal.

  “Three?”

  “To get the boys settled, yes. But also to get my head straight. I had some long talks with my folks. About the past and...guilt.”

  She thought of that night, when he’d poured it all out to her. And she couldn’t say anything except “I’m glad.”

  “So were they. I’d never told them all of it before.”

  “What did they say?”

  “Pretty much the same thing you did.”

  The smile was easier this time. “I like them already.”

  And suddenly he wasn’t just looking at her, he was watching her with an intensity that reminded her of a certain dog. And she knew he had enough respect for Cutter that he wouldn’t be insulted by the comparison.

  “Good,” he said, and his voice echoed what she’d seen in his eyes. “You’ll like them even more when you meet them.”

  She blinked, drew back slightly. Meet them?

  “I talked to them about some other things, too. Like what they have together. Still in love after forty years.”

  Her breath caught. She stopped her careening mind, forbidding it to go where it wanted to go.

  “Asked them how to get past...being scared.”

  “Scared?” she whispered.

  “I couldn’t see how, if just...caring scared me so much, how could I get to actually loving somebody. Real love, like they have.”

  Her heart was beginning to hammer in her chest; she could almost hear her own pulse in her ears.

  “What...” She had to stop, swallow, try again. “What did they say?”

  “That you start with trust and build from there.”

  You trusted me.

  I will always trust you.

  The last words they’d spoken echoed in her head. Liam kept his gaze fastened on her as he went on.

  “That third reason I went home? It was to give you time. Time to get past the trauma of what happened. Time to get yourself back. So you could...answer me with a clear heart and head.”

  “Answer you?” It was all she could manage to say.

  “I meant to give you longer, but... I missed you too much.”

  The spirit in her that had been stunned by his sudden appearance and afraid to believe what he seemed to be saying rallied at last. “Phone?” she suggested, rather dryly.

  He shook his head. “I couldn’t pressure you. Not about this.”

  Usually she’d argue that a mere hello on the phone wasn’t pressure, but there was nothing usual about this. And she’d swear the entire watching class was holding their breath, because she’d never heard such silence in an occupied classroom before.

  “You needed time to be thinking logically again, so you didn’t make any...rash decisions.” He reached out then, clasped her shoulders with his hands. “I know it’s corny—the one-time delinquent falling for teacher—but here I am. I love your caring, your wit, your sanity, your laughter. I want it in my life. I need it in my life. I need you in my life.”

  There were a couple of hoots from the students, but Ria never took her eyes off of him. She couldn’t. Joy was flooding her, erasing the misery of the past couple of weeks as if it had never been. He held her gaze as he said the words she most wanted to hear.

  “I love you. If you trust the jinx is broken or never existed, if you really do trust me, will you risk it?”

  She let everything she was feeling show, in her eyes, in the width and fierceness of her smile. “I trust you, Liam Burnett.” He wait
ed, and she had the feeling he was the one holding his breath now. She gave in because she couldn’t not. “And I love you.”

  In the instant before he pulled her into an ardent hug, the joy in his face echoed what she was feeling inside, and she barely managed not to laugh aloud at the sheer pleasure of it. And then she did laugh, because Cutter had let out a satisfied “woof” and gone to sit by Emily. As if he’d orchestrated it all.

  As, perhaps, he had, she thought.

  Then she said with mock sternness, in her best teacher voice, “I didn’t need that two weeks. You’re going to have to make up for that.”

  “Oh, I intend to.”

  He started in the next instant bringing his mouth down on hers with an eagerness that told her the truth about how much he’d missed her.

  She barely heard the raucous cheer that went up from every kid in the room.

  * * * * *

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