Operation Unleashed

by Justine Davis

  She looked over to the boy and the dog. Then back at him.

  “How do I know you mean it, that you won’t tell him anything bad they might find?”

  Again the admission. Drew’s hopes rose. He tried to quash them. It was too early, he couldn’t let himself think that way. “Have I ever broken my word to you?”

  She looked unhappy about it, but she said, “No.”

  “Then let them look. Maybe they won’t find anything, but maybe they will and we can put this behind us once and for all.”

  “What if they find you’re wrong?”

  He didn’t think that was going to happen. But if by some chance Foxworth found something that proved Doug was who she thought he was, at least with her, then he deserved better than he’d gotten from his big brother.

  “Then I’ll join your chorus to Luke,” he said.

  Something flashed in her eyes then, and he knew he’d won.

  “Done,” she said.

  And Drew wondered what on earth he’d gotten them into. All because of a dog.

  Chapter 7

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Quinn muttered to the dog at his feet. Cutter looked up at him steadily.

  “I believe that’s his ‘Of course I do. It’s you humans who are slow on the uptake,’ expression,” Hayley said cheerfully.

  “We humans,” Quinn said, “are reluctant to handle familial dynamite.”

  Hayley glanced over to where Drew and Alyssa were standing at the third-floor window, Drew holding Luke up so he could see the bald eagle sitting on the branch of a large maple amid the evergreens. The boy was babbling excitedly; he’d never seen one so close before.

  “Maybe we should have Kayla and Dane talk to them about misguided brotherly love,” Quinn said, and Hayley looked at him to see that he’d followed the direction of her gaze. Hayley had no doubts that Kayla and Dane Burdette would be willing. They felt, as did most of Foxworth’s former clients, that they owed them whatever they might ask for.

  “I get your point, but I’m not sure this situation is the same. Brother and brother, not brother and sister. It’s different, the relationship between brothers, isn’t it?”

  “Probably. More competitive, maybe,” Quinn said. “So, you believe her version?”

  “Let’s just say I don’t disbelieve anybody at this point.”

  “But they can’t both be right.”

  “I didn’t say right. I think they both see what they see, through their own filters. And the truth is probably somewhere in between.”

  The eagle lifted off, having spotted something worth investigating. Luke shouted “Look, look!” as the majestic bird dove, then soared before disappearing to the west.

  “Beautiful, isn’t she?” Hayley said, walking up to join the trio at the window.

  “It’s a girl? How do you know?” Luke asked.

  “The females are bigger,” she answered. “Her mate’s noticeably smaller.”

  Luke glanced from her to Drew. Drew nodded. “They are.”

  “That’s weird.”

  “We’ll go to the library and find a book about them,” Alyssa said.

  “Can’t we just go on the computer?”

  “The pictures are better in a book, and you can look at it by yourself after we read it together. When you’re done with your schoolwork.”

  Luke frowned. “We’re not learning about birds yet.”

  “Then you’ll be ahead of everybody, won’t you?” Drew said.

  Luke’s frown vanished. “Yeah!”

  Hayley glanced at Quinn. Competitive was definitely the word with boys, she thought. He was grinning at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. And he probably did. The closer their wedding got, the more excited she was; the thought of sharing the rest of her life with this man was more than she’d ever dared hope for.

  And all thanks to that furry rascal Cutter, who chose this moment to rise and come to her, as if he’d sensed her rising emotions. Unable to hold it all in for a moment, Hayley crouched beside the dog and hugged him fiercely.

  “Thank you, my friend,” she whispered.

  Cutter nuzzled her, whuffing softly. She felt the quick swipe of his tongue over her chin.

  “Why are you thanking him?” Luke asked. Hayley looked up to see the boy looking at them curiously.

  “Because he found Quinn for me,” she said.

  “Oh.” Luke looked doubtfully up at the man beside her. “He did?”

  “That he did,” Quinn confirmed.

  “I thought you said he found people in trouble.”

  “He does.”

  Luke’s eyes widened as he looked at Quinn. “Were you in trouble?”

  Even a six-year-old can see Quinn isn’t a man to find himself in trouble often, Hayley thought with an inward laugh.

  “No,” Quinn said, “but I was definitely lost.”

  Hayley felt her eyes sting at his heartfelt declaration. But Luke just nodded. “Oh,” the boy said, as if it all made sense now. As perhaps it did. “Can we go outside and play?” he asked, petting Cutter.

  “Not while we’re inside,” Alyssa said quickly. “Maybe later.”

  Luke looked crestfallen. “I wanted to look at the eagle tree.”

  “If you’d be comfortable with it,” Quinn said, “I can have somebody out there with him, while we go over what we’ve found so far.”

  Alyssa blinked. “What you’ve found? But we only agreed to this a couple of hours ago.”

  “Foxworth works fast,” Hayley said. Quinn had called ahead to Tyler Hewitt, their tech genius, and gotten him started. By the time they’d arrived here at the Foxworth building, he’d already sent the basics. And one possibly very pertinent fact.

  “So can we, please?” Luke asked.

  “Liam will take good care of him,” Quinn said. “Heck, they’ll have fun. He’s an outdoor guy, a dog guy, a tech guy and our best tracker.”

  Drew reacted to that with a small chuckle. “That’s quite a résumé.”

  “A tracker?” Luke asked.

  “Yep. He could follow a trail through the trees for miles, if pressed,” Quinn said. “He’s the one who found where our eagle’s nest is.”

  Luke’s eyes widened. “Really? Could he show me?”

  “That might be a bit too far for today. Why don’t you meet him, see how it goes?” Quinn leaned over to the boy. “I hear he also carries those little candy bars all the time,” he said in a loud whisper. Luke grinned.

  Alyssa looked at Drew, who nodded. So however unusual their relationship was, she did accept his input when it came to Luke, Hayley thought.

  Quinn took out his cell and buzzed the comlink. “Need you to watch out for our young friend and a certain dog outside for a bit.” There was a pause before Quinn laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure Cutter does need watching more than Luke.”

  He ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

  “Cutter, take him down to Liam,” Quinn said, gesturing at Luke.

  The dog was on his feet instantly. He walked a few steps forward, then stopped to look back at the boy. Luke looked at his mother.

  “It’s all right,” she said, although Hayley thought she heard a bit of doubt yet.

  “We’ll sit at the table by the window,” she said. “You’ll be able to see them.”

  Alyssa let out a breath and nodded. “Thank you.”

  With a whoop, Luke took off after the dog and they heard the clatter as the pair went down the stairs.

  And now, Hayley thought as they went to the table she’d mentioned, to open that package of familial dynamite, as Quinn had put it.

  * * *

  “The first thing you need to know, if you don’t already,�
� Quinn said, “is that Baird Oliver is out.”

  Alyssa’s breath caught audibly. Her gaze shot to Drew. He wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it. And in that moment of indecision, she got there.

  “You knew!”

  “Lyss—”

  “You knew he was out?”

  He sighed. “I’ve been tracking it, yes. I knew it was nearly time, so I started making calls. And found he’d already been let out, three months early.” His mouth twisted. “Nice, for a guy with a record pages long, everything from petty theft to assault with a deadly weapon.”

  “And you didn’t tell me?”

  “I only found out for sure a little while ago. Just before this whole thing with Luke, and I didn’t want to upset you even more.”

  “So you decided to keep me in the dark? When the career criminal who got Luke’s father killed is out?”

  “I was going to tell you, just not then.”

  “And the week since?”

  Drew flicked a glance at the couple opposite them. It was awkward, but he didn’t see any way out of it. There was only one reason he hadn’t told her Doug’s partner in crime had been released and was now a free man.

  “It’s been so...nice, I didn’t want to ruin it.”

  Her eyes widened slightly. And to his surprise, she smiled. A warm, acknowledging smile.

  It had been nice. They had both been so relieved that Luke was all right, so focused on the boy and his welfare, that things had been quite pleasant. Something he should remember, Drew told himself. All it really took to keep her happy was that Luke was happy. He had the feeling she’d be content living in a tiny apartment somewhere, on a tight budget, doing without, as long as her son was happy.

  And the biggest thing she could probably do without was him.

  But that smile...

  “We’re trying to track him down,” Quinn said briskly, as if he was used to emotional moments like this occurring in his workplace. As, given the work Foxworth did, perhaps they did. “But since he served his entire sentence and isn’t on parole, that’s going to take a little time.”

  “Because he doesn’t have to check in with anyone?” Alyssa asked.

  Quinn nodded. “He’s free and clear.”

  “Except for that matter of a felony record,” Drew said.

  “Yes. But all I meant was that no one has any leverage.”

  “I’m hoping,” Drew said, “that since it’s been three months, he either can’t find us or isn’t looking.”

  Quinn’s gaze sharpened. Then he gave Drew a short nod of approval. “Glad to see I don’t need to explain that.”

  “Wait,” Alyssa said. “You think he’ll come looking for us? Baird? Why?”

  “I just think it’s better to be cautious,” Drew said.

  “Always wise when dealing with a man with his kind of rap sheet,” Quinn said.

  Alyssa watched Drew for a moment. “That’s why you had that alarm system put in this summer, isn’t it?”

  “Partly,” he admitted.

  She’d teased him then, about being paranoid. An alarm system seemed completely unnecessary on their quiet little street in their quiet little neighborhood in a quiet little town. But he’d simply said he wanted them safe when he was working long hours on a job, and he was having one installed at the office anyway for insurance reasons. Which was at least partially true. He didn’t see any point in reminding her that Doug’s co-felon would be released soon. And she’d looked over at Luke, busily drawing a picture of their hike the day before, and thanked him.

  She’d even reached out to him that night. It had been a long time, and he was hungry enough to take what she offered, even knowing it was out of gratitude rather than love. It didn’t happen often, but considering they’d started out with her insisting she would never, ever sleep with him he supposed it was something. He’d found it amazing how you could almost get used to not having sex if you went long enough. Like you went numb or something. Except for those times when the need became overwhelming and he’d resorted to the oldest method in the world, with stupid fantasies about his wife running through his head.

  He saw her cheeks turn pink, knew she was remembering that night as well. It had been good, even she couldn’t deny that. But she’d been so glum afterwards, as if she felt guilty, he knew it would be a long time before he got that offer again. And he’d spent a long time after that cursing his dead brother for having such a hold on her. He just didn’t understand it. She was a bright, clever woman, why couldn’t she see who Doug really was?

  Alyssa turned away, looking out the window where Luke and Cutter were playing under the watchful eye of the guardian Quinn had promised. Liam Burnett looked young from here, but Quinn had assured them he was more than competent.

  “He’s been trained by the best,” Hayley had added with a loving glance at her fiancé. “And young enough he’ll probably end up playing right there with them before long.”

  Drew wondered what it would be like, to have your woman look at you like that. He knew Alyssa respected him, was grateful to him, and—God help him—appreciated him. But love him, the way Hayley clearly loved Quinn? No. And he had no right to expect it. Ever.

  “We’ll find Oliver, wherever he went,” Quinn promised now. “And no matter how long it takes. We’re dealing with a different sort of situation now.”

  “More what you usually do?” Alyssa asked.

  “Yes,” Quinn agreed, “but we won’t stop on the other. We’ll just add finding Oliver to it. And if necessary, once we do we’ll keep an eye on him from then on.”

  Alyssa turned back. “That could get expensive,” she said with a frown.

  Drew hadn’t even asked. Her safety and Luke’s was something he didn’t put a price tag on.

  “Foxworth doesn’t charge,” Quinn said.

  Drew blinked. “What?”

  “Once we decide to take on a case, we fund it.”

  Suspicion bit, deep and hard. “And just how do you manage that?”

  “We’re funded by a trust, set up with my parents’ life insurance.”

  “They’re both gone?” Alyssa asked softly.

  Quinn nodded. “Years ago.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  There was no doubting the genuineness of her tone. Alyssa had that down to her bones, that capacity of empathy. Perhaps because of what she herself had been through, she had a knack for making people realize she truly did know how they felt. He used to wish she’d use some of that on him, but soon decided it was just as well she didn’t know how he felt. Especially after he’d made the stupid mistake of falling in love with her.

  “It was the Lockerbie bombing,” Hayley said.

  Drew sucked in a breath. He’d been a kid at the time, but he remembered his parents’ horror. Alyssa had only been a baby, so while she knew of it, it likely didn’t have the impact it had for him.

  “That was the terrorist attack, the passenger jet?” she asked.

  Quinn nodded. “They were both on board.”

  “My God,” Alyssa breathed. “How awful. I’m so sorry. You must have been very young.”

  Again the empathy fairly glowed from her, as if it were a tangible thing between her and the person she was feeling it for. He wasn’t used to that kind of introspection, he just went along day by day doing what had to be done. Alyssa sometimes unnerved him with her observations, leaving him wondering how she knew such things about people, things they never said.

  And wondering whether to be hurt or thankful she didn’t seem to ever turn that capacity on him.

  “I was ten,” Quinn answered.

  “And alone?”

  “I had my sister. She was four years older and practically raised me from then on. Our uncle really tried, but he wasn’t cut out for kids.
”

  “Is that why you joined the military?” Alyssa asked.

  “Mostly,” Quinn said.

  “And then the bomber got released in a backroom deal,” Hayley said. “That’s why Foxworth does what it does. Quinn didn’t ever want anyone to feel as helpless and wronged as they did when that happened.”

  “So you used your parents’ insurance money to set up Foxworth?” Drew asked. “Must have been a nice inheritance.”

  “It helps that my sister turned out to be a financial genius,” Quinn said with a grin. “Thanks to her we have facilities in all four corners of the country, plus headquarters in St. Louis.”

  “Does each one have its own helipad?” Drew asked; he’d noticed the windsock next to the square of concrete outside the warehouse beside the green, three story building they were in now.

  “Not all, not yet,” Quinn said. “We’re working on that.”

  “And is every Foxworth building unmarked?”

  Quinn’s gaze sharpened once more. He leaned back in his chair, and again gave Drew a nod of approval. “You noticed that.”

  “Hard to miss.”

  “Not for some,” Quinn said. “Let’s just say some of the people we help have enemies who aren’t too happy about it.”

  “Why do I get the feeling your help isn’t limited to just avoiding domestic situations and tracking down released ex-cons?”

  “Because you’re a smart guy?” Quinn suggested. He studied Drew for a moment. “You ex-military? Law enforcement?”

  “No,” Drew said, then added with a crooked grin, “I was a Boy Scout once.”

  “You still are,” Alyssa said.

  Drew’s head snapped around. There hadn’t been a hint of a dig in her tone, although he knew there was a time when there would have been. Back when Doug had used it as an insult. My brother the Boy Scout, he’d said constantly.

  I’ve got no chance of matching you in the good little boy department, so maybe I’ll just have to go for the bad instead.

  The laughing statement that had haunted him for years now echoed in his head. Nothing else Doug had said or done had hit him quite the way that had. For a long time he’d felt almost responsible for his little brother’s twisted mindset. As if he’d set an impossible standard to live up to. He’d never felt he was anything special, he’d just tried to do his best, make their parents proud, but apparently in the process he’d somehow made Doug feel inferior.