Justine Davis - Operation Unleashed

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.”