Justine Davis - Operation Alpha

Again the possibilities raced through his mind. He could tell her about the time he hacked school systems, to tweak the grades of student customers who paid him according to what grade they wanted. Or later when he’d rigged a contest’s random draw to win. Or more, all strictly for personal benefit. The ones he wasn’t proud of.

Or he could tell her about the ones that had made Quinn think he might fit at Foxworth. When he’d screwed with the records of his hometown’s biggest bully and the guy had ended up on a community service road crew, taking bullying from guys much bigger and tougher than him. Or the county guy who kept harassing his parents over a property line, despite their irrefutable proof he was wrong. Or the bank that happened to be run by the county guy’s brother-in-law and had started giving his folks grief.

But the last answer was the one that explained everything, so, with a wry expression and raised brows, he gave it to her.

“At one point... Foxworth.”

She blinked. Reached up and pulled off her sunglasses as if to stare at him more incredulously.

“You hacked Foxworth?”

He nodded. “I didn’t believe anybody would really do what they do—fight for people in the right, big or small, and do it for only the promise of help in turn down the line.” His mouth curved into a smile as he remembered his own disbelief. “But they do,” he added softly.

“Let me get this right...you hacked Foxworth, and Quinn hired you?”

“Crazy, huh?”

“Or very, very smart,” she said. “His gamble obviously paid off.”

“But it’ll never be paid back.” He grinned. “My folks think he walks on water. They were sure I was headed straight to hell. I was the black sheep of the family, no doubt.”

“Siblings?”

“Two of each. Couple of successful corporate types, an oil exec and a doctor.”

“So you really were the problem child.”

“That I was.”

“They must be relieved.”

“They are. And I’m sorry I gave them so much trouble. They’re good, good people. It wasn’t their fault. Sometimes, if you’re good at something, it can get you in trouble. You follow the path because it’s easy for you, and sometimes you’re in over your head before you realize it.”

He realized then that he’d been sitting here sharing his life story with her, easily, without even thinking about it. How had she managed that? She’d given him one tiny bit of her own history, and suddenly he was pouring his own out by the bucket? When what he’d meant to do was get that distance between them?

“I’m surprised that Dylan didn’t pour his soul out to you on request,” he said with a grimace.

“I can have that effect,” she said with a laugh. “It’s my honest face.”

Yeah, your face is honest. Among other things. Like beautiful. Fascinating.

Trouble.

“I only wish Dylan would,” she went on. “I’m worried about him.”

Time to get down to business, Liam thought. Quickly he updated her on what they’d learned, which wasn’t much more than he’d gleaned that first day. Quinn had advised him to leave it there for now, until he got a feel for things after he met Dylan. His assessment, Quinn had said, would determine if they picked up the pace.

“Tell me more about him,” he said then. “The more I know, the better chance I have of getting through. And maybe, more important, of not having him shut down on me.”

She looked thoughtful. “You’re bringing the dog, right? That will help.”

He nodded. “Cutter’s mine for the operation. Already have his go bag in my truck.”

Her eyes widened. “The dog has a go bag?”

He gave her a crooked grin. “He’s one of the team. And, believe me, it won’t seem strange once you get to know him.”

“What’s strange was how he greeted Emily, as though they were friends already.”

“I noticed that. And like I said, once you get to know him, you’ll find out I’ve been right about him all along.”

“Right about him?”

“I’ve been telling them since he got here that he’s not a dog. He’s a smart alien in a dog suit.”

She laughed, and that made him feel much better than it should have.

It was going to be a long weekend.

Chapter 6

He’d underestimated.

This might turn out to be the longest weekend of his life, Liam thought as he sat on a bench at Cove Academy the next day. Even longer than the weekend he’d spent in juvie, trying to stay alive. It wasn’t that it didn’t go well jobwise; it did. Ria helped stir up memories of what it was like to be that age, and between them they decided he should go in less as a formal instructor and more as a guy who put his skills to actual use, willing to share. Although the idea of teaching a bunch of kids, instead of dealing with just one, was intimidating. They had progressed to that topic on this sunny Sunday afternoon as they sat, her large black bag between them. He didn’t know whether to be thankful or frustrated at the barrier.

“I’m no expert in any one of the usual arts. I’ve just developed a style that works for me that is a combination of a lot of them,” he warned her.

“But you had to learn at least parts of them all to do that, didn’t you?”

“True.”

“Then let your approach to them be the same...that you’re going to show them bits of each so they can get an idea if there’s one they’d like to pursue.”

He considered that, and it seemed reasonable. But, then, most things she said did. “And hope Dylan bites.”

“Yes.”

If the boy didn’t, Liam wasn’t sure what he’d do. He’d just have to deal with that if it happened. And, in the meantime, get through the rest of today. At least once he really started on the case, he might only see her now and then, instead of for hours at a time, as they’d done yesterday and now today.

With not much sleep in-between.

Cutter, lying at their feet, lifted his head. And Liam thought of how, a couple of hours into that tossing and turning night, the dog had hopped up on the bed beside him, given a little whine and a lick to his ear and settled in. Whether it was because of the comfortable familiarity of a dog, or that talent Cutter had for soothing restless souls, Liam had finally gone to sleep for a couple of hours.

Why he was so restless in the first place was something he’d deal with later.

Or not at all, he thought wryly as he looked around again.

Ria had suggested they have today’s meeting at the school so he could get familiar with the grounds. The place had once been a small farm of sorts, and the big farmhouse and various buildings had been converted into classrooms, labs, a library, several study rooms, a theater, a small coop that apparently still served as one for a few chickens and the barn that was now the gym where he’d be working.

“This is quite a place,” he’d said when they’d first arrived, looking around at the campus carved out of a thick grove of evergreens.

“I think it’s lovely. Peaceful. Conducive to learning.”

And again Liam caught himself thinking that if he’d ever had a teacher who looked like her, he might have paid a lot more attention. Since he’d sworn off thoughts like that—apparently unsuccessfully—his tone had been a bit snarky. “Spoken like a born teacher.”

“I am, I hope” was all she’d said. And thus had begun day two of this longest weekend.

If it wasn’t for Cutter, bless that hound, Liam wouldn’t have made it. But, as he had last night, the dog seemed to sense when he was too near the edge and then did something. Anything. Demand a break, more often to play than for a call of nature. Chase a bird, a ball if Liam would throw it, or simply start a rather manic game of tag. He included Ria in the tag, which made it both easier—it was difficult to think of anything but fun when you were playing with a dog who seemed to be working overtime to make you laugh—and harder, because she did laugh, delightedly, and it was the best thing he’d heard in years.