Operation Alpha Read online

  Quinn looked thoughtful. Ria thought she saw him flick a glance at Liam, but then he quickly got down to business. Details like Dylan’s address, his family situation—just his father, little brother and a distant uncle left now—and the names of his friends.

  “I’ll get on those names,” Liam said. “See if anything pops.”

  “Liam’s not just our best tracker in the physical world,” Quinn explained at her questioning look. “If it’s out there in cyberspace, he’ll find it.”

  “Or Ty will, but it won’t come to that,” Liam said with a grin. That grin.

  “Ty?” Emily asked.

  “Our tech guy at headquarters,” Hayley said. She smiled. “They have a bit of a competition going on. But together, there’s never been anything they couldn’t find.”

  “He won’t know, will he?” Emily asked anxiously. “If Dylan knew we were poking into his life...”

  “Not a trace,” Liam assured her.

  Quinn went on then, asking about any new friends Dylan might now be hanging around with that he hadn’t before.

  “None at school at least,” Emily said with assurance. “Cove Academy is small, I’d have noticed.”

  “We’ll have to see about elsewhere, then,” Quinn said briskly.

  “Dylan’s good with tech stuff,” Ria said with a quick glance at Liam that felt oddly as if she were sneaking a peek at something tempting but forbidden. “And math. But he does—or did—well in English, too. He won a state prize last term for an essay he wrote.” Her mouth tightened. “His mother died the same day it was announced. He never even went to get it.”

  “Does he drive?” Liam asked.

  “He doesn’t have his license yet, just his permit,” Emily said.

  “So no car?”

  Emily frowned. “No. He thought he would get his mom’s car, after, but his dad got rid of it.” The frown deepened. “Practically gave it away, Dylan said. He was really upset.”

  “His father was grieving, too,” Ria said. “Maybe he couldn’t bear to see it.”

  “I get that, but he should have thought how Dylan would feel, too.”

  “Clear thinking and grieving don’t always go together,” Liam said. “Sometimes they fight each other so hard neither wins, but you lose.”

  Ria drew back slightly. That had been an almost lyrical way of putting it. And she saw by Emily’s expression that he had reached her. Slowly the girl nodded.

  “So what do we do?” Liam asked, looking at his boss.

  “Computers, martial arts, a stranger,” Quinn said, summing up the discussion as he looked at Liam. “I think you may need to go back to school.”

  “What?” Liam looked so startled Ria almost laughed.

  “We’ll think of a good cover. Ria will help, I’m sure.”

  “Of course,” she said, barely masking her amusement at his reaction.

  Then she realized that this meant she would now apparently have Liam Burnett in her world. Up close and personal.

  And that was a lot more unsettling than funny.

  Chapter 4

  Liam caught himself, realized he’d once more been staring at his laptop screen without seeing a thing. This was at least the third time since he’d come upstairs to begin this session that his mind had drifted off task and started wandering through the underbrush.

  “How’s it coming?”

  He managed not to jump when Hayley spoke from barely three feet behind him. He had no idea how long she’d been in the room. Talk about woolgathering, as his grandmother always used to say.

  “It’s coming,” he said cautiously. “I have the basics. Dylan used to be semi-active on social media, even after a break when his mother died, but faded out over the summer.”

  “That fits. Withdrawing.”

  He nodded. “No real official, cop-type trouble that I could find.”

  “Quinn called Brett, so he’s checking that for us,” she said.

  He nodded and went on. “Friends are pretty typical. Lots of selfies and talking to each other. A couple of mentions of him but mostly asking where he is or if he’s coming somewhere. Then, later, a couple more mad because he didn’t show up somewhere he was supposed to.”

  “Progression,” Hayley said.

  Liam nodded. “Emily asked about him, as well, a couple of times, but she apparently isn’t much for yammering on social media.”

  “I’m not surprised. Ria said she was focused more on her studies.”

  She had? He didn’t remember that.

  Probably because you were too busy trying not to stare at her. You’d better start thinking of her as Emily’s teacher, nothing more.

  He made himself focus and continued. “When she does post something, it’s usually not fluff. Serious stuff. She’s big into animal welfare, supporting the local shelter, that kind of thing.”

  “Speaking of which,” Hayley said, “Cutter’s stuff is ready.”

  He blinked. “What?”

  “His go bag. You can keep it in your truck for when he’s with you. And if you need to take him home with you, we’ve cleared it with your apartment manager.” Liam stared at her, brow furrowed. Hayley tilted her head. “He’s going with you, remember?”

  “He is?”

  She drew back slightly, looking concerned. “Do you not remember that discussion?”

  He flushed because the only answer was no. He didn’t remember much after Quinn had said he was going to school. Ria Connelly’s school.

  He snapped his gaze back to his laptop before she could read anything in his expression. “Must have zoned out. Sorry.”

  “Hmm.” Hayley didn’t say anything more, but then she wouldn’t. She explained patiently, “You’re taking him because Emily said Dylan really likes dogs, but his dad would never let him have one.”

  He seized on the mention of Dylan’s father to get past the awkward moment.

  “Haven’t found much on Dad in the public record. A couple of traffic tickets and one road rage incident that was mentioned in a police activity blog, but I don’t know yet if he was the aggressor.”

  “Brett will find that out for us,” Hayley said. “When?”

  “Since his wife’s death,” Liam said, confirming what he knew she suspected. “Before that, he seems squeaky clean.”

  “So those incidents could be grief messing with his judgment.”

  “Could be,” he agreed and went on. “He has no social accounts. In fact, he doesn’t have an online presence at all that I can find.”

  “Emily did say that Dylan says his father’s a bit of a technophobe. Doesn’t even have a smartphone.”

  “You still usually end up somewhere, via somebody else, friend or job, something. But I haven’t dug deep yet. Professional sites, checking for fake names or profiles with the same IP, all that.”

  “If he’s a credit counselor, that’s someplace to start.”

  “He is?”

  Hayley’s mouth quirked. “Missed that, too?”

  “I guess I was already thinking about this,” he muttered, gesturing at the laptop. It wasn’t really true, but since he wasn’t even sure himself what had him so rattled he couldn’t explain. It would be fine, he’d get in in some capacity, try to get Dylan to open up to him, they’d put Emily’s mind at ease and he’d be done.

  “We’ve been brainstorming how to get you and Dylan together,” she said.

  He gave her a sideways look. “Just don’t say I look young enough to go in as a student.”

  Hayley laughed. “While you could probably do it, we decided it would take too long and stand out too much if you came in as the new kid and zeroed in on him. We need a way to get Dylan to be interested right off.”

  “Cutter?” he asked. “Isn’t that w
hat that’s about?”

  “Yes, but even clever as you both are that could take a while.”

  Liam’s mouth twisted up at one corner. “Him, yes. Me, not so sure.”

  “That’s okay,” Hayley said breezily. “We’re sure.”

  He smiled at her easy, sincere compliment. But before he could respond there was the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and a moment later Quinn, Emily and her teacher—somehow thinking of her that way wasn’t helping as much as he thought it would—came into the big meeting room. Quinn and Emily immediately gravitated to the big wall of windows that looked out on the clearing. Quinn must have told her about the eagles because she was scanning the tree line intently.

  “Dylan said his mom loved eagles,” Emily said sadly. “That’s why she loved hiking so much. She loved seeing them out in the wild.”

  Quinn gave the girl a one-armed hug. He left her to watch for the eagles as he turned to head toward Hayley and Liam.

  “I think we’ve got it,” he told them as he joined them on the other side of the room, where their tech equipment was set up.

  Liam had the feeling he should have stuck around for that discussion downstairs, instead of bolting to another room. Then again, he’d clearly been so distracted he wouldn’t have been much use anyway. He glanced at Emily’s teacher—no, still not working—wondering how such a petite woman could take up so much space in a room this big.

  She smiled at him. And suddenly Liam felt like he had the time he’d gone to the mountains above Denver, simply because he’d never seen mountains so high in person. He had found himself out of breath merely going up a flight of stairs, but was never sure if it was the exertion or the view.

  “Liam never quits once he’s on the scent,” Quinn was saying, in the tone of a promise.

  He yanked his gaze back to his boss. “What do I have to do?” he asked warily.

  “Brush up on your judo and Muay Thai. Ria’s going to get you in as an after-school coach.”

  He blinked. “But I don’t know anything about teaching it.”

  “Ria will help with that.”

  Oh, great.

  “You’ll manage,” Quinn said at his expression. Then he added with a grin, “After all, you were taught by one of the best.”

  The old joke—he’d been taught mostly by Quinn himself—helped him get a grip. “And put him on the ground more than once,” he pointed out, his customary response.

  “That’s when I knew you were ready,” Quinn said. “And you’ve got that sudden-strike thing going for you.”

  “Sudden strike?” Ria asked.

  Quinn’s grin widened. Emily had just rejoined them, and he gave her a wink as he answered. “He strolls in all relaxed and leisurely, lolls around like he couldn’t move fast even if he wanted to. Just when you start thinking he’s half-asleep he explodes and takes you out before you can blink.”

  Ria laughed. It was a light, lilting sound that gave him that high-altitude feeling again, even more than Quinn’s warming words.

  “I’ll remember that,” she said.

  “Dylan will like that,” Emily said. “He really did want to learn. It’s the only thing he still mentions now and then.”

  “And teaching something concrete, physical-like—that is different than having to teach English or math or history,” Ria said in a reassuring tone. “You can actually show what needs to be done.”

  Liam just looked at her for a moment. Made himself do it. Made himself ignore that odd feeling. No one spoke. If he was going to do this job—and it looked like he had no choice—it might be best to draw a line right here and now. He couldn’t get it done if he let her keep him off balance. He didn’t like admitting that this woman he hadn’t even known existed two hours ago could do that, but there it was. So he needed some space. He’d figure out why later.

  “Martial arts,” he said formally, “are as much mental as physical. If you don’t understand the concept behind them—and each one is different—you won’t be able to utilize them to their full potential. You can go through the moves and even be effective, but unless you understand the mind-set you’ll only be mimicking. It won’t be instinctive, and it may let you down when you need it most.”

  She was staring at him. He supposed it was because he’d given what was, for him, practically a speech. And then she surprised him.

  “Your drawl was gone.”

  His mouth twisted. Figures a teacher—an English teacher—wouldn’t like his drawl. So he exaggerated it when he said, “I c’n actually talk like a guy who done went to school, iffen I need to.”

  She drew back slightly. When she spoke, it was in the same kind of tone and cadence he had used in his little speech on the martial arts. “And I put on glasses when I feel I need to be taken more seriously by people who tend to judge on appearance alone. That was not a criticism. Nor was it an assumption that you were not educated based on a regional accent. In fact, I rather missed it.”

  He’d started to tighten up when it was clear she was mimicking him, but her last sentence disarmed him.

  “And might I suggest,” she added, “that you remember that speech? It would be a great introduction to what you’re trying to teach.” She looked at Quinn then. “Was that the verbal version of that sudden strike?”

  Quinn was watching them with amusement, Hayley with great interest. Too much interest. So, he realized belatedly, was Cutter. Oh, no. Uh-uh. No way.

  “I’m not sure,” Quinn said. “I’ve never seen anybody get to him like that before.”

  Because nobody has, Liam thought with an inward grimace, glad she was still looking at Quinn.

  “Should I be flattered, or worried?” Ria asked.

  “That,” Hayley said, “I think is going to be up to you to figure out.”

  Liam wanted to ask which of them she meant. But he didn’t, because he was afraid she meant the both of them. Together. And being linked with that woman, even jokingly, set off alarms.

  He shifted his gaze to Cutter, who was looking up at him with his most innocent expression. But the knowledge of the dog’s track record was emblazoned in his mind as if in neon. Glowing. Immutable.

  Oh, no, you don’t, hound. This is not happening.

  Chapter 5

  Liam was a little surprised at how easily it all came together. Within two days Ria had the okay for him to utilize the school’s gym for after-school meetings starting on Monday.

  He looked at her, sitting in a shaft of sunlight at the outdoor coffee stand a couple of miles down the road from the Cove Academy, where they’d met to work out the details before he arrived at the school. The plan was to spend this weekend working up his approach and to get as many tips from her about teaching as he could. It was only Saturday and he already knew he was going to regret that plan.

  “That was quick,” he said when she told him things were set.

  “All I had to do was ask,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. A vanilla blend, he noted, wondering if it was significant. He hadn’t slept worth a damn, so went for a double shot of espresso.

  Her hair gleamed dark and smooth, those blue eyes were thankfully—or maybe not, since he couldn’t tell where she was looking—masked with sunglasses. Since he was wearing them, as well, they could easily be staring at each other and neither of them would know it.

  “Your Head of School knows I’m not really a teacher, right? Just a guy who knows some stuff?”

  Ria nodded. “She knows. And she wants to meet you first, of course. But I think what really sold her was your little speech.”

  He blinked. “What?”

  “I quoted it to her. She was intrigued.”

  “Oh.” He wasn’t sure what to say to that. Or the fact that she remembered enough to quote him. “I’d say your boss trusts you.”

>   “Dr. Halvorson picks instructors very carefully,” she told him. “She knows what she wants, and she generally gets it.”

  No, he thought, she wouldn’t be staring at him. That seemed to be only his problem. Despite convincing himself she really wasn’t all that, and that his reaction had been a fluke. He’d even thought about calling a couple of casual female acquaintances, thinking maybe an unfussy, no-strings date would set him to rights again. But when he realized how long it had been, he discarded that idea as unwise. He wasn’t sure he was interested anyway.

  “How did you end up as a teacher?” he asked, trying to divert his thoughts.

  He saw her brows rise above the dark glasses. “I ended up as a teacher because that was always my goal.”

  “Always?”

  She nodded. “It’s all I ever wanted to be, since sixth grade and Mr. Matta. He made everything come so alive that kids ran to get to class not because they were late but because they loved it. That’s the kind of teacher I try to be.”

  And if I’d had you, I might have paid more attention...

  “From what Emily has said, you are.”

  “I hope so. I’m lucky to be at Cove. Once we get through Dr. Halvorson’s lengthy process, we pretty much have free rein. And she’s always open to suggestions like this one.” She flashed a grin that nearly stopped his breath. Again. “And that you’re volunteering helps on the budget end.”

  “Things are tight?”

  “Not really, but she does have an administrative board to account to.” She took another sip of coffee. “How does Foxworth do that, anyway? Do what they do, for free?”

  Glad for the ordinary question, Liam answered easily. “Quinn’s sister. Financial genius. Took the insurance money from their parents and parlayed it into enough to keep them going probably forever.”

  “What a sad way to start but a wonderful tribute.”

  He nodded. “They’re good people. The best.”