Operation Homecoming Read online

  The cell phone on the table near Quinn rang, something that sounded like a marching band in a parade. Startled, Amy glanced at Hayley, who grinned back at her.

  “Charlie,” she said as Quinn excused himself to answer, rising and walking toward the window. “A marching song seemed appropriate.”

  Amy laughed.

  “Charlie?” Walker asked, reminding Amy that he knew very little about his sister’s life now. Oddly, instead of sparking the usual anger, it only made her sad.

  “Foxworth’s COO, among other things,” Hayley answered him evenly. “That things here, and in every other Foxworth facility in the country, run so smoothly is in large part thanks to Charlie.”

  Amy looked over at Quinn. “He looks quite serious.”

  Hayley nodded. “We finally have a good line on the mole who nearly got us all killed during the operation with Vicente.”

  Walker swore, low and harsh. This must be what Quinn had been so serious about earlier. If he’d bought Hayley’s earlier assurance that Quinn would never have let her get hurt, he was doubting it now.

  “After all this time?” Amy asked.

  “Rafe was so antsy about it, Quinn finally sent him to DC a while back to poke at various hornets’ nests. One of them turned up the stinkbug we were looking for, so now we know where he works at least.”

  “But not who he is?”

  “Not yet. But Foxworth won’t stop until they find him. For all we know, he may have actually gotten others killed. Three federal agents died in the initial hunt for Vicente, and according to one of Rafe’s sources, it was because they knew they were coming. That was why Vicente called Foxworth in.”

  Walker was staring at his sister. Amy guessed he’d had no idea the kind of thing Foxworth occasionally dealt with. For the first time she found herself looking at things from his point of view, how it must feel to come home to find everything so changed and unfamiliar. Whatever his supposed “good reason” was, he was paying a high price for it.

  Quinn ended the call and came back to them. He did not look particularly happy. “Another possibility eliminated,” he told Hayley. “Waterman was into something, all right, but not this.”

  Hayley let out a sigh. “I thought we had him this time.”

  “So did I. He had all the signs. But turns out he was only colluding with a senator who has some...unacceptable appetites he apparently shares. They were consumers only.”

  “How did Charlie find that out?”

  Quinn gave a half shrug. “You know Charlie. Connections. Teague’s info ended up with someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows the senator has a predilection for little boys.”

  “Nice,” Walker muttered, but he was shaking his head in shock, probably at the ease with which both his sister and her husband tossed around stories from the highest halls of power.

  Amy grimaced. “No wonder I try to avoid the news these days.”

  “We’ll find him,” Quinn said. “And in the meantime, the information on the senator and his buddy has been passed along to someone who isn’t afraid of the guy, who won’t let it be buried.”

  “I have faith in Charlie’s connections,” Hayley said with a smile.

  “I have faith in Liam’s chili,” Quinn said prosaically.

  The moment he spoke Amy became aware she had been smelling something appetite-whetting for a little while now.

  “You know he won’t let us eat it yet,” Hayley said.

  “I know, I know, too green,” Quinn said, but he headed for the stairs anyway.

  “Green chili?” Walker asked.

  Hayley laughed. “Not color-wise. Too young. He says it has to mingle for at least a day before it’s edible. But we usually steal some, anyway, because it’s still good. But tomorrow it will be amazing.”

  “Do you guys cook here a lot?”

  “Sometimes,” she said. “Wait until you have Quinn’s spicy chicken.”

  “Oh, my God,” Amy said, “he cooks, too?”

  “They all do. Although Teague runs more to just grilling.”

  “And—I’m almost afraid to ask—Rafe?”

  Hayley grinned. “Big, bad, scary Rafe makes the best, fluffiest omelets known to man. Not to mention a wicked homemade barbecue sauce that would make roadkill taste good.”

  That thought was enough to make Amy both laugh and gag slightly.

  “Ty, on the other hand, does not cook. But he should be back with something soon,” Hayley said.

  Amy lifted a brow. “So quick?”

  “He’s not only good, he’s fast. But in the meantime, let’s go steal some chili,” Hayley said.

  As they headed down the stairs, the tempting aroma getting stronger, Amy again had the wistful feeling that this, this feeling of doing good work with good people, was what was missing in her life.

  And by the time they were downstairs, she had herself convinced that that was even more important than what she thought she’d been missing. What she’d been thinking about since last night, the absence of any kind of steady relationship in her life.

  And that train of thought had, she told herself, nothing to do with the presence of Walker Cole.

  Chapter 10

  “So, have you guys ever made a mistake?” Walker asked after he swallowed the last mouthful of chili that he couldn’t really believe would be better by tomorrow, as the young Texan indeed had insisted.

  “We may have made one today,” Quinn said, looking at him rather pointedly.

  Walker met the intense gaze steadily, although it took more nerve than he would ever have expected to stare down his new brother-in-law.

  “You may have actually started that one last night,” he said, brushing a finger over the sore spot on his jaw. He saw Quinn’s eyes narrow, as if he hadn’t expected that.

  Good.

  He’d learned a great deal in the past five years about people and how to read them. You tended to pay attention when your life depended on it. Quinn didn’t like him being here in his domain.

  Quinn didn’t like him, period.

  The irony of it all was that if it were someone else, and he was standing on the outside watching, he’d be cheering Quinn Foxworth for it. If it were someone else, he himself would be ready to do worse than deck the man who had so hurt his little sister.

  But it wasn’t someone else. It was him.

  The way things stood, he realized his relationship with Hayley would never be the same. That hurt more than anything. And he knew he would never have Quinn’s liking.

  But he would have his respect. Even if it took that knock-down, drag-out battle. He’d taken that first hit, because he had it coming. Probably more, to be honest. But he wasn’t about to let his brother-in-law pound on him, no matter how much he might deserve it. He’d learned a lot of ways to fight in the past five years, and as he held Quinn’s assessing gaze, he thought he wouldn’t be averse to using some of them.

  And you’d have to, with this guy.

  And again he was in that bitterly ironic position of being glad his sister had found a man who wanted to beat him up at best, kick him out of her life forever at worst.

  “Everybody makes mistakes,” Hayley said. She said it without any undertone, so he didn’t think it was aimed specifically at him, just an answer to his question.

  “Some more than others,” Liam said, but he seemed to be contemplating the taste of the chili more than anything. Then he shot Walker a sideways glance that told him the Texan was just as aware of his huge mistakes as the others.

  “We’ve made them,” Rafe said, leaning back in his chair and eyeing Walker with the same sort of intensity. And even though it was almost as threatening as Quinn’s steady gaze, he found himself appreciating this, too, and laughed inwardly at himself at landing in th
is sea of irony, liking that his sister had people around her who would fight for her, even if it meant the one they’d like to put in the dirt was him. “But most times we fix them.”

  At least he hadn’t said bury them, Walker thought. And the word didn’t seem like an exaggeration with this man. With that instinct honed during too much time with men the opposite of these, men with evil intent, he sensed this man might be the deadliest of all of them.

  “And not many since ol’ Cutter showed up,” Liam added.

  The dog, who had been dozing in a cushy bed near the fireplace, lifted his head at the sound of his name. He seemed to study them for a moment, then put his head back down and closed his eyes. He either was oblivious of the undercurrents in the room, or trusted his people to handle them, Walker thought.

  Hayley laughed and the others smiled. “He does do a good job of picking them, doesn’t he?”

  “Picking them?”

  She explained the cases Cutter had led them to. It seemed beyond unbelievable, yet they were all adding bits, as if the stories were all familiar and accepted. Walker wondered if this was part of it, if they were playing some kind of purposeful game with him. For an instant he risked a glance at the one person he’d been trying to avoid looking at. Amy.

  He wasn’t sure why her disdain stung more than anyone’s. Hayley was bad enough, but she, being who she was and his sister, seemed to be reserving judgment at least a little.

  But not Amy. She’d made herself crystal clear from the first moment she’d laid eyes on him. She would never, ever forgive him for what he’d done to the woman who was like a sister to her.

  Why should she? She’s been a better sister than you’ve been a brother, blood or no.

  Amy seemed to feel his gaze, and looked at him. A chill went through him at the coldness of it. Little Amy had grown into a tough cookie, as his mother used to say.

  His mother.

  It hit him again, hard, and he had to look away as the pain of loss swamped him. He’d learned to hide every emotion the hard way, but this one was too raw, too deep, too personal.

  “Walker?” Hayley said it as if she cared. Or maybe it was just curiosity.

  He stood up abruptly. And made himself look at his sister. “Mom’s been gone two years for you,” he said, his voice rough with the effort not to say it even as the words tumbled out, “but for me it’s been two days.”

  He walked out the back door before he let anything more slip.

  * * *

  “What the hell did that mean?” Quinn muttered.

  “I don’t know,” Hayley said, staring after her brother.

  Amy looked at the others, saw each one registering a trace of the puzzlement she was feeling.

  “Two days?” Quinn said.

  Hayley was shaking her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “That makes no sense,” Amy said.

  “Not with what we know,” Rafe said.

  Was he implying there were things they didn’t know? Of course there were, but things that would make sense of that odd statement, those words Walker had clearly fought letting out at all?

  As if she needed something to do, Hayley got up, went to the kitchen and began to clean up the dishes. Amy flicked a glance at Quinn, whose expression was troubled, and at his slight nod followed her. Her mind was racing, down what she suspected were mostly blind alleys.

  She started to help with the cleanup. After a moment she spoke the only thing she’d been able to think of.

  “Maybe...maybe he just didn’t really believe it until he got here.”

  Hayley paused. “You mean maybe he had to be here where she was, or in her house?”

  “I don’t know,” Amy said. She hesitated; then, still trying to figure out what Walker had meant, quietly asked Hayley something she’d always meant to. “With all this at your beck and call, as it were, why didn’t you ever turn it on your brother?”

  “Hunt him down, you mean?”

  Amy nodded.

  “Thought about it. And Quinn would have done it. I think he would have liked to, so he could have delivered that punch sooner. But every time I got close, I’d get some silly text from him, saying pretty much nothing, but letting me know he was alive at least.”

  “How thoughtful,” Amy said sourly.

  “I know, I know. And I still worried, but he’s been for the most part gone since he graduated high school, so I’m used to it. Sure, he’d drop in now and then but... Besides, what was I going to do or say when we found him? Walker made his own choices. And he says he had a good reason.”

  “And you accept that?”

  “All I know is the Walker I grew up with was never heartless or cruel. So I can only hope that the reason he can’t tell me is good enough.” Hayley in turn gestured around them, at the Foxworth surroundings. “I have learned, since I’ve been here, that there are many reasons for many things that I never would have thought of before.”

  Amy didn’t answer. For some reason all she could think of was that look on Walker’s face that had made her think of all this from his side. And suddenly she needed to know.

  She put down the bowl she’d just dried and announced, loudly enough that Quinn looked at her, “Why don’t I just go ask him what he meant?”

  She was nervous about all this, now that she’d seen the scope and capabilities of Foxworth. She had the feeling she truly had started that snowball down the mountain, and she feared she might regret it.

  She knew she was nervous because even talking to Walker seemed a good distraction.

  Plus she was angry with herself at the effort it had taken not to look at Walker across the table.

  She hated him, didn’t she? It should have been easy. And yet it seemed like every few seconds she’d had to stop herself from stealing a glance. And even when she managed not to look at him, images filled her mind, as if sparked by his very presence. Images from long-ago childish daydreams of some fantasy day when Walker Cole would look at her and see something other than his sister’s shy, garishly haired best friend.

  And like most childhood fantasies, when she’d finally gotten that day she’d dreamed of, she hadn’t wanted it. Walker had been truly stunned when he’d finally recognized her last night, and it had meant nothing to her. In fact, it had even irritated her more.

  Everything about him irritated her more.

  She stood up.

  “Amy,” Hayley began.

  She smiled rather tightly at her. “My bridge, remember. Don’t worry, I won’t kill him. Yet.”

  She saw Quinn’s rather sardonic lift of a brow. “Deadlier than the male,” he quoted, but she thought she saw approval there. She turned on her heel and followed the man who’d once been the boy she adored.

  She found him in the meadow, staring out at the trees. She looked, thought she saw something perched in one of the upper branches of the maple tree. One of the eagles, maybe? The tree was leafing out for spring, and it was hard to tell. “There’s a lovely video of the wedding, including the eagles. You should watch it.”

  He hadn’t looked when she’d come up behind him, but he didn’t jump when she spoke. Clearly he’d known she was there.

  “Since that’s as close as I’ll ever get?” he suggested with a sideways glance.

  “Actually, I was only thinking of how beautiful it was.”

  He looked back at the meadow. “I’ll bet it was,” he said almost wistfully. He glanced at her again. “I’ll bet you were beautiful.”

  There had been a time when she would have killed for a comment like that from Walker Cole.

  She wanted to say, “You could have seen for yourself,” but something, she wasn’t sure what, stopped her. But instead, she asked what she’d originally come out here for.

  “What did you mean, for yo
u it’s been two days?”

  The glance he shot her then was sharper, more assessing. Was he deciding what to tell her? Or whether to answer at all? She had the oddest feeling his mind had suddenly kicked into high gear, and he was trying to decide just what and how much to say. If anything.

  And she wondered why it was apparently such a complex decision. He’d said it, after all. But perhaps he hadn’t meant to.

  She waited, more than willing to let the pressure of silence come to bear. And the silence spun out until she thought he was going to just leave it hanging there. But finally, he answered her. Sort of.

  “I can’t tell you why, but that’s when I found out.”

  She stared at him. “What?”

  He grimaced. “I knew you wouldn’t just accept that.”

  “Are you saying you actually only found out about your mother two days ago?”

  It was ridiculous. Absurd. His mother had become ill five years ago, and had died over two years ago. She knew personally that Hayley had tried many times to reach him before finally giving up. And yet he was saying he’d only learned about it two days ago?

  “Yes. And the wedding.”

  Even more ridiculous. “But you texted her. That stupid, one-word text.”

  He blinked. “What?”

  “I mean, really, Walker, your only sister, your only living family, gets married and the best you can do is a one-word text saying congratulations?”

  He looked stunned, bewildered, in fact, almost as if he’d truly forgotten, even though it had only been a few months ago. Then he frowned, and she could almost feel his mind racing.

  “I...”

  “Amy?” Hayley’s voice came from the doorway. “Come on in. Ty’s back with what he’s found so far.”

  Efficient, she thought, at the same time noticing that Hayley didn’t invite her brother.

  She walked away and left him standing there. As he deserved, she thought, and put him out of her mind.