Operation Homecoming Page 9

  For an instant he hovered on the verge. Hayley could keep a secret, he knew that. Hadn’t she held her peace when she’d caught him sneaking back into the house after that ill-advised joyride? She’d even washed the mud off Dad’s car, under the guise of watering the flower bed, before he’d had a chance to. And more importantly before Dad saw it. Even when confronted—idiot kid that he’d been, he hadn’t realized their father would notice the mileage—she hadn’t given him up. He’d done it himself.

  When Dad had told him his punishment was going to be pushing back the day he could get his own much-coveted driver’s license by six months, he’d let out a shocked groan of protest.

  “Quiet,” his father had said sternly. “It would be a year except that you didn’t let your sister take the heat. You manned up. I’m proud of you for that.”

  You wouldn’t be proud now, Dad. I really let her down.

  “Tell me something,” Hayley said, and he wondered how long he’d been sitting there silently, lost in the memories.

  “I told you I can’t...”

  “I don’t mean about why. Not directly, anyway.”

  “What, then?”

  “You say it’s a good reason.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why is it eating you alive?”

  His sister had lost none of her smarts, or her perceptiveness in the past five years. He turned it over again in his mind, even though he knew it was pointless. He’d tried every way he could think of to explain, but couldn’t come up with one that didn’t violate his promise. And Cabrero’s explanation of what could happen if he talked was always uppermost in his mind. And if it wasn’t, the man reminded him each time he’d called to see how he was doing.

  At last he answered her in the only way he could. “Because I love you and I can’t tell you the one thing that might make you love me back again.”

  Hayley drew in an audible breath. “I never stopped loving you, Walker. I’m just...disappointed. That you don’t seem to be who I thought you were.”

  His stomach churned. He wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have preferred she just agree she hated him. His jaw clenched, and he closed his eyes, feeling the sting of moisture. After all he’d been through in the past five years, he was going to break down now and cry in front of his little sister? Like hell.

  He felt a touch on his knee, and his eyes snapped open. He found himself staring into a pair of dark eyes flecked with amber.

  Cutter.

  The dog had silently gotten up from Hayley’s side and come to sit in front of him. It was his chin he’d felt, now resting atop his knee.

  There was something compelling about that canine gaze, and suddenly the tales he’d heard from the others of Foxworth didn’t seem so crazy.

  What was crazy was how he inexplicably felt...not better, really, but calmer. Slowly, still caught by that stare, he lifted a hand. Half expecting the dog to detach a finger or two, he reached out for that spot behind the animal’s right ear he’d seen Hayley and the others scratch.

  His fingers touched the soft coat, then, almost compulsively, pushed deeper into warm fur. Scratched. The dog leaned into it slightly, but never shifted that unwavering gaze.

  Walker stared back, beyond puzzled. Not at the dog’s reaction, but at his own. At the unexpected warmth that seemed to be spreading. And at the calm that seemed to radiate through his fingers, as if simply touching the dog—or the dog touching him—had soothed the storm raging inside him.

  He closed his eyes again, let it wash over him, simply because he felt he had to. He had no idea how long he’d sat there when he finally opened his eyes to look at his sister.

  “Well, well,” she said softly.

  “What...?” He didn’t know what to ask.

  “He only gives that comfort to people he cares about. Or people with a problem who need it, and that he deems worthy.”

  He blinked. “We are talking about a dog, aren’t we?”

  “Depends who you ask,” she said.

  He glanced back at the dog, who was back on his feet now. “Worthy? Not hardly, dog. But thanks.”

  He didn’t try to figure out what had just happened. He wasn’t sure there was an answer, anyway. Just as he wasn’t sure why his sister was so sure of what it all had meant.

  And in the end, nothing mattered beside the fact that when Hayley looked at him now, that sadness seemed a little lighter.

  If that was the dog’s work, he’d take it.

  Chapter 13

  “All I know,” Hayley said, “is that Cutter went to him, comforted him.”

  Amy looked at her, brow furrowed. “And you think that means...what?”

  “He never does that unless he’s sure about the person.”

  “Maybe he just did it for you. Maybe he senses somehow that he’s connected to you.”

  “He did it exactly like he does it for Rafe.”

  “You’ve said he does it for Rafe when he’s in pain.”

  “Exactly. I think my brother is hurting inside, badly. I saw it this morning. And it’s connected to why he was gone.”

  “And?”

  “It makes me...curious.”

  “So you finally want to know? Even though he won’t tell you himself?”

  “I want to deal with your situation first,” Hayley finally said. “Then I’ll decide if I want to pursue it.”

  “I’m sure Quinn would have Ty start now,” Amy said, not sure if she really wished for that or not.

  “I know he would, but...” Hayley shook her head. “I want to help you first. And meanwhile I’ll think about this.”

  After a moment, Amy nodded. She wasn’t convinced Cutter just wasn’t sensing Walker was connected to Hayley and that was why the overture, not the dog’s uncanny knowledge of people, good and bad. But Hayley was convinced. And what Rafe had said was obviously true, about there being more than they knew.

  Hayley’s phone chimed Quinn’s signal. She pulled it out, and since she and Amy were alone she put it on speaker. “Amy’s here, so go ahead.”

  “I’m conferencing Ty in,” Quinn said. And a second later Amy heard the young man’s voice.

  “I’m not sure this is anything, but you always say...”

  “Yes. I want to hear it.”

  “Okay. When I was backtracking those checks, I came across something else. That account in the Virgin Islands? It was opened with a deposit of just under a hundred grand.”

  “And?” Quinn prompted.

  “That deposit came out of an account in Marcus Rockwell’s name.”

  Amy’s heart sank. She had truly hoped not to hear that.

  “Well, well. Good job, Ty,” Quinn said. “Keep digging.”

  “Always,” Ty said cheerfully, and left the call.

  Hayley looked at Amy as she asked Quinn, “We’re definitely going?”

  “Yes. This just feels wrong. We may need to be there to really find out what’s going on.”

  * * *

  “You’re coming?”

  Amy stared at Walker in surprise. She had come downstairs to find him standing in the living room, with the battered duffel bag he’d arrived carrying at his feet.

  “I came to see my sister. She’s going. So I’m going. Besides, more hands might be useful if this turns nasty.”

  She wondered what he was expecting. And why he felt he could help if it happened. What had he been doing all this time?

  “Useful?”

  He held her gaze then. “I looked out for you once. I can do it again.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. Memories assailed her, and she struggled to find something to say.

  “Does the pilot know about this?” she finally managed.

  “If you mean Quinn, yes. He s
aid it was up to Hayley.”

  “Through clenched teeth, no doubt,” Amy said.

  “No,” Walker said. Then, with a wry twist of his mouth, added, “Well, not quite.”

  Maybe him coming along would be a blessing, Amy thought. Then she wouldn’t have to think about how naive she’d been to believe her boss was a good, if gruff, guy. She could think about how naive she’d been to ever believe in Walker Cole instead.

  She looked at the duffel bag at his feet. “Repacked already? Or wait, you probably never unpack, do you?”

  “Stop it.” Her gaze snapped back to his face. His tone was that of a man who’d reached his limit, and his jaw was set. “I got it, all right? You hate me. I’m not asking you to be my friend. I’m not asking you to talk to me, or even look at me. Just remember it’s up to Hayley to decide about me.”

  “And if she decides she can’t forgive you?”

  He took in a deep breath. And for an instant she saw pain, a deep wrenching pain, flash across his face. “Then I’m gone for good,” he said, and the dark shadow of that pain echoed in his desolate voice. “She’ll never have to see me again.”

  It was true, she thought in that moment, what Hayley had said about Cutter. This was what the dog had seen, or sensed, and sought to comfort. Somewhere deep inside, Walker was in agony.

  “Amy.”

  Hayley’s voice came from behind her, and Amy wondered how long she’d been there, how much she’d heard. She turned around, saw in her face that Hayley had heard enough.

  “Amy, please, it’s all right. Set it aside, for now at least. Let’s focus on your situation.”

  “All right,” she said. Somehow it was easier to agree after that glimpse of what he was hiding.

  “Thank you,” Hayley said. “Now I’ve got to get Cutter’s things together.”

  “He’s coming, too?” Amy asked.

  “Of course,” Hayley said. “He’s one of the team. Sometimes the most important one.”

  Amy smiled, but her friend looked utterly serious as she left them and walked into the kitchen.

  She looked back at Walker, aware Hayley hadn’t directly acknowledged his presence.

  “You know,” she said softly, “if you let her see a bit of that hurt, it might start to change her mind.”

  He didn’t try to deny what she’d seen, and she felt a grudging respect for that.

  “I don’t want to...manipulate her with emotion.”

  Amy laughed at that. “Women are all about emotion. Besides, it’s letting her see your emotion I’m talking about, not you playing with hers.”

  His brow furrowed. “Why so generous all of a sudden?”

  “I’m always generous,” she said airily, rather guiltily pleased that she had him puzzled. “And I promised Amy.”

  “So just like that, you put down your weapons?”

  “Oh, I haven’t put them down. I’ve just holstered them. For the moment.”

  For an instant she thought she saw his mouth quirk, almost as if he were trying not to smile.

  Hayley came back into the room, a small tote bag in one hand. She held a zip-top Baggie in the other that appeared to be full of peeled baby carrots.

  “Carrots?”

  Hayley laughed. “They’re his favorite treat. Crunchy.”

  “Um...dog biscuits?” Amy suggested.

  “He likes them, too, but these he asks for.”

  Walker finally spoke. “Asks for?”

  Amy watched as Hayley looked at her brother. And once more she spoke to him as if he were a casual acquaintance, not her closest and only remaining blood relative. “Yes. He has a way of making it quite clear. That and many other things.”

  Her expression changed somehow, and Amy thought she saw a trace of the same kind of pain she’d seen in Walker’s eyes.

  “Like this morning, at the bench.”

  Silence spun out as brother and sister looked at each other. Amy felt as if she should go, leaving them alone. No matter how angry she was with Walker, she knew he was right; it was Hayley’s decision to make.

  And if Hayley decided to let him back into her life, then he was going to be back in hers, as well. The possibility hadn’t really occurred to her until now, which she supposed was a measure of how stunned she’d been when he’d turned up on the doorstep, literally.

  Walker broke first. He lowered his gaze, and Amy saw the tightness of his jaw. Perhaps he’d taken her suggestion, and let his sister see a bit of that black pain. Hayley’s expression had certainly softened.

  “So,” she said, now that the moment had passed, “where is the furry one?”

  It took a moment for Hayley to refocus. “Quinn took him out for a fetch session. He’s going to be cooped up in the plane for a while, so he needs to work off some energy now. They should be back momentarily.”

  On the words the back door opened. Amy heard Quinn say something, and then Cutter appeared in the doorway. He paused there, seeming to study the three of them, looking from one to the other as if assessing. Seemingly satisfied with whatever he saw or sensed, he went to Hayley, nosed the bag of carrots, then trotted over to his dog bed and picked up what appeared to be a fresh chew bone. Then he came back and sat next to Walker’s duffel, as if to indicate he, too, was packed and ready to go.

  Amy shook her head. “I know you’ve said he communicates, but it still amazes me.”

  “Us, too, sometimes still,” Hayley said.

  “Just talked to Mick at the airport. Plane’ll be ready by the time we get there,” Quinn said. “We’re going into Orange County, since that’s where the new office is and I need to check it out, anyway. Charlie will have a car waiting for us.”

  Amy stared at him. “I didn’t expect you to get all of Foxworth involved.”

  Quinn smiled at her. “You get one of us, you get all of us. Besides, I think Charlie’s bored. Only two or three crises going on.”

  Amy, who had met the legendary Charlie at the wedding, didn’t find that at all hard to believe. And it warmed her. She’d been afraid she might lose Hayley, at least a little bit, when she found Quinn. But instead, she found she had gained more, an expanded family of sorts, who only needed to know she was important to Hayley to make her important to them. It was an amazing feeling for someone who had grown up so uncertainly.

  While Walker had merely gained more people angry at him, for Hayley’s sake. And while her brain said he’d earned that and more, her heart couldn’t help remembering those moments of pure, unadulterated pain.

  She hadn’t thought about it until they headed out to Quinn’s SUV, but obviously she was going to end up sitting in the backseat with Walker. Unless she sat in the cargo area with the dog. For a moment she actually considered the idea, thinking she’d find Cutter much less disturbing.

  But she’d promised Hayley to set it aside, and so she climbed into the backseat with every appearance of unconcern. She plopped her big purse on the seat between them. If he noticed or thought anything of the makeshift barrier, it didn’t show as he settled in on the other side.

  And she was not going to obsess about it, or him. She had other things to think about, a lot more important than Walker Cole. Like whether her boss was not just crooked but criminal.

  Chapter 14

  “Nice,” Walker said with a low whistle.

  Normally she would have made some teasing observation about boys and their toys, but Amy couldn’t deny this was a very pretty airplane. From here on the ground it seemed large to her, although it would be dwarfed by the commercial jet she’d flown in on. But she liked the look of it, and the way the ribbons of dark and light blue flowed over the sleek white body from the bottom up to the tail, sweeping along as if in the wind. Even on this damp, rainy day the plane looked as if it was eager to fly.

&nbs
p; “Yes,” Quinn said. He was still acting cool toward Walker, but even so apparently couldn’t resist this urge. “She’s different in light aviation. A prop plane with a pressurized cabin.”

  “Not quite the jet you wanted,” Hayley said, clearly teasing, “but she does nicely. Although I’m surprised you haven’t pushed for a seaplane, too. They’re so common here.”

  “The thought has occurred,” he admitted with a grin.

  Amy watched the man who had been fueling the plane detach the big hose, fiddle with what she supposed was the airplane equivalent of a gas cap, then give a thumbs-up to Quinn and start reeling the hose back onto the fueling truck.

  She glanced into the open hangar the plane had clearly been pulled out of, probably by the small tractor she saw sitting to one side. Across the back was a row of what looked like storage rooms or maybe offices, the one in the corner having windows that looked out into the main part of the hangar.

  “For emergencies,” Hayley explained when she saw where she was looking. “We could run Foxworth out of here if we had to.”

  “Have you ever?”

  “No. But Quinn believes in being prepared for anything.”

  “Saves a lot of worry,” Quinn said. “You want to get them settled in while I do the preflight?”

  “Or I could do the preflight,” Hayley suggested.

  “Yes,” Quinn said agreeably.

  Amy had heard every step of Hayley’s progress toward her own pilot’s license, so she wasn’t surprised by this. Walker, on the other hand, seemed a bit startled.

  Amazing how people’s lives go on, even without you.

  On the heels of that uncharitable thought, the memory of what she’d seen in his eyes came back once more, and she felt a qualm. Somehow that moment had changed everything, and she found herself wondering yet again where he’d been, what he’d been doing that had done that to the carefree boy she remembered. Only now, it was without malice.

  “I’ll get them settled, cap’n,” Hayley said with a grin.

  With an effort, Amy was able to enjoy the novelty of it all as the clamshell door in the side of the plane opened. Cutter, clearly familiar with this, went up the steps without hesitation, then Hayley led them after him into the surprisingly spacious cabin.