Page 33 of Deserving Cora
“We aren’t mercenaries for hire,” Spike added. “Or bodyguards.”
“We’re just a bunch of former military guys who own a retreat in the woods,” Tiny explained. “We can’t exactly cross state lines with AK47s and RPGs and storm his house,” he finished with a small smile.
Cora looked down at her hands, and her shoulders slumped. “Yeah, I know.”
“This is a tricky situation,” Brick went on. “But for what it’s worth…we believe that things don’t seem quite right.”
She glanced at Brick, and Pipe could see the hope in her eyes.
“You seem to have made an impression on Pipe, and trust me, that’s a hard thing to do. It’s because of my loyalty to and trust in my friend that I’m agreeing to help you.”
“Thank you,” Cora whispered.
“Don’t thank me yet. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, and I believe you probably know your friend better than anyone…but like Spike said, we’re not bodyguards or mercenaries or security specialists. We aren’t going to Arizona in any official capacity. We’ll do what we can to help you see Lara, but ifshesays she’s okay, that’s all we can do. Understand?”
Cora nodded.
“Any volunteers to go with Ms. Rooney?” Brick asked with a small grin.
“I’ll go,” Pipe said without hesitation.
Brick’s smile grew. “Duh.”
“Me too,” Owl said.
“Hell, if Owl’s going, I will too,” Stone said with a shrug.
Pipe wasn’t surprised. The two men were very close. Almost dying in a helicopter crash, and then being held hostage and tortured together, forged an unbreakable bond.
“Right. Stone, I’m putting you in charge,” Brick said.
Pipe frowned. It wasn’t as if they were a special forces team, and Brick wasn’t their team leader. Then again, he was basically the driving force behind the reason they were all in New Mexico in the first place.
“You’re not as close to the situation as Pipe and Owl, since they met Cora in DC. I expect you to be the voice of reason here, to not get emotionally involved. If you think things are hinky, then you report back to us and we’ll decide on a next course of action. And you,” Brick pinned his gaze on Cora, “donotdo anything to put my friends in danger. Or yourself. Or Lara, for that matter. You want to know if she’s okay? Then that’s the plan. Talk to her, alone if possible, and see what she’s really thinking. If she loves this Michaels guy, you’re going to have to learn how to deal with the fact that she now lives on the other side of the country. Okay?”
“But what if she isn’t? And what if Ridge won’t let her leave?” Cora asked.
Brick frowned and sighed. “Then we’ll figure out how to extract her at that point.”
Cora looked relieved. “All right. But if I can make a suggestion…”
Spike laughed. “Sure.”
“Maybe it would be good if you guys started thinking of some sort of plan to get her out while we’re gone…you know…just in case.”
Most of the men around the table chuckled.
“Don’t worry, we will. Has anyone told you that you’re really stubborn?” Brick asked.
She smiled. “Yeah. Lara.”
Brick nodded. “Right. I’m thinking you guys can leave the day after tomorrow.”
“Wait—what? Why notnow?” Cora asked, the humor wiped off her face.
“Because we need to plan,” Stone told her. “We need the layout of the estate, we need to figure out our best course of action. We need more intel.”
Cora sighed in frustration. It was obvious she wasn’t happy with the delay, but she seemed to understand that she’d gotten what she wanted—namely, their help—and if she pushed her luck, she might lose that.
