Page 44 of Operation Protector
“Don’t forget,” she said as they arrived at Liz’s door, three minutes early because he figured she’d have the sheriff already dialed in ready to call if he was one second late, “I’ll be back Sunday afternoon.”
“I won’t.”
Liz’s only response to their arrival was to double-check her watch, then order Grace to her room. She didn’t say a word to Colby, merely shut the door in his face.
“Chatty, huh?” Liam asked as he got back in the truck.
“I kind of prefer her that way,” he admitted wryly.
“I can see why.” He started the engine and backed out of the driveway. “That girl of yours is a pistol.”
“She is.”
“I’m glad Cutter found y’all, so Foxworth can help.”
Colby looked at the man driving. “I never would have expected them to get involved in something this…small.”
“It’s not small, to us. Because what matters is what’s right, not how big a case is. We’re not in it for the headlines—” he grimaced and rolled his eyes “—even if we have been collecting them in the last couple of years or so.”
What’s right.
Colby took a long, deep breath, still not quite adjusted to the idea that he had these people on his side. That he just might be able to free Grace, even a little bit, from that chewing machine that was the Hollen family.
Chapter 19
Ali realized with a little jolt she’d been pacing the floor. She never did that. But the house felt so…empty.
She walked over to where Ziggy was wrestling happily with his stuffed owl. He hadn’t managed to break the hooter yet, so the quiet sounds still emanated from the little thing, seeming to inspire Ziggy to keep pawing at it. She didn’t mind the noise. She’d bought the toy specifically because she figured she’d be hearing a lot of it, and it was the least annoying sound of all the squeaking things she’d heard as she stood there in the pet store.
She leaned down and picked up the pup, who was surprised, but judging by the way he immediately began licking at her face, happy. Which was an improvement on this morning, when he’d spent an hour or so exhausting himself—and her—by searching every corner of the house repeatedly, looking for his missing playmate.
She understood. She missed Cutter, too. She adored her little imp, but she couldn’t deny there was something about that dog, something special. When he was here she was petting him so often, just to prove to herself that she hadn’t imagined that odd feeling of comfort, that gentle soothing, that he somehow managed to transmit. She’d noticed, when they’d been at the Foxworth headquarters, that Colby did it, too. And he got the same puzzled but smiling expression she probably wore every time she did it.
She missed Hayley, too. She was a little surprised at how wound up she’d gotten in all this, and above all how much shewanted to help Colby Kendrick somehow get out of this awful situation. Sure, the big mistake—marrying that harridan next door—was his, but how long should he have to pay for it?
And Grace, sweet, smart little Grace shouldn’t have to pay for it at all. She hadn’t chosen her mother.
Ziggy wiggled in her arms, demanding to be let down. She set him gently on the floor, and he scampered off. She didn’t bother to follow him this time, because she knew the path. He’d be checking every room in the house just in case Cutter had been hiding, or had snuck in in the last ten minutes.
The house must seem as empty to him as it does to me.
She assured herself it was just going to take time to adjust. And Hayley’s visit, in the guise of her college friend, was over anyway. She’d made her assessment of the creature next door, which had been even more severe than Ali’s own, given Hayley had more experience dealing with the type. But while Cutter had gone home with his mom for the weekend, he would be back, Hayley had promised.
“Working undercover?” Ali had joked.
“Exactly that,” Hayley had said, with a knowing look that said she wasn’t joking in the slightest.
As Ziggy trotted busily down the hall toward her office, Ali found herself wondering if Colby had moved into the Foxworth headquarters. Maybe he’d be doing that this weekend, while Grace was gone. And—entirely unrelated, she assured herself—she had the thought that before she even broached the idea to Liz, she should find out exactly how long it took to walk from here to there, especially taking into account Ziggy’s curiosity about everyone and everything, and his much shorter strides.
Decided now, she went back to the bedroom to change from her comfy sheepskin boots into some sturdier shoes for walking. The rain appeared to have abated for now, but as she well knew, it could return with a vengeance at any moment, so she grabbedher slicker with the hood from the rack by the front door. She stuffed a small towel in one pocket in case she needed to dry Ziggy off, put her phone and ID and keys in another, and they were off.
By the time they were two blocks down, she was laughing at herself. She had so underestimated how long it would take for Ziggy to walk even this far. When the time came she might have to carry the little one, and let the well-trained to keep pace with a human Cutter set the speed. Then Ziggy could walk all the way home. Colby and Grace wouldn’t have quite as much time together as she’d hoped, but she was sure they’d both think it was better than nothing.
And if she ended up in trouble with the Hollens in case they discovered it had been not accidental but planned, then so be it. She’d count it as a matter of pride to have people like them mad at her. Legal trouble would be a little rougher but with—she still grinned inwardly at the thought—Gavin de Marco on their side, even the Hollens would think twice about starting that gear grinding.
In the end it took them just over twenty minutes. If she carried Ziggy and hurried, she thought she could cut at least eight minutes off that. That would give them that much more time together.
And you have to give it to them. No staying and hovering just because it makes you feel good to see them together.
