Page 9 of Operation Protector
Maybe that was why he just numbly followed these people he’d never even met before.
Or maybe it was that reassuring dog.
Chapter 5
My dad’s the best. He loves me more than anything. My mother keeps trying to scare him away, but he promised he’d never give up.
Ali remembered Grace’s firm statement, spoken with utter conviction. She remembered hoping the child was right, that it wasn’t some idealized image of her father she clung to.
Now she was certain.
She’d gotten her first aid kit from the cupboard she stored it in, and at Hayley’s suggestion gave it to Quinn.
“He’s had to deal with worse,” she’d said.
“Military?” Ali guessed. At Hayley’s nod and questioning look she explained, “I did a job for a retired commander in the Navy. They have that air…”
Hayley smiled widely. “Yes, they do.”
Now they were standing by the window with the best view of the house next door, while Quinn had Colby’s arm stretched out on her kitchen counter, already cleaned up with the antiseptic she kept on hand. She remembered the feel of his hand when she’d touched him. Not soft, office-bound hands, but tough, roughened hands. A working man’s hands.
“Could go either way,” Quinn said. “Stitches might help, but not sure they’re really necessary. It’s long, but not too deep.”
“I can’t leave until I know Grace is okay.”
“I figured as much,” Quinn said, clearly unsurprised. “There are some butterfly bandages in here that could hold things. You’ll likely have a righteous scar, though.”
“Won’t be the first,” Colby muttered.
Ali watched him as Quinn worked, saw him wince once, but otherwise remain expressionless.
It wasn’t until his arm was cleaned and bandaged and Colby had flexed it slightly that he looked up at the man who had been efficiently doing the work. He seemed to hesitate, then asked, “You’re not…those Foxworths, are you?TheFoxworths, I mean?”
One corner of Quinn’s mouth quirked upward. “Depends on what you mean by that.”
“Ogilvie. Flood.”
So he did know, Ali thought as he named the disgraced politicians Foxworth had helped bring down. Their disgustingly crooked former governor, and the even more disgusting senator turned powerbroker—or at least that had been his plan before Foxworth had uncovered that his wife’s death, which he had milked for all it was worth, had been a murder contracted by him.
Ali glanced at Hayley, who was smiling. “Read the news, do you?” she asked in a cheery tone.
“When I think I can stomach it,” Colby said sourly.
Quinn laughed. “I’m with you there.”
“But I only paid attention to that because I’d already heard of you. From a guy I’ve done some work with.”
Fascinated, Ali watched the exchange, getting the feeling there was more to this than just recognizing a well-known name.
“And that would be…?”
“Local building contractor. Guy named Drew Kiley.”
Ali blinked. She knew that name, had seen signs for Kiley Construction at sites in the area. He’d built a couple of buildings in town that had become gathering places, because they were beautiful, well designed and constructed. She’d even read thathe’d been offered some very big projects but had turned them down, because that wasn’t what he wanted to do.
She also knew she hadn’t mistaken the sudden change in demeanor in both Quinn and Hayley at the mention of that name.
Nor, apparently, had Colby.
