Page 31 of Operation Protector
He stared at her, looking almost stunned. And that made her ache inside all over again.
And she had the delicious thought that someday, eventually, when all this was over and Grace was safe, she’d like to put Liz Hollen on her expensively clad butt.
Chapter 14
“Don’t worry, man. I’ll put on my stupid hick suit, and she’ll barely even see me. I know her type.”
Colby looked at Liam Burnett, who was grinning at him. Friday had arrived, and they were prepping to head over to get Grace. “I’ll bet you do,” he said. “At least you’re smart enough not to have married one.”
“Me? Nope. My Ria’s the best thing that ever happened to me, along with Foxworth.” He gave Colby a sideways look. “But hey, we’re all blind about some stuff. And it took me a darn long time to understand what really matters. And your little girl really matters.”
“Yes,” Colby said, his voice suddenly rough. “Yes, she does. For me, she’s all that matters.” He meant it more than ever. And felt stronger saying it now, with Foxworth on his side.
He looked around the building where he’d met up with Quinn and Liam this afternoon. He’d been a little surprised that there was no signage, no indication that this was the headquarters of one of the most well-known operations in the northwest. Quinn had said they kept a low profile, but not even a sign? Just a long gravel drive winding among trees, ending in a parking area next to a three-story, rectangular building painted nearly the same color as the evergreens that surrounded it except for a large, open meadow to the rear, spreading out to where the trees began again.
There was a large, hangar-style building to the right of the main one, with a concrete pad in between.
“A helipad?” he’d asked.
Quinn had smiled. “For Igor.”
It had taken Colby a moment to get there. “As in… Sikorsky?”
“Seemed fitting.”
“Don’t get him started on Wilbur,” Liam warned with a grin, “or we’ll be here all day.”
“Let me guess…you’ve got a plane, too?”
“We do. But Liam’s right. We need to focus, so I’ll shut up about it.”
And so they had gone inside, where he was again surprised, this time by the homelike atmosphere. It had looked like an industrial type of building from the outside, but inside was welcoming and warm. There was a fireplace with a large sofa and some chairs gathered in front of it, around a large coffee table. Then a small kitchen in one corner, and in the opposite corner what appeared to be a bedroom and bathroom.
“I don’t think we need the meeting room upstairs, at least not yet,” Quinn said, “so let’s get comfortable.”
Once they were seated, the gas fire had been turned on, adding a pleasant visual to the room along with some needed warmth. It was a comforting, inviting place, and he couldn’t help smiling.
“This looks like Ali could have designed it,” he said.
“I think she and my wife have very similar tastes in that area,” Quinn said. “If she’d left it up to me this’d be a lot less…nice.”
He said it with smile and a very satisfied expression. The kind Colby had noticed Quinn got every time he saw, spoke to or apparently even thought about his wife.
Liam was in the small kitchen, apparently prepping a large pot of coffee. Which was a good thing for Colby, because he’d had a very disturbed night. He would have thought having all this help all of a sudden would have made for a more restful night, but as usual before his afternoon with Grace he’d been restless.
He was taking his first sip, wondering what kind of preparations Quinn had in mind, when the front door opened.
“I’m spoiled,” said the man who came in and paused to shed his rain-dampened coat and hang it on the rack just inside. “I’m used to the butler opening the door for me.”
Liam laughed, then explained to Colby, “He means Cutter. He’s really who that handicap button is for. He hears you coming and has the door open before you even get out of your car.”
“I think I believe that,” Colby said, remembering what he’d already seen of the clever animal.
“Don’t ever underestimate that critter,” Liam said, then excused himself to go upstairs, saying he had some setup work to do.
Colby wasn’t sure what setup work was, but the thought was blown out of his mind as the new arrival turned and walked into the main room. And Colby gaped. All the photographs and newsreels he’d seen of the man over the years hadn’t done him justice. Hadn’t been able to capture the sheer presence of the man. With eyes as dark as his hair, his gaze was intense and penetrating.
Colby remembered seeing a clip of him talking about his first big break, having to step up from assistant counsel to lead when the senior attorney had died of a heart attack mid-case. He’d called himself the understudy who made good, which Colby had thought rather modest, given the worldwide fame he’d achieved after that.
