Page 98 of All We Carry Home

“No, not a drop, boss. I promise.”

My bravado softened. “Did Violet return your calls?”

“Actually, yeah.” Eddie flushed a bit and smiled tentatively. “She said she’d fly back soon so we can talk about things.”

Hope filled me for the Moore family. I wanted nothing other than the happily ever after Eddie deserved.

“Reid is tailing the Merricks,” I said. “He’ll notify you if they’re acting suspicious.”

“Take care of my kids,” Eddie said softly. “Thank you for bringing them.”

“We’ll be back before you know it.”

“I hope so.”

That afternoon, we piled into a four-door sedan that we’d borrowed from Lucky to drive to the tiny Baker Municipal Airport, where Eva had called in a favor from an airman she’d saved in the Pacific. He’d take us to Scottsdale and back with minimal refueling stops so we didn’t have to waste any time with commercial flights.

Captain Tarron Johnson was a broad-chested man with a severe limp and a wide smile. His red hair was curly under his pilot’s cap. He lit up and hugged Eva, introduced himself to the kids and me, and then ushered us onto the plane. We had a few hours of travel, and the auction would begin right after we landed.

We loaded quickly into the empty Douglas DC-3, where the kids spread out along the empty seats that normally fit two dozen. Eva sat next to me, her gaze locked on the window and world beyond, but her body tilted toward me so our shoulders brushed together.

Peter and Annie giggled from the back of the plane, and once we were in the air, they stared at the landscape below.

“What was Tarron’s story?” I asked Eva.

“He ended up with a terrible infection, and the doctors had given up all hope.” She leaned her head back on the seat and smiled faintly. “I stayed with him night and day for weeks and he eventually pulled through.”

“You have a gift, saving so many.”

A cloud of sadness filled her eyes. It never seemed to be enough—the people she’d saved, the horses she’d rescued. Perhaps this sentiment was tied to the tragic tale from her childhood that she hadn’t yet told me.

How could she not see how much good she had done in the world? But telling her as much felt futile.

The drone of the airplane and the chatter of the kids in the rows behind us became the background to a comfortable silence as the hours passed. I knew the quiet wouldn’t last, not once we landed in Scottsdale nor once we returned to Birkstrom.

I hoped that Victor and Keith might give up, but I had seen their type before. It would get a lot worse before the dam finally broke.

Twenty-Five

Eva

JUNE 24

A thrill raced through me as we strode across the grounds that hosted the grand Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show, where I’d had some of my most notable wins.

I missed Gramps even more in this moment.

Now the grounds served as the location for another Army surplus sale of horses from the remount program as well as the Thoroughbreds, Lipizzaners, and Arabians that had been deemed spoils of war after Operation Cowboy.

Annie bounced on her toes beside me, taking in the bustling crowd and horses in distant pens. Warren and Peter walked behind us.

We had flown in the night before, stayed at a small motel near the show grounds, and arrived at the auction early this morning to get registered and find a spot in the crowd. Despite our early arrival, there was still no time to look through the hundreds of horse pens to confirm if Mira was even here.

“Captain Hayes?” a woman’s voice rang out beside us, and all four of us turned. I recognized the slender brunette with piercing brown eyes waving at us.

“Adia?” Warren broke out into a smile. He reached her first and hugged her in greeting.

Adia Kensington pulled me into an embrace and then looked between the two of us. “What on earth are you both doing here? Together?” She glanced at the twins in confusion.