Protective Operation

by Danica Winters

  “I don’t think you can stop falling for Chad, or he can stop falling for you, no matter what the danger. It’s obvious you have feelings for each other, so denying them you isolate yourself and only diminish your capabilities to stand up against your father. United you stand...” Mindy stood up with the baby and walked toward the window. “One thing I’ve learned about the Martins is that the source of their power isn’t Zoey, or Chad, or Jarrod, or Trevor, or in any individual within their STEALTH team. Rather, their power lies in the fact that regardless of what life throws at them, they stand united. Trish’s death could have torn them apart, and for a while it looked like it might, and yet they’ve struggled through, more powerful than ever.”

  “Do you really think that Chad is over her death?” Shaye asked.

  “You would know more than I about how Chad is feeling. But I think he’s had a harder time than the others because of his unique bond with Trish. Jarrod said that Chad and Trish were so close as babies that they even had a secret language. There’s a bond between twins. And I’m sure, no matter how much time goes by, Chad will always have a void.”

  But was that void too big for him to love her?

  “I hate to say it, but do you think two people can be too broken to love?”

  Mindy shook her head. “I think love is like a bone. It can be broken, it can be cut, it can grow weak and brittle, but if you give it everything it needs it can recover and become stronger than it ever had been before.”

  She didn’t want to be a cynic, but she couldn’t help herself. “What about when we grow old and our bones weaken?”

  “They may have changed, but just like love, they are the foundation of our being. Without them, we would be nothing.”

  Now there Mindy had a point.

  They sat there in silence for a long moment as Shaye digested all that Mindy had told her. Her mind kept swirling back to love and relationships. Chad was scarred by his past, but so was she. It would be unwise and hypocritical for her to begrudge him when she herself had baggage. In fact, every person had baggage—hers was just in the form of her past and her family. Where Chad’s family’s love strengthened and built him up, her father’s was like a cancer that threatened to bring her down.

  But she would fight.

  There was another knock on the door.

  What was this place, a meeting room?

  She laughed at herself as she walked over and opened the door.

  Chad and Zoey were standing side by side, and Chad looked like the cat who had swallowed the canary. The look on his face made her wonder what kind of verbal condemnation Zoey had administered before they had arrived.

  “What’s wrong?” Shaye asked. His gaze refused to meet hers as she stared at him.

  Zoey lifted her cell phone up like it was going on public display. “I pulled the video surveillance files from the Widow Maker Ranch’s eyes-in-the-sky.” Zoey clicked on a few buttons and sat down on the hope chest at the end of the bed. “After you told me about someone dropping off the baby, I thought I might be able to identify the person who had left him.”

  Had Zoey identified the baby’s mother or guardian? Is that why Chad looked so upset? Did he have something to do with this baby? Something he wasn’t telling her? She tried to stomp out the panic that rose within her.

  No matter what, if the baby was Chad’s, or if he knew the mother, or whatever...it was going to be okay. They could get through this. If he was the baby’s father, they could even talk about incorporating the little one into their lives as they moved forward. That was if they ever truly had a relationship.

  Or maybe he wouldn’t want more encumbrances in his life. A baby and a new girlfriend... Maybe it would all be too much for him.

  And what if he didn’t know if he wanted to keep the baby? What if he put it up for adoption?

  She glared at him, but as she did, she realized she was being ridiculous. She took a deep breath. She was getting ahead of herself.

  Shaye paced around the room as Zoey tapped away on her phone.

  It’s going to be okay, she repeated to herself over and over with every quick step she took.

  “Here, I got it.” Zoey held up her phone for all to see.

  There, standing beneath the lens of the camera, was a dark-haired woman with olive-hued skin and enormous black sunglasses covering most of her face. Her lips were the color of ripe blackberries and by all measures she was beautiful.

  Was she one of Chad’s exes?

  If she was, it made Shaye wonder why he would ever be interested in a woman like herself. She wasn’t ugly by any means, but in comparison to the virtual supermodel on Zoey’s screen...well, she was at best a two out of ten.

  No, she couldn’t be so hard on herself. Maybe she wasn’t a two. When she dressed up and squeezed her butt into her Spanx, she was at least a solid four...maybe even a five. And a good pair of heels could turn her up maybe even another point on the hotness scale.

  Chad stared at the women in the image, but he said nothing.

  Zoey pressed the phone toward him. “Do you know who she is?” she asked, as if she also wondered if he was somehow connected to the woman and the baby.

  Chad swallowed hard.

  Shaye wasn’t entirely sure, but her heart may have actually seized in her chest.

  Was he afraid of making her feel bad by admitting he knew the woman—that he may have been the baby’s father?

  She had to sit down, so she stepped over to the hope chest and flopped down beside Zoey.

  “Well?” Zoey persisted.

  “I... I’m not sure,” Chad started. “But I don’t think I know her.”

  Shaye let out a long exhale.

  “Have you seen her before?” Zoey asked.

  Chad shook his head. “It’s hard to tell with the sunglasses, but she doesn’t look familiar.”

  Zoey glared at him. “If you don’t know her, then why in the hell would she leave a baby on your doorstep?”

  Chad bristled. “First, it’s not just my doorstep. It’s ours. Did anyone even stop and think about that for a freaking moment?” His voice boomed as his anger exploded into rage.

  Shaye instantly felt guilty. With the thing with Kash’s sister, Kayla, and the fistfight, she had jumped to the conclusion that there were probably other skeletons in his closet, as well. Based on the facial expressions of his sister and his sister-in-law, they must have been following the same line of thinking.

  Which didn’t make her feel any better.

  Here she had been consumed with whether or not she had feelings for this man, but at the same time she was making him out to be a person he wasn’t.

  She had been foolish.

  And now he was the one paying the price, a victim of their assumptions. She wanted to pull him into her arms and tell him that she was sorry, that she had him all wrong. And yet, he would likely never grant her forgiveness for her stupidity.

  After this, she could never be his...no matter how badly she wanted him.

  Chapter Twelve

  Had they all thought him capable of doing something like fathering a child and keeping it a secret? Or perhaps not knowing about the baby?

  Sure, he had made his fair share of mistakes, but none was bigger than what had happened with Kayla. And in his defense, it wasn’t like had been alone in the bed. She had been searching for a companion, a one-night stand as luck had it, just as badly as he had.

  It had blossomed into something more for her, but to him it was only physical. The more they talked, the more Kayla had wanted more from him—and emotional attachment wasn’t something he could provide then...maybe not even now.

  He looked over at Shaye, who was giving him an apologetic look. He wanted to forgive her for assuming the worst of him, but the damage was already done. Like the rest of his family, she must have thought he was just a player
. Didn’t she know him better than that?

  He was surprised by how much her incorrect judgment of him hurt.

  Zoey tapped on her phone. “I’ll look deeper into the woman’s identity, but so far I’ve not been able to pull anything up. I’m thinking those sunglasses were no accident. But sunglasses or no, give me time and I’m sure I can get something.”

  “In the meantime,” Chad began, “maybe you should go talk to Trevor and Jarrod. Maybe they have an idea who the woman may be.”

  Mindy looked slightly hurt at his suggestion and she started to make her way toward the door.

  Before she could escape, he had to say something—something that didn’t make him come off like he was totally insensitive, or worse, making assumptions about his brothers that were only too much like those about him.

  “Not that the baby is one of theirs,” he said, but it sounded weak coming from his lips. He stepped in Mindy’s way and looked down at the baby.

  Peanut looked like most babies, with round little cheeks and ruddy, long fingers. He had never understood why, upon a new baby’s birth, everyone always insisted that the baby “had their father’s nose” or “their mother’s eyes.” To him, all babies looked cute, but one step up from a chimpanzee’s offspring when they were born.

  As he searched the baby’s features for anything familiar, a giveaway of some sort that would definitively tie him to their lineage, he found nothing. He was a baby. A sweet, cuddly baby who beckoned to be held and played with, but a baby nonetheless.

  Mindy looked up at him with a thin-lipped expression. “You know as well as I do that anything is possible—just look at the situation with Anya.”

  He swallowed back his guilt as he thought about how thoughtless he had been in condemning anyone for having a secret baby.

  His niece had been introduced into their life as a child that no one had known existed. And for all Chad knew, perhaps he was the boy’s biological father. Just because he didn’t recognize the woman who had left the baby, didn’t mean he didn’t know the baby’s mother. Maybe she was someone’s sister, or even just the person who had been given the child to deliver to their feet.

  Some of his animosity toward the women in the room slipped away. Though he had a right to be angry at them, it would be stupid to continue with his indignation—what would he say if their assumptions turned out to be correct?

  He hadn’t followed up on every one-night stand or chance encounter with women he’d been with—not that there had been that many. But anything was possible...and sometimes what seemed obvious was far from it.

  He took a long, deep breath and slowly exhaled, like the simple motion could relieve him of the rest of his pent-up anxiety.

  “Regardless of whose baby this is, he needs us. And for right now, I think we should focus on his safety and find him a safer place to live until we have everything sorted out with the Gray Wolves.” He kneeled down and sniffed the boy’s head as he gave him a soft peck. He smelled like the powdery scent of a fresh diaper.

  Though he knew it was silly, and perhaps an invitation to be hurt, he couldn’t resist the feelings of love that welled up within him as he drew the aroma deep into his lungs.

  He loved this boy. No matter what came of the future, he would love this boy and make sure he was safe—even if that meant he was far away from their family.

  Shaye stepped closer and put her hand on his arm, the simple action tender and affectionate. “I agree. I think we should call Wyatt. Maybe he can come out and we can tell him some of the situation.”

  He stiffened as he tried to think of a way for the local deputy to get only part of the story.

  “It’s okay,” Zoey said, nodding. “If there’s one thing I know about our cousin it’s that he doesn’t ask too many questions.” She gave him a knowing look.

  Good. He relaxed slightly. At the very least, some of the pressure was off since they had an ally in local law enforcement.

  But they weren’t in the clear.

  “And what about the men we have tucked away here?” Chad asked.

  Zoey sighed, like his question somehow annoyed her. “Don’t worry about them. As of right now, they’re with Jarrod and Trevor. They’ve had a long night.” A wicked smile crossed her lips.

  “Did they give us any new information?” Shaye asked, sounding the tiniest bit nervous. She was probably still worried that they’d been sent by her father.

  He reached up and touched her hand, which was still resting on his arm. “They are with the Gray Wolves, right?” he asked, hoping that it would make her feel more at ease.

  “They each had the brands on the inside of their arms,” Zoey said. “They were made members, not just some hired guns.”

  Chad gave Shaye an it’s-going-to-be-okay look and wrapped his arm behind her back like he could support her body as well as her soul. She gave him a weak smile, as though she was as exhausted as he was by all this.

  “As for Wyatt,” Zoey continued, “he’s on his way. I haven’t told him anything, but hopefully he won’t have too many questions. If he does, well...let me be the one to handle it.”

  “Can I see your phone one more time?” Shaye asked, motioning for it.

  Zoey frowned, clutching the phone to her chest. “Um, why?”

  “Oh,” Shaye said, like she must have realized what she had asked of his sister. “No, I just want to see the video of the woman again.”

  He looked at her. “Why? Do you think you recognized her?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just... Maybe there is something in it we are missing.” She sounded somewhat defeated.

  Zoey lifted her phone and pulled up the video. “The more eyes, the better.” She sent Shaye a smile, the first he had seen his sister give his friend since Shaye had set foot on American soil. Maybe some good had come of them both assuming he was a total jackass.

  Maybe she was finally starting to warm to Shaye. He would have to be sure not to give Zoey any other reasons to relegate her back to the land of the unwelcome.

  The video started, grainy at first, but quickly clearing. They watched as the woman walked up to the porch, the car seat in her hand and the diaper bag on her shoulder. She lugged the baby as though he and the seat weighed a ton, and as she moved, the diaper bag slipped down from her shoulder and she was forced to keep pushing it in place. As she put down the baby, she said something that looked like “be gone” from the movement of her lips.

  She turned and walked away without looking back at the baby she had left in their care—the baby who was now sleeping peacefully in Mindy’s cradling arms.

  The woman slipped slightly in the snow as she walked toward a waiting car. The video stopped.

  “There has to be more,” he said, wishing that it would keep going.

  “All of our cameras are motion-activated,” Zoey said with a slight shrug. “If she came back though, we would know it.”

  Shaye gasped as though she had an idea. “Wait...rewind it.”

  He didn’t have the heart to remind her that this wasn’t the ninties and they weren’t watching a VHS tape, but a smile moved over his lips as he silently corrected her. He must have been spending entirely too much time with his techie sister, who would have called him out for saying something like that.

  “Huh?” Zoey asked.

  “Go back. Did you see she was walking toward a car? Let’s zoom in, see if we can get an ID on the car.” Shaye sounded excited.

  Zoey skipped back in the recording. Zooming in on the car, there was little to see. It was just a normal Ford Escape.

  But as he squinted, he noticed a small white sticker in the car’s front window. “Look, right there,” he said, pointing at the sticker. “Can you make that legible?”

  Zoey clicked away, pulling and cleaning up the sticker until they could read the word: Alamo in blue-and-yellow writ
ing.

  “It’s a rental,” Shaye said, excitement in her voice.

  The rental car told them with almost complete certainty that the woman wasn’t from Montana. And it gave them a place to start digging. Maybe if they could get the woman’s identity nailed down, then they could figure out why she had dropped off the baby.

  “I got it,” Zoey said, her voice high with excitement. “Good job, Shaye, Chad. I’ll go see what I can pull up from this. It shouldn’t take me too long to hack into the rental car company’s system and pull up their recent rental agreements.”

  He nodded. “I’d love to get a solid ID on this woman, as well.”

  “That makes two of us,” Zoey said, smiling at him as she jogged down the hallway toward her office.

  Mindy walked toward the door, Peanut still asleep in her arms. “I’m going to try and get him snuggled into bed so he can sleep a bit longer. If you need me, I’m in my room.” She closed the door gently behind her, giving Shaye a wink as she left.

  And suddenly they were alone. Very. Alone.

  The room sat silent, but there was the vibration of unspoken words buzzing between them.

  “I’d better go check on Trevor and Jarrod. I bet they’re ready to take a break from their interrogation.” Not that he had the stomach for some of the face-to-face methods his brothers used to get information from their enemies, but interrogations had be to easier than being here with Shaye.

  “I’m sorry, Chad,” Shaye said. “I shouldn’t have—”

  He shook his head, quieting her. “I know what you thought... And clearly you weren’t the only one. But don’t worry about it.” He shrugged like it wasn’t still bothering him that she thought he was capable of abandoning a baby.

  “After the fistfight, and what everyone was saying?”

  “What?” he said, jerking his head. He knew people assumed the worst about him, but why would anyone tell Shaye anything about him? Or had it been Kash? “Who said something?”

  She looked down at her hands. “It doesn’t matter who said what, I was the one who made a mistake in listening to them. I should have known what they were saying was wrong.”