Chapter 14 #2
She looked at him in surprise and shrugged. “No. And honestly, even if they did, I don’t think I would listen. I think it’s more about me just sitting here, waiting for something to happen. It’s a terrible feeling.”
“Ah,” he said, a smile lighting up his face.
“Okay, now that makes more sense. And you’re right.
It is a terrible feeling. That is something we deal with fairly regularly, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are still way better off following through on what we tell you,” he explained.
“Don’t take that wrong, and try not to look at it as taking orders from us or anything along that line.
We’re just doing everything we can to keep everybody safe, including you. ”
“No, I get that, and honestly, I don’t even want to think about it.”
“What they did to Talia is enough of a reminder for all of us, each and every day,” Anderson pointed out, his tone somber. “They don’t care what they do or who they hurt. They just take what they want.”
“I don’t think they even want anything anymore,” she offered. “I mean, how could they? There isn’t anything to get.”
“Some money was here. It’s been turned over to the local authorities.
Although I guess maybe we shouldn’t have.
It wasn’t even all that much money. It wasn’t enough money for these assholes to have this kind of anger over.
I mean, yes, there was some money. And, yes, some money can make a big difference to some people, but I don’t think that’s the issue here.
I think it’s all about them having some tiff over their business arrangement. ”
“You find anything else besides money here?”
“Yes, my brother-in-law has some kind of a book that names the players, actual names or pseudonyms or whatever, and that’s something they could be concerned about, or something else completely different is involved that I don’t know about yet,” he acknowledged.
“However, if Tim had the names of everybody in the drug smuggling organization, then that would definitely be something they would want to get back from Tim.”
“And did he give you something like that?”
“We found something like that, but it’s in code. Timothy surely isn’t talking. The local authorities have that too and are working on it,” he stated. “Of course, we’re hoping that work is something a little more viable than what we’ve seen so far.”
“If you say so,” she muttered, still holding one of the babies.
“That’s why we also sent a copy to our team to decode.”
She walked over, picked up her coffee, and had a sip, realizing just how much of a comfort drink it had become for her. As she placed the cup down, the baby in her arms shifted, wiggling somewhat. And she was like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy, girl.”
Anderson laughed. “They’re just worms,” he declared, with a laugh.
“At least at this stage they are,” she agreed.
Anderson picked up baby number two and said, “I’ll take this one. If you want to walk with me, we can take these girls out to the living room, and we can sit in there for a while. Then I can come back and get your coffee.”
It took a little bit because baby number two desperately wanted to walk and baby number one desperately wanted to not walk. And that just seemed to be the way of it right now. As soon as they got one to cooperate, another one went off and vice versa.
By the time they made it to the living room with all three, she was laughing so hard she’d forgotten what she was even upset about. Maybe that’s what Anderson had intended because he gave her a look of satisfaction when he got them back over there again. “That’s the sound I prefer to hear.”
She rolled her eyes. “You might, but that doesn’t make it a sound I was particularly working toward.”
“Nope,” he agreed, “you were still trying to figure out how to make your world happen.”
“Of course,” she replied, with a groan.
“We aren’t blind, you know? I see how much this is putting you out.”
She stared at him in surprise and shook her head.
“I don’t give a crap about that. I just feel like I’m not doing anything.
And now, with Talia waking up, I’m afraid that news is going to get out to everybody in town.
Then she’ll be back at high risk of getting her ass kicked again.
I don’t know that she can take another beating. ”
His smile fell away, and he nodded. “I get that,” he told her. “Believe me that I’m worried about that as well. I want to thank you for being concerned about her, but, at this point, we’re limited to what we can do.”
“Which is the main frustration,” she declared, “because I don’t want anything to limit us at this point. I just want this to happen and to happen fast so we are in the clear.”
When the door opened, they both jumped, startled.
“Hey, it’s just me,” Burton announced, as he stepped into the living room.
He smiled at them. “Leland stopped by to give me a bit of a break,” he explained.
“I’ll grab a few hours sleep, and then I’ll go back.
” He looked over at her and one of the babies in her arms.
Sammy smiled, walked closer, and said, “You might as well say hi.”
Instead of saying hi, Burton immediately reached out his arms, and Lisa, with a grin of delight, fell into them like it was the most natural place in the world for her to be.
Sammy smirked, shaking her head. “She certainly has your number, doesn’t she?”
“That she does,” he admitted, as he gave her a series of kisses and blew bubbles onto her belly. “Besides, she’s the reason we’re doing this, along with her sisters, of course.”
“And, if you could hang on to her for a few minutes, I can go make some food—providing Anderson doesn’t have something up his sleeve that I’m unaware of.” Sammy turned to him.
He shook his head. “Nope, no dinner plans. I’ve been fully occupied.”
“Good, I’ll go whip something up,” she shared and looked over at Burton.
“I picked up a few groceries while I was out.” With that, she walked into the kitchen.
As she worked, she heard the men talking a little bit.
Burton gave her at least ten minutes before he casually walked in, his gaze intent. She sighed. “I’m fine, really.”
“I know you’re fine. We all know you’re fine, and that’s not the point,” he began, a smile on his face. “I gather it was a tough day at work.”
“Not any worse than a lot of days,” she muttered, turning to him. “Sometimes you just have a day that hits you a little bit more. And don’t go telling me that it’s a good thing or anything else. I’ve already listened to the world according to Anderson.”
His grin flashed. “I wouldn’t do that to you, … but I can understand his point and the fact that he’s a little concerned about you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Well, he might be concerned, but I’m fine.” As she looked over at the little one in his arms, she added, “Besides, like he told me earlier, these little ladies are why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
“True, it is,” he agreed. “That’s important, and Talia is important.
But what’s also important is that you stay safe.
I don’t want to hear that you’ve decided you’ve had enough and that you’ve taken off from the security we can offer you here,” he told her.
“That would be traumatic and very difficult.”
She stared at him. “I’m not a fool.”
“I know that. Yet you left the hospital today without an escort, even stopped by the grocery store,” he noted. “And it wasn’t my intention to imply you were ever a fool, just that we worry about you.”
“Good,” she snapped, and then she groaned. “See? You guys are making me nuts.”
He burst out laughing. “Nope.”
“I know. I know. You’re going to say it, aren’t you?”
“Well, I’ve got to say something,” he teased. “I mean, after all, you’re the one who’s getting snappy here.” When she turned and glared at him, he nodded. “I get it. You don’t want to be here. You want to be in your own life, and everything is kind of stalled.”
“I think it’s the stalled part that gets to me most,” she shared. “I mean, if you had an enemy, you could do something about it. If you had a target, you could aim for it. If you had something, you could do something about it, … but this waiting like sitting ducks isn’t getting us anywhere.”
He smiled. “That is an argument and a problem that we deal with all the time,” he told her.
“And you’re right. It is very frustrating, difficult, and aggravating.
All those things are quite true, and yet we can’t change it until we have more information.
All we can do is keep to the status quo and hope that everybody in our world”—he lifted and bounced Lisa on his hip—“is growing and strengthening. Talia is getting stronger every day, and that’s huge because, at some point in time, things will change. ”
She frowned at him and asked, “In what way?”
“Well, as soon as we can get Talia home, then we’ll have her here with the babies, and we’ll be protecting one group instead of two locations,” he began. “That’s really important, since we’re spread a little thin right now.”
“Yeah, but didn’t you or someone say another friend is coming?” she inquired.
“Yeah, but exactly when, I don’t know. He’s finishing off an operation, then he’ll be here when he can. What that looks like timewise, I don’t know,” he explained.
She sighed. “Okay, fine. I’m not trying to be difficult. I just—”
“It’s all right,” he said. “I understand. Believe me that we both do.”
“Did you ask him about the sheriff’s department today?” she asked.
“Nope, not yet, but I will now.”
“Dinner’s about ready. So ask him while we’re eating,” she suggested. “I noticed the babies were getting a little fussy, and I thought maybe some food would help everybody’s temperament.”
He grinned. “Food is always a good idea.”
“Well, you have to wonder sometimes,” she noted. “It just seems like nothing is ever a great idea. Just lots of times there are good ideas.”