Chapter Seventeen
After lecturing him for several long minutes about not doing what he’d been told, Dad had suddenly changed his tune, telling Ben how proud he was of him.
Unfortunately, Ash and his uncle, along with another man who’d appeared to be a bodyguard, had all managed to escape about ten minutes before the agents Dad had called in had arrived at the golf course, which had a wide enough clearing for the chopper to land. Dad had his feelers out, trying to gather information on the company that would have supplied the chopper.
There was supposed to be a meeting tonight in Dad’s private office upstairs at the Inn with Aylin and her father, supposedly to thank Ben for rescuing her.
“Poor Aylin. I’d hate to think what would have happened if you hadn’t seen her walking outside this morning,” Lara said.
She’d slipped into his room a few minutes earlier to get the scoop. Ben suddenly realized that he’d missed their heart-to-heart conversations, because they’d had them all the time when she was younger.
“I can’t believe that we still haven’t actually been introduced,” he muttered, his eyes meeting Lara’s in the mirror after he tugged a thick wool sweater over his head.
But Lara continued to look worried. “I can’t believe that they were actually shooting at you. Who are these guys that kidnapped her anyway?”
“From what I was able to overhear when Dad was talking to Aylin’s father is that they’re possibly linked to ISIS. Her half-brother sold her to his father’s brother, Lara.”
Lara looked momentarily stunned.
But then she cleared her throat. “So that’s why she’s been laying low, and she’s never really left the Inn since she arrived. They could have been worried that something like this might happen.”
“Maybe,” he replied, becoming thoughtful. “Dad can’t get into much more than that because the situation is confidential.”
“Please be careful, Ben. I’m worried that they might find out who you are and come after you. I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you.”
“I feel the same exact way about you, Lara,” he said softly as he slipped his wallet into his pocket, glancing into the mirror one final time.
Lara smiled suddenly. “You look nice, Ben. You smell good too.”
Reaching for his dirty t-shirt, he gave it a quick whip her way.
“Eeww,” she said, holding her nose. “Is that the same shirt you were wearing when you rescued Aylin? Hopefully she didn’t get too close.”
He grimaced. “Is it really that bad?”
“No, you dope. Geez, I’ve never seen you act so stupid before.”
What could he say? His sister was right.
Smiling and giving her a wink, he rolled his eyes in acknowledgment.
When she laughed, his heart felt a little lighter, because she’d sure been doing a lot more of that during the past couple days.
Grabbing the rest of his dirty clothes from the bed, he headed from his room, stuffing them into the hamper in the laundry room.
“I’ll see you a little later,” he called out to Lara from the mudroom after he’d slipped into his winter coat.
“I’ll be here,” Lara said, now seated at the kitchen island with her laptop. “I really want to know how it goes.”
“Sounds good,” he answered, grinning as he stepped outside, locking the side door behind him.
* * *
Ben stared at his dad, stunned.
“What do you mean, she’s not here?” Ben muttered, his heart flipping over with a thud.
Dad blinked, and then grinned, despite the grim situation. “You’ve really got it bad, don’t you, son?”
“We’ve never even been introduced,” Ben said.
Aylin’s father stepped over to shake his hand. “I’m sorry that you were never properly introduced to my daughter, Ben. I’d like to thank you for rescuing her. I thought that maybe the two of you were meeting for a romantic assignation. Aylin reassured me it was simply a coincidence. She was going stir crazy and just wanted to do a little exploring outside since she had orders from me to stick close to the Inn.”
Despite the circumstances, Ben could swear there was a twinkle in his eyes.
Ben blinked, shaking Mr. Broussard’s hand. “Romantic assignation?”
“Aylin really wanted to thank you herself. She was very disappointed when we told her we needed to send her away with my daughter Desiree and her husband Marc.”
Ben frowned. “Are you sure she’s going to be safe with them? They’re entertainers. Right?”
Dad started coughing.
“Oh, yeah.” Ben smiled wryly. “I forgot that Dad might have mentioned that he was acquainted with them both from some past assignments.”
Mr. Broussard nodded his agreement. “Besides Aylin, no one in our family is quite who they seem to be. They’ve all had to grow up quickly because of some horrific circumstances that I can’t really get into.”
“Okay. So, this meeting must be about something else,” Ben said, glancing around the room. “Mom? You’ve been really quiet. What’s wrong?”
Mom sighed. “Your father’s worried that if these men do a little digging, they might just be able to discover that the person who rescued Aylin was you. Joe here was the first one to agree.”
Mr. Broussard nodded. “They could seek retribution. In fact, that’s been Ash’s primary goal since he teamed up with his uncle, who’s the main player in an Isil cell operating out of Turkey.”
“We don’t even know how Mr. Agha was able to enter this country, let alone find out so quickly and easily where Aylin was staying,” Dad said.
Ben nodded. “So, I gather you have plans for me?”
“Are you still interested in entering the service and eventually operating covertly in law enforcement, kind of like I do?” Dad asked.
“Yes. I want to do something meaningful but have every intention of returning here one day to run the Inn, when you and Mom are ready for semi-retirement. Crystal Rock is my home, and I love it here.”
Dad gave him a wry smile, patting him on the back. “Well, your mother understands why you need to experience a little more than life in Crystal Rock for a while. In fact, I didn’t return to restore the Inn until I was in my thirties. By that time, I was ready to settle down. So now what we need to do is decide which branch of the service you’d be best suited for. Okay? Luckily, you’re a good student, so we can arrange for you to finish school online and get your degree early.”
“Okay,” Ben agreed, definitely feeling dazed.
“Ben?” Mom said in an unsteady voice. “Whatever happens, just promise me that you’ll do everything in your power to not get hurt. I’ve seen what it takes for so many of our wounded warriors to get their lives back. And not just physically.”
Walking over to his Mom, who was staring through the window, he pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. “I can’t make too many promises Mom, but I can promise that I’ll try my best not to let anything happen.”
“That’s all I can ask,” she answered softly.