Page 215 of Back in the Saddle

We all waited that while silently.

Finally, she turned to Raye and nodded.

I was careful not to make it noticeable when I let out a relieved breath.

Raye shot me a look then stepped to the side with a small smile on her face, an offer for them to precede her.

The Johnsons moved, but Mrs. Johnson stopped them when they came abreast of Cap.

“You need to know, we’re proud of him. We’re proud he served his country and did it bravely.”

“Of course,” Cap murmured.

“But we’re also mad as hell,” Mrs. Johnson went on.

“I’m the same for you,” Cap agreed.

“Thank you for going out of your way to—” She stopped, swallowed, then forged ahead. “You didn’t have to.”

“Yes, I did. You know I did. You know if Chris was me, and I was him, Chris would too,” Cap returned.

Oh hell.

That did it.

Tears sprung into her eyes.

Which meant I had to fight the same happening to mine.

Mr. Johnson huddled her close and moved her to Raye.

Raye led them through the camp.

Now Cap was staring into the distance.

I got near and bumped him with my shoulder, so he looked down at me.

“All right?” I asked.

He shook it off, put his arm around my shoulders, shook me too, then he let me go and turned his attention to Eric.

I decided to take that as he was. Or he was as good as he was going to be.

“We need to wait to get input from Scott and Louise, but I’m leaning toward mission. He seems stuck in that mode. I think he’d be wary of any mention of R and R,” Cap remarked.

“Agreed,” Eric said.

I tried to mentally calculate time.

Cap and Raye were the closest to the camp. Both Mace and Roam as well as Scott and Louise were at least twenty minutes more away, and making that worse, it was rush hour.

We headed back to Homer’s tent to wait.

In the meantime, I got a text from Raye that said Scott and Louise told her they were close, and they’d talk to us when they got here.

Mace and Roam showed first. Scott and Louise showed about ten minutes later. And Scott confirmed there was no easy way to do this, and it was anyone’s guess how he’d react. He simply cautioned that if Chris balked, they needed to back off immediately and get a professional opinion on how to reapproach.

The sun was up, the heat was coming on the day, my hat was shoved into my jacket pocket, which was shoved into the Denali, and we’d adjusted the stakeout equipment to the back. All of this by the time Homer and his boys returned with Chris, which was maybe about forty-five minutes after Scott and Louise showed.

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