Page 7 of Cole
“Yes,” said Cam smiling. “Bailey, I don’t suppose I could convince you to get your ass on a plane and come home?”
“What do you think?” she said crossing her arms.
“Your parents are going to be worried sick for you. If you stay, you have to promise you’ll listen to Angus.”
“I promise, Cam. Just let me find my brother,” she said pleadingly.
“You know, this hits painfully close to home. I seem to remember chasing my wife half-way across the world because she wanted to save her brother.”
“You couldn’t stop her either,” smiled Bailey.
“No.I couldn’t.”
“I’ll get us settled at another hotel,” said Angus. “From there I can see if any contacts here have heard anything. Where is his team?”
“We’re not sure,” said Cam. “I’ll work our end here and see what we can come up with. Sit tight until I gather some intel.”
“Roger that,” said Angus. Cam stared at the screen, giving his head a shake at the sight of Angus Williams.
“You were obviously a late bloomer, Angus. You’re twice the size you were when you were here last.”
“I like my red meat,” he smirked.
Ending the call, they sat staring at one another across the table. A man cleared his throat and Bailey turned to see the lead from the state department.
“Mr. Williams, thank you for your help with this. We’ll be leaving on a transport within the hour.”
“I’m actually going to stay,” he said.
“Stay? Sir, you need to come back to the U.S. with us. We can ensure your safety. Bailey? Are you ready?”
“I’m staying as well.”
“You’re both nuts but I can’t force you to leave. Be safe,” he said walking away. A waiter set down two glasses of water and some menus and Bailey stared at it.
“It’s dinner time,” she said quietly.
“Yep. Are you gonna have dinner with me, Miss Bailey?”
“I guess I am,” she smiled. “I was just a little kid when you left Belle Fleur. I remember you but not like this.”
“Like this?” he laughed.
“Cam is right. You’re bigger, more fit. You look like the other guys back home.”
“Is that bad?” he asked.
“No. Not at all.”
“When my wife left me, I was devastated, humiliated, embarrassed, all of it. She ran off with a guy who was in the Army and lived in the apartment across from us. I had no clue they’d been having an affair.”
“I’m sorry,” she said gripping his hand. He nodded.
“The guy was big. Jacked,” he laughed. “I assumed that’s why she left me for him. I sort of went overboard there for a while, then realized I was having trouble doing my job I was sobig. So, I balanced it with cardio, the right food, and the right amount of weights. I’m healthy. That’s really all I care about.”
“You look good,” she blushed.
“So do you, Bailey. Are you married? Engaged? You’ve got to be what twenty-four? Twenty-five?”
