Page 56 of Operator
“Maybe. We’ll deal with that after we search his place.”
Ford nods to the back door of the office building. “Nothing like a little breaking and entering to revive a friendship, amirite?”
I roll my eyes and keep watch while he picks the lock. There are no alarms, but we’re cautious anyway as we sweep through the small building, one room at a time. The place is empty, and we end up in the office.
“Look through the cabinets for any files on Ian.”
“Who keeps paper records?”
“A fucking idiot,” I mutter.
Better for us, as I really didn’t want to go through another laptop or memory card. Tate’s were filled with hundreds of obscure text documents that didn’t make any sense from what I could see. His pictures were mostly landscapes from our last deployment. More pictures of all of us. It sucked balls when I’d get a text from Ford with another picture Peyton had uncovered from the memory cards.
“There’s nothing here, man.”
I slam the filing cabinet closed. “I knew there was something off about this guy. He was too clean. If I were him, I would have destroyed the records, too.”
“Or he kept his digital.”
“Wanna go find his house?”
Ford shakes his head. “You’re losing it. He didn’t hit on Gwen, did he?”
I ignore the dig. “C’mon. It’d be like old times.”
Ten minutes later, we’re driving to his off-base apartment. From what Gwen told me, he’s probably already moved into a hotel while he plans to PCS, but we may get lucky. It’s worth a shot. If we can get ahold of his laptop, maybe we’ll get somewhere.
I rub at my eyes. All I really want is to go home and wrap Gwen in my arms. Maybe kiss on some sweet baby cheeks until she smiles. I know she’s going to smile for me any day now. I just know it.
That is, if her mom doesn’t kill me the moment I get home.
William’s apartment is half of a duplex, a town over from the base. There are no cars in the driveway when we get there, but something about the place has me on edge. Ford must sense the same thing because he doesn’t crack a joke as we get out of my truck and knock on the door. Naturally, there’s no answer. We go around back, and I feel a sense of déjà vu that ends when we find the back door wide open.
Weapons at the ready, we ease open the screen door and find the interior completely ransacked.
“Looks like someone got here before we could,” Ford says.
A floorboard creaks. Before I can holler out a warning, a figure darts from the hallway and clocks Ford on the chin. I pop off a round that buries itself in the drywall.Shit. Out of practice. I catch a fist to the stomach before I can squeeze off another shot. A flare of recognition hits me before I double over, trying to catch my breath.
Then the shadowed figure is out the back door, only the sound of their footsteps echoing behind them.
“Jesus Christ, was that James?” Ford wheezes when he can sit up. “What the fuck was he doing here?”
I shake my head, trying to regulate my breathing. When I open my mouth to speak, the alarm on my phone goes off and I stop dead. It’s the alert for the surveillance cameras. I open the app, hoping to find Gwen, but it’s not. It’s the same person who’d planted the suicide note.
It has to be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
GWEN
“Cal?”I roll over in the bed, feeling disoriented and still groggy from a somewhat sleepless night. Not only was Violet hard to settle, but sleeping next to Cal is starting to become a huge distraction. Now that I know what it feels like to have his hands on me, I can’t stop anticipating feeling them again.
But the spot where he’s normally curled behind me is empty. Cal’s not there. I call out to him, but with no answer.Dammit. I bet he and Ford went joyriding or went off to harass William. I shoot off a text to Peyton to see if Ford’s with her.
Before I get a reply, the baby stirs in the bassinet next to me and I lift a hand to pat her butt to hopefully settle her back down to sleep for another hour or so in order to get a shower. I find I’m much more human-feeling when I’ve gotten a shower and dressed in the morning before I have to put my mom face on. After a few minutes, she manages to settle down. Hallelujah.
It’s my lucky day.
