Operation: Endeavor (When The Mission Ends) (33 page)

While he planned picket fences and their two point five kids, she looked to a future that eventually would be without him. He felt like he’d been kicked in the gut, but it was his heart that was hemorrhaging inside his chest. He had to get out of here before he broke down and begged her.

* * *

Penelope’s heart shattered. Cassie was right. If you say it with confidence, people will believe you. But she didn’t mention how devastating it would feel to tell such a horrible, heart-breaking lie. The pain in his eyes had been like a physical blow to her chest.

Colton rushed out of the apartment with a mumbled excuse about an errand he forgot to do.

She knew she’d hurt him, but it would be okay if that kept Colton safe. She’d obviously learned something in all those acting classes in college, because he never saw that what she said was just as devastating to her as it was to him.

While everything from her story was true, her feelings on marriage had changed since falling in love with him. And yes, she could admit that to herself now. She loved him. She knew he wasn’t that guy from her story. Colton would never do anything to hurt her. That’s the problem though. He would do everything in his power to keep her safe, which included dying. Enough people had died from knowing her already.

He was her happily ever after, but she’d never get it if he ended up dead. Until they caught this guy, she wasn’t willing to put Colton’s life on the line. She’d never planned to hurt him like that. But when he asked about the tattoo, she saw an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up. By hurting him, maybe he wouldn’t hover so closely so that he was in the line of fire when it came. His life was worth the emotional trauma.

She knew he wouldn’t stop playing bodyguard to her, but maybe he’d be standing a little bit further away when it finally happened. Maybe she could keep him out of the immediate danger zone of her body. She didn’t know what else to do to keep him safe, even if it was only a few more inches away. Maybe that distance could make the difference. And if she was the one who died instead, maybe a little bit of hurt for him now would keep him from being devastated later.

It was only until this guy was caught. Then she’d come clean with Colton and let him know that she wanted what he did… a happily ever after together. Hopefully that wouldn’t come too late for them. But it was just a risk she’d have to take.

Saturday morning dawned hot and humid. For West Texas, hot was the norm even during spring, but humid was a rarity. The miserable weather fit Penelope’s dark mood. She hadn’t slept since Colton stopped sleeping by her side two nights before. He was still with her all the time, protecting her, but the chasm between them had become uncrossable. He stayed as far away as possible while still remaining in the same room to protect her. The separation hurt both mentally and physically, but she kept telling herself it was for the best.

But for today, they had the author signing at the bookstore to get through. It was going to be a busy day, which was a relief. Hopefully the frantic pace would keep her from thinking too much.

They drove to the bookstore together in the Bus. Penelope tried not to let Colton’s stoic silence bother her. At this point, she almost wished she would have picked a fight with him rather than what she did. This pervasive air of hurt between them made it hard to breathe. Hard to function. Her arms ached with the need to hold him and to be held by him. She held the tears inside simply by sheer will.

They were the first to arrive at the store by a couple of hours. She went up to her office and he went silently to the reading nook. As she sat down at her desk, she let the tears fall. God, let this be over soon. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could go on like this.

A knock at her office door sent her scrambling for a tissue to wipe up any sign of her tears. She couldn’t let Colton see through her facade now. But when she opened the door, it wasn’t Colton standing there.

Julie and Cassie crowded through the door. “What are you two doing here?” Penelope asked.

Cassie pulled Penelope into a hard hug, but thankfully didn’t ask about her tears. Instead she answered, “When Colton chased off your last prospect for hired help, he recruited us to come in and work. We’re your slave labor for today. Put us to work. Oh, and he also hired a couple of extra bodyguards to help keep an eye on things with the crowd.”

Damn, could the guy get more perfect? She gave them each another hug. “Thank you guys so much. Today’s going to be crazy so I hope you’re ready to work. Wait a minute, did you say bodyguards?”

Cassie nodded. “Yep, he’s not letting you take any risks today.”

The Abilene Authors group showed up two hours later. There were four of them who came to do the signing.

Tony was just as she expected. He couldn’t be more than twenty-one years old, tall with a lean, rangy build. He had shaggy blond hair that screamed surfer dude. He even wore a hemp necklace.

Accompanying him was Melinda, the group’s graphic designer. She was rather quiet with a sweet smile and a studious look. Penelope would guess her to be in her mid-twenties.

There was another girl, introduced as Cheryl, who looked even younger than Tony and from the looks she gave the happy-go-lucky guy, she was along with the hope that he’d notice her. So far, Penelope wasn’t seeing any sign of that.

The surprise of the group came with Tim. Easily in his fifties, he looked more like an aging NFL player than a writer. The guy was huge. He definitely rivaled Colton’s size, but he had an intelligent and friendly look in his eyes that Penelope liked.

They were an eclectic group and it made Penelope even more curious as to how their cooperation worked. She was looking forward to hearing their talk this afternoon.

She led them into her office where she’d set up some refreshments for them while they prepared for the signing. “Make yourselves comfortable. I’m going to go downstairs and set up the table with the books you all brought with you. Thanks for that. I’ll send someone up when we’re ready for you. Do you all have any questions or concerns?”

Tony immediately dug into the food. “This is a sweet set-up. Thanks, Penelope. How long do we have until we need to be downstairs?”

She glanced down at the clock on her cell phone. “About twenty minutes.” Melinda blanched, so Penelope rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be fine. Everyone here loves books and you all love to write them. It makes it easy for everyone.”

Melinda nodded and gave a weak smile.

“I’ll introduce you and get you started with a few questions about how your cooperative works. I think once you get going, it will flow for both you and the customers. Do you want one person to do most the talking? You know, act as the spokesperson for the group?”

A resounding, “Tony,” came from the group.

Penelope chuckled. “Okay, Tony, you’re unanimously nominated.”

He grinned his cocky grin and said, “That’s cool.”

As she left her office, one of the buff bodyguards stood next to the door and nodded at her. She assumed the other one was downstairs somewhere watching over the growing crowd. As she started down to the main level, she was immediately overwhelmed with how many people were there. The bookstore was overflowing.

Standing taller than most, she spotted Colton as she descended the stairs. He was talking on his phone and scowling as he scanned the room, obviously looking for someone. When he saw Cassie he strode over to her, talked to her for a moment. She looked worried. Something was wrong. She rushed over to them. “What’s wrong?”

“Chris has been in a car accident,” answered Cassie.

“Is he okay?”

Lines of worry and fear covered Cassie’s face. “I don’t know. We need to get to the ER.”

“Go. Of course, go. We’ll be fine here. Both of you go and take care of care of Chris.”

Colton’s gaze swung suddenly to her. “I’m not leaving you. It’s not safe for you here in this crowd.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Colton. Your brother needs you. I’ll be fine. Besides we have the extra bodyguards here.” She waved her hand at the man who stood guard by the front door and watched their exchange in interest as he scanned the room.

Colton looked torn as he glanced from Cassie to the crowd in the store.

Penelope urged, “Colton, it’ll be fine. Your priority right now is to make sure Chris is okay.”

Cassie tugged Colton’s hand. “We need to go.”

He finally relented and quickly placed a kiss on her forehead. It was the closest he’d come to her in two days. Her heart stuttered.

“I’m going, but I trust you to be careful.” He looked her in the eyes. “I need you to promise me to stay safe.”

“I promise.” She tried to ignore the shiver of dread that snaked down her spine.

After they left, she ignored the specter of danger in the air and set about starting the signing.

Penelop
e watched out over the crowd waiting in line. The customers were chaotic, but it was an organized chaos. Tony was witty and gracious and everyone seemed to be having a fabulous time. Even Melinda relaxed as Tony joked and worked the crowd. Jon did a fabulous job running the cash register while Alix and Julie kept the lines sorted and happy. Penelope was at Tony’s elbow making sure his needs were met as she handled the crowds. Things were going smoothly until Tim, one of the Abilene Authors, came up to whisper discreetly in her ear, “There’s an issue at the back door.”

She looked at him and could see his concern. “What is it?”

“There’s a little girl. She’s lost her mother, but won’t come with me. She’s scared of me.” He looked disgruntled at the thought, even though he had to realize he was a huge guy. She could see why a little girl would be intimidated by him. Hell, if she was lost and alone, she’d be intimidated by him, too.

She smiled at him. “Okay. Let me just tell Tony where I’m going and then I’ll take care of it.”

As Tim and Penelope headed toward the back of the store, one of the bodyguards fell in beside them. Penelope stopped and turned to him. “Look I know you’re just doing your job, but it’s just a lost little girl. She’s already scared and having two huge guys with me isn’t going to help the issue.”

“Then he can stay here,” he nodded his head at Tim, “and I’ll go with you. Your protection is my job.”

Penelope worked hard not to sigh. “Listen, I completely understand what you’re saying, but she already knows him. I am not going to be responsible for traumatizing a little girl. Stay here. I’m going to stay in the store. I’m just going to find her mother for her.”

He didn’t look convinced, but he finally relented. “Okay.”

Penelope spotted the blonde-haired, blue-eyed little angel with tears rolling down her cheeks by the back door. Her heart went out to her. She looked terrified. Penelope crouched down beside her. She couldn’t be more than four or five years old. “Hello angel. My name is Penelope and this is my friend, Tim. Did you lose your mommy?”

She nodded quietly, still looking scared.

“What’s your name?”

“Ka..Kat,” she mumbled.

“It’s okay. We’ll find your mommy. Do you know what her name is?”

The little girl looked even more petrified as she shook her head. Suddenly she darted toward the back door and
pushed it open. As soon as she hit the outside, she started running across the back parking lot. Penelope dashed after her, yelling her name. She was so little; any car could back up and never see she her until they hit her. Penelope saw her as she darted between a van and a Lexus and went running after her.

She was in between the van and the car when she realized something was wrong. The little girl ran into a strange man’s arms, just as two men reached out of the van to grab her. She didn’t have time to even take a breath and scream before she found herself on the floor of a van surrounded by four really tough-looking guys, all grinning from ear-to-ear.

The hospital was only five minutes away from Penelope’s bookstore, but Cassie was frantic by the time they arrived. Colton tried to reassure her while he drove since they had no idea what Chris’s status was medically. “Cass, you and Chris have your twin connection and you’ve always known he was hurt before anyone else. Do you feel like he’s in any danger?”

She was quiet for a moment as if trying to connect with Chris. Colton glanced at her and thought about their connection. The year before when Chris ‘died,’ Cassie always had that connection telling her he was alive even when all the facts said he wasn’t. Unfortunately, none of them believed her then. Now they all trusted their connection implicitly.

She shook her head hesitantly. “No, I’m not getting a sense that anything is wrong.”

“Then trust that feeling. It was probably just a fender bender. Try to relax until we know more.” They pulled into a parking spot and ran into the ER, but it was mass chaos. A school bus carrying one of the area high school track teams had crashed and there were crying teens and harried adults everywhere. Trying to find someone who knew what was going on was next to impossible.

It was forty-five minutes later before they finally found someone to talk to. Unfortunately that person had no idea where Chris was at. The young nurse looked up at Colton from her computer. “Who did you say called you?”