Broken Wings Page 16

  The receptionist handed her the check they’d discussed and gestured for her to enter the inner sanctum with a smile. Natalie gave her one in return, even though her insides were a tangled mess.

  Her father sat behind an old-school mile-wide mahogany desk, his expression forbidding. She was pretty sure he already knew about the terms of her freedom. Disagreed with most of them, most likely. But she didn’t care. She was here to clear the air, and then figure out who in the hell she wanted to be.

  “You should have taken counsel,” he began, and she blinked at the sting of his words, even though she should be used to them by now.

  “I didn’t, and it’s done.” She stood before him like a soldier on parade rest, not even offered a seat. “Consider this my official resignation.” The words were just as much of a relief as they’d been that day in Harmon’s office.

  “You can still work here, take the vice president’s job, and not be armed,” he offered, as if he was making some great concession.

  She smiled, bared her teeth just enough for him to take notice. “I’m good, thank you. And before you ask, I have more than enough saved up, thanks to not having to pay rent. Not that I was ever there anyway. I’ll be moving out within the next two weeks.”

  He gaped at her. Her father actually sat there, open mouthed, as if what she was suggesting was positively ludicrous. So she pressed her advantage.

  “Have you discovered who the informant was?” There had to have been one. Someone knew exactly where she was that last day in New Mexico, had ensured Ward’s muscle had known exactly where to look. A mole within Arrow was the only possible option, since she’d removed her tracker.

  “Mandy’s driver,” he rumbled. “She’s more of a peer, but she was keeping an eye out in the region for me. He overheard her, knew an opportunity when he saw it.”

  Natalie nodded. That made sense, and made her heart beat a little easier, knowing it wasn’t an Arrow asset. She took a deep breath. She had one more thing to say.

  “You probably have no idea why I spoke with the feds. Why I’m leaving the company, do you?”

  He just stared at her and planted his elbows on the table. “I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

  “It was the way you threw Ethan under the bus. The way you were willing to see either of us go to jail as long as it saved this precious company’s prestige. You brought Petra into this equation with the specific purpose of corporate espionage, and we both know it. I think that when she didn’t produce like you wanted, you sent me in.” She’d thought long and hard about this over the last few days. “There was never any concerned family. I’m not sure if you realized how lethal she was, or that she was working for another government. I don’t think we’ll ever know what her motivation truly was, even with how well connected you are. And I don’t care. Not anymore.”

  There, she’d said her piece.

  Greg still looked at her steadily, and she fought to stand without shifting, without betraying nerves.

  “So what will you do with yourself? You were born and bred to do this job. You don’t know anything but adrenaline and this company. And this Ethan Masters? I told you what a loser he is. You should know better after losing Cord.”

  And that was it. The one thing he could have said that would end their relationship.

  “Take care, Greg,” she said, turned on her heel, and walked out of the office.

  As she left, she dropped her office key and identity badge on the receptionist’s desk, and felt immeasurably lighter for it.

  Ethan parked the king-cab pickup in front of Red River, refreshed from a week off. Ready to think about work from a different angle.

  He’d bought the truck second-hand from Rob with the very last of his cut of the Dauphin’s recovery fee. It’d felt good driving up to his parents’ home in Fort Smith with a newish set of wheels and not the busted-out sedan he’d almost driven to death.

  Finishing up his statement to the Marshals had been the last thing he did before he left town, checking that box.

  Now he was back in Oklahoma, but he already missed the feel of the earth under his fingers, the way the Arkansas sun had warmed him from the inside out as he worked in his parents’ yard.

  It’d been good to see them again. On his own terms.

  They’d never known about the mountain of debt he’d incurred, just that he’d been in trouble. As family, they wanted to help in any way they could, but there was no way he was dragging them into a mess of his own making. And he’d lucked out when Rob bought his debt, instead of someone like Ward’s goons coming to take it out of his hide.

  And as he’d weeded and planted and mulched, he thought back to that conversation he’d had with Natalie, what seemed like months ago, when it was actually less than two weeks. Hell, he’d thought of her almost constantly, but she’d gone back to her life on the East coast. She deserved whatever she chose, whether it was to stay with the company she’d put so much time into or striking out on her own.

  He’d thought, for one crazy moment, of just driving past Fort Smith and going on to Maryland. Of looking her up and seeing if she wanted to grab a burger. Or, since it was Maryland, maybe a crab cake or something.

  But he didn’t even have her phone number. He could call Arrow and get patched through, he was sure, but honestly, he was petrified she wouldn’t take his call. That she’d had second thoughts about everything they’d said and done. And why wouldn’t she? That time had been an aberration in her life. Just like he was.

  So in the end he’d pulled into his parents’ driveway, surprising them and feeling healed almost immediately.

  And now he was back. On the job, or at least putting his hat back into the ring. The thought of walking away from all this and starting up a landscaping business still flickered on the edges of his mind. But for right now, this was where he needed to be.

  He walked into Red River Recovery, raised a hand at Karla, their dispatcher. He could have checked in via phone, but wanted the connection, the normalcy.

  “Ethan,” she greeted with her cigarette scarred voice, her vibrant red hair impossibly poufed, impossibly tall. She had to use enough hairspray to have her very own hole in the ozone layer. She was also fantastic at her job and one of the reasons Red River ran like clockwork. “Welcome back. We missed you.”

  He smiled. “I missed you too. Got anything for me?”

  “Nothing that goes up in the air, that’s for sure,” she replied, but handed several message slips over. “You’ve been popular, though.”

  “The Fork?” he looked at Karla in confusion. “What the hell is The Fork?”

  She shrugged. “All I know is that this woman has called the last two days looking for you. Won’t give her name or number, just wants to talk to you. And you know I wouldn’t give your number out to some random stranger.”

  He nodded. He’d been able to get his old number and a new phone the day after they brought the Dauphin in.

  For a moment he thought it maybe, might be, could be Natalie, especially with the name, and the dream she’d had with her mother of opening a sustainable restaurant. But that was a wish. More of a dream, maybe, and his feet were firmly on the ground. Or at least they were today.

  “Can you forward her the next time she calls?”

  She winked at him, then went back to her TV show. When he looked over her shoulder he saw it was CSPAN and smothered a smile. She always surprised him.

  He poked his head into Rob’s office, saw it was empty.

  “He’s taking some time off, doll,” Karla hollered at him. “Someplace in California. Big mystery.”

  Huh. He’d worked for Rob for over a year and he’d never known the man to take time off.

  Cris walked in while he was still half in the boss’ office and gave him a great big hug. Surprised, he hugged her back. She wasn’t working for Rob anymore, had instead started work on a charity for veterans that had put the light back in her eyes.

  “Rob asked if I’d take the
helm while he’s gone,” she told him and shrugged. “I figured why not. Nick is in Tulsa for the next two weeks with OSBI trainees and I wanted some action.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and he laughed in response.

  The phone rang in Karla’s cage and she picked it up, gave him a look that told him his mystery caller was on the line. He walked toward her, intending to take the call but she hung up, gave him a weird look.

  “She just wanted to know if you were here…”

  The outer door opened and Natalie walked in.

  Ethan drew in a breath and swore he could smell the lemon from her shampoo from here. She threw him a crooked smile that almost brought him to his knees, then walked toward him.

  “I believe we had a deal?” She handed him an envelope marked with his name.

  “I don’t understand,” he replied, and just kept looking at her, devouring every detail. Wanting to draw her into his arms for the longest kiss of his life.

  But he didn’t. He just stood there like a doofus until she nudged his hand. “Open it.”

  He shook his head, opened the envelope. Pulled out a cashier’s check for fifteen thousand dollars, signed by Greg Flynn. “Now I really don’t understand.”

  “For services rendered,” she said, a twinkle in her eye. “That first morning, when you said you’d get me and Petra to safety for fifteen large?”

  “Oh.” His stomach hit his shoes. She was here to pay a debt. Not because of anything else. “Well, thank you, then. Are you okay?” He couldn’t help the last bit, it just slipped out. He needed to know she was all right.

  “I’m unemployed and living in a RV. Which I happen to think is pretty fantastic,” she was smiling, and he was trying to make sense of the words.

  “Oh for God’s sake, Ethan, take her to coffee or something.” Cris’ voice was a welcome intrusion that snapped him out of his daze. He was pretty damned sure he was getting it now.

  He reached out, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, ran his thumb across her cheekbone. “Or maybe we could go to a local place for lunch. Someplace that does it right. Fresh ingredients.”

  She leaned against his hand, a true smile curving her lips. “Locally sourced fresh ingredients, thank you very much.” She pressed a kiss into his palm, made his stomach contract with want, with need. With everything for this woman.

  “I think a place like that should be called The Fork,” he said, trying to sound wise and sage as he pulled her into his arms. Dropped a short, sweet kiss on her lips. Because they were in public, after all.

  “I think that’s an excellent suggestion,” she said, and drew him in for another, longer kiss, and the world just faded away.

  * * *

  THE END.

  Thank You!

  Thank you for reading Broken Wings! I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please help other readers find this book:

  1. This book is lendable, so send it to a friend who you think might like it so she can discover me, too.

  2. Help other people find this book by writing a review.

  3. Sign up for my monthly newsletter at http://tlschaefer.com/newsletter/ , so you can find out about my next book as soon as it's available.

  4. I love to connect with readers, talk about books (not just mine) and dish on the latest improvements we’re making on our 100+-year-old Colonial, weather in Oklahoma (ack!), the antics of our brood of cats, and just life in general. You can find me at:

  www.tlschaefer.com

  My personal Facebook page

  My author page on Facebook--you’ll be signed up for drawings, and author-only news (if you didn’t want to hear about the rest—LOL)

  My Facebook Group, Musings from the Blonde Side https://www.facebook.com/groups/920052411730859

  About the Author

  By day, Terri Schaefer is a Public Affairs Officer for the Air Force. By night? That's a whole 'nother story.

  TL Schaefer writes mysteries/police procedurals that also have a romance twined throughout. And likely some stuff that goes bump in the night. And every once in a while, her books are spicy (so look for the heat levels).

  If you like your heroes in uniform (be they cops, firefighters, or military) and your heroines with a bit of quirk, then wing by her website www.tlschaefer.com or visit her Facebook group, Musings From the Blonde Side at https://www.facebook.com/groups/920052411730859 where she talks about books, cats and her very own romance hero.

  Also by TL Schaefer… visit www.tlschaefer.com/all-books/

  Red River Repossessions

  Duck and Run

  Broken Wings

  Bad to the Bone (coming 2022)

  * * *

  The CASI Series

  Behind Blue Eyes

  Crossfire (Book 1.5, free novella to newsletter subscribers)

  Shoot to Thrill

  Lunatic Fringe

  * * *

  The Mariposa Series

  The Summerland

  The Brotherhood

  The Paladin

  * * *

  The Fated Fae Series

  Baptism by Fire

  Ends of the Earth

  Sea of Dreams

  Breath of Heaven

  * * *

  Stand Alone Titles

  Something Witchy This Way Comes

  Redemption (coming September 2021)

  * * *

  Writing as Keira Ramsay

  Into the Fire

  Blink of an Eye