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24
The tacos were,as usual, amazing, but Jane didn’t have much of an appetite. Being inside Jason’s hangar had only sharpened her worry. Where was he? Why hadn’t he contacted her?
The only possible answers were bad ones. The barbacoa taco she’d managed to choke down felt like a ball of lead in her belly.
Bridger reached across the wide table and took her hand. “We’re going to find him.”
“I know.” Only she didn’t.
Her brother barely spoke about his years in Special Ops. Whenever he did, it was to praise his team. Still, they were only human. And whatever had Jason on the run must be serious. In the three years since he’d been home, he’d never left town without telling her. Or without staying in touch.
Bridger caressed the back of her hand. The whisper-soft movements made her heartbeat jump for an entirely different reason.
He smiled. “Hey, you don’t need to worry. Your bro is one of the finest operatives I’ve ever met. He’s got this.”
“I hope so,” she whispered.
“I know so.” He tightened his grip on her fingers. “And I know something else that’ll help.”
Hand still holding hers, he bowed his head. “Dear Jesus, please protect Jason until we can join him in fighting whatever evil he’s battling. Give us the strength, and the wisdom, to find his trail as quickly as we can.”
“Amen,” she added and looked into those deep brown eyes.
Praying always set her mind right. She suspected she’d be talking with her Savior every hour until Jason was safe.
Bridger rose and gathered up the remains of their takeout meal. “Now we do our part. Find your brother’s hidden stash of info.”
“What makes you think he has one?”
“I would.” Hands full of takeout containers, he headed for the designer kitchen area at the back of the hangar.
She had to look away from the impressive collection of stainless-steel appliances Jason had asked her to pick out. “Outfit it the way you’d want your dream kitchen,” he’d urged her.
She’d raised an eyebrow at that. “Planning on impressing someone?”
That impish grin she rarely saw still made her smile. “Someday.”
Arms folded, she turned away, screwing her eyes shut so she wouldn’t cry. The hole in her heart Pete left when he ripped Kellen out of her life was just starting to be a little less tender, and now this: Jason in trouble, and the pastor tormented by a dangerous lunatic.
And two hard-edged operatives cluttering up her life.
“How about you start in the office?” Bridger suggested from the kitchen.
She slid off the stool. “Sure.”
She stopped in the doorway. The mess looked even more malevolent several days later. About time she cleaned things up.
But she couldn’t will herself into the space. From the footprints, Tai thought two men had broken in. Were they angry as they pawed through Jason’s things? Cold and calculating?
She dug her fingers into the doorjamb as she willed her brother to send her a sign.
Tell me you’re okay. Tell me how to help.
The only response was the clang of metal: Bridger prowling the outer edges of the hangar.
“Get over yourself,” she muttered, and plunged into the office.
Half an hour later she had the space straightened up, but she’d found nothing but invoices and blueprints for airfield projects. She brushed a hank of hair out of her eyes. Her gaze fell on the trashcan in the corner. The intruders had dumped that out, too.
