Garret bristled, but didn’t defend Victoria. He knew she was probably just speaking from experience and most likely could help solve this if Reese would trust her. “She could be valuable in this, ya know.”
“She is valuable,” Reese agreed. “Right here. Behind locked doors. I don’t trust either of you, but you’re the one who gave yourself up willingly – she just came to spring you. How can you expect me to trust her intentions?”
Garret shrugged. “I can’t. I just want you to get your agent back. That’s all.”
“And you care because…?”
“Because I want a chance to prove my loyalty, and because I want to avoid getting Aaron killed, if possible. He’s just doing his job.”
Reese was about to argue, when his cell phone interrupted him. He looked at the incoming call grimly. “It’s him.”
“Agree to the trade,” Garret begged. “If you don’t, he’ll kill your agent then nab a more important one.”
Reese didn’t respond, but simply answered the call. “Hello?”
“Reese. So good to hear your voice again. You got my two colleagues ready?”
Reese glanced at Garret, then at Nate. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ve got them both.”
“Oh, good. And here I thought you didn’t care about this little lady.”
“Just tell me when and where.” Reese grabbed pen and paper as Aaron gave him instructions then hung up. He thought for a moment, then decided to go ahead and speak in front of Garret, though he addressed Nate. “Tomorrow morning. Seven o’clock. He wants to meet out on Cedar Lane.” It was an old dirt road on the outskirts of town – open land on one side, woods on the other.
Garret straightened. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Nate?” Reese motioned for him to join him out in the hall, shutting out Garret for now. “Aaron’s not gonna cooperate if we don’t take both Garret and Victoria with us. Can we trust Garret enough to let a partial exchange happen? To let Aaron think he’s getting his way, but as soon as Susanne’s safe, Garret and Victoria don’t go with him? I’m more worried about Victoria than Garret at this point, but if we risk losing both of them to save Susanne’s life, then I guess it’s worth it.”
Mick folded his arms and just remained quiet for several long moments as his mind worked through all the scenarios it could. What if all this was true? Eric would suddenly have a very young, very needy family, with a ton of consequences, both naturally good and bad. What if it was true but Eric didn’t want the babies? Mick really couldn’t imagine that, no matter how stressful this whole thing might be. What if the babies were not his at all? Could they really justify keeping them, regardless? And have two more mouths to feed when they were struggling financially the way it was Or would the wisest thing be to let them find other homes? The decisions certainly couldn’t be based around money.
He finally shook his head. There were too many variables to figure out. One step at a time. “I agree. Let’s take Troy up on his offer of one week and just see how things play out.’
Being rejoined in the other room, Troy was grateful for their willingness to keep the babies for the week. It took a little time to modify one of his documents and print out a new agreement so that everyone would be legally safe, but all agreed it was necessary. They would keep the girls, and Troy would return in a week. At that time, either they or Eric would sign for custody, or Troy would take them to social services. It was still an awkward situation, but it was made as simple as possible…
“…the poor things.” Becky stood in Angel’s office a couple hours later, cradling one of the babies as Angel checked over the other one. “They’re both so adorable…I don’t understand how a mother could ever do such a thing.” The baby started to cry…again…and Becky did her best to quiet her down. News had spread like wildfire that these could be Eric’s children, and needless to say, everyone was quite surprised.
Becky cocked her head as she looked at the baby girl’s face, and she smiled. “Ya know…if these aren’t Eric’s girls…they stole his eyes.” It was true – they did seem to have Eric’s eyes, and that, along with the reddish glint in their hair just added to the feeling that it was all true…
…Back in the office, Mick stood by the desk, phone in hand, looking at Rosetta as he dialed. They’d both agreed that Eric shouldn’t have to find out about the babies over the phone, but it made the call just that much more awkward...
Feeling his phone buzz, Eric glanced at it quickly as he opened up the semi trailer door. It was Mick’s number. Odd.
“Hey, Tom,” he called to a guy on the loading dock. “Go tell Larry his load is here.” He stepped onto the dock and answered his phone. “Yeah?”
“Hey, it’s Mick. Where are you?”
Eric frowned in concern at Mick’s odd tone of voice. “Indiana. Why?”
“Any way you can come home?”
Eric’s whole body tensed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. There’s just… a situation that needs your attention.”
“Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah, everyone’s fine, don’t worry. But you really need to come home if you can.”
Eric waved to a couple warehouse workers so they could start unloading his truck. “Well, I can’t just stop mid-run. What’s going on?”
“It really should wait until you get here.”
“Mick…” Eric’s pulse quickened, and he walked a short ways from the other men so his conversation could be a little more private. “Is it Agency?”
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. Please, Eric, just trust me.”
“How can I trust you when you won’t tell me what’s going on?!” Eric took off his ball cap to scratch his sweaty head. “If someone’s hurt or dead, you better dang well tell me now.”
Mick sighed and glanced at Rosetta with frustration. “Look, everyone is fine.”
“Then what’s so important I can’t finish my run?”
“Do you trust me?”
Eric gritted his teeth. He didn’t like these games, but he recognized the seriousness in Mick’s voice, and it scared him. “Yes.”
“Then come home. You know I wouldn’t ask you to do this if it wasn’t an emergency.”
“I’ve got three weeks left, Mick! I don’t even know how I can cancel out on this one.”
“What can I do to help?”
Eric slapped his hat back on before sighing deeply. “Pray I find a new driver.”
“That, I can do. How long will it take you to get home?”
“Depends on how long it takes for me to give someone else the rest of my run. My best guess is three or four days, but I can’t guarantee it.”
“That’s fine. We’ll be waiting for you.” Ending the call, Mick looked to Rosetta again and shrugged lamely. “He’s upset I won’t tell him what’s going on, but he’s gonna come.”
Eric aimed back towards the other men. “Tom, you know which route Rizzo’s got?”
“Um…” Tom paused unloading to think. “He was here just last week, headed to Minnesota.” He studied Eric’s worried face. “Why? You alright?”
“Family emergency. I gotta go home, but I’ve got a lot of miles left on this run.”
One of the other men interrupted. “Try Pitbull. Sasha said he’s in Illinois headed this way, and looking for another job.”
“Perfect. Thanks.” But before Eric made that call, he switched gears again.
Text to: Stacy
Mick jst called to tell me to come home. Pls tell me u and Ash r ok.
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