“What do you think of Marlee?” Caleb asked.
Jace grinned. He’d been waiting on Caleb to ask about Cooper’s new lover. “I think she’s pretty and smart, but more importantly, Cooper likes her.”
“That much is obvious,” Caleb said with a grin as he turned his head to Jace. “Does he have it bad?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve never seen Cooper act like this with a woman. Ever. I think he’s falling for her.” And that didn’t bring Jace happiness as it should have.
Caleb’s brows drew together. “Those words are meant to be joyous, but your expression says otherwise.”
“She isn’t from here. Her parents are in California. I can’t see her staying.”
“And you think Cooper will leave?”
Jace set down the pencil and closed the notebook since there was nothing else to write about this location. “He’s not said anything, but you’ve not seen how they look at each other. It’s the way you and Audrey look at each other. Or Clayton and Abby. Or—”
“I got it,” Caleb said with a chuckle. But the smile died. “Even when the four of us joined the military in different branches, we always knew we’d return here. We have roots.”
“Would you have stayed if Audrey’s home was elsewhere?”
Caleb sighed and looked forward. “I honestly don’t know. My family is here, but I’d have wanted to be with Audrey. A lot of people move away from family and only see them a few times a year. It’s not the end of the world.”
“I know. I just always thought we’d all stay here, and our children would be friends,” Jace replied.
“No matter what, we’ll remain friends, and our children will be friends. I promise you that.”
Jace let the subject drop as he drove to the next house. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Cooper to be happy. What he didn’t want was for his best friend to get hurt. And anyone who dared to give their heart away put themselves in that kind of predicament. Jace knew that all too well.
But he didn’t need to ask Cooper how he felt about Marlee because Jace knew Cooper that well. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if Cooper realized that he was already in love with Marlee. As for Marlee? Jace was positive that she was falling for Cooper, if she hadn’t already. They were good for each other. Really good.
That was enough for Jace. He wasn’t even jealous of the fact that their friendship had changed because Cooper found his woman. But if he were honest, everything had changed the day Brice fell for Naomi. They were no longer the Four Horsemen. It was a nickname that others used for them because the four of them were always together.
He would really miss things as they were, but he knew that the only thing guaranteed was change. He was used to that. Maybe, one day, he would even accept it.
“You’re quiet. You good?” Caleb asked.
Jace slowed as he reached their next house. “Just focused on finding these assholes.”
“Man, you’re really into this.”
Jace glanced at Caleb. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” he said with a shrug. “I’m just pointing out how into finding these people you are.”
“I’m always here for friends, and this is about helping old friends. As well as a new one.”
“It’s more than that.”
Jace opened the notebook and began writing things down about the tan house with the black trim and shutters. He didn’t like when his friends turned their attention on him. They saw things he’d rather them not see.
Caleb stared at him for a long time before saying, “I think it’s that you like bringing down bad guys. I’m surprised you never wanted to be a cop.”
“I like helping my friends, as I said. If that means I get to bring my military training along sometimes, that’s even better,” Jace said without looking at Caleb.
“How’s work?”
Jace blew out a harsh breath and set his pen down to look at Caleb. “It’s fine.”
“You like teaching others to ride horses and wrestle steers?”
“It pays the bills.”
“But is it what you really want to do?”
Jace made the anger that rose up inside him dissipate. It wasn’t Caleb’s fault that Jace wasn’t happy. “It’s a job. One I’m good at. Is it what I always saw myself doing? I don’t know.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to stop worrying about me. And I want to find these assholes. I see someone. Get the camera.”
Caleb chuckled, even as he lifted his phone and began taking pictures.
Chapter 28
Cooper studied the house and the woman who lived there. The section that he and Marlee had taken wasn’t far from where they had all met up. If he were a criminal and looking to keep a low profile in a place where people wouldn’t be watching his every move, it would be on the county’s outskirts, as far from town as possible.
He took pictures as Marlee used her computer to do a quick background search on the woman living there. Cooper watched as the screen flashed, and the woman’s driver’s license popped up, along with her spotless record.
“Not even a speeding ticket,” Marlee said.
Cooper grinned. “We should be happy that these people are clean. Gives me some faith in the human race that not everyone has priors.”
“You’re right,” she said with a chuckle. “I didn’t mean to make it sound as if I was disappointed with”—she paused to look at the name on the license—“Ms. Black. But with every person we look into and don’t find anything—”
“You feel like capturing the bad guys gets further and further from your grasp,” he finished for her. “In a lot of ways, I do, as well. But that just means we have to dig deeper. We still have several names and locations to check. And don’t forget, there are three other groups out there looking.”
She turned her face back to the house in the distance. Living out here also meant that they couldn’t get as close to the residences as the others likely could. “But I agree with you. I have a feeling that whoever these people are, they’re out here.”
“Then we keep looking. However long it takes.”
Her curls bounced as she turned her head back to him. “You seem rather suited to this kind of work.”
“Probably because of my CCT training.”
Her gaze narrowed as she cocked her head to the side. “Ah. A Combat Controller. I remember reading that about you. I had to go look it up. So, tell me if I have this right. You went into the Air Force, and they trained you as a CCT member, but because of that training, you were paired with other military branches?”
“That’s right.”
“Explain that to me, because it doesn’t make any sense.”
He grinned and took more pictures, glancing her way a few times. “Well, most of the difficult missions, the classified ones the public never knows about, are carried out by Combat Controllers. We’re trained to operate in remote, hostile areas, paired with other special forces teams. We have a wide range of skills that include parachuting, snowmobiling, scuba, and several other things. We’re also FAA-certified air traffic controllers, so we can establish air control and provide combat support all over the globe.”