Page 31 of Rescued By the Operative

I study my brother’s face and I know he’s telling the truth. “Where’d she go?”

“I don’t know that either. Fuck, I don’t even know how these people are finding the fucking tunnel!”

Taking the cap off my head, I swipe at the sweat of my forehead with the back of my hand. “I might have busted into her office when you left to go get the map that time. I talked to her.”

“You what? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well,” I say, shrugging. “I was trying to figure out how to tell you that I found out the women’s dormitory is no longer empty.”

Ennis lets out a string of curses. “How are those elder creeps not pointing their AK-13s at our asses right now? How?”

Here comes the part he’s really not going to believe. “She’s not one of them.”

He just squints at me.

“If I say any more, it’ll blow her cover, but she’s definitely a fed investigating the hell out of that church.”

“Bullshit.”

“I swear to God.”

Ennis looks like he’s had the wind knocked out of him. “We can’t have feds poking around.”

“Come on, Ennis. Let’s face it, the feds have to be interested in these people. Especially with their leader sitting in jail.”

He rubs his forehead. “This is bad.”

I’m confused. “I’m sorry, why is this bad?”

“Because…because I just don’t want them fucking up what we’re trying to do here.”

“All we’re doing is trying to help people, Ennis. How are the feds gonna fuck that up?”

He shakes his head and begins to pace. “Because these women and children are beginning to trust us. They’re going to spook everyone, and it won’t work.”

“It’s been working,” I say. “Now we just have a more secret way of getting people out.”

He seems uncharacteristically worked up about this. “We’re going to have to get this all done quicker than I planned.”

“You planned? What about me? What about Wylie? What about all the other people involved in this scenario? Look, I’m sorry if this throws you off, but I promise you, I know this woman, and she’s not going to fuck anything up. If anything, she needs our help. Wait and see.”

“I knew I should have questioned her,” he says. My brother doesn’t seem to hear me.

I shrug. “I’ll talk to her the next time I see her.”

Ennis is finally registering what I’m saying again. “What next time?”

There’s no way to say this without really freaking him out.

My hesitation gives me away.

“No way,” Ennis says. “You hooked up with her?”

“It’s not like that. We have a connection.”

“Oh my god. No wonder your judgment is clouded!”

“Bro. You don’t understand a thing about what’s going on between me and her.”