Page 5 of Stolen Salvation

“Well, I, for one, will look forward to seeing you around the village.”

Miss Rose winked. “If I was twenty years younger, I’d be chasing you around this here mountain.”

Bishop winked back. “And I’d let you, Miss Rose.”

Her cackle made him laugh out loud, the surprise turn of the evening making him smile. Miss Rose left shortly after, and the team managed to get a food order in before most of them headed back to the compound. Then it was just him and Watchdog drinking by the fire.

“What are your thoughts on Duchess and this case with Cavendish?”

Bishop cocked his head as he considered Watchdog’s question. He’d learned early on his friend never asked anything just for the sake of it. He always had a reason, and that he was asking about Duchess was telling.

Taking a sip of his beer, he bought himself a minute to consider what his thoughts were. She’d been working on this case for over a year now and it was weighing heavily on her. As the time went on and she worked with Gideon and Damon Cavendish to expose their younger brother and find the evidence to convict him, she’d looked more and more tired.

“I think it’s coming to a turning point and Duchess has more going on than she’s telling us.”

Watchdog’s lips turned down. “I agree. I’m worried about her.”

“You spoken to Bás about it?”

“Not yet.”

“You should. I think we all need pulling in on this soon if we’re going to work the Project Cradle case actively.”

Project Cradle was an old CIA initiative from the nineties that involved taking female babies from willing mothers and training them and educating them from birth to be assets of the US Government. It had been shut down, but a rogue agent had taken it private and now the mothers were not willing in any way. It made his blood boil to even think about.

“That’s the thing. I can’t find evidence of Carter being involved.”

“You sure he’s involved? Cradle started long before his time. Unless his father was involved.”

“Or his mother.”

“That’s possible, I guess. She is the driving force behind her son’s criminal empire.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me how a mother could push her son into that kind of shit.”

Bishop drained his glass. “That’s because you had a mother who adored you.”

Watchdog seemed to get lost in thought at those words. “Yeah, I did.”

Silence swept over them as each man considered their past. Watchdog’s life had been very different from his own. Where his parents had died, Watchdog’s mother had been the kind every child dreamed of until Alzheimer’s stole her away at just fifty-six. Now her son was a stranger to her and the boy she’d supported was a man making a difference to those around him, and they had no clue.

“Uh, Bish?”

The wariness in Watchdog’s voice made him stiffen slightly, the sudden feeling of being watched making his spine straighten. “Yes?”

“You have eyes on you.”

“Is she blonde, gorgeous, and looks like she could kick your ass?”

“Yep, that’s her.”

“Fuck.”

Chapter 2

Her palms felt sweaty as she walked into The Crown pub and cast her eyes around the dark space. With a low ceiling, brass taps on the dark wood bar and burgundy velvet on the barstools. It was a quintessential British Pub, right down to the wary looks shot at her from the locals who leaned on the bar talking.

Rubbing her hands on her jean-clad legs she tried to infuse her usual calm into the nerves spinning cartwheels in her belly. He was just a man, this was just a conversation, but that was a lie and one she had never had any luck believing. Noah Bishop was more than that to her. For most of her adult life, he’d been her everything and in her heart, he still was.