Page 3 of Cooper’s Promise

Chapter Two

June

“Nice digs,” Hudson Wells whistled as he looked around the offices of the Omega Headquarters.

“You’re looking great. How was Paraguay?” Cooper asked his old Army buddy. They were both Army Rangers, and had done tours together in Afghanistan.

“It was wet.”

Cooper rolled his eyes. “Yeah, man, I would expect that during a flood. How long were you there?”

“Almost a month.” Cooper could see the grim set to Hudson’s mouth. He must have seen some bad shit. Cooper’s grandparents had lived through Hurricane Katrina and had lost everything. He knew just how bad a flood could be.

“It was good that you and your team were down there to help.”

Hudson pulled up a chair into Cooper’s cubicle. “So, when can you blow this popsicle stand?”

“Give me five more minutes, I need to finish this e-mail.”

“Will I get to meet Grey and Athena?” Hudson asked, referring to the two founders of the Omega Team. Cooper had been recruited by Grey, and had joined the group soon after leaving the Army.

“They’re not here right now. They’re on an assignment.” Cooper typed a couple of more lines, then pressed “Send.” He turned to give Hudson his full attention. “So, what in the hell are you doing here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

“I kept getting your voicemail. I called here, and they told me you were out of the country.”

“Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, just wanted a chance to talk to Brenna. She’s making a big move, so I wanted to make sure she knew what she was doing.” Hudson pushed back and forth on the rolling chair, his hands behind his head.

Cooper’s gut clenched. “What kind of big move?”

“She didn’t talk to you about it?” Hudson stopped moving his chair. His gaze sharpened. “I thought you guys were close.”

“Yeah we were hanging out, but then work got hot and heavy.” Cooper waved his hand at his desk. “Then there was this last assignment. It was four weeks overseas.”

“Yeah, but she’s been planning this for three months.”

He slumped in his chair. She had? Part of him had been wanting a do-over since January. If he’d kept in touch, he would have known about this. “So what’s the big move?”

“She’s moving to Australia to study the impact of global warming on the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a five-year assignment. My mom’s crushed.”

“I thought she was planning on doing something here in Florida?” Cooper remembered long conversations about how the erosion on the coastlines needed study. She was planning on being an advocate.

“So did we. That was the plan when she moved down here. She had plenty of applications out, and she had an offer from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. This just doesn’t make any sense.”

Oh, it made sense all right. He’d chased her out of her home, when a big part of himself really wanted to make a home with her. He had to fix this!

“Coop, did you hear what I just said?”

“What? Sorry, I was just thinking about my assignment. Can you repeat?”

Hudson laughed. “I know what you mean. You ready to go? I was hoping to get a drink before seeing Brenna. I was wondering if you could go with me.”

Cooper shut down his computer, and grabbed his jacket. He needed it to cover his gun. “You want me to see Brenna with you?”

“No, to go get the drink.” They headed for the elevator. “You sure aren’t tracking very well. Are you okay?”

“I need food.” Cooper said as they headed outside. “Let’s take your car, I rode my bike to the office.”