Operation Alpha. Justine Davis

just to get to Dylan?” she asked when he’d posted one outside the science lab.

      He shrugged. “I’ll be nervous, but it’ll be good practice for me. We had a slow summer—which is good news, considering what we do—and I kind of slacked off.”

      “I’m almost afraid to ask what a busy summer would be.”

      He grinned. And again her stomach took that tumble. “Let’s see...last summer we had a decade-old missing-person case and what turned into a hostage situation. Then a kidnapping. That was before the whole ‘take down the state government’ thing.”

      She’d known some of this, from Emily, but the scope of what Foxworth did was boggling. But she couldn’t help smiling back at his grin. “Foxworth must really be something.”

      “We are. Champion of lost causes, people in the right and the truth.”

      He said it laughingly but with pride, as well. A well-deserved pride, from what she’d seen and heard so far.

      “Sounds like a great job.”

      “Saved my life,” Liam said, and there was nothing but sincerity in his voice then.

      “But...kidnappings and hostages? That sounds dangerous.”

      “We’re trained for that—Quinn sees to it—although I needed more than the others. They’re mostly ex-military and I was just a borderline computer geek who happened to like to track and hunt.”

      “Seems there’d be some overlap there.”

      The grin again. Good grief, stomach, settle down, she ordered as she posted a final flyer on a board outside the library, where regular school notices were always placed.

      “Some. Quinn took care of the gaps, although I felt a bit out of place at first. But Quinn made me see we all have our specialties.”

      “Like computers and tracking?”

      He nodded. “Quinn’s the decision guy, obviously. Hayley provides the insight into motivation and subtext. She’s amazing with people. Teague’s a pilot and tactician of sorts. Rafe...” His voice trailed off, and the slightest of furrows creased his brow. “Well, Rafe is Rafe.”

      Whoever Rafe was, Liam was worried about him, she thought. But he was clearly not inclined to go into it now, because he went on quickly.

      “And Cutter, of course. He’s the one who bonds us all together. He belongs to all of us, as much as any one dog can.”

      “That’s sweet,” she said.

      “And he’s saved us all, at one time or another. If we’re smart enough to listen to him.”

      The dog gave a soft whuff, as if reminding Liam they should listen to him all the time. Ria couldn’t stop herself from laughing. “He’s really quite expressive, isn’t he?”

      “He gets his point across,” he agreed, but he seemed to be avoiding looking at her now. She wondered if he was regretting having said so much, although to her it didn’t seem as if he’d given away much that was personal.

      Cutter whuffed again, this time as he rose up to put his front paws on the school bulletin board. He nosed at another flyer, a slick one for a new restaurant in the picturesque little town on the bay at the bottom of the hill. Ria hadn’t been there yet, but she’d heard from various students that they had some seriously good burgers and an outrageous selection of fries with various toppings that made a meal in themselves and were cheap enough to tempt students with sometimes strapped finances.

      She heard a faint sound, realized that, as Liam had looked at the menu that had Cutter’s attention, his stomach had growled.

      “Skip breakfast?” she asked with a smile.

      “And lunch,” he muttered.

      “I’ve heard they’re good.” She kept her tone neutral, nonsuggestive. His stomach made a more insistent sound. He gave her a quick flick of a glance.

      “You haven’t been there?”

      “Not yet.”

      She wondered, for a brief moment that annoyingly made her hold her breath, if he was going to ask her to go with him. She’d happily forego the insulated bag full of fruit and yogurt in the school fridge if he did.

      He didn’t.

      In that moment Cutter turned, sat and stared up at Liam with what Ria could only describe as a disgusted look. Liam seemed to purposely ignore the animal, and he muttered something under his breath that sounded like “Don’t even try, hound.”

      And abruptly he excused himself, with just enough politeness to keep it from being rude.

      Just.

      She watched him go, watched the dog follow with obvious reluctance and wondered what on earth had just happened here.

       Chapter 8

      “He doesn’t look like much of a fighter.”

      “Doesn’t look like a teacher, either.”

      “Hey, he’s got a dog. Maybe he’s blind. That would be cool, like a superhero.”

      “Maybe he’s got the dog because he’s gutless.”

      Liam listened without looking, since he’d already noted and mentally cataloged the trio of boys when they’d come in. They didn’t join the other dozen or so who’d shown up but kept to themselves in a little knot near the door. There were always at least three, he thought. The ringleader and a couple of sycophants. And there was little doubt that the boy who had spoken first and last was the ringleader. He was the biggest of them and wore the most scornful expression.

      He was also the one Cutter was watching like an errant sheep.

      And Liam noticed many of the other kids who’d gathered around the mats on the floor were keeping a wary eye on the trio. Including Dylan, who was standing toward the back but appeared more intent than any of them.

      “Great,” he heard a boy mutter, looking at the biggest of the three. “Just what we need—Alan screwing things up.”

      Purposely Liam turned his back on the threesome. It went against his instincts, but the gym had several mirrors in one corner, near what he guessed was a bar for dance students to use, and he positioned himself so he could watch the three easily without looking directly at them. Otherwise he ignored them, and he saw the leader’s expression change; he obviously wasn’t used to being ignored.

      “Hi, everyone. My name’s Liam Burnett. Thanks for turning up and saving me from reading War and Peace.”

      He got a few chuckles, and all of the ones in front of him smiled. He noted Emily’s absence. The girl had said she wasn’t going to come because she was afraid she’d give him away somehow and Dylan would shy away.

      “Y’all know why you’re here,” he began. He heard the snicker from behind him, no doubt at the drawl he’d purposely let through. “Well, most of you, anyway. Some don’t have even a clue.”

      The titter that went through the group had a nervous edge to it. He kept his back turned but saw the trio, the big guy in the lead, start moving toward him. He watched the reflection, assessing. Alan was big, yes. Nearly his own height. And bulky. Probably outweighed him by at least twenty pounds. But it wasn’t muscle, Liam noted, seeing the softness around the middle and in the arms beneath the T-shirt from a local bar. Wondered if the kid counted on his sheer size to intimidate. Wondered if he expected people to think he was old enough to hang out in that dive bar his shirt advertised. Or clever enough to bluff his way in.

      And wondered what Alan was doing here at Cove at all. From what Ria had told him about the school and its academic standards, he seemed an unlikely fit. But maybe his folks were rich and bought his