Degrees Of Honor The Honor Series Book One

Chapter 11

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Chapter 11

Travis

It had taken me a few hours to really dig for answers and with a few choice emails sent out to see if his contacts had any more information, I would answer my questions. Cassie watched patiently over my shoulder, never questioning what I was doing, never telling me I was right or wrong. She just watches and reads the screen in hopes that I will be able to ride on that white stallion to scoop her up and save the day.

She poured me another cup of coffee and offered to make me a sandwich before quietly leaving the room. I grunted out a response, completely engrossed in what I was reading to pay much attention to her questions. I'm determined to find what I'm looking for and get the answers I need.

When I pulled my head out of my research at last, everything was still and quiet. As if the peace of her surrounding forest seeped into the cabin and calmed everything in it. I know her nerves weren't so easily calmed and she must be busying herself somewhere else in the house. I've come to learn the woman doesn't sit still for long and when she does sit her mind is constantly running.

If she wasn't so damn fascinating, she'd be exhausting to keep up with it. As it is, I'm not one to sit and do nothing either. I appreciate her need to stay busy and the way she tackles each chore like it's that one she just has to complete to finally be done.

There's humor in her eyes when she struggles and a huge grin on her face when she succeeds. The only person she's trying to prove anything to is herself and when she accomplishes something she thought she couldn't, there's pride in her eyes. And in mine.

Cassie is learning it wasn't so much her, as it was Dean that had left her doubting herself. He changed things for her, and not for the better. She questioned each decision, each move out of fear. She constantly looks over her shoulder thinking he's near. It's survival but not a way to live.

As someone who has served in battle, who has fought enemies and gone into the depths of hell, I can honestly say, survival is temporary. Eventually that adrenaline runs out and that fight or flight response wears down. The one time you don't look over your shoulder is when you die.

She can't keep running. Not alone and not with Jacob. By telling me, we're changing her pattern of running from Dean. Putty Cassie was on unfamiliar ground with trusting someone she barely knows with her life. I can make that easier, I think. It's not easier for me, but in the end it will be for her, to know who she is putting her trust in.

Scrubbing my palms over my face, I rub my tired eyes and look around the empty room. The words on the screen have blurred together and my eyes feel dry and scratchy. There isn't much more I can do until I hear back from the emails I sent out. All we can do now is wait.

If only we had enough patience to wait. That isn't a luxury we have at the moment. But I don't see any other choice. Information is needed to come up with a plan of attack, or more accurately, a course of action. The Colonel will want me to report in soon. I'm not sure how he's going feel when I tell him his daughter knows he sent me. It's not like I blew my cover. She's just as smart as her father.

I paced around the room, moving from one window to another. Watching the tree line, looking at shadows, trying to find anything that isn't exactly right. Are we being watched? Do they know I'm here? Or do they think Cassie is alone? How do we keep the upper hand?

Cassie moved quietly into the room. I didn't even realize she was back until I heard the log get tossed into the fire. I didn't move from where I stood but watched her from across the room competently stook the fire.