His Watchful Eye

Chapter 16- Tactical Planning

     Georgia sat across the booth from him in a diner not far from their temporary apartment. While he really wanted to find out what she thought of her first church experience, his mind was focused on the conversation with his mother after the service. "You need to be careful. She isn't a Christian, Colin, and it would be a recipe for disaster if you decided to take whatever it is you have with her to the next level." He assured her they were just friends, and there was nothing more to it than that; her next words surprised him. "I think she may know you are just friends, but I saw the way you look at her son. You love her, and it's as plain as the nose on your face. I'm not trying to push in where I'm not wanted...I just want you to be careful...I love you."

Was it really that obvious? Could Georgia tell his feelings for her ran deeper than friendship?

When Georgia's warm hand rested on top of his own, he was snatched from his deliberation. "Are you doing alright? You haven't said a word since we left church."

"I'm fine. Just thinking." When she slipped her hand into her lap, he was filled with a sense of deprivation and knew his mother was right...he loved her. How could he have let this happen? This would never work; not the way things stood now. While he could tell the pastor's sermon touched her heart, she remained unmoved during the invitation. He tortured himself; wondering if Georgia held similar feelings for him. She was so hard to read. How would he ever know what her feelings were when she kept them buried so deep?

"Can I take your orders?" A young waitress stood at the table with a notepad and pencil at the ready.

Georgia didn't hesitate to order blueberry pancakes, and Colin just asked for the same.

"You're not alright, Beckner. What's on your mind?" The compassion in her gaze brought a lump to his throat.

"I'll be fine." Scrambling to think of a topic to distract them both, his mind automatically went to her missing son. "I think we need to start coming up with a plan. With any luck this operation will be over soon, and we need to be ready to start our private investigation for Henry."

"You still want to help me?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" He was surprised she would even ask.

"You've just been so quiet since we left church... I thought I might have done something to upset you."

"You did nothing to upset me." He grabbed her hand to give it a reassuring squeeze, but quickly let go as her touch sent a wave of heat up his arm. He needed to stop playing with fire, or he would get burned.

"If you say so. Do you have any ideas?"

"I did have a couple. As much as you don't want to involve anyone else, I think we should let T.J. in on the search. You obviously know computers, but it would free up some time for us to do the footwork if he was working on research."

"Do you think we can trust him?"

"Absolutely, T.J. is a little eccentric, but he's a good guy. I think he would be happy to give us a hand, and he is the best at keeping secrets."

"If you trust him, then we should definitely ask for his help."

"Great! I also need to see the word puzzle you said Alex gave you. Have you figured it out yet?"

"I am almost certain whatever clue he left for me is somewhere in Henry's room, but I tore the room apart more than once trying to find it. It was nowhere to be found."

"Do you remember the puzzle? Maybe we could work on it together...two heads are better than one, you know."

"I actually have it in my purse." She pulled out her checkbook, took out a slip of paper and slid it across the table to him.

"Go to the fire station. The answers are under the hood." He read the words aloud several times hoping the hidden meaning would become clear. "It mentions the fire station here, but you think he means Henry's room. What makes you think that?"

"Henry's bedroom is completely decorated with fire trucks...it is the only thing that made any sense. I thought 'under the hood' might be a reference to his bed, because it is one of those little plastic toddler beds that looks like a car. It was the only hood I could think of, but I looked under the bed... behind it...I tore off the sheets, and found absolutely nothing. I literally scoured his room from top to bottom, but didn't find so much as a sheet of notebook paper Alex had left behind."

"You know the type of man Alex was...what do you think he would have left for you to find? Are we looking for something small, or was he detail oriented, so we could assume whatever he left was a large item?"

"Oh, Alex was a stickler for detail. He never did anything halfway. Knowing him, we are either looking for a briefcase or a three ring binder. Come to think of it, though, he was starting to use lots of technology to keep things compact. He may have saved everything to a USB drive." She heaved a deep sigh, and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry...I wish I could be more help."

"Don't be sorry! Whatever it is, we are going to find it if we have to burn the house to the ground."

"Gracious...this is an intense conversation!" The waitress seemed genuinely startled as she brought their pancakes to the table. Offering them a wobbly smile, she continued to eye them suspiciously as she walked back to the kitchen.

"Well, I'm guessing we just scarred her for life." Georgia's laugh served to lighten his mood. "I really don't think it will come to burning the house down though. I'm sure you'll have it figured out in no time."

"I just hope your confidence in me hasn't been misplaced." He tried to sound like he was joking, but one of things plaguing his mind for the last few days was the possibility he could let her down.

"I'm sure it hasn't been." Her smile helped to ease away some of his concern.
Did you want to pray before we eat? I noticed that you always do."

"Sure, but I can pray to myself if you prefer." Until now, he didn't have a clue she had been taking note of his habits.

"I don't mind praying with you at all, in fact, I would like to pray with you."

"Ok."

After he had asked God to bless the food, he again prayed for guidance as they started their search for Henry. When he finished, Georgia immediately took a bite of her blueberry pancakes. On the other side of the booth, Colin was once again lost in thought. The fact she  wanted to pray with him taught him to hope; maybe God was working in her heart. Maybe she was getting closer to trusting in Jesus.

"So what did you think of church today?" He asked.

"I really liked it for the most part. Thank you for taking me."

"Anytime."

"You're taking me next week too, right?"

His heart did a somersault in his chest. "Absolutely! If you really want to come."

"I do." She nodded her head contemplatively. "Thank you for the Bible. It was really sweet of you to get it for me."

"No problem."

"Would you want to maybe read some of it with me? At least while we are at the apartment."

"I would love to!"

"Good."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Georgia spoke again. "Could we call T.J. first thing in the morning? I really would like to get the ball rolling on this investigation since we have a loose plan."

"That's just what I was thinking. We'll let him know we need his services, and we can get started. I just hope we are contacted by these adoption people soon. I'm really getting impatient to start looking for Henry."

"You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that." This time when he felt her hand on his, he didn't pull away.