Since Connor’s wife had moved out and he refused to talk about why or where she was, Joel doubted it. Connor still wore his wedding ring and referred to Jana all the time.
At first he insisted she was visiting a relative, but as the months dragged on it became obvious the marriage had imploded. He didn’t even bother to try to explain anymore.
Joel chalked it up to one more example of how a relationship couldn’t work long term with this job. Everyone agreed Jana and Connor were the perfect couple. Smart, focused, dedicated to each other and the work. And now she was gone.
“Your father is letting us use his office as our satellite office,” Connor explained to Hope.
She smiled over the rim of her mug. “Sounds like Dad.”
“He’s on the way back home and not happy he got stuck because of weather and couldn’t be here to meet you.” Joel knew because he’d had two long, yelling phone calls from the man already this morning. The second ended with an order to marry Hope and be done with it.
With all his power and money, Rafe Algier had a very basic agenda. He wanted his only child safe and he wanted her with Joel. Both options worked for Joel except that he couldn’t figure out how to make the second stick without endangering the first.
As if she had read his mind, she slid her hand under the table and rested her hand on his knee. “I’m fine.”
The simple touch sent fire racing through him. That’s all it took. “I’ll make sure you stay that way.”
“On that note...” Davis looked at his watch for the tenth time since they’d all gotten there a half hour ago and gotten the video feed hooked up to the Corcoran Team offices. “I’m thinking I should move out to headquarters. I’ll coordinate from Annapolis. Use our resources and Joel’s impressive computer programs to get through all the information we’ve collected.”
“I’d ask you not to touch my stuff, but—”
Davis nodded. “I’m going to anyway.”
“When is your wife due?” Hope asked.
“Lara.” Davis smiled as he said her name, just as he always did. “And she’s a little more than five months along.”
“He doesn’t like to be away from her.” Joel knew he was stating the obvious, but he did it anyway.
“True, but I also want to be back in our office, helping Pax and Ben analyze the data.” Davis winked at Hope. “Being with my wife is just a huge bonus.”
“Who are the other men you mentioned?” Hope’s hand slid off Joel’s leg.
He put it back on his thigh again. “Members of the team. There are a few others who mostly work with Cam, but they’re on enforced leave right now.”
“Enforced?”
“I demanded they take some downtime because they travel all the time,” Connor said. “Cam happened to be available and can fly, so he headed out to drop Joel off with you.”
“Which didn’t go so well for me,” Cam pointed out as he slipped into the room and took the seat next to Davis.
“Okay then.” She exhaled as she took another sip of coffee. “I think I’m caught up now.”
“I’m sure we’ll lose you a second or third time,” Cam said. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Why are you?” Joel asked.
“Checking the helicopter.” When Connor started to talk, Cam waved him off. “It’s fine and the front window is being fixed. We’ll be able to use it as soon as you’re ready.”
Joel wanted to ask what for, but Cam looked at him and gave a small shake of his head. Whatever the mission was, it looked like it was off the books for Connor. That only intrigued Joel more.
Hope wrapped her hand around her mug. “At the risk of ruining any image you may have of me as a smart person, let me ask what could be an obvious question. Why do you need an office here at all? Why not just head home now that I’m away from the campground?”
Home. The word knocked around in Joel’s brain. It meant leaving her. “The job isn’t over.”
True, it was an informal one, but Rafe made it clear Corcoran had been hired to figure out what went wrong on the retreat. He wanted answers and some assurance his daughter would not be put in jeopardy again.
Joel wanted the same thing, and Connor didn’t even blink at the request. He might have lost his wife, but he was deadly loyal to the team. If one of them needed something, Connor stepped in.
The light in Hope’s eyes dimmed a bit. “I still can’t believe Mark is dead.”
Joel squeezed her hand. “Thanks to you spotting him, we were able to recover his body quickly.”