Minnie looked at her son with skepticism. “How will you do that?”
“I have healing powers,” he joked.
Minnie’s gaze fell on Alegria. “You were always the one with healing powers.”
His mom was talking about how hard she’d worked Mantis when he was in a similar position. However, his surgery had been so much less severe than hers. She should probably be thankful she could walk rather than lamenting the fact that she couldn’t fly.
“Let’s get you settled in,” Minnie said, standing and pointing to Alegria’s bag. “You probably want to get some sleep.”
Alegria looked at Mantis, hoping he’d clear things up for his mother.
“I think Alegria will be more comfortable in the guest room on this floor. I’ll sleep upstairs.”
Minnie looked back and forth between them. “Of course she would,” she finally said. “Gehring, set her bag on the cedar chest, and I’ll air the room out.”
“Thank you,” Alegria mouthed to Mantis.
“Gehring did tell you that Jonas and Theresa had another baby, right? A girl they named Alana. Isn’t that beautiful?” Minnie was babbling while she turned down the guest room bed. “Get some rest, sweetheart,” she said, kissing her cheek.
“Thank you,” she said out loud, this time to Minnie. “I am very tired.”
Had it only been ten hours since she was grappling with meeting Dutch and Mantis at the airport? Yet, here she was with him at his parents’ house
. How in the world had that happened?
She looked up at the ceiling, knowing sleep wouldn’t come anytime soon, especially since Mantis was in the room right above hers.
Chapter 13
Dutch
The call from Doc came when Dutch stopped at a truck stop to get a cup of coffee. Serendipitously, he had a mission for him. One he had to leave for immediately.
“I got a call from the agency. There’s a situation back in Mogadishu, and they’re asking for K19 support.”
“I’m in.”
“Where are you now?” he asked.
“About an hour from Langley.”
“Roger that. I’ll arrange transport from there.”
He hung up and breathed a sigh of relief that he’d dodged the bullet of walking into his house alone while the scent of Alegria still wafted through its closed-up rooms.
Before he got back on the road, Dutch had one more call to make. He’d known Minnie Cassman since he and Mantis were teenagers; he knew she’d never be in bed before midnight.
“They arrived a little over an hour ago,” Minnie told him.
“Good. I’ll check back in a few days.”
Things couldn’t have worked out better if he’d planned it himself.
“Dutch?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re like a second son to me, and I know you’re hurting. Are you sure about going through with this?”