She shook her head. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. All I know is we were told never to trust the government.”
“That means you can’t get a job. It’s going to take a while for that to be resolved. We can contact social services and figure out what your next step is.”
Her eyes grew wide, and she started shaking her head. “I don’t want them to take me away.”
“They won’t. But we need to start somewhere. I’ll set up an appointment, and we can start figuring out what to do.”
“Thank you. I feel like I’m causing you too many problems.”
“No, not at all. Don’t feel that way. You aren’t causing me any problems. It’s all good and will be good. Don’t worry about any of this. We’ll figure it all out.” He stood. “Now, how about we figure out what we’re eating for dinner. I have some steaks that could go on the grill. Does that sound good?”
Flora nodded, still stuck on the point that she would have to contact the government and tell them about her. It felt incredibly wrong, but she guessed it was the right move. She couldn’t live in the past and had to move forward. Moving on meant getting what she needed to live and work. She just hoped she got to stay with Q. Living without him would break her heart.
12
Qwished he had more time at home, but that would have to wait until the weekend. They were headed into a meeting to discuss a situation heating up in South America. Too many bad people were in power now. It felt like something had shifted a few months ago as regimes overthrew legitimate governments and tried to destroy peace in their region.
The meeting started on time, of course, and they were given the rundown of things that happened in the last forty-eight. More than once in the meeting, he thought people were incredibly ridiculous. The group they were tracking had killed a bunch of people in one of the towns close to their compound. There was credible evidence they were mounting an attack on a major port, trying to disrupt the supply of metals and other key materials needed for the production of computer chips.
They needed to decide if they should go in or let the Brazilian government take care of it. If they wanted to stop the group before the attack happened, they needed to go in soon. Part of the process was the negotiations between the two countries to decide who was going to actually take care of the mess. The Brazilian government said they wanted help, but they hadn’tgiven their final okay. That would happen in the next day or sooner. Then, they would figure out which team was going in and when.
The meeting ended, and he grabbed his phone when he left the room, checking to make sure Flora hadn’t called. She hadn’t, which gave him some relief. He hated the idea of leaving her alone, but the other women would help if they had to leave.
She needed friends, and she needed something to do. Work kept him busy, and he couldn’t imagine not having anything to do all the time. Maybe he could get her to write down everything about the cult she’d grown up in. That might help her if she could start taking apart the system she lived under.
“Q, hold up,” Trip called out.
He stopped walking and waited for his buddies. “What do you think?” Q asked.
“I think we’re probably going to end up heading south soon.”
“I could deal with a mission,” Hop said.
Q chuckled. “I’m sure you could. I’m not sure how Flora will deal with me leaving.”
“How is that going?” Rider asked.
Bud fake coughed. “Dreaming about getting her in bed.”
Q rolled his eyes. “Guys, get real. She’s been through a lot. I couldn’t leave her out in the wilderness naked and alone.”
Zip’s eyebrows rose. “Naked. No one said anything about naked.”
He blew out a breath. He’d told his friends that he’d found her, but not that she’d been totally naked. “She didn’t have any clothes on when she ran into my campsite.”
Rider held up one hand. “Really, is that why you brought her home with you? Because you’ve seen her naked?”
“Guys, it wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?” Trip asked.
Q glanced around, seeing that they weren’t really alone. Too many other people were gathered in the halls. “Let’s go back to our office, and I’ll tell you.”
He didn’t want everyone to know what had happened. He hoped this didn’t change the guys’ thoughts on Flora. He wanted them to accept her.
“So tell us everything,” Trip said as he took his seat.
“I told you all some of it, but the cult apparently had this ritual of burying the women before marriage.”
