Page 43 of Cole

Janice pulled a blanket over her lap and looked at him with a thoughtful expression. "This is weird, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"This." She gestured back and forth between them. "We barely know each other, but we've been through... I don't know, more in a day than most people experience in months. And now we're just sitting here having hot chocolate like it's normal."

"I don't think there's a normal for this situation."

She threw her head back and laughed. "No, I guess not."

They sipped the hot chocolate, and it was his turn to smile. “Just like I remember Mom making.”

Her eyes lit, and she twisted to face him fully. “Me too.”

After another moment of sipping, she said, "What do we do now? We're not sleepy since we just napped. It's too early to go to bed for real. We're stuck here for at least another day or two. We might as well... I don't know, talk?" She tilted her head as she held his gaze, cradling her mug in both hands.

"Talk," Cole repeated, a smile tugging at his lips. "That's a revolutionary idea."

She laughed, and some of the tension in the air eased. "I mean real talking. Not just mission stuff, contamination levels, or Charles Penson. I want to know more about you. Who is Cole Iverson when he's not rescuing wildlife veterinarians?"

Cole settled back, surprised by how much he wanted to answer. "Not much to tell. I was born in North Dakota. Small town you've never heard of. Dad worked on crop dusters, eventually started his own agricultural aviation business."

"Is that where you learned to fly?"

"Yeah. Dad had me in a cockpit before I could ride a bike. Loved it from the first moment." Cole smiled at the memory. "He'd take me up after school, let me take the controls once we were airborne. By the time I was twelve, I was helping with the business. Loading chemicals, maintenance work, learning every inch of those planes."

"Your dad sounds amazing."

"He was." Cole's throat tightened with familiar grief. "Cancer took him five years ago. My brother-in-law runs the crop dusting business now. Two sisters and Mom still live there. I visit when I can, but it's not the same without Dad."

Janice reached out and touched his hand, a brief squeeze of comfort that shouldn't have felt as significant as it did. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks." Cole cleared his throat. "Anyway, I joined the Army right out of high school. Then applied for Warrant Officer Flight Training. Spent ten years as a warrant officer helicopter pilot, doing two tours in Afghanistan flying Rangers. When I got out, I worked for the original Lighthouse Security Investigations in Maine."

“Is that who you work for now? Your ID said, Montana.”

“That’s right. There are three Lighthouse Security Investigations… the first one in Maine, the next one on the West Coast in California, and then the third one started in Montana.”

“Why did you leave the one in Maine? That sounds like such a lovely place I’ve always wanted to visit.”

"Montana felt perfect for me," he explained. "A lot like North Dakota in some ways. Wide open spaces, mountains, that sense of being small against something vast and wild. The LSI business in Maine was great as far as people and teaching me what I needed to know to do this job. When the one opened in California, I never thought about moving.”

She laughed and nodded. “I can’t see you with the surfers in California.”

He grinned and shook his head. “I figured Maine would be it for me even though the location never felt like home. But when an LSI opened in Montana, I visited, knew it was right, and made the move. Montana was home from the first day."

"So that's how you came here. To do the security assessment for Charles Penson."

"Yeah." His lips twisted. "Ironic, isn't it? I came to help secure his property, and instead I'm helping expose his illegal operation."

"I'm glad you did." Her voice was soft in the darkness. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up when you did."

"You would have figured it out," Cole said with confidence. "You're smart, capable, and you care about this place and these animals more than your own safety. That's... that's pretty remarkable, actually."

She seemed to be thinking it over, absorbing his words.

“Anyway, that’s what Keepers do. We have planned assignments, but we can easily stumble on a situation that needs help.”

Her brow furrowed. "What's a Keeper?"