Serial Love: Saints Protection & Investigation (3 page)

The other men had similar tales. Marc, who was skilled in interrogation, had been a pilot for both Homeland Security and CIA. Luke, another former CIA employee, was a software engineer genius. Bart, trained as a SEAL, had left the Navy and been employed with Border Patrol. Cam, a former undercover detective with the Richland Police Department, came to work for Jack after meeting him through Tony Alvarez when his gang cover was compromised. Chad was a former ATF explosive expert, who had served on the bomb squad. Blaise was a veterinarian, one of many who worked for various government agencies, had left the DEA, tired of the red-tape and ready to learn more investigative skills. Until he met Blaise, Jack did not even realize that the government hired so many veterinarians, but his medical knowledge and extra training as a medic had been invaluable.

Jack continued, “On your tablets are the files on all the known possible cases. I need you to familiarize yourself with them and then we’ll meet back here in two days to plan.”

As he expected, the men did not move, each already immersed in the files. Smiling to himself, he looked back over the information although it had been committed to memory.

Suddenly the perimeter alarms sounded, causing each man to jump to alert. Luke immediately turned to the security computers and pulled up the location and visual onto the large screen. “South quadrant, no visual yet.”

“You know what to do,” Jack stated, grabbing his weapon as he rushed up the stairs. Closely following, the other six men did the same, leaving Luke to coordinate from the secure room.

Monty, Chad, and Cam raced toward the barn, jumping onto all-terrain vehicles and heading toward the north, separating to cover more ground as they ascertained the security of the entire area. Jack, Bart, Blaise, and Marc ran south toward the area of penetration. The landscape was dense with trees and underbrush, many with thorny protrusions just for the purpose of slowing the progress of an intruder. The men knew where they were heading and exactly how to maneuver through the property.

“No visual yet; appears to have breached the fence near the stream,” Luke said, the others hearing through their earpieces.

The six men were narrowing their focus when Blaise saw a movement to their right. Jack circled around quickly, shouting, “Stop! You’re on private property.” Out from the tangled bushes stumbled an elderly woman.

She stared at the men in front of her, confusion in her eyes. Her short gray hair framed a face that had several bleeding scratches, her thin arms abused by the thorns. She was wearing blue jeans and a short-sleeve blouse, certainly providing no protection for her arms from the brambles.

Stunned, Jack growled his warning once more, starting toward the woman, when the other three on ATVs came careening to a halt in the area. Bart quickly lowered his gun but stayed on high alert, not willing to take any chances considering he was trained to be ready for any contingency.

The men stopped, all watching the woman carefully, noting her confusion. Cam stepped forward, his hand up in front of him in a conciliatory gesture. “Ma’am?”

Blaise moved up beside Cam. “Can we help you? Are you lost?”

The woman twisted to gaze behind her at Jack and said, “When did you grow that beard, Charlie? Mama’s not gonna like it.”

Jack’s gaze cut over to Blaise, who was closest, the look of confusion now in his eyes.

“Ma’am,” Blaise tried again, moving one step closer. “We need to—”

The sound of someone else crashing through the underbrush from behind the elderly woman had the men once more on alert as a scream pierced the air.

“Gram! Gram!”

Bursting into the group of startled, armed men circling around, a young woman came flying into the clearing. Immediately she flung herself at the woman, screaming, “Get away from her!”

Being the closest, Jack snagged her around the middle, effectively halting her progress as he lifted her feet off of the ground. She struggled, kicking and clawing, as he held her effortlessly. “Don’t hurt her,” she pleaded.

“Settle,” he barked into her ear, giving her a little shake. “No one’s going to hurt her. But if you don’t stop trying to kick me, I can’t guarantee the same for you.”

Bart, Monty, and Cam re-holstered their firearms, although they remained alert. Blaise moved another step closer to the older woman, reaching his hand out gently. Chad circled around nearer to Jack so they effectively blocked the two women in.

“Gram,” the young woman called again, this time gaining the older woman’s attention. “Gram, it’s me, Bethany.”

Jack’s gaze cut back to the woman he held in his arms, noting her long blonde hair was tangled with a few leaves and twigs embedded. He pulled her slightly to the side, seeing her face clearly for the first time. She appeared to be in her twenties, with blue eyes that were wide with fear.
Or is that anger?
Her body, while easy to hold above the ground, was hidden in a large, baggy plaid shirt but with his arm underneath her breasts, the feel of her indicated she had a perfect figure.

“Please let me go. I have to get to her. Please,” Bethany pleaded.

He released her slowly after setting her feet back on the ground and she rushed out of his arms over to the woman. His mind was filled with the sensation of loss as her body was no longer pressed against his. Shaking his head to clear those thoughts away, he turned his attention back to the pair of women. Although there was no threat, the problem still existed…the two women had made it through his security and he needed to deal with that.

“Gram,” Bethany said, as she threw her arms around the older woman. She twisted to look at the seven fierce men surrounding them and ordered, “Get back. Get away from her.”

“Oh, my goodness. I thought you were Helen,” the elderly woman said.

“No, Gram. I’m your granddaughter. Helen was your sister.”

“Well, where did Helen go? Did she run off with Charlie here?” she asked, nodding back toward Jack.

Bethany’s gaze cut over for the first time to the man who had stopped her. She had not noticed him when she was captured other than his rock hard body against her back and his unyielding arm wrapped around her middle.

He was tall, built like a lumberjack with muscles bulging from his tight, black t-shirt. His worn jeans were loose enough to allow movement, but could not disguise the powerful thighs underneath. His dark brown hair, cut close on the sides, had a natural waviness. His jaw was covered in a thick, but neatly trimmed beard, completing the lumberjack appearance, but she instantly knew that was a façade. The man with the piercing, grey eyes gazing directly at her was dangerous. And if the weapon tucked in the back of his jeans and the similar men surrounding them was anything to go by, they were not enthusiastic about her and Gram’s unplanned arrival.

The expression on his face did not look happy and the feeling was mutual.

“She wasn’t trying to trespass, you jerk,” she bit out, staring right at Jack. Turning back to Gram, she said, “He’s not Charlie. You’ve just gotten confused.”

The men shot a glance toward Jack, seeking his instructions. Not liking being caught off guard, he growled, “Blaise, check them out.”

Blaise, a veterinarian who also been trained with EMTs, stepped toward them once again. Bethany moved instinctively in front of her grandmother protectively.

“We’re fine. I’m very sorry for the trouble and inconvenience. I’ll take her back now.”

Before she could stop her, Gram moved toward Blaise with a smile on her face. “I’m Ann. Nice to meet you young man.”

“Gram, this isn’t social time. You wandered away and I need to get you back to the cabins, okay?” Bethany said, fatigue showing for the first time.

“Hi, Ann,” Blaise said congenially. “You’ve got some cuts there. Let me take a look at them.”

“Okay,” Gram said at the same time Bethany said, “No.”

“Yes,” Jack stated firmly, ignoring the pointed glare on Bethany’s face.

“We’re fine. I can take care of her cuts and scratches when I get her back to the cabins.”

“And just how do you propose to do that without getting more injuries? Go back the way you came through the brambles?” Jack asked, one eyebrow lifted in question.

Pursing her lips tightly, Bethany’s eyes darted back toward the woods.
Oh, Gram, what have you gotten us into now?

“Bethany? Let us take you and Ann back to the cabin and get you cleaned up and checked out. Then one of us will drive you back to your place,” Cam said.

She nervously shook her head as the reality of the situation swept over her. Seven large men, all armed, guarding their property.

As though reading her mind, the men stepped back to give the women some room.

Jack’s eyes had not left the young woman. As irritated as he was at her intrusion, he admired her spunk. “We can’t stand out here all day,” he groused. “Let’s go.” Turning to Bethany, he said, “We can go back to my cabin and we’ll make sure you’re patched up. Or we’ll take you back to your place. What’s it gonna be?”

“Charlie, you’re being rude,” Ann said sharply to him.

Sighing deeply, Bethany turned around. “Gram, he’s not Charlie. Now let me take you back and we’ll see if we can find him.” Looking over her shoulder, she said, “Thank you for you offer, but I’d like to get her home.”

Jack nodded, spoke into his radio and within a few minutes, Luke drove up in his SUV. Bethany settled her grandmother in the passenger seat and opened the back door. Before her foot could step up, she was hoisted from behind by a pair of large hands. Glancing back, she saw Jack right behind her, his hands spanning her waist.

With ease, he had her buckled and then rounded the vehicle and entered the back seat as well. The others nodded and headed back to the compound. They knew Jack wanted to see where the women lived and how his perimeter was breached.

“Where to ma’am?” Luke asked.

“Turn left here and we’re the next property over,” Bethany directed.

Jack turned and looked carefully at her. “Are you staying in the rental cabins?”

“No.”

“Do you live there?”

Silence greeted him from his seat partner, but Ann turned around from the front and beamed, “I own Mountville Cabins.”

“Gram,” Bethany said, her voice low in warning. “We don’t need to tell all of our business to strangers.”

“Oh, stuff and nonsense,” Ann said. Looking at Jack, she narrowed her eyes. “Do I know you, young man? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before and I’ve lived here all of my life.”

Jack looked into Ann’s clear eyes, seeing no confusion now. “No ma’am. I’m new here.”

Nodding, Ann smiled. “Thought so. But if you’re gonna be courtin’ my Bethany here, then you need to make sure your folks come around for a visit.”

“Gram! He’s not courting me. You got lost and he’s taking us home,” Bethany exclaimed, trying hard not to let the exasperation show in her voice.

“Well, why wouldn’t he be courtin’ you? You’re pretty, nice and a good girl to boot.” Ann looked over at Luke and added, “Unless you’re the one courtin’ her. You know it’s hard to find a good girl nowadays.”

Luke, looking into the rear-view mirror at his boss, tried to hide his smile. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sure. But Jack’ll be good to her.”

Before Jack could respond, Ann speared him with a glare. “Jack? I thought your name was Charlie?” She twisted farther around to look at Bethany and said, “Helen, aren’t you goin’ out with Charlie?”

Bethany leaned her face into her hands, fatigue taking over. When she realized Gram had wandered away from the cabins, she tore through the woods after her. Finding a few pieces of ripped clothing on a barbed wire fence, she knew Gram had slipped through the neighbor’s property line. With her heart in her throat, she raced on ignoring the thorns clawing at her arms. Finally seeing Gram standing in the clearing, her heart did not have a chance to slow down considering that seven huge men were around Gram, with weapons in their hands.

If the situation were not so dire, she probably would have laughed at the absurdity of it all. Luke’s voice interrupted her thoughts as he asked, “Where to now?”

Lifting her head, she saw they had turned by the wooden sign post with the name
Mountville Cabins
burned into it. Her grandfather had made that sign when he and his bride first built the facility. Vacationers had been coming to rent the small cabins for over forty years.

“Keep going straight and you can drop us off at the welcome cabin.”

“So you do own Mountville?” Jack asked.

Bethany sat straighter in the seat, answering, “Yes. Gram owns it. She and Gramps built the cabins when they first got married. She’s been running the business since he died three years ago.”

Luke stopped the SUV in the parking area of the large, two-story cabin with the sign
Registration and Welcome Center
on the door. Baskets of ferns hung on the porch that spread across the width of the lodge. The small gravel path leading to the front steps was lined with an array of flowers on either side. Jack could tell they were well tended while appearing to be naturally planted at the same time.

Bethany hopped out before Jack could get around to her, but his hand landed on her shoulder as she struggled with the door to assist Gram.

“Let me,” he insisted, moving her gently back. Opening the door, he helped Ann who just beamed at him.

“Oh, Charlie, you’re such a sweetie.”

“Gram, he’s not Charlie,” Bethany said once more, moving up to put her arms around Ann. “Let me get you inside and take care of those cuts.”

As the two women walked to the door, Luke came around the front of the vehicle. Looking at their retreating backs, he said softly, “Well, that was unexpected.”

“Right,” Jack growled. “You get back and work with the others. I want to know how the fuck an old woman managed to get through our property line and we couldn’t get visuals on her.”

“You sticking around?”

“Yeah, just to make sure they really are all right. Send someone back in about an hour. In the meantime, we need to take care of our borders. Get ’em all on that today.”

Luke nodded and with one last glance at the old cabin, he headed back to the vehicle.