Shattered Valor (8 page)

“Holy shit,” Ty murmured. The guys opened all the other cabinets. Three compartments had C-4 or bomb-making supplies. Another three were packed with heroin bricks.

Owen looked across the room at Eden. She felt as if she were a brand-new Bentley he’d spied in a showroom that he just had to have. It was too intense of a look, so she glanced away.

Max was working on gaining access to yet another door in the back corner of this room. It opened to reveal an elevator.

“Great. What other happening surprises does this house of mirrors hold?” Owen grumbled.

“Give Angel a week, he’ll tell you,” Kit suggested.

Max and Val stepped into the elevator. The doors shut. Eden could hear the sound of its engine running as it went up the shaft.

Kit and Ty went through the control room, back into the hallway to the last door they needed to inspect. It opened onto a loading dock with stairs that led down one side into a deep, long tunnel carved out of the granite mountainside, wide enough to drive a tractor-trailer right up to the bunker. A row of bare light bulbs were strung along the upper right side.

Ty exchanged looks with Kit.

“Why would your father have a bunker?” Kit wondered aloud. “Who has a bunker under their house?”

“Ty, did your dad build the house?” Owen asked.

“No. A retired Air Force officer built the main house in the sixties. My parents bought it from him in the eighties and renovated it. My dad added the bedroom wings while I was in Afghanistan because, you know, there wasn’t enough space in the house for one man.”

Max and Val rejoined the group. “Figured out why Tank barked in that bedroom,” Max said. “That elevator comes out in the closet.”

Owen’s gaze shifted to Eden. “Good to have that mystery put to rest.”

She smiled at him. So, Tank hadn’t given a false alert after all.

“Shit, this place gets cooler and cooler,” Val said as he looked around the tunnel’s entrance. “You guys go through here yet?” Val asked.

“No. Waiting for the two of you and Tank,” Kit said as he started into the rock corridor. Five minutes later, after a couple of bends in the tunnel, they seemed no closer to the other end.

Val checked a small device hanging from his belt. “We’re heading southeast. And we’re slowly gaining in elevation. We’re ten feet higher than the bunker entrance.”

“That’s taking us in the direction of Mandy’s house,” Rocco looked at Kit. “Remember those paths behind her spread that had had an unusual amount of traffic? They could have been accessing her property from here.”

A distant rumble of water seeped into the tunnel, the sound intensifying as they approached. This part of the tunnel had no lighting overhead. Max and Val flipped on their flashlights. The tunnel opened into a wide cavern. Three beat-up cars were parked side by side. Tracks in the dirt indicated several others had recently been moved. A heavy iron gate guarded the exit that opened right into a narrow creek bed at the bottom of a draw. Cottonwoods and boulders camouflaged the tunnel opening. Across from the creek was a dirt road, the same that ran the circumference of Ty’s entire property.

They stepped through the gate, across the creek, then up the draw a short ways. Rocco seemed agitated. He put his hands on hips as he turned to look at the tunnel opening they’d just come from. “I missed this. I fucking missed this,” he growled.

Tension spiked through the guys, followed by a wave of silence. Eden didn’t understand the undercurrents. She looked at Ty, hoping he could clarify the situation. Or reassure her. He did neither as he watched Rocco warily.

“Hey, man. I lived here and didn’t know it existed,” Ty commented in an offhand way.

Rocco looked at him, then at Kit. There was a little light from the guys’ flashlights, enough to show the Rocco’s angry expression.

“Who’s Mandy?” Eden quietly asked Ty.

“Rocco’s girlfriend and Kit’s sister. Her property is just over that way.”

“Kit, get this tunnel secured,” Owen ordered. “I’m going to take Eden to finish inspecting the rest of the property. Blade, want to join us?”

They used the elevator to go upstairs. Ty was silent. They all were. The reality of what had been happening in his house was a lot to take in. Eden remembered the conversation Owen had had at the hospital with sheriff. So there really were terrorists here. In Wolf Creek Bend. Is that why Owen’s team was here? And was the WKB working with the terrorists?

They spoke very little as Eden and Tank inspected the garage, the apartment over the garage, the gym building with its basketball court, pool room, weight room, and men’s and women’s locker rooms, and then the caretaker’s house. Eden was feeling a little overwhelmed at the extravagance of Ty’s property by the time they walked back to their vehicles.

“Did you train Tank yourself?” Owen asked while she got Tank settled. She removed his vest and put him back in his cage.

She nodded. “He was my school project. We had to select a dog from a shelter using personality markers that would indicate a strong inclination for the work we do. I took him through obedience training, then worked on the specialized skills he needed for various tasks. I’ve been working with him for two years now.”

“Could you repeat your success?”

“Yes.”

“Would you be willing to stay here and consult for me?”

Eden’s heart was beating hard. Her gaze jumped to Ty, wondering what his reaction to that offer would be. He met her look, but his expression gave no clue about what he was thinking.

“In what capacity?” she asked Owen.

“As a dog handler/trainer. I could see a use for several dog teams in the near future.”

Eden looked around at the dark garden of Ty’s house and the heavy shadows of the mountains surrounding them. “Owen, I’m really not into war games. I’m a dog trainer. I know how find guns, but not use them. I’m not a match for your team.”

“What you did tonight was brilliant. I don’t know that we would have found the bunker without you. Our enemies had been using it right under our noses. You’d be a consultant only. You won’t be in combat situations.”

Eden thought about the extreme fear she’d felt these past few days, the violence her friends had been thrust into, the emotional scars they would carry the rest of their lives. She wasn’t entirely sure if Owen and his team were the good guys. No good guys she knew taunted the Devil as they did. Even if they were good, they were bad news.

She already had a job. She had an apartment. Neither was very much, but they were hers. And they were safe. The work she did wasn’t something her parents understood or supported, when they bothered to check in with her. But it was hers. She could make it what she wanted it to be.

“I’m sorry, Owen. This is really just not for me.”

“Will you sell Tank to me?”

“No.”

Owen frowned down at her. “You’re a dog trainer, whose business is training working dogs, and you won’t sell the dogs you train? How far are you going to go with that?”

“I’ll train one for you. I’ll train several for you. Tank is not for sale.”

“How long will it take to provide me with three dogs?”

“Six months to a year.”

Owen shook his head. “Forget it.”

Eden handed him the check back. “Look, I can’t take this. Tonight was a good exercise for Tank and me, something I would have paid to do.”

Owen didn’t take the check back. “Eden, at some point, you have to step out of your safety zone and become what you are. Tonight’s work was contracted and paid for. Please remember the terms of the nondisclosure agreement you signed.” He straightened and nodded at her. “Good night. And thank you.” Owen clapped Ty on the shoulder. “You’ll see her back to the hospital?”

Ty nodded. The silence was thick between her and Ty as Owen walked away. This was probably the last she’d ever see him. That was one thing she regretted about not taking Owen’s offer. He moved a step closer to her. Barely a foot separated them. She thought he might reach for her, touch her cheek, but he kept his hands in his pockets.

“Look, just think about it overnight. I’m worried about you. I’d like you to be where we can keep you safe.”

“There’s a big difference between training dogs for teams like yours and being a handler on such a team. I’m not like you guys. I wouldn’t know an enemy if he came up and shook my hand. I sure wouldn’t be able to shoot one.”

“We don’t do a lot of shooting any more. It’s more like we take out the trash for someone else to collect.”

“How would the guys feel about my doing this?”

“I think we’re all smart of enough to see that we need the skill you’d bring to us. Especially after tonight.” She didn’t comment. He gave her a measuring look. “What are you worried about? We’re professionals. I think we can deal with one little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl, Ty. I’m a professional, too.”

“Ooohh.
Right.
” He grinned at her. “Take the job, Eden. If you don’t like it, you can quit. Or maybe, at some point in the future, you can transition into more of a trainer position with handlers under you. Owen’s a good guy. I give him a lot of shit, but he’s smart as hell. We all respect him.”

“If I take it, do I have to eat, sleep, and breathe with you guys?”

“Yes.”

She sighed. “I need my space.”

“Get over that. You’ll be guarded anytime you’re outside, escorted whenever you leave our location.”

“I run with Tank every day and then we train.”

“And when you do, one of the guys will be on point. You aren’t the only civilian in our care.”

“Captivity, you mean.”

A muscle ticked in the corners of his jaw. “Eden, you just found enough C-4 to blow a small government building and a cache of heroin with a street value of several million dollars. You’re damn straight we’re gonna guard you. Our enemies would like to end you and take Tank out.”

“See? That’s the crux of the issue. I wasn’t on anyone’s radar before you guys.”

“And you think you can just go back to how things were before?” He laughed, a raw, humorless sound. “It don’t work like that, honey. Someone’s going to have to pay the price for the goods lost here tonight. You aren’t safe without us now.”

“Well, thank you very much. Your little nondisclosure form should have included a warning about the deadly impact of associating with you guys. I’m only going to get less safe the longer I hang with you. I’m done, Ty.”

CHAPTER SIX

Ty sat on the hill behind Mandy’s house. It was late, but he couldn’t sleep. He kept thinking about Eden, worrying about her belief that she could quietly return to her life as if the last several days had never happened.

Maybe that would have been possible if they’d never found the bunker and its precious contents. Once she left the hospital and the team’s protection, she’d be an open target. The girls would probably be fine once they got back to the east coast. But Eden wasn’t out of the WKB’s reach in Cheyenne.

He sighed and looked up at the clear, star-filled sky. The moon, high in the east behind him, lit the hills and ridges across from Mandy’s ranch, coloring the distant snow-covered peaks in vibrant lavenders that glowed in the velvety black night.

His gaze lowered to Mandy’s wrecked equestrian center. It had been a long, fucked up few days. When the fight broke out at Winchester’s, he’d thought he’d never see Eden again. Getting to spend some of the day with her today had been a gift. He wanted more time with her. A lot more. She was direct and unassuming. And fearless. And smart enough to know when she was swimming with barracudas.

It killed him to know that for her sake, he had to either let her go and risk her safety, or bring her in and trap her in their world.

He bent to pull a weed from the ground. There was a distant popping sound, then the dirt beside him exploded. Reacting instantly, he rolled down the hill to land on the path, seeking cover from the hill on one side and the boulders on the other.

“Val, come in,” he called into his radio.

“Val, here.”

“I’m taking fire. From a ridge directly west of the hill behind Mandy’s house.”

“Hang tight, man. I’m on my way.”

Ty kept a low profile, lying on his stomach as he watched Val and Kelan rush out the back of the house seconds later. Val jumped onto a patio table, then leaped up to the roof. Kelan followed him. The sniper across the way was still taking shots at Ty, despite his cover. Again, there was the popping sound, followed instantly by one from Mandy’s roof.

“Get him?” Ty asked.

“Fuck, yeah. He’s down. I don’t see anyone else. Get off that hill. K and I will be out front.”

Ty made a crouching run down the hill—not an easy feat with his sore thigh and no cane. Kelan and Val were already in an SUV. He jumped in the back. They took off down Mandy’s drive, across the street, and over the dirt roads that would lead them to the sniper’s position. When they got there, the shooter’s body was gone.

Ty looked around. If Val said he shot the motherfucker, he had. Someone else had to have been with him or had been waiting nearby. All that remained were shell casings from an AK-47 and some blood splattered over the dry dirt.