Retribution (Moonstruck Genesis #4)

Chapter 13

GATHERING UP her troops, Hannah barked out orders. They couldn’t take all the RVs but they could take one to carry the kids and supplies. Antoine could drive. She would follow in one of the SUVs left behind when the men left.

Annie, Sally, and Liz moved their kids and tucked them into the big bed in Hannah’s RV. Liam, rubbing sleep from eyes, sat up from his bed on the couch and watched.

Jacey loaded extra weapons and boxes of ammunition into the back of the SUV while the others transferred clothes, diapers, and food to the RV. Antoine just stayed out of the way, watching with wide eyes as the women did their thing. He wasn’t keen on what he considered a wild goose chase, but he’d learned early on Hannah McIntire was a force of nature. She reminded him of his mother and nobody got in Camille Fontaine’s way once she made up her mind.

Within an hour, the SUV and RV were loaded. Hannah rooted around under the tarp covering the bed of a pickup truck parked in the group’s ragtag motor pool. She let out a short whoop and dragged out a box. Opening it, she pulled out two license plates, both US Government forgeries. She handed them off to Antoine.

“This one on the RV, this one on the SUV.”

She pulled out another box filled with magnetic-based antennas and pushed it toward Jacey. “Stick some on the Suburban and the rest on the top of the RV.”

Hannah dove back under the tarp and pulled out her next treasure—two magnetic signs that read: HOMELAND SECURITY COMMAND POST. The wives laughed and grabbed the signs to affix them to the RV.

“That should keep us off any local cop’s radar when we go flying through. If we do get lit up, let me do the talking.”

A few minutes later, the vehicles and RVs being left behind were secured. Jacey called shotgun and climbed into the SUV’s passenger seat while the other wives climbed into the RV. Antoine maneuvered it carefully until he reached the gravel road and kept the pace sedate until he hit asphalt.

Not long after, the convoy of two vehicles hit I-10 and headed west.

“You wanna tell me what that text said?” Jacey managed to stay quiet during preparations and the beginning of the trip, but now her nervous curiosity refused to stay buried.

“No.”

“Hannah?”

“Fuck it, Jacey. I promised Liam. And I should have offered the others the chance to stay home where it’s safe.”

“Hon, I’ve already figured out we’re headed into a shit storm. Nate’s as upset as Mac obviously is.”

Hannah exhaled and chewed her bottom lip. She glanced at the speedometer which held steady at ninety-five. This time of night, traffic was light. They wouldn’t need to slow down much before Beaumont then they could speed up again the other side of Houston. Once past San Antonio, they had the wide-open roads of southwest Texas and they could push the vehicles to their limits. They would only need to stop for gas. She and Jacey could grab food and a piss break then. The others had the comforts of the RV.

“Okay. Here’s the deal. The Los Malvados are camped outside of town. Nakai’s granddaughter is in labor and Sean doesn’t want to move her. Plus, there are noncombatants. Including kids.”

“The cartel will punish them if the guys pull out.”

“Yes.”

“So they’re staying to fight.”

“Yes.”

“You thought about going alone.”

“Yes.”

Jacey’s peal of laughter filled the confines of the Suburban. “You sound like Mac. Or Nate.” She chuckled. “I swear Sean is the only one of them who strings more than two words together.”

Silence descended again for several minutes. Jacey reached over and squeezed Hannah’s shoulder. “This is the right thing to do.”

“So long as I don’t get us all killed.”

“I’ve never been in the military, Hannah, but I’m not dumb. They didn’t take enough of anything for a long operation. They expected to go in, snatch Honi, and get out.”

“Yeah.”

“We’ll get them back.”

“Damn straight we will.”

IZZY CLIMBED the tumbled boulders to get a look at the valley beyond. Fort Bliss spread out below her, stretching all the way to the northern horizon. Exhausted and needing to make plans, they’d pulled into a rest stop. Antoine and Hannah were grabbing catnaps while the kids played. Jacey watched over the group and gave Izzy a little wave.

Being so close to the Army installation made Izzy nervous. Technically speaking, the men were AWOL. Hannah had resigned from the DSS, much to the government’s dismay. Not to mention the fireworks in New Orleans when they’d gone after the people who had kidnapped Liam.

After the incident in New Orleans, everyone but she and Rudy departed for Oklahoma, staying only long enough to tie up their loose ends. Returning to Louisiana, they’d moved onto land near her home in Blue Moon Bayou—essentially hiding right under the authorities’ noses. Who would suspect they’d stay so close to the scene of the crime. Only blowing up the Radix Lab and Black Root’s corporate headquarters wasn’t a crime in her book.

Not long ago, she’d been a loner—the odd one out. Then she met Liam and with Rudy’s help, rescued the boy. Now she was in the middle of a close-knit group, still feeling like the outsider more often than not.

Hannah climbed out of the SUV and walked to the ladies’ room. It must be time to head out. Izzy needed to make a pit stop, too, before they hit the road again. As she started down from the boulder, a dry rustling beneath her feet froze her in place. Was that a rattlesnake? What did a rattlesnake sound like? She glanced at the nearby sign warning tourists about the creatures.

“Uhm…Uhm…” Her high-pitched voice caught Jacey’s attention. The other woman started over. “No! Don’t come closer.”

“Izzy? What’s up?” Jacey’s brow knitted in consternation.

“There’s something in the rocks.”

“So?”

Izzy pointed to the sign as Hannah ambled up. She shuddered as the dry rattle sounded plainly.

Jacey didn’t appear fazed at all. “Izzy, you need to get down. Now.”

She shook her head, quite adamant that she wasn’t moving. If she didn’t move, the snake wouldn’t pay any attention to her. That’s the way it worked at home. God, but she hated snakes. She pointed to the sign again, mute with fear.

“We’ll just have to remove it.”

Hannah arrived for the end of the conversation. As her gaze swung between Jacey and Izzy, her face twisted into a speculative expression. “Any ideas on how to do that?”

Jacey looked around for a long stick. “If I had the right equipment…”

Perched on top of the large boulder, Izzy kept her feet tucked up. “I’m sorry, y’all. This is my fault. Stupid to use this rock for a lookout. I need to just keep my Cajun ass in the bayous.” She wrung her hands.

Annie rummaged in the back of the SUV. “Sean left some C4 in here somewhere. I think.” She glanced toward the pile of rocks.

Her eyes widening until her eyebrows were lost under her bangs, Izzy swallowed hard. “Isn’t that an explosive?”

“Found it!” Annie straightened and waved what looked like a small block of gray-green clay. “We can blow that sucker up.”

Izzy raised her hand. “Uhm…how you plan on doin’ dat with me sitting on dis rock?” Her Cajun accent thickened from fear.

“Easy,” Hannah interjected. “Jump off right before it explodes.”

She stared, horrified, at the three women. “But…but…but…”

“Mom, there’s a can of gas back here, too.” Liam lugged it out of the SUV and carried it closer.

Hannah’s eyes lit up. “I forgot about the kerosene. Good. We can burn it out.”

Returning with a big stick, Jacey poked at the base of the rock. Her action was met by a series of dry rattles.

Izzy screamed and leaped at Hannah, clinging to her. “Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?”

Hannah winked at the others. “That worked.”

Jacey laughed and nodded in agreement. “Uh…Iz? Snakes hibernate when it gets cold.” She poked deeper with the stick and moments later, a large bird burst from the crevice between the rocks and took flight. “Burrowing owl. Let’s go so she can come back to her nest.”

Izzy’s face flamed. “You knew all along.” She cast a heated glance toward her uncle. “And you let them punk me!”

Antoine didn’t look the least bit apologetic. “Your face, cher . I shoulda taken a picture for Maman .”

She marched over and slugged his arm. “So not funny.” She whirled at the sound of a snicker behind her. Stamping her foot, she planted her fists on her hips. “Not. Funny.”

Jacey and Hannah exchanged looks while the others all started to chuckle. Hannah said, “Yeah, hon. It was. Really.”

Izzy’s glare softened as she noted the expressions on everyone’s faces. They weren’t being cruel or mocking her—just poking fun at her. She discovered affection and even more important, acceptance when she looked at them. Was it possible she was one of them now? Because teasing went with the territory, especially with these women. She could live with that.

“Okay, then. But no more snakes.”

MAC STARED at his phone. Nothing. No response. Where was she? Hannah was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and Liam, along with the others, but it wasn’t like her to ignore both his calls and his texts. That itchy feeling—the one he couldn’t quite scratch—was back. Something was wrong.

“Mac?”

He glanced at Nate. “What?”

The other man narrowed his eyes. “You tell me. What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

Nate arched an imperious brow, the expression speaking volumes.

Mac tried to stare him down—a war between the former Army command sergeant major and Marine captain, both alpha Wolves. He finally shrugged because he needed more info. “Have you talked to Jacey?”

“No. Why?”

“Anybody else?”

“Why would we talk to Jacey?” Leave it to Sean to be a comedian.

Reaching for patience, Mac said, “Any of you talk to your mates since we left?”

The men exchanged mostly humorous glances until they paid attention to Mac’s demeanor. Their faces all went blank.

“Hannah won’t pick up.”

“Are they in trouble?” Danny, the expectant father, jumped to his feet.

Sean grabbed his laptop and tapped keys. “I have GPS units on all the vehicles. Gimme a minute.” The men gathered around him, Mac leaning over Sean’s shoulder. “Intel coming through now, boss.” No one breathed. “They’re moving. Or at least your RV is, Mac.”

“Moving which direction?”

“Toward El Paso.”

He knew his wife. “She’s bringing Christmas here. I’m going to kill her.”

They all chimed in. “We’ll help.”