Hunters
Fifteen Minutes Earlier
Concrete Lair Kitchen
Wednesday
Area Fifty-Two
Truth be told, it was a good day in their world.
The whole team was there, some physically, and some on the screen, and they were checking in for the day.
This was their norm to make sure they all stayed in contact.
While they were between cases, and hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Elizabeth for a while, they were still keeping busy any way they could.
After taking apart Alexsandr Dominik, piece by piece, and dismantling his control of the mob minions around them, they were cleaning house.
The Russian mob, and the Chinese mafia, were escorted out of their city.
In body bags.
By whom?
None other than Mikey O’, reclaiming his city from the whole messy affair.
Sadly for the interlopers, there had been a rash of random killings throughout NOLA, and it had been them.
Taking out the trash.
That took a couple of weeks since they had Tommy Bernard on their asses.
If the man wasn’t showing up at their place, Chartres, making a scene, he was all over them when it came to bodies. They’d had to switch everything up.
He knew them.
Oh, and he knew their MO.
Basically, they had been resorting to drive by shootings. Which was tacky, but here they were. Playing the game to stay off the man’s radar meant being one step ahead of them.
It was for his own good, too.
If he kept it up, he was going to be gator snacks in a bayou. They’d do whatever they had to do to keep their family safe, and The Hunters hunting.
Unfortunately for Tommy, Elizabeth didn’t warn people twice, and the man wasn’t taking a hint.
Not.
Even.
Close.
Now, for the morning meeting, they had a split screen on the wall with Zayn on one side, and Dakota on another. Both men were calling in from their homes.
Zayn’s current location…unknown.
Dakota’s location was not far from their Chartres base. In fact, he was a block away in the home Eve had created for her and Violet.
They were keeping them up to date as they were on their paternity leaves.
Stella had popped first, going into labor a week ago. She gave birth to a big baby, and she was with Zayn at their private hideaway.
Doing what?
Even they didn’t know. Zayn was hyper-protective with his wife and daughters. He had three little girls, and as a girl dad, he didn’t play.
Yes, he loved each and every one of The Hunters, but he trusted NO ONE —not with the safety of his children or his wife.
Their resident doctor, Stella, was recouping with the birth of Tulip, and she was playing Mom to Clover and Marigold.
It was like they were a normal family.
They.
Were.
Not.
As for Eve, she went beyond her due date, making Dakota even more nervous than normal. Then, while they were having coffee three days ago, someone’s water broke in the kitchen.
And Eve gave birth there.
Apparently, the bad-ass Marine woman didn’t know she’d been having contractions for a whole day, or she was just ignoring them.
That’s when their son nearly bungee corded out of her body, onto the floor.
Luckily, Jagger and Rogue had caught a bouncing baby boy, and made sure Eve was absolutely fine.
Cash Landon Rakin, his first son, was born, and the first people who touched him were Dakota’s brothers.
It was a beautiful moment.
As they had been delivering Cash, Dakota, the whole time, he’d been helping Eve stay calm.
There was so much trust there, as the men made sure Eve was safe too.
Maura held her head, the men caught the baby, and Cash was welcomed by all of The Hunters.
And he was a cute little guy too.
It was a family affair, and luckily for him, Zayn wasn’t there to see it. He, absolutely, would have busted Dakota’s ass about seeing Eve’s girly parts.
He was a dick like that.
So, now, Dakota, too, was taking some time off for paternity leave. He had a teenager and a newborn, and needed a break from the clean-up in New Orleans . Now, they were safely tucked away.
Hiding out.
As for the rest of the family, Maura was as spicy as ever, getting morning sickness still. Every time she puked, she gave Jagger a dirty look.
It said one thing—that she was going to do his vasectomy herself.
And he believed it.
Rogue was hovering over his wife since she was pregnant too. Luckily for them, though, Jinx wasn’t that far along. She was just barely showing, but that wasn’t making Rogue any calmer.
The man was worked up.
What he wanted was for his wife to be back at his mansion with their kids, while Jenna Dumonte watched over them for him. She was one hell of a housekeeper, and good with a gun.
A requirement in his world.
Besides, someone had to babysit Grace. She was all over the grandbabies, and having secret lunches with a man.
And Rogue was ignoring that for now.
His sanity depended on it.
If his mother wanted a boyfriend, as long as he didn’t have to see kissing and anything more, he was good. Grace was entitled to have life after years of being a mother and alone.
The mere idea that someone could tangle with Grace, and she didn’t get bite-y…
That amused all of them.
Why?
Grace was Grace, and she liked to torment just about everyone by pulling out a gun every now and again.
Not everyone was ready to pop out a baby.
Enjoying not being pregnant, Merry was more than happy to have a calm morning with the nuts.
Her children were with Boone’s mother, and there was no safer place. A cop was always a cop, and grandma loved her little ones.
As for her husband, he was trying to talk her into another child, and she was contemplating it.
Just not now.
They had far too much shit on their plates to get with child.
Honestly, Merry believed that there was something in the water there.
She was the only one not pregnant—well, other than Calyx, who couldn’t have kids, and Eve and Stella, who had just given birth.
As for Remington Bowman, and his new wife, Calyx, they were in the honeymoon phase.
Right after they vanquished Alexsandr from the city, the man dragged her to the courthouse, and they were all there to witness the man getting married.
And it was beautiful.
The bride practically dragged the laughing man down the aisle, to the judge’s chamber, and signed her name on that license so damn fast.
She joked it was to keep him from changing his mind, but they all knew it was because she was so damn happy.
She wasn’t the only one.
Remmy was happy too, and finally, Calyx had gotten her man.
It was when she sold off the Underground that she officially joined their team. Now, she was with Remmy there full time, and like everyone else had a partner, so did he.
Now, she was tied up in the crazy. While she might not be a mercenary or Marine, she had her own set of skills and that came in handy.
Mainly, taming Remington.
She kept him calm, and that worked for all of them. He was, after all, ex-CIA, and got them all their fun toys. A happy spook was a calm spook.
Those were words to live by.
For now, The Hunters were holding it down in NOLA, and that was a damn good thing.
They needed a break.
“Let us see the babies,” Maura said, getting both of the men to grin widely.
The daddies were daddying, and there was never a better thing to be seen. There was something sweet about hardcore mercenaries holding sweet babies.
Call her crazy, but Maura loved when Jagger was playing Mikey O’ and cuddling their son.
It got her panties wet.
Because he was holding Cash, Dakota turned, and they saw the sweet little angel in his arms. He was sucking on a binkie, and had a tuft of dark hair.
God.
Babies were so damn cute. She totally got why Elizabeth liked stealing them—or threatening to. She’d love to get her hands on either Cash or Tulip.
“Oh,” Maura said. “Does he have that new baby smell?” she asked.
The man laughed.
“Uh, well, he’s new, so…,” he offered, going there. “He isn’t wearing cologne quite yet.”
Jagger just shook his head.
“For someone who wants me fixed so damn bad, you seem attached to the new baby smell. Maybe you need to consider that before I go under the snip-snip.”
She shrugged.
It wasn’t like he was wrong. Only, she was more freaked out when he stressed her being hurt than having a baby. The puking sucked, but the prize at the end…
So.
Damn.
Amazing.
“I’m hormonal. You know that makes me unpredictable,” she admitted, putting her hand over her belly.
She was currently nauseous, but then again, what was new?
Each day with a baby on board was a struggle when you could puke at the drop of a hat. When she tried to puke alone, giving herself some dignity, Jagger would send MATE in to check on her.
You hadn’t lived until you were projectile vomiting into a toilet with a hologram three inches from your pie hole asking questions as to what it felt like.
Funsies.
When Zayn disappeared from the screen, he came back with his daughter, and she had a bow in her thick brown hair. The eyelashes alone on her were crazy and made her look like a little doll.
“Oh, my god,” Jinx said. “She has more hair than Zayn.”
He grinned at that compliment.
Sue him.
He was Native.
Hair was their thing.
“That’s my little Tulip,” he stated, cuddling her against his chest.
She was so tiny against the big, homicidal nut. She was cradled in his one arm, and god help Marigold, Clover, and Tulip when they liked boys.
Jesus.
Those boys were fucked.
“She’s so pretty,” Maura said. “You make cute babies, Marine.”
Oh, he agreed there.
“I do, don’t I?” he asked, kissing her forehead like a doting, adoring father.
Only, in the background, they heard Stella shout something to them.
“Oh, well, I guess I’m chopped liver! Thank God HE MAKES CUTE BABIES .”
They all laughed.
Even Zayn grinned.
Stella wasn’t done.
“Here I am, taking care of his garden, and he gets all the credit! Let me tell you that his part took minutes. Mine took months. I MAKE CUTE BABIES .”
Zayn winked at them.
Oh, his wife was spicy, and he loved every second of it. He couldn’t wait to get back on the baby bandwagon. Waiting six weeks to be all over his wife was difficult, but he wanted her with child again.
He needed a Daffodil next.
“Stella my sweet, don’t be thorny. You make cute babies too. Of course, you do the hard work. They are cute like me, smart like you, and perfect.”
She snorted.
“You’re lucky you’re a pretty boy,” she stated, making him laugh.
Because he wanted to get the check-in done, so he could go back to playing with his kids in their secure location, he pushed on.
“So, what are you guys working on?” Zayn asked, handing his daughter back to his wife.
Jagger wished they were working on something. Sadly, it was quiet.
Quiet Marines and mercenaries didn’t do well when bored. The pranking had already begun, and someone had glued googly eyes on all of the food in the refrigerator.
Who knew what was next?
“We cleaned up the mess, and we’re kinda going stir crazy,” he admitted. “There’s been no sign of Elizabeth,” he added.
“If you say her name three times, she manifests,” Zayn warned. “Be careful.”
Rogue laughed.
When would this man learn?
The walls had eyes, and more importantly, it had a MATE. Zen popped in and out when she wanted, but she was always listening.
“My dude, you’re lucky she’s not here to surprise you,” he admitted. “You know how Elizabeth likes fucking with you.”
Maura shook her head.
“That’s two,” she said, when they mentioned her name twice. “I’d tread lightly.”
Zayn laughed.
“Oh, what’s she going to do? She doesn’t know where I’m hiding out. Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth,” he said, testing his fate.
That’s when it happened.
When suddenly his doorbell rang, he froze.
In fact, Dakota’s rang too.
Both men paused.
That’s when Zayn’s paranoia kicked in—full freaking force.
“Uh, you guys aren’t outside our houses, are you?” Zayn asked, counting the people in the room to make sure it wasn’t one of them punking him.
Yeah, they were all there.
“How could we do that?” Remington asked. “Cloning?”
That’s all he had to hear.
Zayn pulled a gun.
The irony was that no one knew where his hidey-hole was.
NO ONE.
Dakota disappeared, too, and they were all tense as they waited to hear what was up. They were way out in the boonies, and there was no way to get to either of them if someone was at their doors, ready to hurt them.
Zayn would be on his own, trying to protect Stella and the girls, and Dakota would be…watching Eve protect all of them.
Who were they kidding?
Dakota had it easy. He was bedded down with a Snake.
Maura was about to suggest they get moved back to Area Fifty-Two because old habits die hard.
When both men showed up on the screen, they were holding a big box.
One of the Snakes, being a Snake, went there.
“Is it ticking?” Jinx asked, getting looks from both men. “What?” she asked, amused. “That’s my first thought. Like none of you have nearly been blown up?”
Maura raised her hand, and Jagger shoved it back down.
“Not amused still,” he stated. “That stunt cut into your Mother’s Day presents.”
It made her snort.
Sue her.
She liked to rile up her captain.
When they both opened the boxes, there was a note inside, and neither man seemed thrilled.
This was creepy.
Again, they had hidey-holes, not public stops on the New Orleans tour circuit.
“Did you guys send baby things?” Dakota asked, pulling out a note, and a cute baby onesie.
It said ‘Daddy’s little man’ on it.
Zayn pulled out the note and a pink onesie that had flowers all over it.
He was creeped out.
“I think I’m bringing my wife and kids there,” he admitted, twitchy over someone knowing where he lived.
And his kid’s name.
“What do the notes say?” Maura asked, ready to mobilize for pickup.
They’d get to them as quickly as they could.
Dakota read his first.
‘Happy Birthday, Cash! This baby is mine.’
That caught him off-guard, and he gasped.
After hearing that, Zayn tore into his note, needing to see how bad it was going to be. When he did, his heart was racing in his chest.
He read it out loud.
‘Happy Birthday, Tulip. This baby is mine.’
Immediately, both men went pale.
“Okay, calm down,” Jagger said, suspecting who the notes and presents were from. That screamed Elizabeth, and that neither man was going there showed the level of paranoia.
She liked to fuck with Zayn, and it had been quiet for a while.
Oh, Zayn was anything but calm.
In fact, he was riled up.
“I need pick up,” he stated. “My hidey-hole is compromised, and I need my kids out of here. I’ll give you guys my address.”
“No need,” she said. “You suck at hiding out,” Elizabeth added, as she walked in.
It was when she spoke, that everyone in the room turned, and the two men on the screen stared.
“God. Can’t Auntie Elizabeth send presents for the babies?” she asked, amused as hell. “I can’t wait to kidnap both of those little love bugs. Do they smell like new baby?” she asked.
Zayn shook his head relieved but annoyed.
“Jesus Christ, but I hate her.”
Maura laughed.
“You said her name three times, Dude. What the hell did you expect?”
That amused them all.
If Auntie Elizabeth was there, then that meant one thing, and for the rest of them, that meant one thing.
The Hunters had a job.
FINALLY.