Chapter 6
A few minutes later, the foursome entered the Grand Yellowstone Lodge and was greeted by the other two members of the Brotherhood Protectors who lived in West Yellowstone, along with the lodge’s owner.
Stone made the introductions, nodding first to Savvie. “This is Savvie Sanders, Kyla’s friend.” He tipped his head toward the older man. “Savvie, my father, John Jacobs, owner of the lodge.” He nodded toward the tallest man on the team. “Benjamin Yates, Navy SEAL.”
Yates held out his hand. “You can call me Bubba,” he said in a soft southern drawl.
Stone waved toward a shorter, wiry man. “And that’s Morris Cleveland, our token Air Force para jumper.”
The man held out his hand to Savvie. “Moe. Nice to meet you.”
“Our other two team members, Carter Manning and Dax Young, are in Wyoming on assignment,” Yates said.
John Jacobs smiled at Savvie. “Cookie has breakfast ready if you’d like to follow me to the dining room.”
“If it’s okay with you,” Stone addressed his father, “we’d like to eat in the barn.”
Savvie’s brow twisted. “The barn?” she whispered to Hunter.
He chuckled. “The loft has been converted into our war room.”
“I’ll help Cookie load breakfast onto trays and bring it over along with coffee and juice,” John offered.
“Thanks, Dad.” Stone waved toward a door at the other end of the large lobby. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to our command station.”
Stone led the way out of the lodge and down a stone path to the barn. Once inside, they climbed a modern staircase up to the enclosed loft.
The space had been converted into a modern office space with a long conference table, storage rooms and cabinets, and computer stations with an array of monitors.
Kyla took a seat at one of the stations.
“Welcome to my office,” she said with a smile.
“I traded field duty for a desk job, providing tech support to the team.
Anything they need, from data mining to communications resources, I assist with, working closely with our computer genius, Swede.
He's based out of the main headquarters in Eagle Rock, Montana, north of here.”
Stone stepped up behind Kyla. “I think it would benefit us to debrief the big boss, Hank Patterson, on what happened in Miami.”
“On it.” Kyla ran her fingers over the keyboard.
Moments later, a huge screen lit up over one end of the conference table, and a man’s face appeared.
“I’m Hank,” the man nodded. “You must be Savvie Sanders.”
Savvie nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“You want to give me the sitrep on what happened in Miami?”
“Yes, sir.” In an emotionless voice, Savvie gave Hunter’s boss an abbreviated rundown of the events from the previous night.
“I allowed myself to be lured to Marcus Caldwell’s penthouse suite in the Setai Hotel, where he assumed he’d drugged me.
When he placed a call to someone handling the movement of kidnap victims, I confronted him.
There was a struggle, and I stabbed him in the jugular vein. He died.”
Hunter marveled at Savvie’s calm, collected version of a near-death experience.
“Caldwell’s transfer team arrived before I could leave the penthouse. Their attempt to capture me was unsuccessful. I made it out of the hotel and contacted Kyla for assistance. Then I laid low until your team arrived. They can better describe our exit from Miami.” She turned to Hunter.
Hunter’s lips quirked as he described the blocked roads, the attack on the hotel path and their use of the wave runner to get off the island.
“They knew where we were and rammed our rental vehicle in downtown Miami. We tossed our cell phones before we headed for the airport and made it back without further issues.”
“Good call on the cell phones.”
“I lost the burner phone I used to text Kyla in my fight with Marcus and his thugs,” Savvie said. “I’d deleted the texts after I’d sent them, but I’m worried they’ll find the phone and trace it back to Kyla, here in West Yellowstone.”
“Stone?” Hank said.
“We’ll tighten security. If we have any troubles, I’m bringing Kyla to your ranch.”
“Like hell you are,” Kyla interjected.
Stone laid a hand on her shoulder. “We can’t risk your safety; you’re too far along to protect yourself adequately.”
She lifted her chin. “Says who?”
Stone kissed the top of her head. “You’re the biggest—scratch that—baddest badass I’ve ever known. I’m sure you can take on anyone and come out the winner. But why risk it when you’re eight months pregnant? Our baby needs to cook another four weeks to be on the safe side.”
Kyla’s lips twisted into a crooked frown. “It’s hard being sidelined.”
“…when you’ve been the quarterback on a team of one,” Savvie finished.
“Stone’s right. Your baby needs you to protect him at all costs.
If that means going someplace with tighter security, that’s what you need to do.
” Savvie gave Kyla a weak smile. “I’m sorry if I’ve brought my problems to you.
It might be better if I fly back to Miami.
I shouldn’t have left in the first place. ”
“You couldn’t stay,” Kyla said. “If the Caldwells didn’t find you, you might’ve been found by the Miami police. From what we saw, they’re treating Marcus’s death as a homicide, and anyone who saw you leaving the bar with him would identify you as the killer.”
“You killed him out of self-defense,” Hunter reminded her.
“Doesn’t matter,” Savvie shook her head. “I can’t go to the police and tell them that’s what happened. I can’t go to the police, period.”
“She’s right,” Kyla said. “We were trained to avoid the police. As assassins, we perform our missions and disappear. We couldn’t risk being caught. We’re not even supposed to exist.”
“The problem is that people saw Savvie leave the bar with Marcus Caldwell,” Stone reminded them. “And the guys who attacked her in his penthouse suite got a good look at her.”
“Those men in his suite won’t talk with the police,” Savvie said. “They probably left before the police arrived and had someone tip off the hotel management to go check on Marcus. When they found Marcus, they saw the stab wound in his throat. It all looked like a murder occurred.”
“And the bleach-blonde with whom he left the bar is the suspect they’ll be looking for,” Hunter concluded.
“What’s bothering me most,” Savvie said, “was that I was instructed to pose as a lighter-haired blonde, just as the other victims they’d already acquired. I got away. They did not.”
Hunter’s lips pressed together. “Who’s looking for them?”
“I was lucky. I had a friend who sent people to save me.” Savvie’s gaze took in Kyla and Stone before stopping on Hunter. “Who will save them?” After a pause, she said, “Nobody.”
Hunter’s gut tightened, an image from long ago of his car sinking beneath the surface of icy water coming back to haunt him. “It might already be too late,” he said softly.
“What if it’s not?” Savvie turned back to Hank. “What if we find them before they’re sold?” She stared into the eyes of the man on the giant screen. “Hank, what’s the name of your organization?”
“Brotherhood Protectors,” he answered.
“What is your mission?” she demanded.
His chin rose. “To utilize our training and skills to protect, rescue or extract people in dangerous situations.”
“What do you charge for your services?” Savvie asked.
“Whatever an individual can afford to pay.” His lips quirked on the corners.
Hunter knew Hank hadn’t turned away anyone who couldn’t pay. He and his wife, Sadie, funded the organization out of their own pockets when necessary.
“I have money in a Swiss account,” Savvie squared her shoulders. “I’ll give it all to you if you help me save the others.”
A petite, golden-haired blonde appeared behind Hank and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Keep your money,” she said. “We’ll help.”
Hank covered her hand with his and smiled up at the woman adoringly. “I was just about to say that.” He turned back to Savvie. “As my wife, Sadie, confirmed, we’ll help.”
A big, white-blond-haired Viking of a man rolled into view on an office chair. “Damn right, we will.” He rolled back out of view.
Hank chuckled. “That’s Swede. He’s already clicking through the internet, looking for information on the Caldwells.”
“I’d like to get access to the internet, as well. I have some sources who might help.” Savvie held up a hand. “I know how to redirect signals to keep others from tracing back to your IP address.”
Swede rolled back in view with a grin. “I like the language you speak. We can get you set up where you can go just about anywhere on the web, and no one can find their way back to you.”
“Perfect.” She met his gaze with a direct one of her own. “How soon?”
Swede grinned. “Kyla has all the accesses needed. I can work with her to set you up on one of the Yellowstone computers. I’ll need to isolate you so that if someone does get to your unit, they can’t hack into the others. Give me a couple of hours.”
John Jacobs and another man with a shock of white hair and bright blue eyes stepped into the war room, carrying trays laden with covered platters, a stack of plates, silverware, a carafe of orange juice and a pot of steaming coffee.
As they set the trays on the conference table, the fragrant scent of coffee, bacon and toast filled the air.
Kyla groaned. “I could eat shoe leather I’m so hungry.”
“Thankfully, you won’t have to resort to sole food.
” John Jacobs set his tray on the conference table and chuckled softly at his own pun.
He draped his arm atop the older man’s shoulder.
“This is perhaps the most important man in this outfit.” He turned to smile at the older man.
“This is Cookie, the best chef in the county.”
The older man shrugged. “I don’t know about best, but I know how to feed people.”
John grinned. “That, he does. He fed an entire ship full of sailors when he was in the Navy. You should eat while the food is hot.”