Chapter 10
Hunter held onto Savvie’s hand, though his focus was on Swede and Hank several hours away from them, but still right there in the same room through technology.
He’d met Chuck Johnson. He was the old man of the Brotherhood Protectors. An ex-Navy SEAL, he’d also worked for the FBI. His little girl had been born right around the same time as Hank’s little guy, McClain.
Chuck was a good guy. The thought of him being hurt by the explosion made Hunter’s blood boil.
“Any reports from first responders?” Savvie asked.
“Nothing yet,” Swede reported.
Hank turned back to face Swede while still talking on his phone. “Hold, please, I have another call coming in.” Hank lowered his cell phone and checked the screen, a frown pulling his eyebrows together. He showed the number to Swede, shrugged and answered the call. “This is Hank.”
As he listened to the caller, his frown cleared, and a relieved smile replaced it.
“Thank God.” Hank grinned in the monitor.
“It’s Chuck. He’s okay, but his phone was broken in the explosion.
” He listened again and nodded. “Thanks for the update. We were worried about you. Let the EMTs check you over. You don’t want to step on a cruise ship with a potential concussion. Keep us posted.”
Hank ended the call and nodded, smiling. “That’s a relief.” He raked a hand through his hair. “The explosion threw him a few feet. To brace for the fall, he flung his cell phone. It hit a wall and shattered. He had to borrow a phone from one of the first responders to call us. I’m glad he did.”
Hunter let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Good to hear.”
“I’m glad Chuck’s all right,” Savvie said. “Did he have the opportunity to scope the warehouse before the explosion?”
Hank nodded. “Not much, but enough to know it was empty.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” Savvie tilted her head. “We need to think like one of the Caldwells.”
“Why destroy the warehouse if you’ve already cleared it?” Hunter mused aloud.
“Maybe they set out to lure would-be rescuers in,” Kyla offered. “They might want to identify people they need to keep an eye on to limit disruptions in their shipments.”
“Especially now that they know someone is actively looking for them.” Savvie’s jaw hardened. “It will be even harder to sneak up on them. If the warehouse had been used to stage their victims, it might mean they’ve shipped them to their destinations.”
Hunter’s brow wrinkled. “Savvie, didn’t you say Marcus told his contact to include you with the others? That means that, as of last night, they hadn’t been shipped.”
Savvie dipped her head. “He also said I’d get a good price, which means they were anticipating sales, not that they were filling orders.”
Stone’s eyes narrowed. “Given the upset caused by the death of Marcus Caldwell and the subsequent manhunt for his killer, they might want to lay low with their product.”
“With all eyes on the Caldwells,” Hunter said, “their buyers might be hesitant to step forward until the furor dies down.”
Savvie huffed out a breath. “All hopeful speculation. We need facts. We need boots on the ground in Miami.” She met Hank’s gaze on the monitor. “Were you able to secure a plane for the flight to Miami?”
Hank crossed his arms over his chest. “Unfortunately, not for a few days. My pilot put the plane in the shop for its annual checkup. It’ll be no less than four days before it’s ready, and only if they can get started right away.”
“Commercial flights?” Kyla’s hands hovered over the keyboard. “I can book seats on the next flight out of Bozeman.”
“You might book flights for others…” Stone pinned Kyla with a stern glance, “but you’re not going anywhere. You’re too close to your due date to fly back and forth to Florida. I shouldn’t have let you go the first time.”
Kyla’s lips pursed. “You didn’t let me go. I chose to go.”
“Okay, you chose to go.” Stone’s lips tipped upward at the corners. “I should’ve highly discouraged you from making that choice.”
Hank leaned closer to the monitor. “I agree with Stone. Kyla, you need to stay put, if not to keep the baby safe, then to keep Stone safe. He’d worry about you the entire time instead of focusing on the mission.
For that matter, Kyla, why don’t you come up to Eagle Rock?
You can stay at the ranch. Sadie would love the company.
She’ll be back from LA the day after tomorrow.
They’re wrapping up her latest film today. ”
Kyla’s brow dipped low. “I’m pregnant, not an invalid. I love Sadie, but I’d go nuts sitting around with nothing to do but chat. I’m used to going ninety miles an hour, even if it’s sitting at a computer all day.”
“You could hang out with Swede,” Stone suggested.
Kyla glared at Stone. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
Stone raised an eyebrow. “He might teach you some of his hacking skills.”
Kyla’s eyes narrowed. “That would only carry me for a couple of hours, not a couple of days. If I’m to be grounded, I’d rather stay here and continue to surf the internet and help around the lodge.”
Stone grinned. “My father and Cookie would appreciate some assistance.”
“And you can leave me behind and go on a mission without the burden of your pregnant wife.” She snorted. “Fine. I’ll stay. As long as you find those women, free them and get back here before I go into labor.”
“Deal.” Stone winked.
Hunter studied Stone and Kyla’s struggle. He realized Stone wasn’t trying to be overbearing. The man really cared about Kyla and their baby. He loved her, and she loved him.
Surprisingly envious, Hunter wondered what it would feel like to be loved that much. His gaze went to Savvie. What would it be like to love Savvie as much as Stone loved Kyla?
Easy. What wasn’t to love about the retired assassin?
She’d defended her mother when she’d been beaten so badly by a man who’d promised to love, honor and cherish her.
Now, Savvie was doggedly determined to save the other captives before they were sold into the sex-slave trade. She didn’t have to. She wanted to.
No. She was driven to free them.
“While we wait for a plane to get us to Miami, we need Kyla and Swede to find where they’ve taken the captives,” Hank was saying.
Savvie heaved a sigh. “Wouldn’t it be easier to go to Miami and look for ourselves?”
“You have dedicated internet here with a firewall to keep others from tracing you,” Swede said.
“If I thought it would be easier to go to Miami to find those people, I’d be all for it.
But think about it; Miami is a big city with lots of people who could be working for the Caldwells and lots of places they could hide their captives.
The needle in a haystack comes to mind. At least from here, with excellent access to the internet, we can conduct our search safely. ”
Hunter nodded. “And no one will be trying to run you down, shoot at you or slip drugs into your drink.”
“But we’re much slower to react from here,” Savvie argued. “A four-hour plane ride gives them the advantage. You can move a lot of people to a lot of different places in four hours.”
“True,” Hank said. “Keep searching the internet. I’ll work on getting a plane sooner than four days. I’d prefer not to fly commercial, especially if they’re onto us.”
“Jump in, Savvie,” Kyla waved toward a laptop opened on a counter with a large monitor mounted on the wall. “You’re all set with internet access. You can help.”
Savvie drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Great.”
“It’ll take all three of us to find someone who knows where they’re being held.”
“Then let’s get started.” Savvie released Hunter’s hand, pulled out a chair in front of the laptop and sank into it. After the first few minutes of familiarizing herself with the hardware, she settled into the task, head down, fingers flying.
Hunter met Stone’s gaze. “If I thought I could help with the online search, I would. But I’d just slow these computer gurus down with too many questions.”
Stone nodded. “I’ve accepted my technical limitations. Kyla can run circles around me on a computer.” He turned to the monitor. “Anything we can do in the meantime?”
Hank nodded. “Have your team ready to roll. I’ll put my guys on alert.”
“Will do,” Stone said. “We’ll be ready whenever you say the word.”
Hank turned to his computer guy. “Swede, are you going to keep this video link running?”
The blond Viking waved a hand without looking up. “Not necessary until one of us comes up with something we can run with.”
Hank looked up. “Then we’re out here.”
“Out here,” Stone repeated.
The monitor blinked off.
Stone motioned for Hunter to follow him into the armory, a room dedicated to storing all the weapons available to the team. “We might as well stage what we need if we end up deploying the entire team.”
Stone notified Dax Young and Carter Manning to head their way. Dax had moved in with Amanda Small on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, a couple hour’s drive from West Yellowstone. Carter Manning was currently in Washington DC with Wyoming’s congresswoman, Liliana Lightfeather.
While Stone spoke with Dax and Carter, Hunter texted Bubba Yates and Moe Cleveland, asking them to report to the war room. When they arrived, Hunter and Stone brought them up to speed on what had happened in Miami.
The four men spent the next few hours going through weapons, ammunition and armor-plated vests. They tested communications and tracking devices. For each member of the Yellowstone team, they packed go-bags with everything they might need for a rescue operation.
For lunch, Cookie brought a tray of sandwiches, and John Jacobs carried pitchers of tea and lemonade.
Kyla and Savvie had put feelers out to their contacts. None had responded so far.
As sunshine waned into dusk, Stone and his packing team had done all they could to prepare.
They left the go-bags stacked in a corner of the war room and descended into the barn below.
Bubba and Moe returned to the lodge to help Cookie with dinner preparations while Stone and Hunter stayed to care for the horses.