Chapter 15
“She what?” Bridget fumed and set her fork down.
I just finished updating her on Mike and Sarah.
Cash made it to Maine, got to Mike and his wife, explained the situation sans the attack on Bridget seeing as she was “dead”, and they readily took him up on Zane’s offer to send them on vacation to a secure location until the situation was under control.
Sarah, not so much.
Garrett sent a man he knew from San Diego to Utah to talk to Sarah.
She didn’t feel like taking an all-expenses trip courtesy of Zane Lewis.
Apparently she was in the middle of getting footage of some conservation area outside of St. George and was on a deadline for some studio.
It had taken some convincing to get her to go back to California.
And by convincing I mean a two-hour argument.
“She was not happy,” I repeated.
“She’s normally really sweet and easygoing,” Bridget reported.
That was not what the man on the ground relayed. He told Garrett she was a pain in the ass.
“But she’s safe?”
“She was headed to California last night, so yeah.”
“As fascinating as all this work talk is, can we please discuss the deliciousness that is my peanut butter glaze and the perfection of my French toast?” Easton barged into the conversation, setting down his third helping.
“Jesus, I don’t know how you can eat all of that.”
“Not all of us are blessed with a nine-inch Johnson, brother, but there are those of us who were blessed with a superior metabolism.”
My cock wasn’t quite nine inches but it was close enough that I wasn’t going to squabble over a few hash marks on a ruler.
“Can we not talk about my cock at the breakfast table in front of Bridget?”
Easton made a show of jerking back in his chair, his gaze ping-ponging between me and Bridget.
“First, if someone wanted to talk about my big dick in front of my woman I’d be all for the ego stroke. Second, I presume at this juncture your woman knows the size of your cock, and if she doesn’t she now knows she has something to look forward to.”
Bridget knew exactly what she had to look forward to and it was more than just my big dick. Not that I’d discuss my sex life.
“We’ll test that theory when you bring your woman to breakfast,” I told him.
“You have a woman?” Bridget asked. “Do I get to meet her?”
“No, I don’t have a woman and that right there is one of the reasons why.
Women flock together and when they do they form friendships.
Friendships mean you take each other’s back.
So, say things don’t work out between me and this woman, I can’t just scrape her off and quietly move on because she’s now friends with my friends’ women.
It becomes complicated and messy. I don’t like complicated and I don’t do messy. ”
“So doesn’t that mean you’re never going to find a woman and settle down?” Bridget pushed.
“What that means is I’m enjoying being me, doing what I want, going where I want, on my time for the first time in ten years.”
I got what Easton was saying. Ten years was a long time to live in the shadows. Move from place-to-place unseen. Living in shitholes, eating shit food, having to be where you’re needed when you’re needed with barely any down time.
But I disagreed with him on one point.
The right woman didn’t complicate your life—she enriched it. The right woman allowed you to be you. As far as doing what I wanted, when I wanted, on my time, I’d rather share that time with Bridget.
“That’s alright, Easton,” Bridget said. “I have a long memory and one day you’ll cave and find a woman to bring to breakfast. When you do, she and I will have a lengthy discussion about penis sizes and compare notes.
” Bridget paused and smiled. “Hope you measure up, bud, because women don’t care about metabolism on a man; they care about girth. Size matters.”
Easton groaned.
“So what I have a tiny dick but I can cook.”
“I don’t believe you have a tiny dick.”
Christ, was this really happening?
“You don’t? Wanna check for—”
“And with that you’re done, asshole.” I glanced over at Bridget and informed her, “Baby, he’s fucking with you. That’s one of his lame pick-up lines.”
She scrunched her nose and asked, “Does that actually work?”
“Shockingly well. I can’t tell you how many times he’s taken a woman to the bathroom to prove he has a tiny dick.” I looked back at Easton. “Fuck you for making me explain to her that you con women into showin’ them your dick.”
“I don’t con women.” He feigned offense. “Tiny is a relative term. What constitutes tiny to one man is a solid twelve inches to another.”
“There’s no way—”
“Baby,” I groaned. “He’s still fucking with you and you keep falling for it.”
“Theo’s right, you’re an asshole.” Bridget stood and picked up her plate. “You’re lucky your French toast is the best I’ve ever had or I’d end our friendship.”
“Best you’ve ever had?”
Bridget smiled sweetly at Easton, balanced her plate in her left hand, brought the right one up, and flipped Easton off before she turned and went into the kitchen.
“I think I’m in love,” Easton said and shoveled a huge bite of French toast into his mouth.
“I know I am,” I returned. “So you think you can tone down—”
“Wait,” he interrupted me. “You know you’re in love with her?”
Was he dense?
“Fuck yeah.”
He set down his fork, picked up his mug, and studied me over the rim.
“And that’s it?”
“Not tracking?”
“You’re ready to settle down? I mean, settle all the way down. You don’t want to date her awhile? Hang out? Take a few years to make sure she doesn’t have a personality transplant and turn into a raving, crazy person?”
I didn’t know who fucked Easton over but I knew someone had. This was not the first time he’d talked about a woman turning into a raving, crazy person.
“Life’s taught me a lot of lessons. One of the most valuable is not to waste time.”
“Life’s short,” he mumbled.
“It’s fleeting. Temporary. If I know I only have an unknown number of years and I’ve already lived forty-one of them why in the fuck would I waste days, weeks, months, years when what I want is right in front of me?”
Easton took a sip of his coffee then shared, “I’m happy for you.”
“I’m sure you are but you’re also worried. And I have to say, I love you for that. I know you’re looking out for me. Being a good brother. But while you’re doing that, you need to let go of the past and whoever fucked you over.”
Easton clenched his jaw.
When the silence turned into Easton’s obvious indicator that the conversation was over, I pushed back from the table.
“Great breakfast. Thank you.”
By the time I finished helping Bridget with the dishes Easton had left his uneaten food on the table and went to bed.
Fuck .
* * *
“That rat bastard motherfucker,” Bridget seethed.
One mystery was now solved but I couldn’t call it into Garrett until I calmed a furious Bridget down.
“Baby—”
“No. That lying, conniving, underhanded motherfucker. Wait, I forgot to add, thief. Phil is a fucking thief!” she shouted.
“Jesus, what the hell’s going on out here?” Easton grumbled, still half asleep.
Bridget surged up from the couch and whirled on Easton.
“I’ll tell you what the hell’s going on out here.
I watched the video. You know, the blackmail video.
And that rat bastard, lying, conniving, underhanded, thieving motherfucker stole my personal bird and flew it.
Not only that, but he used the footage from my drone to blackmail that woman. Do you know what that means?”
Oh, yeah, Bridget was off-the-charts pissed. I decided to lean back in my chair and wait for her to burn out.
Easton ran a hand through his hair and stopped near the couch.
“No idea but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“Damn right, I’m going to tell you. My name’s on the footage.”
“Say again?”
“My name, Easton. My. Name. Not only is it in the metadata since he used my personal drone that is registered to me but also I have the time stamp programmed so when you watch the replay in the right-hand corner it says, Bridget Keller. Under that it has the coordinates. Under that it has the date and time. My fucking name, Easton.”
“Fuck.”
“Fuck’s right,” she griped. “A thousand fucks is more like it.”
In all the time I’d known Bridget I’d never heard her curse so much. Nor had I seen her this irate. I’d seen her pissed, irritated, frustrated near tears, but not outright, off-the-chain furious.
I hated to admit it but it was cute as fuck. Not that I’d ever tell her and I was positive if there came a time when she was furious with me I wouldn’t find her turning her ire my way cute. But right then—red-faced, shouting obscenities she was fucking adorable.
“So that’s why they’re looking for you. They think you’re part of the scheme,” Easton surmised.
“Or maybe since Mark’s in jail and they’ve started to get blackmailed again Phil’s impersonating me this time, and since my name is on the footage that would easily be believed.”
“Fucking hell.”
I hadn’t thought of that.
I yanked out my phone to report in when the perimeter alarm beeped.
“What’s that?” Bridget asked.
I got to my feet, pulled my Sig out of my holster, and started in Bridget’s direction as Easton turned and ran down the hall to his room.
“Do you remember how to flip off the safety?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Get in the closet. Five knocks, Bridget, or you unload the magazine.”
“Theo—”
“Take a breath and get in the closet. Everything’s going to be okay.”
She nodded but didn’t move.
“You have a gun this time, right?”
Fucking hell. I needed her in the closet.
“Yeah, baby, I have a gun.”
Easton came back in the room fully dressed with his boots already on.
“Three hundred yards out. Four armed.”
Bridget sucked in a breath and froze.
I seriously fucking wished Easton would’ve waited for a brief moment until I got Bridget in the closet.
“Closet. Now.”
“Please be careful.”
I fought back the urge to shout.
“We will. Closet.”
She turned and ran. I had to trust she’d get herself safely to the closet.
I turned to Easton. “I need you to promise me you’ll get Bridget out if this goes bad.”
“Promise,” Easton grunted. “I’ll take the front, you come around from the back. I called Garrett. He only sees the four and the morons are all together.”
Thank fuck for small favors.
Easton headed to the front. I went to the side door, locked it behind me, and used my phone to set the alarm.
Not that it would do much good but it would alert Bridget if a door or window had been breached and Garrett would know.
I popped an earbud in and called Garrett.
“Easton’s in place,” he told me. “I’m connecting the calls.”
While I waited for Garrett I pulled my Glock from my ankle holster and moved around to the corner of the house opposite from Easton. He was off to the side in front of me, advancing at a fast clip.
“I have a clear sight picture,” Garrett came back on the line. “There’s only four. They parked at the road and walked up the drive.”
“We’re positive they’re not local authorities?”
“Nothing indicated that’s the case.”
Unfortunately that was the best we could do. It wasn’t like we were going to walk up to four armed men and ask why they were trespassing.
“Three, headed to the west toward the outcropping. I’m going straight in to draw their attention.”
“Copy.”
“You sure that’s the best course of action, Two?” Garrett asked. “You could stay covered and pick them off.”
We could, but I liked to be engaged before I took my shot. It made it easier to sleep at night.
“I’d consider that if I was worried one of them could hit me from two hundred yards.”
I peeked around a thick wall of shrubs and got my first look at the four men. Jeans, tees, boots, handguns. No masks. No hats. No glasses. Nothing to try to conceal their identities.
What the fuck?
“Where the fuck did these idiots come from, rent-a-mercenary-dot-com? Did you get facial rec yet?”
“Working on it but so far nothing.”
How was it possible nothing had come up? If any of the four had a driver’s license Garrett would have a name.
“Please tell me they’re not Agency assholes,” I groaned.
“Wish I could.”
I stepped out from behind the bushes and casually walked in the direction of an old outbuilding. If need be I could be behind it in under five seconds.
When the first shot rent the air I took off running.
Agency or not, I was free to engage.
“Three, take any shot available to you.”
As soon as I gave my order I heard the distinct sound of Easton’s .45.
“One down.”
When I made it to the building I stopped at the corner, pivoted, and reengaged the group. Two men were running in my direction. Both had their pistols raised, wildly shooting, doing nothing but wasting ammo.
Easy day.
I aimed at the man on the right, slowly pressed the trigger, fired, and moved to the man on the left. I waited for him to stop to check on his downed friend. Since he didn’t, I repeated the process and on an exhale I fired.
Two shots.
Two down.
Clean.
“Check in, Three.”
One final gunshot rang out before I heard, “Two down.”
“We’re clear,” I announced.
“Pack up and head out.”
With that, Garrett disconnected.
I jogged back to the house, hopped the steps up to the front porch, and punched in the code to open the door. By the time the lock clicked, Easton was behind me.
“We’re headed to a hotel and not calling in our location,” Easton ordered.
Perfect .
“My thoughts exactly. I’ll get Bridget.”
Easton hit the hall first and dipped into his room. I went to the room I shared with Bridget and stopped dead.
My heart jumped into my throat and bile rose fast.
“Baby,” I panted as I took in the scene before me.
There was a heap of a ghillie suit on the floor, blood pooling around it, and Bridget standing with her back to the open closet door with the gun pointed at the very dead intruder.
“I unloaded the magazine,” she told me. “I waited. There was no knock. I unloaded the magazine.”
Fuck .
“Good, Bridget. You did good,” I told her and slowly made my way to her.
As soon as I had my hand over hers she loosened her grip on the gun. I twisted our hands, pulled the gun free, and shoved it into the holster at my back.
I scooped her up and without delay she shoved her face into my neck.
“I unloaded the magazine,” she repeated.
“You did good.”
“What the fuck happened?” Easton roared.
Bridget jolted in my arms and fixed herself closer.
“Call Garrett and tell him we have five bodies, not fucking four, and I want to know why the fuck the alarm didn’t sound.”
“Copy that.”
Easton turned and jogged out of the room.
I nabbed Bridget’s backpack—that one day soon I was going to burn—and my bag.
Goddamn fuck .
“It’s all good, baby. You did good. I’m proud of you.”
She nodded but said nothing.
What a clusterfuck .