Chapter Twenty-Four
Tanner may have never fought side by side with his brother in battle, but there was damn well no one else he’d rather have at his back right now when it came to protecting Bree. Having three more of Noah’s highly qualified former army team members here was just a bonus.
Tanner and Noah were currently standing in the tree line, just to the side of Tanner’s house.
Noah had binoculars and was scoping everything out around them.
Every once in a while, he would use hand gestures to signal to his teammates.
None of them were willing to take a chance communicating over phones or radios.
They would have to do things old-school.
Just over an hour after Tanner made the fake phone call to Noah, the action began.
“Looks like we’ve got four coming in on foot from the south. They’re making a stealth approach directly toward the house,” Noah said after looking through his binoculars. The two of them did not have that area in their sights; Noah was reporting back whatever his team was signaling to him.
The plan was to let them come. To let them get as close as possible and think that Bree was here for as long as possible. Buy her as much time as they could.
“They’re dressed in suits. Not ready for the terrain.” Noah rolled his eyes. “This is almost too easy.”
Tanner kept a close eye on the house. “Remember the plan. We string them along, take them down, but nobody gets killed. Make sure your people know that.”
“They know. If that wasn’t the case, there’d already be four suits on the ground.”
A couple minutes later, they could hear an engine of a vehicle making an approach down their long driveway. Tanner brought his own binoculars up. “What a surprise. It looks like the power company has chosen today to pay a visit.”
They both knew that was not the power company coming up their drive.
“We must’ve forgotten to pay the bill and they’re coming to collect,” Noah said dryly.
“Bet you five dollars they go with faulty wiring as their excuse. It looks like there’s two guys in the front seat of the van. Possibly more in the back.”
“The van is probably the signal for those guys in the woods to close in.”
Tanner nodded. He agreed. That would be the smart play.
“Have your team take out the people coming in on foot. Make sure they aren’t able to send out a signal or message. If someone gets word out, this is all for nothing.”
“Roger that.”
“Noah, remember, no body bags.”
Noah just grinned. Tanner left him to signal the information to his team, watching the van get closer. It would be up to him and his brother to take down however many power company guys were coming their way.
Surprise was the best element they had. The Organization was only expecting Noah and Bree to be here, so they weren’t expecting much resistance. They’d also be complacent, thinking backup in the woods was just moments away.
By the time Noah was finished communicating with his team, Tanner had a plan. “You go out there and talk to them since they’re expecting you. You handle the two in the front seat, and I’ll handle whatever’s in the back.”
“You sure? Could be a ton of trouble in the back. You’re going in there blind.”
“Or it could be a half dozen dancing monkeys. I can handle myself.”
Noah slapped him on the shoulder. “I know it.”
Noah stepping out of the shadows proved he meant it. There was no going back now. If everybody didn’t hold up their end of the task—if any of these bad guys got a single call out—this was all for nothing.
As the van got closer, Tanner turned and made his way silently through the trees so that he would be able to approach from the back. He stepped closer as the vehicle pulled to a stop directly in front of Tanner’s house.
Both men got out of the front in Colorado power company uniforms.
“Mr. Dempsey? We’re with the power company. We’ve received an urgent report that the wiring in some of the houses in this area is faulty and extremely dangerous.”
Ha, Noah, you owe me five dollars.
“Is that so?” Noah replied. “I’ve never had any problems. Not even so much as a single flicker.”
Tanner made his way closer to the back of the van.
“It’s good that you’re not inside the house,” the second man said. “We’ve had reports of unexpected fires. There have even been some severe injuries.”
Tanner recognized that voice. It was the same one who’d called Mr. Jeter in Denver.
If Tanner had had any doubt about this not being the real power company, it was completely gone now.
Not that he’d had much doubt. In the twelve years he’d owned this house, the power had been out here a grand total of zero times.
Tanner took a few steps closer. It wouldn’t be long before whoever was in the back came out to provide assistance.
Tanner wanted to be right at the door when they did.
“Is there anyone else inside the house, sir?” the first guy asked. “It’s important they come out right now.”
“Right now? It’s really that dangerous?” Noah played his part well. “I have a friend doing some important work on a computer.”
“Yes, sir,” Denver guy said. “If you could just call your friend out right now. We can’t let you go back inside. It’s too dangerous.”
Too dangerous for them to risk letting him out of their sights. Did they have orders to kill the would-be Bree immediately, or take her back into the Organization?
“Hey, Bree, can you come out here for a second? It’s important,” Noah called out.
The back van door creaked open. That must have been the cue they were waiting for. Tanner stepped to the side of the van. He and Noah would have to time this perfectly.
“Can you call her again, sir?”
“How about if I just go in there and get her. This is ridiculous. The house isn’t going to blow up in the thirty seconds it takes me to get her.”
“I’m sorry, we can’t let you do that.” Denver’s voice was farther from the van, closer to Noah.
“Hey, man, get your hands off me. You don’t have any right to tell me whether I can or cannot go into my own house.”
There was a scuffle, and Tanner didn’t wait any longer. Noah would take care of those guys. Tanner had his own bad guys to worry about. It ended up being three. Not dancing monkeys after all.
The first two were out of the vehicle and the third was on his way when Tanner rounded the back.
He immediately slammed the door against the head of the man climbing out, glancing over to make sure he was unconscious before facing the other two men.
Something jolted hard against the front of the van, and Tanner prayed it wasn’t Noah.
Tanner didn’t waste any time. He dived for the closest man, being sure to knock the phone out of the hand of the second guy. That bought Tanner a little time, but not much.
Fighting two men was never easy. Keeping them from using their weapons, phones or even calling out to whatever transmitting devices might pick up their voices was damned near impossible.
His flying punch connected with the first man’s jaw, and he kicked out backward with his foot to land in that guy’s stomach.
Tanner grunted as he took a solid hook to the jaw from the first man, and saw the second man reaching for his gun from the corner of his eye.
Tanner brought his elbow up and around into the face of the first man, hearing the unmistakable crack of a breaking nose.
As that guy howled, Tanner turned toward the second, diving for him to keep him from getting his weapon out. He knocked the gun from his hand and sent it skittering across the drive.
Tanner didn’t hesitate. Three quick punches and the second guy was on the ground, unconscious. He jumped up, spun and a roundhouse kick to the first man had him lying next to his buddy.
The third guy, who was just starting to get his senses back after being knocked on the head by the door, groaned and began crawling toward the back of the van again.
Tanner just slammed the door against his head again, since it worked so well the first time, and watched him fall.
Noah came running around the van. “You clear?”
Tanner nodded, sucking in air to catch his breath, wincing at the blows he’d taken.
Noah tossed him some zip ties and bandannas to use as gags, and soon all five men were restrained and sat up against the van.
A few minutes later, the other four were dragged in by Noah’s teammates, also tied and gagged.
Noah and Tanner walked so they could speak freely without the transmitters hearing them, while the rest of the team stood guard.
“It won’t take the Organization long to figure out that their team is out of commission,” Noah said. “Then they’re going to start the hunt for Bree all over. Wiser this time, because they know we’re onto them.”
Tanner wiped at a little bit of blood that had formed at the corner of his lip. “I know. But I’ll be leaving with Bree for Denver in a couple of hours. Hopefully it will buy us that long. Once she’s into their system and has the proof we need, Omega Sector can handle the arrests from there.”
Noah nodded. “I hope it’s enough.”
Tanner did, too. “I’ve got to get out of here. If not, it will raise too many questions about why I didn’t go through official channels.”
“Okay, take off. I’ll call this in, in a little while. State that I thought someone was trying to rob me. Maybe that will buy another hour or two.”
Tanner clapped Noah on the shoulder. “Thank you—to you and your team—for what you did here today.”
“Are you kidding? Taking down asshole bad guys is what we live for. No thanks needed. Just bring some that are a little tougher next time.”
Tanner grinned and jogged toward his SUV. He wanted to check on Bree. They may have bought some time, but that didn’t mean she was out of danger. And while he trusted Ronnie, he wanted her back in his sights.
Permanently.
And wasn’t that scary as hell, considering he’d only kissed the woman a handful of times and she had more locks on her emotions than Fort Knox.
He planned to unlock every single one, picking a few if he needed to.
He made it back into Risk Peak in record time, parking his car at the station, intending to go straight to the Sunrise. But Gayle caught him in the parking lot. She was still mad at him for chasing Bree out of town. Before he could say anything, she held up a hand.
“I’m not going to ask you exactly what is going on. God knows I worked long enough for your father without always having the details. I trusted him, and I trust you.”
Tanner let out a breath. “I promise I’ll explain when I can.”
“This has something to do with that girl, doesn’t it?”
He nodded, glad she hadn’t said Bree’s name out loud.
“Fine,” Gayle continued. “I’m glad to hear you’re doing the right thing by her.”
“That’s my plan.” He gave her a nod and turned toward the diner.
“Oh, and I gave Scott the location of the last laptop like you wanted.”
Tanner stopped in his tracks. “What?”
She looked confused. “He said you said it was critical that he finish this last laptop before he left. So I looked it up on that system we installed a couple of years ago when we were doing the county-wide inventory.”
Tanner blew out a harsh breath. “Scott? I told him I would do it.”
“Well, that’s not how he understood it. He was adamant that he get a hold of it immediately. It was over at the Sunrise for some reason, so—”
“When?” His heart began to slam against his chest.
“Maybe an hour ago? I’m not sure—”
Tanner didn’t listen to the rest. He ran as fast as he could toward the diner.
The enemy had been hiding in plain sight all along.