Chapter 16
Kevin climbed out from behind the wheel of Yvonne’s truck, went around to open her door, then opened the back passenger doors to grab the still hot crockpot with the Buffalo Chicken Dip.
He saw that she had the tray of veggies she’d cut up, and used his head and chin to point her in the direction they needed to go.
“Just follow the others toward those open doors halfway down this building on the right.” They went in that direction and as soon as they entered the building, they went over to where the food was and laid theirs out on the table.
He immediately lifted the lid, stirred it, and plugged it back in, but kept in on the warm setting, and helped her clear a spot for the veggies.
He snapped his fingers and turned on his heel to go back out to the truck, then returned with a grin as he opened the grocery bag and withdrew the small bowls so people could keep the dip away from any of their other food.
Or they could put their veggies in there too.
“Dad,” came a shout, and Kevin’s face lit up as he turned and hurried over to his son. They embraced, and then he hugged the woman beside him. He looked around and held his hand out to Yvonne, who joined them.
“Caleb, this is Yvonne Wilson, she’s a former FBI agent, and we’re working together over at New Double as security. In fact, we’re both security guards over at New Double.”
“Why?” Katherine asked with a confused look on her face.
“Because,” Erin answered as she joined them, and shook their hands. “They’ll be working together at New Double, or coming over here to help Duane until RRR is in need of security.”
“Ah, I understand, and this will prevent you from having to hire someone when it’s in operation.”
“Exactly.” Erin looked at her with a grin.
“Can I be you when I grow up?” Yvonne asked the younger woman, and after Erin’s look of shock, she threw her head back and laughed. “I think you have it the other way around. You’re already older than I am.”
“I know that, but after learning what you do, and what you’ve built from the ashes of your accident, I admire you greatly.”
“Thank you,” Erin said as she shook her head. “But I’m not anything special, I saw an opportunity, and went with it. If I didn’t have all of you guys here working with me, I wouldn’t have what I have now.”
“Bullshit,” Clark said as he walked up to her and threw his arm across her shoulders. “We wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for that brilliant mind of yours. I’m sorry you had to go through what you did with Mom and Dad, and for losing your hand, but look what you’ve built from that.”
Yvonne saw his admiration for his sister, and then grinned when Erin’s cheeks turned bright red.
“Enough about me,” she said as she shoved her brother, and looked around. She gave out a whistle, and when everyone stopped talking and looked to her, Yvonne shook her head at the admiration she saw on their faces.
“Okay, thank you all for coming! We’re here because we have some new people joining our family.
” She stood up on the small set of steps Reid brought over, and helped her step up onto them.
“Everyone let’s give a warm welcome to Yvonne Wilson, and Kevin Lassiter.
They are my new security team. Right now, they are working together over at New Double.
As you all know Naomi and Cole will be inviting buyers, their trainers, and jockeys to New Double to look at the horses they want to sell.
And they need to run the background checks on these people before they can get a date to arrive. ”
“Question,” someone called out, and Yvonne looked at him with a raised brow. “Sorry, Lloyd. Will we stop using Jake and Brotherhood?”
“No,” Erin said. “We’ll still be using them, but it will be basically to double check our own checks.” Erin looked at the pair. “Why don’t you introduce yourselves and tell them of your previous job.”
Yvonne took Erin’s spot on the stool after Reid helped her down, and looked out at the crowd.
“As Erin said, I’m Yvonne Wilson. I have almost thirty years’ experience as an FBI agent.
When the opportunity came for me to work for Erin, I jumped on it.
I know this next part doesn’t mean much, but my title was SSA Wilson.
Supervisory Special Agent. I had a team I ran.
You might have met some of them when they came to help Pedro and Myrna with her case. ”
“What ever happened with that?” Erin asked loud enough for everyone to hear the question. “Myrna never told us why that cop wanted Sally so much.”
Two women burst out laughing, and it was Myrna that came up and stood beside Yvonne.
“When the DA questioned Officer Avery Mosher on the stand, she preened for everyone in the courtroom. When asked directly why she commissioned for her cousins to steal Sally from my property, she couldn’t contain her joy to answer.
” She had to control her own glee before she could get herself back under control.
“Sorry, but this is too good to be true. It’s almost like a made for TV movie, or a crime show bloopers. ”
“What happened?” Kevin asked quietly, but everyone had gathered around and heard him.
“As I said, the DA asked Officer Mosher why she stole my horse.” She waved her hand before her face and giggled again.
“I’m sorry, anyway, Mosher sat up straight and while still under oath, announced that Mark, Mary’s husband, and her lover, bragged to her that they could sell Sal’s sperm to make millions of dollars, once Mary’s body was cold, and any pressure of her murder was off him, then that would be how they could get their money to live the lifestyle they wanted. ”
“What’s wrong with that?” Kevin asked in confusion, not knowing the case at all. He jerked when everyone burst out laughing. “What am I missing.”
Myrna turned to him with a wide grin. “Sal is actually Sally, and she’s a mare.” When she saw understanding come over Kevin’s face, they all joined in on the laughter with him.
Yvonne stepped down, and Kevin took their place.
“Most of you have met me before. I’m Kevin Lassiter, Caleb’s father.
I’m now retired from the homicide division of Seattle Police Department.
Like Erin said, I’m here as a security guard over at New Double, I’ll be doing the background checks on the people Naomi and Cole invite to the ranch.
I’ll also help Duane if he needs it.” He shrugged, and stepped back down.
“That’s it,” Erin said. “There’s food, help yourself, and mingle.” The step disappeared, and Yvonne held Erin back, and only gave her a raised brow, then looked pointedly at Erin’s midsection. Erin looked around, then laid a hand over the area.
“Yes. I’m telling Reid tonight after everyone leaves.”
“Congratulations.” They gave each other a high five, and Yvonne left her side to go talk with Pedro and Myrna.
A couple of hours later the partly opened door in the back of the building opened all the way, and several men walked in carrying platters of meat.
That got the lines started for the food, and as people settled at the tables, Yvonne found herself sharing a table with Kevin, Ryan, his wife, Pru, Caleb, and Katherine.
She thought she would feel uncomfortable being with Kevin’s ‘family’, but she felt like she had known them for years.
“How did that thing we helped you with work out?” Ryan asked after they ate.
“What thing?” Clark asked as he walked by with another plate full of food.
“I went to Seattle because of a situation.” Ryan sighed, and shook his head at Kevin. “It’s not my story to tell.”
“It involved my ex-wife.”
“Christ,” Clark said, and it was said loud enough that all of Ryan’s former teammates heard him. It was Reid who rose to his feet to bark out a demand.
“What did that fucking bitch want?” He saw Kevin and Caleb’s reaction to his demand and shook his head.
“Ryan and I were swim buddies on the teams.” At several confused looks, he sighed deeply and walked up so everyone could see him.
“While being a SEAL recruit you are assigned a partner on day one. You don’t get to choose, and you are told that if one of you fails, the other one does also, regardless of how good one is compared to the other.
That was the first time I ever met Ryan.
We ate, slept, worked, swam, and did PT side-by-side during the entire training and beyond.
Then I met everyone else on our team.” He paused long enough to look around the room and raised his glass to toast all his former teammates.
“Because Ryan and I were so close, we talked. I knew about his family.” He looked at Kevin and Caleb and grinned.
“The way he talked about the two of you, I thought the family connection was between Kevin and Ryan. I thought they were brothers.”
“But that wasn’t the case,” Denver said as he rose to his feet, and stood next to Reid, and lifted his own glass in a salute of his own.
“I’m not saying anything that isn’t true, but there were times when we were being deployed that we had to call home and tell them.
Each and every time, Ryan got in a funk.
After the second time, we sat him down and told him that we would go to the commanders about his headspace if he didn’t tell us what the hell happened. He told us all about his sister.”
“Christ,” Caleb said, and shook his head. He looked at the women at the table with another shake of his head. He looked at his father. “Sorry for what I’m about to say.”
“Is it the truth?”
“Absolutely. Or as much as I know it to be.”
“Then it’s your truth, you tell it the way you see it.”
“Thank you.” He nodded and looked at the women again. “Karen Carter Lassiter was a first-class royal entitled bitch. Sorry, but I can’t sugarcoat it, because it’s the truth. She’s sitting in a women’s prison in Seattle because of her entitlement and her actions from that perceived entitlement.”