Brother's Keeper V: Wylie (the complete series BOX SET): NEW RELEASE + Series Box SET included!

by Stephanie St. Klaire

  “Dace.” Carly came bursting into the lair with a tear-stained face and panicked. “She’s gone. Ivy’s gone. She went to the gym downstairs and didn’t come back. When I went to check on her, she wasn’t there. Her towel was on the floor, and her water bottle tipped over…and this.”

  “It’s a satellite text communicator.” Wylie grabbed the device and turned it on. “There are a few messages on here. Looks like she got it yesterday. Or at least the first message came yesterday?”

  “How the hell did it get in the building? And why didn’t we pick it up?” Dace fumed.

  Liam put images up on the screen of video footage moving in double time until it went black for a moment. When it came back on, Ivy was on the other side of the entry door and climbing into a car.

  “No alarms, no alerts, nothing…” Liam said. “He fucking jammed us. He fucking jammed it all. Son of a bitch. That’s how he got her out of the building. I don’t know how he got that texter in the building, but once inside, it wouldn’t be detected because we have all sorts of signals coming and going in here. It’s only the outside we block from getting in. Shit. A security upgrade is a must now. They have too much of our technology.”

  “He wants us to follow him. Kimble wants us to follow him. That’s what this has been all about. This is what he’s showing us.” Dace stood and went to the security locker on the other side of the lair. “Gear up, he’s going after Cashel, and we’re the cavalry.”

  “Get a team in the air now,” Dace called out.” We need boots on the ground, gathering intel. They’ll get there ahead of him. Can you tell where he’s headed based on his route?”

  “Team one is already deployed and tracking him. They’ll have a better idea shortly and plan to land wherever he does.” Wylie tightened his vest and grabbed his weapons from the locker. “Chopper two should be on the roof in ten.”

  C.T. entered the room in black fatigues and his hat on backward. “Anyone want to share their war paint? You’re not leaving without me. Mendoza will be here any minute.”

  “What the hell? Man, you don’t need to do this. We have no idea what we’re walking into. It’s a blind mission,” Dace said.

  “You’re going to need a medic. I’m qualified,” Mendoza said, pulling a black fitted T-shirt over his head as he arrived. “Your son may need attention, and the team is exposed. I got your back, man.”

  Standing taller, Dace took in the room and noted the support he had. They weren’t just there for justice. They were there for him and his child as well as the woman he loved and searched clear to the end of the earth for. They had his back because that was what they did for each other, brothers in arms, always.

  “Not that it matters now, but that partial image I had of the ear?” Liam broke in, pushing away from his computer to put on his vest. “Finally got a hit. Kimble.”

  “Hey. More evidence to lock his ass up,” Carter said. “But I can’t believe you just did an ID with a fucking ear.”

  Liam shrugged. “You’re welcome.”

  “Chopper landed, let’s go,” Wylie said. “Let’s go get your family.”

  32

  “Same town!” Wylie yelled over the headset they wore while airborne. “Deal’s going down, something big. There’s a convoy of black SUVs headed for the port. Team one is tailing.”

  “Do you want the good news or the bad news, Dace?” Liam asked.

  “Good.”

  “Good news is that Kimble was not driving the car Ivy got into,” Liam said, laptop in hand. “Bad news is…it was probably one of these militia guys.”

  “Fucking cartel.”

  “I’m sorry, man,” Liam said. “I think Kimble is traveling behind them. He must’ve known something was going down. There are only two rigs on that highway for five miles, and Kimble is keeping a slight distance at a much slower pace than he was traveling. He was catching up with them. Ivy getting in that car was the lead he was running down.”

  Dace looked out the helicopter window and saw a grassy knoll below where several vehicles were waiting. Nerves came with every mission. It was the adrenaline and excitement of catching the bad guys. But this time, it was different. There was so much more on the line with a lot of unknowns going in. The anxiety was eating him up, and knowing he might go home without Ivy or Cash was killing him. They were all in imminent danger, and for the first time, that frightened Dace. He didn’t know if his heart could handle losing Ivy again.

  “Team one has Ivy at a diner. The car pulled in, and they went in. Nobody left,” Wylie reported.

  “Send in a decoy. Find out what’s going on,” Dace said.

  “A decoy? Everyone is wearing fucking fatigues and shit.”

  “Do it anyway.”

  The men disembarked the helicopter and right into the waiting vehicles.

  “Kimble arrived. He’s at the diner,” Wylie said, sharing the intel through their comms. “A man exited the diner and got in his car. No Ivy.”

  “Shit. Shit. Shit. Get someone in there,” Dace said. “How far out are we?”

  “Three minutes.”

  “Have the team split up. Tail Kimble and get in that diner.”

  “Dace, you’re spreading the team thin. They’re already spread out all over the area.”

  “I don’t fucking care.”

  “You need to. We aren’t sending anyone in either direction without backup. You know this. Get your head right, or you’re going back to the chopper.”

  “Fuck that.” Dace punched the dash of the car. “Who can back up?”

  “Us. We’re backup. And it’s just right up the road,” Wylie said. “Get it together, man, I’m fucking serious. Your girl and your kid need you on top of your shit.”

  Dace knew Wylie was right. He’d never felt this level of fear mixed with rage before. He now understood how and why people did crazy things for those they loved. He was going full reckless mercenary and putting too many lives at risk just to get to Ivy. It was time to reel it in and be strong for them. Erase all feelings from the mission and put on his combat face. They were all leaving there alive.

  The vehicle rolled to a stop, and Dace was the first one out, weapon drawn, creeping in. There weren’t directions to follow or a need to tell anyone what their role was – they all fell into sync as they always did and moved like a smooth operating machine where every part had a role in keeping it running.

  Dace could see Ivy through the window. She was sitting alone at a corner booth, looking right at him, still as could be. She didn’t flinch, didn’t smile, didn’t call out for him. She stared, expressionless, and that sent a chill down Dace’s spine.

  When he opened the door, he first aimed his weapon on the man behind the counter who had the same expression as Ivy. The men behind Dace filtered in and moved past the man to clear the kitchen, bringing a woman forward shortly after entering.

  “It’s clear,” Wylie said.

  Dace started to lower his weapon when the older man pointed at Ivy and said, “Bomb. He said there’s a bomb.”

  In a quick motion, Dace made his way to Ivy. His brow began to sweat, and his legs felt weak, but he pulled it together. Don’t show her any fear.

  “Hi, honey,” he said.

  “Hi.” Her voice was hardly a whisper, and he could see how hard she was trying not to tremble and losing the battle.

  “I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”

  “He said if I move…this thing goes off, and everyone dies.”

  “Who said that? David?”

  She gently shook her head. “The man in the car.”

  Dace held her hand while the rest of the team inspected the bench she was sitting on and the area around it. “How do you know the man in the car?”

  “I don’t. I was told to walk outside and get in. I don’t know who they are. But I think he was one of the men who protect my dad.”

  “Well, he isn’t protecting him today.”

  “I know. I saw him, Dace. I saw him in the car, and
he looked scared. I’ve never seen my dad scared.”

  Ivy’s confession confirmed what Dace suspected, and the team knew it too as they each made eye contact. David wasn’t a willing participant. He’d been double-crossed and threatened. They’d figure out the how and why later.

  “I know. We’re going to see about getting him some help. For now, I want you to focus on me, okay?”

  She tried to muffle a sob and sniffled when she shook her head. “I’m scared.”

  “I know, baby, but you’re going to be okay. I promise.”

  “They have him. They have Cash. He said if I don’t do what they said, they were going to…” Ivy lost all composure, and her emotions took over.

  “Shh. Shh. It’s okay. They aren’t going to hurt him. We’re getting him. He’s here, he has to be, or they wouldn’t have done all this. He’s coming home with us today, okay?”

  She shook her head again. “O-okay.”

  “I need you to take deep breaths. See the guys over there with those stick looking things? They’re searching for it. If there’s a bomb in here, we’ll find it and fast.”

  “Okay. He said if I move, it’ll go off.”

  Wylie looked at Dace. “There isn’t a pressure plate anywhere or a single wire attached to this booth.”

  “You think he was full of shit and trying to scare her into compliance?”

  “We’ve done it, so why not?”

  “It’s clear.” Luke was their ballistic and explosives guy. This was his specialty, and he was so good, the guys teased that he could smell the explosives himself. “There’s nothing in here. They’re just preying on her fear to stall us.”

  Dace nodded before turning back to Ivy. “I want you to turn your legs out toward me. Good. That’s good. I want you to put this helmet on, okay? Good. We’re almost done. Now on the count of three, I’m going to pull you to me, and we’re going to roll really fast to your right. Are you with me?”

  The rest of the team had left the building and cleared the staff, bringing them to safety. Luke remained at Dace’s side with a large shield-like device to his side.

  When Dace counted down, he pulled Ivy before he got to two, catching her off guard so she wouldn’t be rigid and put herself in harm’s way. When they rolled, Luke put the shield up and stood in front of them. Nothing happened. No explosion. No bomb.

  “I had a feeling. The last thing they want to do is blow shit up and draw any attention. Let’s get a bomb unit out here for a more thorough sweep, just in case.”

  “Already on it,” Luke said as he headed toward the vehicles, giving Dace and Ivy a moment together.

  “I have to go get our son, but I’m not leaving you alone.” He looked out the window as another vehicle pulled up, and Eva stepped out, waiting. “She’s here for you. I want you to go with her and do everything she says. Everything. If she says you need to leave, go. If she says you need to leave the country, go. I’ll come get you wherever you are, Ivy. I’ll always come for you.”

  Dace comforted her when she fell into his arms and cried. He wanted to cry with her.

  “Let’s go,” he said, gently brushing her hair behind her ears as he often did. “I promised you I’d never let anything happen to you, and I’d protect you and Cash. I’m making good on that. And I… I love you. Okay? I love you so much it hurts. When this is all over, we’re fixing things. We’re going to fix all this and be a family because I love you, and I love that kid, and I haven’t even met him yet.” He chuckled. “I don’t know how, but I do.”

  Ivy leaned in and kissed Dace hard as the tears streamed down her face, and her body shook with emotion. “I love you too. Come back to me. Get him, and you come back to me.”

  Dace walked Ivy to Eva’s waiting car, giving her one last kiss before he closed the door, and they sped off.

  “Time to get my son.”

  33

  “They’ve been using the technology we designed this whole time against us,” Liam said. “Kimble and this club. It’s like working against our biggest enemy…us.”

  “We have our work cut out for us then. Maybe we go offline and go back to the days before we had all this shit. Run on instincts?”

  “We need to do something because another convoy is coming in from the other side,” Wylie reported. “It’s gotta be the load they’re here for. Get in position.”

  “There’s nothing on that truck. Look at it move. He’s fast, and with every bump, the trailer hops,” Carter said. “It’s a decoy. They’re putting up smoke and mirrors here.”

  “The team at the port has activity. We need to get down there,” Wylie said. “Kimble just arrived with a truck behind him.”

  “You called it, Landry.”

  “I still need whoever is on the empty rig. He’s a player if he’s here,” Carter said.

  “We’ll put the backup team on him. We just need to follow him. Grab him later,” Dace ordered. “Let’s move down to the shore and move in on the docks.”

  Liam pecked at a small handheld device. “They’ve cleared the port. I only show one ship and a couple of small fishing boats.”

  “Wylie, get them to move in on those small vessels and secure them. Detain anyone, civilian or otherwise. We need to eliminate any eyes on the port, so get coverage up on the knoll too to cover.”

  “On it,” Wylie responded. “Let’s move in.”

  “I’m running facial rec from body cams,” Liam said through the comms. “The AI I’m using is learning as we go, but so far, it’s matching dots for us, and you’re not going to believe this, Dace.”

  “I’d believe almost anything at the moment.”

  The team moved into position, taking to the rooftops behind barriers of any kind to provide support, while the rest of the team mobilized, waiting for their signal to move in on foot.

  “We have hits on guys from the port side and guys with Kimble. They’re all affiliated.”

  “So either the cartel's militia has divided alliances, or they’re double-dipping and playing both sides. Interesting.”

  “I’d say we have a mastermind playing all sides here,” Carter said, looking at the scene through binoculars. “A lot of tension down there, and Kimble looks stressed.”

  “He’s watching the containers,” Dace said right as David Kimble made eye contact with him. “Son of a bitch. He knows we’re here. He’s looking right at us.”

  “You were right. He wanted us to come after him,” Wylie said. “He wasn’t pinning this on Ivy or Eli. He was getting our attention.”

  Luke came through the comms. “That thing at the diner was an exchange. They used Ivy to get him here. Why?”

  “Because he’s here. Cash is here. He’s on the boat,” Dace said. “They used him to get Ivy here and used her to get Kimble here. They’re holding his whole life hostage, and that’s why he brought us here.”

  Just as David Kimble dipped a subtle nod at Dace and turned his attention to the containers being loaded on the ship again, a shot rang out. David was hit and fell immediately to the ground.

  “Where did that shot come from?” Dace yelled over the sound of gunfire being exchanged between the men on the dock and a source unknown.

  “They’re firing on each other,” Wylie yelled. “We’ve got a third party above the knoll who took out Kimble. These bastards don’t know it and are taking each other out.”

  “Get a team on that shooter up there,” Dace said. “We’re going in hot. Cash is in one of those containers.”

  “We got you covered!” Wylie hollered. “Move in.”

  Dace did just that with Carter and Eli on his back while the brothers and the rest of the Keepers provided cover and worked to secure the area.

  “This ship leaves, and we’re screwed. I’m starting there,” Dace said.

  He entered the craft and made his way to the holding deck the cartel had already loaded. There weren’t a lot of containers but enough to feel the sense of urgency to get through them all quickly, given the circumstance.


  “I’m right behind you,” Wylie said. “We’re covering, get into it, bro. Get into it. Find him while we hold the deck.”

  Carter joined Wylie, and his team let Dace and Eli run the search. The shipping containers varied in size from handheld to large cargo size with some wood and some steel.

  Dace skipped the first several rows. “He wouldn’t fit in those. Don’t waste your time.”

  It wasn’t lost on him that his son would indeed fit in the smaller wood boxes, but only if he were dead. The idea sent a chill down his spine and forced a prayer above, but he was determined his son was alive and moved to the larger containers that were more likely to sustain life.

  “He isn’t in here!” Eli shouted. “He’s not here, Dace.”

  “He is. I know he is. David was showing us. Keep fucking looking.”

  It was possible Cash was held in a unit yet to be loaded, and Dace cringed at the idea. The men were using those as shields from one another, and they’d taken heavy fire. If anyone were in there, it would be devastating.

  Standing back to take in the space, Dace reevaluated his approach. “We’re missing something. What are we missing?”

  “I don’t know, mate.” Eli was winded with sweat running down his face. “We only have small ones left, and so far, they’re all full of heroin.”

  “He looked at the containers. He was showing me something. What was he showing me?” Dace pounded on his head with his own fists as he let out a loud booming roar. “Where the fuck is he?”

  The ship seemed to spin around him as he looked from one side to the other, and it finally came to him. Dace ran deeper into the ship, and Eli followed.

  “Where are you going, Dace?” Wylie asked through the comms. “We’re stretched thin here. I don’t have you covered.”

  “Hold the line,” Dace replied. “He wasn’t being offloaded from the ship. Those were containers they were delivering of heroin. These sons of bitches delivered him to the ship. They’re sending him out of the country with whatever the hell they’re trading for heroin and small arms. There’s got to be more.”