by Beth Abbott
“Penny for them?” Evan leaned over. “You’re sitting there looking like you’re contemplating and shit. What gives?”
Hollywood, who’d been sitting quietly with Yuri, glanced up at the Welshman and grinned.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been accused of ‘contemplating’ before.” He mused. “I’m more of a cogitator, myself.”
“Yeah? So, what are you cogitating in that head of yours, hmm?” Evan asked. “Something to do with the operation?”
“Indirectly.” Hollywood admitted. “Just thinking over what Danny and Abbey had to say to us, and how they’re expecting us to act unaffected while we’re on the op. That’s gonna be tough to do.”
“I’ve got three sisters, my mum and five aunties back home, plus I don’t know how many female cousins.” Evan stared at his glass. “If anyone so much as touched one of them, I’d beat the living shit out of them. They’d be lucky if I left the hospital anything to fix!”
“That’s my attitude exactly.” Hollywood nodded. “I’ve been fortunate to have known a lot of women in my life. I’ve never hurt a single one of them, other than by leaving them behind, that is. On the one occasion I ever actually smacked a woman, I promise you, she had to beg me to do it, and she got a whole lot more pleasure from it than I did.”
Evan grinned.
“Ladies’ man, huh?” He snorted a laugh.
Hollywood shrugged, a half smile on his face.
“What can I say? I’m just an accommodating sort of guy.” He said quietly. “A lady tells me she’s got an itch that needs scratching, I’m not gonna leave her without seeing to her comfort, am I? What kinda guy would that make me?”
“I can tell that you’re a good guy.” Evan nodded seriously. “When you’re prepared to put yourself out like that for a lady you’ve never met, that shows you’ve got a caring heart.”
“Yeah, that and a healthy sex-drive.” Kellen dropped down into the seat next to Hollywood. “I’ve never known the guy go without sex for more than a day.”
“Yeah, d’you think you can qualify that statement?” Hollywood chuckled. “When we’ve been posted overseas, I’ve actually gone several months without sex.”
Kellen spluttered a laugh.
“Ok, yeah, I wouldn’t want to give anyone the wrong impression.” He grinned. “Let me rephrase that… When we’ve been in the vicinity of women, Hollywood’s never been known to go without sex for more than a day. I mean, I’ve seen him giving me that look from time to time, y’know, when we’ve been posted away for long periods, but I just put that down to my animal magnetism. Because, let’s face it… who could resist this?”
Kellen pumped his chest out and struck a pose, which had most of the women in the bar looking at him with undisguised interest.
Hollywood chuckled. Kellen Davis was one of the best people he’d ever known, and they’d been like brothers for the last ten years, but the guy was a wise-ass. A joker who made it his mission to cheer up the world.
He was also over six and a half feet tall, weighed two-fifty in his skivvies, and had black hair and steel grey eyes that had women the world over panting after him.
Of course, to a lesser man, Kellen could have been considered to be competition. But to Hollywood, who was more than happy that the world contained enough women to go around, Kellen was just his friend. His very best friend.
“Trust me, I’ve been finding it easy to resist your charms for the last decade.” Hollywood snorted. “It’s been no more difficult after six months of celibacy, than it was the first day I met you.”
Kellen shrugged good-naturedly.
“That’s only because you prefer blondes and red-heads.”
“Not true.” Hollywood shook his head. “I just prefer soft curves and female genitalia. Last time I bothered to notice, you possessed neither.”
Kellen pouted.
“It’s true, sadly. But you could’ve let me down gently.” He sighed. “All this time I thought you were just playing hard to get.”
“The day I decide to switch sides, let me assure you, I will make sure I have your number on speed-dial.” Hollywood promised Kellen. “Until then, I think we can safely say that you’re not my type.”
“Who’s not your type?” Kris sat down next to Evan.
“Kellen’s not my type.” Hollywood repeated.
“No?” Kris sounded surprised. “You shock me. With those pretty grey eyes and long dark lashes, that clear skin and especially that winning smile, I would have thought he’d have been at the very top of your ‘most wanted’ list. What could you possibly be looking for that Kellen doesn’t have?”
“A vagina.” Hollywood smiled.
All eyes turned to Kellen.
“Nope, don’t have one.” He shrugged, picking up his drink.
“Ok, so now that we’ve established that we’re all very much in appreciation of the female form, how are we supposed to cope with watching the violence towards them that we’re supposed to expect?” Yuri looked around the group. “I understand that in every situation we’ll face, there will be the potential for someone to be hurt or killed. In the majority of cases, the ones being hurt will be the female victims being trafficked. I genuinely don’t know how I’ll respond to seeing that. Maybe it’s because Kris and I have been out of the military for ten years that I worry that I’ve gone soft, but do any of you feel the same way?”
Hollywood watched the faces of his team-mates as they mulled over Yuri’s question.
“Collateral damage.” Logan said quietly. “That’s how you have to look at it. If we have to stay silent and watch one person die so that fifty or a hundred can live, then that’s what we have to do.”
“You think it’s going to be that easy?” Kris stared at the Scot. “Knowing that the woman could be someone’s daughter, mother, or sister? You think you can just watch one of them die without showing any reaction?”
“I never said it was going to be easy.” Logan shook his head. “I was just pointing out that the alternative could be a hundred times worse. To my way of thinking the best scenario if one of the women is killed, is if none of us react to it. The worst scenario is if one of them dies and one or more of us reacts badly. If that happens, any or all of us could die. If you don’t know which way you’ll react, perhaps you shouldn’t be going on the operation at all.”
Hollywood reluctantly had to admit that Logan was right.
Whether he would still be able to be as detached once they reached Turkey, he seriously doubted.
Chapter 6 – Hannah
“If you stare at that screen any harder, your eyes are going to explode.” Danny’s voice startled Hannah out of her trance.
“You’re not supposed to be here.” She smiled at him. “You’re an Alpha sex-god whose office is two floors down, not a Guardian who works along the corridor.”
Danny pouted.
“I wanted to tell you something, and went along to your old office, forgetting you wouldn’t be there.” He explained. “I was missing you, so I came to find you.”
“Sweetheart, we’ve only been in work an hour.” Hannah grinned. “That’s not long enough to miss me.”
Danny clutched at his chest, sagging against the doorframe.
“Are you trying to tell me you’re not missing me yet?” He gasped. “I’m cut to the quick! You’ve broken my heart, baby.”
Hannah recognised Danny’s mood as playful but needy, probably as a result of having to talk through her kidnapping the day before.
She stood up and edged around the desk.
“Danny, you know I miss you every second we’re not together.” Hannah smiled as she walked up and wrapped her arms around his waist, gazing up at him in adoration. “But when we agreed to get involved in the Guardians, we knew we wouldn’t be working together much for a while. I pulled on my big-girl panties, and I’ve been brave. Can’t you do the same?”
Danny smiled down into her face.
“Honey, if you’d told me you
’d bought me some big-girl panties, I’d have put them on for you straight away. You know I’m always up for a bit of fun.” He leaned down to kiss her. “Doesn’t stop me wanting to see your smile, though, or watch you tippy-tap away on your laptop all day.”
“Tippy-tapping on my laptop? Is that what you think I do all day?” Hannah smiled.
“Honey, I’ve watched you tippy-tap for the last decade.” Danny leaned down to place a quick kiss on her nose. “For all I know you’re doing internet shopping, but you look so damn hot doing it, I’m way past caring if you blow all our money.”
“Sweetheart, there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to spend all of our money on internet shopping.” Hannah shrugged. “Besides, I only ever buy stuff for you and the girls. I can’t remember the last time I bought any clothes for me.”
“Hannah, you never buy yourself any clothes because your mom ships all the free designer clothes she gets sent straight to you.” Danny pointed out. “Well, the ones without rhinestones, anyway.”
“I know.” Hannah grinned. “And I take the ones I like and ship the rest back, so they can be auctioned for her charity. Which means I don’t need to waste my time online shopping and can actually concentrate on work.”
Danny shrugged.
“Ok, so you’re not doing your internet shopping.” He conceded. “So, what had you so engrossed that I was able to stand in the doorway for thirty seconds without you even noticing?”
“I had another message from our source inside the gang.” Hannah frowned. “They’re bringing forward the next trip as they’ve had a big delivery of women come in from the southern border. Probably Syria, although it could be Iraq. Anyway, it means we’re going to have to get the Guardians ready to ship out by the weekend. The shipment leaves on Monday.”
“Does JT know yet?” Danny asked, already knowing the Guardians weren’t nearly ready to go yet.
“I had just replied to the message and was just about to go and tell him.” Hannah explained. “Are you seeing the guys this morning?”
“Yeah, we were due to meet up with Abbey at ten-thirty, for a follow-up chat, just in case they had any questions. Why?”
“Because it would probably be a good idea to let them know that the timeline is being moved up already.” Hannah frowned. “There’s still a lot for them to learn before they ship out.”
“I can pass on the message.” Danny nodded. “Anything else I can do?”
“Yeah, just tell them to be in the conference room at two o’clock. I’m going to have to drum this stuff into their heads in double-quick time.”
Hannah’s mind was already racing a mile a minute, realising exactly how much they needed to know, and how little time they had to learn it all.
“I’m going to see JT, so you’re going to have to make yourself busy with the guys for a while.” She glanced up at Danny. “Do you think you can manage to do that without missing me too much?”
Danny scowled at her.
“Nope, not for one minute.” He grouched. “But I’ll just picture myself in a pair of your big-girl panties, and I’m sure I’ll muddle through.”
Hannah reached up to plant a sloppy kiss on her husband’s lips.
“You do that, sweetheart.” She grinned. “And then as a reward, you can picture me peeling them off you later.”
She stepped back before he could take their kiss further and darted for the door.
“And you’ve gone and done it again!” Danny growled. “How am I supposed to go into a meeting with six guys with my cock as stiff as a flagpole?”
Hannah paused long enough to turn and grin at him.
“You’ll figure it out” She chuckled. “Apparently, you’ve had plenty of practise.”
Chapter 7 – Kellen
Kellen had been a team-mate of Alex Morales for four years, and he’d listened to the kid talking about his step-dad and their extended family endlessly.
He’d taken all of the stories with a pinch of salt, putting a lot of the action/adventure stuff down to Alex’s over-active imagination, right up until the point that he’d met the family in Colombia, six months before.
Since then, it would be fair to say, he’d been converted, and was a true believer in the powers and ability of the Alpha-Stalwart family.
When he’d heard Danny refer to his new team as being part of the ‘Alpha-Stalwart-Guardian’ family, Kellen had experienced a strange feeling of belonging, the likes of which he hadn’t known since the earliest days of his service in the Marines.
He’d always believed the bond with his team-mates would grow over time, and with the core of men who had served beside him throughout the years, it really had. But it had never reached the level of brotherhood that could be found with the Alpha Company men, probably because over the eight deployments he’d had in the previous twelve years, he’d lost so many friends to IED’s and snipers. Those that hadn’t been killed had been sent home to try and build new futures with life-changing injuries.
Only a few of those who survived wanted to be reminded of the lives they’d once had, or the circumstances that had led to their disabilities.
It was a sad state of affairs, and Kellen and his team-mates had done all they could to keep the friendships alive, but there were times when you had to let people go so they could start their lives again. Sometimes they came back to their Marine family, sometimes they didn’t, but you had to respect their decisions.
Listening to Hannah talk to them now, Kellen felt a real sense that he had begun to bond with the four new guys, despite the fact they’d met only a week before. They all seemed like capable, stand-up guys you’d trust to have your back.
Of course, the degree of bonding probably stemmed from the fact that they were about to go into a difficult and dangerous situation, with only each other to lean on if things turned ugly. That helped connect souls faster than any super-glue.
He watched Hollywood staring at Hannah, listening carefully with one hundred percent concentration to every word the woman said.
If his Marine team-mates could see them now, they wouldn’t believe their eyes. Hollywood was never in a room with a beautiful woman for more than five minutes before turning on the charm. Although he drew the line at hitting on married women, it still wouldn’t have stopped him flirting a little. It was just part of who Hollywood was. A charmer with a wicked sense of humour, and a natural gift for winding people up.
Kellen had watched Hollywood turn those chocolate brown eyes on a woman, time after time, and with only a very rare exception, he never failed to seal the deal.
With Hannah Simons, it was as though Hollywood had subconsciously decided not to even try and turn on the charm.
Of course, you had to take into consideration the fact that apart from being drop-dead gorgeous, albeit in a tiny package, Hannah was completely devoted to her husband, Danny, and all but blind to anyone else. Hollywood might as well have been a gargoyle with warts on his face for all she seemed to have noticed him, so possibly he’d taken that into account as well.
Out of the corner of his eye, Kellen could see the two Russians, and imagined that they would probably get their fair share of female company. Kris was the funnier of the two, with a quick humour and great sense of fun. Their bald heads and typically muscled chests made them look like true Russian Mafia, although the younger brother found the description hilarious. Even the more serious Yuri was always quick to smile, especially at his brother’s antics.
Evan was another joker, more often than not at his own expense. The Welshman and Logan had served together for as long as Kellen had served with Hollywood, but where Hollywood was older and supposedly wiser than Kellen by eight years, Evan and Logan were separated by just four days, and only a month younger than Kellen himself.
Three ‘youngsters’ just past their thirtieth birthday, and three ‘old-timers’ closer to their fortieth. Kellen almost smiled. He reckoned they were a good mixture.
“So, when you disembark in Ankara
, there will be vehicles waiting to take you straight to wherever the women are being held.” Hannah explained. “You’ll help with the loading before you head out. You won’t have too long to hang around as the trucks will need to arrive at their new stopover point by midnight.”
Shit! What?
Kellen had been so far into his own thoughts that he’d missed the first part of what Hannah had been saying, and he had no idea when they were supposed to be shipping out.
He glanced around to see Hollywood smirking at him. Yeah, that asshole knew he hadn’t been paying attention.
“So, Hannah…” Hollywood smiled at her. “Whose choice was it to leave on Monday? Theirs or ours?”
Kellen could have kissed his friend for the rescue.
“We’ve got to play by their rules, and that includes the timetable.” Hannah confirmed. “We’ve just about stretched our luck as far as we can by insisting that we have our men accompany the trucks. Our excuse was that we don’t want to be left with egg on our faces should something go wrong with the delivery. They might be the worst sort of criminals, but the Russians understand that reputation, honour, and appearance are vitally important in the circles these people mix in. That’s the only reason they’ve agreed to humour us.”
“Will we have direct access to the informant?” Yuri asked. “Or will our communications go through you?”
“I’ll work on persuading them to deal directly with you, even if it’s still only by text or e-mail.” Hannah admitted. “But you have to appreciate how dangerous the situation is for them. If you were to find out their identity, it would make it harder to keep it a secret. And if their betrayal were to be discovered by the organisation, can you imagine what the Russians would do to them? Being hung, drawn and quartered would be a tea party by comparison.”
Kellen had seen torture victims in his years posted overseas, but the worst types of punishments were always reserved for the traitors.
“If I manage to make any progress before you fly out, obviously you’ll be the first to know.” Hannah confirmed. “For now, I’m just trying to make sure the communications devices are encrypted beyond their capability to hack, and that we have tracking devices in play that will be virtually undetectable.”
