by Dale Cadeau
“But what about our families? We have to think about them. Not knowing what really went down leaves too many unanswered questions and a threat hovering over us that we still might not be safe. I don’t like having to live like that.” Angel stood up from his seat that he had taken after saluting the general.
“Men, while I agree with your standings, I must insist that it has to be this way. I know that you will have to be extra vigilant, but aren’t you all that way anyway? You know what is out there. You’ve lived and dealt with it.
We might think that we’re safe here in the States, but you and I both know that the safety net could fall at any time. We are living in uncertain times. There are no guarantees. Just be grateful that you are aware and trained for anything that could arise.”
The general turned to Devlen. “The army van should be here any minute. Can you bring the man out? I will go ahead and make sure that everything is ready.”
“Gentlemen.” The general put his hat back on, nodded his head at all of them, and walked out the door.
All the guys followed him with their eyes and wanted to object, but they all knew when the government took over there wasn’t any argument that would sway them.
Angel sat down with a huff and looked over at James, who was sitting back and running a hand though his hair. Clay sat swearing under his breath and the others were silent with pondering looks on their faces.
They were fucked. Unless John knew something, and it seemed like he was as as much in the dark as the rest of them, they had reached a dead end.
Devlen went to the door leading to the cells and disappeared. A few minutes later, he appeared with the guy still in handcuffs, now with a bandage on his shoulder.
Leading the man out by his arm, Devlen glared at them as he passed where they were seated. “And don’t demolish my office while I’m out there.”
Clay just huffed back at him as he disappeared out the office door and down to the army’s van.
“What the fuck, James! What are we going to do now? Devlen just shot any chance we had of finding out more down the toilet.”
“Yeah, I don’t like it either, Clay, but we have to give Devlen a chance to explain. I don’t like this any better than you,” James said, getting up from his seat and looking at the others sitting beside him.
“Let’s have some coffee and simmer down until we know the whole story,” James told them through gritted teeth.
Angel got up, going to the coffeepot. He poured the men all cups of the hot brew and handed them around.
“Thanks,” James said to Angel as he handed him his cup.
“Don’t thank me. I had to get my hand on something before I grab that sheriff and knock his block off. What a stupid move.” Angel took his seat and blew on his hot coffee. “He’d better have something good to say when he comes back.”
Devlen came back into the office, strove directly to his desk, and sat behind it. Looking over at the man glaring at him, he ran a hand through his hair. “I know you’re all pissed.”
“Pissed isn’t the word I would have used,” Clay broke in.
“Yeah, well, before you hang and quarter me, just listen. I did have your best intentions when I started this.”
“This had better be good, Devlen.” James sat back, crossing his legs and taking a sip of his coffee. He looked cool and at ease until you looked into his steely blue eyes they were shooting daggers at Devlen.
“Last night while my friend was bandaging up the man, I asked him some more questions. He would only give me his serial number, nothing else, no matter how I threated him. Therefore, I knew that without force, which we can’t use, we needed some way to get the goods on this fellow.
I called a contact of mine high up in the government and told him what I knew. I thought it would save time. I thought if I could find out where this guy was stationed and what mission he worked on before coming to the states, it might give us a clue as to where your General Brown is. I was expecting a callback this morning when the general arrived. I was as surprised as you were to see him.”
“What the hell gave you the right to take this in your own hands without at least informing us of what you were doing?” Brad spit out at the Devlen.
“God, guys, give me a break. I knew as soon as I saw the general that I messed up,” Devlen said, his eyes defiant as he looked at them. “I’m not used to waiting on anyone. This was something I wanted solved as much as you all did. No way in hell did I think that my contact would rat me out. I’ve worked with him and he always had my back no matter what I was asking of him. All I can think of is this General Brown of yours still has some friends in high places.”
“Well why do you think we asked you to sit on him for a while? We would have gotten something out of him,” Clay said with barely held back anger.
“Yeah, I know how you guy probably work. But this is my county and my job. I took an oath to uphold the law. And allowing you to beat the information out of him wasn’t something I could allow you to do. No matter how good of friends you are with Jared and Stan.”
“So now we are back to square one. Not knowing why this elaborate scheme was set in place.” James sat, getting up to refill his coffee.
“You’re not going to let it go this easy, James?” Angel got up from his chair with a menacing look on his face.
“Angel, let it go. Devlen did what he thought was right. I might have done the same thing in his place. General Brown is a slippery weasel. We should have been prepared for something like this. In a few days Grant can hack into the government computers and find out where they took this guy and what they have on him.”
“Meanwhile, did you find out anything about our guy still in the cell?” James asked Devlen, pouring himself another coffee.
“My gut tells me he is a good guy, like you all thought. I talked to him and he seemed to be kicking himself in the ass for being taken in like this.
“We couldn’t speak much with the other guy in the next cell. Why don’t I go get him and we can all talk to him.” Devlen got up from his desk and made his way out the side door to the cell block.
Chapter Thirty
Charlie stood on Angel’s doorstep and wiped her sweaty palms on her slacks. She didn’t really know the wives of Grant’s unit, but had heard quite a bit about them in passing from Chase and Grant himself.
She had laughed when she had heard of some high jinks that they had pulled on each other. It was always done with the other’s best intentions in mind, she had been told. They had become a very close-knit family. The men had bonded first in the army and now in the security business together.
The woman as they had come into their lives seemed to have just enriched the family. Grant nor Chase could not say enough about how the woman had changed the man and how they respected them.
Last night while going over everything that had happened between her and Grant, good and bad both, she had come to the decision that he was the one and he wasn’t getting away. She just had to make him see it the same way. She knew she was being overly bold to go to women she didn’t know and ask for help. But some things were just worth taking a chance on, and Grant was worth it.
Steeling her backbone, she rang the bell. The door was answered by an old gray-haired woman, the lines in her face speaking of a long life. Taken aback when the woman reached a hand out and pulled her through the door, Charlie looked down at her as she locked the door behind them.
“Welcome, I have been expecting you. We made tea.” The old woman had a twinkle in her eyes and a wide smile on her face.
“You were expecting me? But I didn’t know myself until this morning I was coming,” Charlie told the older woman as she guided her into the living room with a hand on her arm.
“I knew, come meet the other girls.” The old woman patted her arm.
Charlie looked around the living room that the old woman led her into. Two walls had mattresses leaning up against them, a group of woman holding babies were sitting around t
he coffee table that had a tea service set up on it.
Through another door off to the side, a woman came through, walking toward them using a walker. She turned and stopped in front of them.
“You must be Charlie? I’m Raven. We can’t wait to hear what went on. The men skimmed over the facts so much that you’d think nothing went on. They think they are protecting us, but we always find out in the end.”
“Come sit down. Grandma told us you were coming.” Raven, with her walker, moved ahead of them to a large armchair and sat down.
Charlie felt she had just walked into a looking glass. A blonde woman with a baby at her hip stood up and put out a hand toward her.
“Charlie, I’m Avery.” Turning, she looked down at the copper-haired woman that she had been sitting beside.
“This is Cyn, next to her is Laura. Over there.” Avery pointed at two other woman sitting on a loveseat. “Those two are Mary and Janet.”
The door to the kitchen opened and Charlie watched as two large, intimidating men entered the room. Both had guns holstered at their sides. “And these two are Jared and Stan. They’re Janet’s husbands, and our babysitters.”
“Everything okay?” Jared asked as he looked at Grandma and Charlie still standing in the entrance to the living room.
“Of course, what could happen with you two standing guard? Charlie just arrived like Grandma said, and we were just starting to get acquainted.” Janet got up off the loveseat and went to the two men. She reached up, gave them each a peck on their cheeks, and patted both of their chests
“We’re fine. Go back into the kitchen and finish your coffee. I don’t think you would be interested in just a group of women sitting around talking.”
Stan laughed down at Janet. “Now I know that you women are probably up to something. Something that I really don’t want to know about. So, love, Jared and I will stay in the kitchen while you women have your little hen party.”
“Yeah, we get the hint and know when we’re not wanted,” Jared said as he turned with Stan to go back into the kitchen.
Janet, with a saucy grin, gave them both a slap on their bottoms, which had them both swiftly turning back.
“What was that for?” Stan and Jared both asked as Jared held the door of the kitchen open, and Stan as he turned reached for his wife.
“That’s a reminder that we women are going to be doing some serious work out here and not just having a hen party as you think. Remember that we woman rule the roost, if not the world.” Janet laughed as she scooted back to her seat, not letting Stan get a hold of her.
Charlie had to laugh at the disgruntled looks the men gave their wife as they disappeared into the kitchen.
“Now we can sit and talk without being interrupted,” Janet said, sitting down.
Charlie and Grandma followed and sank into two armchairs that formed part of the circle around the coffee table.
Charlie sat down nervously. Grandma reached out a hand, trying to reassure her, and patted her hands that she held tightly in her lap.
“Don’t worry, little one. We are on your side. We will help. Won’t we, ladies?” Grandma smiled with affection at all the women.
Laura poured them each a cup of tea and handed it to them.
“So how can we help you?” Laura asked as she resumed her seat.
“Grant being an asshole?” Avery said as she bounced a baby on her lap.
“Avery,” Grandma said. “Not around the babies.” Cyn laughed at Avery’s disgruntled face.
“Shit, this is going to take some getting used to,” Avery said and laughed also. “But they’re so young that they don’t know what we are saying. My thoughts are that we might as well swear as much as we want and get it out of our system before they do.”
“Well that’s one way to think of it. But you will soon see the kids pick up everything you don’t want them to,” Grandma said with a smile.
“Yes, Grandma, I’ll start toning it down. Now I just want to hear about Grant. He’s being a pain, isn’t he?” Avery looked in interest at Charlie.
“Well yes, he is. But how do you know what I’m here for?” Charlie asked as she took a sip of her tea, trying not to spill it out of her trembling cup.
“Don’t be nervous, Charlie,” Laura said, looking kindly at her.
“We have all been in your shoes ourselves,” Avery broke in.
“The Braden unit are a force onto themselves. All are big take-charge men, but they all have the softest hearts. They are stubborn as the day is long when it comes to their own love lives. For smart men, they sure are stupid sometimes. And if you tell any one of them what I said, I will deny it,” Avery said, looking around and continuing with glee in her voice.
“So tell us, how much of an asshole is Grant being?”
“Avery, don’t ask her that, it’s not our business. She’ll tell us if she wants us to know,” Cyn said from beside Avery, looking down at the baby boy in her lap sleeping.
“Oh, Cyn, we all want to know. Why hide it? Grant has always been the most reserved of the men. We just want to know if he has a kinky side. And what he did to fuck up.” Avery gave Grandma a sly look as she settled the baby in her lap and looked around.
“So give.”
All of the women gave Charlie a kind smile.
“You can ask her that later, Avery. Now we just have to hear what she needs. And see if we can help,” Laura said.
“How do you know that I’m here for your help? I could have just come to say hi and see the babies,” Charlie asked, holding her still unstable cup. These women were taking some getting used to, Charlie thought to herself.
“Did you just come to see the babies?” Raven asked,
“Grandma has been tell us all morning that you would be coming and that we had to put our head together to help you.”
Charlie turned to look at Grandma. “How did you know?”
Grandma just took a sip of her tea and looked over the brim of her cup with wise old eyes.
“An old lady like myself knows a lot of things. Did you enjoy and make the most of the time you had with Grant alone? You look like a smart lady.”
Mary and Janet, who had not said anything but were just listening to the conversation, sat up straighter in their seats, interest showing in their eyes, anxious to hear if Charlie would tell.
“Well, being kidnapped was different than just having alone time with Grant. But I did try and make the most of it.” Charlie grinned at them and released her tension. She might as well join in and take them at face value. She was here, after all, to get their help to become a member of this inner circle.
“So?”
“He is good, I will admit.” Charlie laughed with a blush.
“I knew it. It’s always the shy ones that hide the most,” Avery said with a grin.
“Okay, Avery, you have your answer. Now let Charlie have a chance to tell us what she needs us for,” Janet said.
Charlie put her cup on the coffee table. “You’re right, I am here to ask for help. I know Grant is the one, but since we were rescued, I haven’t heard one word from him.”
“Maybe he was just wrapped up with the rest of the men trying to get to the bottom of why you and Grant were kidnapped. I know they thought it was Chase, but why did they want Chase anyway?” Mary said with her no-nonsense way.
“You might be making too much of it, too soon.”
“That could be it, but I don’t think so. You would think he would have at least called after what we had been through together. No, he passed me on to Chase to look after. Chase was the one that brought me home last night.”
“Did you ever stop and think he might be jealous?” Janet asked.
“He probably is, but that doesn’t give him the right to act like an asshole,” Avery interjected. At Grandma’s look, Avery bit her lip.
“Well it’s going to take time, Grandma. I’ll work on it.”
Grandma nodded her head at Avery and turned back to Charlie.
/> “Avery might be right. Did you try to speak to him?”
“No, everything happened so fast at the cabin. Chase wrapped me up in a blanket and hustled me into the back of the truck as soon as the dust settled. Next thing I knew we were at some sheriff’s office. Without even stopping in with the rest of the men, Chase, knowing that I was tired, took me home.”
“Men have very soft feelings that get hurt fast. Maybe he thought you did not need him anymore now that you were rescued. If he saw Chase looking after you and you didn’t protest, he might have got the idea that he was just being used because of the circumstance you both were in.”
“He doesn’t have any reason to be jealous of Chase. Chase is like a brother to me. He taught me a lot and we are close, but that’s it,” Charlie said with disbelief.
“Does Grant know that? Did you ever tell him how you feel about Chase?” Laura asked from her seat.
“Well no, but I thought our time together bonded us. That we had something together,” Charlie answered in a low voice.
“I think it’s nothing that a length of rope, some handcuffs, and a gag couldn’t solve,” Cyn said, rocking her son a little harder as she listened to Charlie’s story.
“Cyn, you didn’t just say that.” Raven laughed.
“Well that’s Lance’s answer to everything. I guess his lifestyle and the club has rubbed off on me. You would like to tie him down and make him listen. Wouldn’t you?” Cyn asked Charlie.
“Yes, I would love to do that, but doesn’t that seem a bit drastic? It’s not as if I could do it without Grant’s cooperation. He wouldn’t just sit back and allow it, and remember, he has the muscle to back him up,” Charlie told them.
Mary got up from her seat and moved to Cyn’s side. “Why don’t you let me put him down? He’s sleeping and then you girls can scheme to your heart’s content.”
“Yes, I think you’re right, Mary. I’ll take Avery’s little girl also. I’m an old lady. I don’t think I need to hear this either. Not that I won’t help if you need me.” Grandma got up and took the little girl from Avery’s lap.
