Shattered Valor (5 page)

“Do you still have that letter?” Ty asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. We’re going to need to see it.”

Dennis looked at Ty, and then at Owen. “What happens to us now? Will we go to jail?”

“No.” Owen unfolded his arms. “We’re bringing you back to Mandy’s house. Greer, go see about getting them discharged into our care.”

“On it,” Greer answered before slipping out of the room.

“Blade,” Owen drew his attention. “How would you feel about moving our base of operations over to your house? We’re quickly outgrowing Mandy’s place.”

Ty looked between Owen and Kit, then shrugged. “Do what you want to do. I’m not going to live there.”

“You are. We’re all moving over there. Mandy and Rocco, too.”

Ty faced Owen. “There’s no fucking way I’m gonna live in that house again. Ever.”

Kit put hand on Ty’s shoulder. He nodded at the Jacksons, then led Ty out into the corridor. “Max and Greer can’t monitor both places effectively. We need you to stay at the house with the rest of us. Just for this mission.”

Ty leaned against the wall, bracing his new cane against his leg. He’d conquered the daunting training required of a Red Team member, squared off with Taliban fighters, and bedded down with rattlesnakes, all with less panic than he felt now at the mere thought of moving back into his childhood home. He shoved his hands into his hair, pressing the heels of his palms against his temples. “No.”

“I need you to hold it together, bro. The past is done. We have to leave it alone and move forward.”

Ty lowered his fists and looked at Kit. Since he’d been back, Kit had gone to see Ivy Banks, his high school sweetheart, only once. His daughter never. “Yeah, how’s that working for you?”

Kit knew what exactly what he was referring to. “You’re an ass. What am I supposed to do? Break their world apart and then put them in a cage? While Amir thinks I have no interest in them, they’re safe. We do what we gotta do. You know that.”

“You take the house. I’ll sleep in one of the vehicles.”

“Jesus, Blade. Your dad’s dead. He’s gone, feel me? It’s your house now. The whole goddamned place. And the billion acres it sits on, too.”

Ty said nothing. They could shout at each other for hours. He wasn’t sleeping in that house. Kit knew him well enough to know that his crashing in a vehicle was the best he was going to get.

* * *

Eden led Tank around a tree in the front of the little medical clinic. The sun was low in the sky, coloring everything in the soft, orange light of the long, June sunset. It felt good to be outside. She’d been so worried about her friends, she hadn’t realized how late in the day it was. Tank was overdue for a potty break and eagerly sniffed the grass and bushes.

The doctor said her friends would be discharged in the morning. She wished she could have moved them out sooner, even if just down to her apartment in Cheyenne, but she couldn’t rush them out of there when they were still so badly dehydrated and in need of high doses of pain meds. They’d have to wait until morning.

What would happen then? Would Ty and his team just let them go? And what about the WKB? Would they follow her friends or come after her? Nothing made sense any more. She shoved her fingers through her hair, trying to dislodge the persistent feeling of anxiety she’d had since meeting up with Sherri and Trudy a few days earlier.

She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. A black Mercedes SUV with Colorado plates was driving very slowly down the road. There wasn’t much traffic in this small town this time of the evening, so it stood out. It had gone by a couple of times, hadn’t it? As she watched, the heavily tinted passenger window lowered. A man reached out with a tattooed arm and held his hand in the shape of a pistol. He made the motion of firing at her, then the SUV sped away.

Oh. God. Fear pinned her in place.

Holy hell, she was wound tight, she scolded herself. Gangsters don’t drive Mercedes. But the guy did have a lot of ink, like the WKBers she’d seen at Winchester’s. Maybe that was a coincidence. Probably just bored kids playing with her. She was seriously high-strung after all that had happened in the last few days. Her heart was jumping in her chest like a six-week-old puppy.

“There you are!” a masculine voice said behind her.

Eden jumped and spun around to face the man behind her, then sighed when she realized it was just Ty.

He frowned at her reaction. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

She didn’t know if she should tell him. If she did, he might not let them leave in the morning, though how he could make her stay, she didn’t want to think about. When she didn’t immediately answer, he looked around them, checking for whatever might have upset her.

When he realized there was nothing around them, his gaze pivoted back to her. Disliking the intensity in his look, she moved a step away from him, a little closer to the clinic door. “I have friends, you know,” she told him. “People who will notice if I’m not back to work when I’m expected.”

Ty smiled. “It’s good to have friends.”

“They’ll report me missing.”

He held up his hands. “I was just going to take you to dinner, not kidnap you. Your friends wanted club sandwiches and Angel wants a burger. If that scares you, I can get it myself, but I would like company. And you probably need to eat.”

Eden looked up and down the road, checking for that Mercedes—or any vehicles that might be up to mischief. She studied Ty as she considered her options. Maybe it was a good idea to go with him. She could at least get a better sense of his intentions toward her and her friends.

“Just dinner,” she warned.

“Just dinner,” he agreed. “There’s a diner right down the street. It’s a public place. What could happen to you?”

“So was Winchester’s and look how that ended. I don’t trust you.”

Ty laughed, a flash of humor that didn’t touch his eyes. “That’s good, but I guess it’s a little late for me to tell you you shouldn’t trust anyone you don’t know—”

“Yeah. I figured that one out. Thanks.” She just wished Sherri and Trudy had—and long before they’d gotten into this mess. She fell into step beside him.

The diner took up the lower floor of an old brick building. It was crowded with supper patrons. The aroma of hot coffee and wonderful, home-cooked foods filled the air. Heavy china dishes clinked in the kitchen. Eden’s stomach growled. She couldn’t remember when she’d last eaten.

Classic rock spilled from speakers placed around the room, just below the pressed-tin ceiling. Pop-culture memorabilia from the last century was scattered everywhere, complemented by the retro décor and the condiment fixtures on the tables. An ancient wood stove jutted into the room on the back wall, home to a couple of potted ferns. Booths with teal vinyl seats lined the walls. The tables, the big counter, and its stools were edged in chrome. Glass stands of cakes and other treats stood at various intervals on the front counter.

Everything about the place was warm and welcoming. Eden’s tension melted away. She felt as if she’d just stepped out of a twisted, altered reality and was back in her normal world where gangsters and terrorists—and their hunters—didn’t exist.

Ty led her to a booth in the back corner. He took the seat facing the room. They looked over the menu and made their selections when the waitress came by. Once they were alone again, she leaned forward to speak to him.

“The doctors said the girls will be released tomorrow morning. I think I’ll take them down to the airport and get them on a flight home.”

“Good.”

Good?
He was just going to let them go? “Do you believe what Owen said, that the WKB might come after us—me?”

“It’s possible, though they aren’t exactly known for exerting an effort for something with little payout. I think the farther away you are, the less likely it’ll be that they bother you.”

“I live in Cheyenne. Not that far away. What if they do come after me?”

“You have Kit’s number. Call him.” He took out a card and handed it to her. “Or call me.”

“You have a phone now?”

“I do.”

She looked at the card. “What does a ‘Special Consultant to the US Department of Homeland Security’ do?”

“Whatever we’re asked.”

“And what are you doing here?”

“We came out for some R&R.”

“Huh. So you guys work together and vacation together. With your boss. That’s some kind of tight. You must make amazing bonuses.”

Ty laughed. “I like this suspicious new you.”

“It isn’t new. It just isn’t a trait shared by my friends. Your boss said you were here for a job.”

“We’re never really off the clock. It’s not so much a job as it is a way of life.”

The waitress delivered their food. They fixed their burgers as they liked them, then ate in silence for a few minutes.

“Tell me about Tank,” Ty asked. “How is it that you have a service dog as a companion?”

“I work at a place that trains dogs. The pay is terrible, but the work is so much fun. They have several contracts with various police departments and government agencies to provide dogs for different uses.”

“You enjoy that work?”

“I do. I hope I’ll be able to open my own training center one day.”

“You told Owen Tank can find drugs and explosives. Can he really do that?”

“Yes.

Ty wiped his mouth and leaned back in his seat as he contemplated her.

“What?” Eden asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Do you ever do consulting?”

“What kind of consulting?”

“Searches for hire.”

“I haven’t.”

“But you could.”

“Tank belongs to me, not the center I work for. I can use him as I see fit. Why?”

“Owen wanted me to have you bring Tank to do his thing at a nearby property.”

Eden set what remained of her hamburger down. She fussed with her napkin as she played for time before answering him. What did she really know about Ty Bladen or any of his friends? They weren’t Feds. They weren’t cops. They weren’t soldiers. What were they? The sheriff seemed to know them, but he didn’t particularly hold them in a high regard.

She shut her eyes, thinking how close she’d come to another disaster by just considering doing the job he offered. Hadn’t Sherri done this same kind of thing—blindly trusting a man she didn’t know?

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to leave the girls alone at the clinic.”

“They won’t be alone. One of the guys will be with them.”

“Ty,” she sighed, deciding to come clean. “I don’t know you. I don’t know Owen or your other friends. After what happened with Sherri and Trudy, I’d be a fool to just run off to do a job for you.”

“Eden, have I hurt you yet?”

“Not yet. But nor had Holbrook given Sherri any reason to fear coming out for a visit with him. And you know how that went. The sheriff said anyone who associated with you was endangering themselves.”

Ty nodded, accepting that fault. “That’s not entirely untrue. We do dangerous work. We become targets, as do those who help us. We aren’t a danger to you, but being with us is. If you don’t trust me, I’ll give you a gun. You can shoot me—or any of us—if we scare you.”

Eden sent a quick look around at the people nearest them. No one was sitting particularly close to them, and they weren’t talking very loudly. She was relieved no one was paying attention to their conversation.

“Owen will pay for your services,” Ty continued.

“Then surely he can hire another dog-search service.”

“He could. He wants you and Tank. He’s an influential man—a good one to have in your network. If he likes how Tank works, you could find your employment situation drastically altered. Charge him an amount worth your risk. A thousand dollars. It’s a large property he wants searched.”

Eden’s eyes popped. A thousand dollars would go a long way toward helping her get her friends home. “And what if Tank doesn’t find anything?”

Ty shrugged. “There may be nothing to find.”

“Whose property is it?”

“A house I own.”

His house? Why would he want his home searched? Did this have anything to do with the ledger that the WKB wanted? “What are we looking for?”

He shrugged. “Drugs. Weapons.”

Eden coughed. “I knew I shouldn’t trust you. I knew it. No, I won’t do it.”

“With great risk comes great opportunity, Eden. Whatever’s at my house is not there because of me. I recently reclaimed it after a home invasion.”

Eden’s mouth opened as she drew a sharp breath. “The WKB were there.”

He nodded. “Or their associates, the ones who put me in the snake pit.”

“Is it their ledger they want back?”

“I don’t know.”

Eden ate the rest of her hamburger in silence. She knew she would go with Ty, against her better judgment. He and Owen were giving her a chance to prove what Tank could do. They were her first clients. How could she turn that down? She’d leave a note with the girls that had Ty and Kit’s phone numbers and the assignment she’d gone to take. That way the police might be able to find her more easily if something went badly.