GUARDIANS: Mission To Rescue Innocence (Beauty 0f Life Book 7)

by Laura Acton

  Dom grinned and topped off her vodka glass. “Sorry to disappoint you. We found your bank account. Who else did you sell out?”

  Harriet laughed. “You’ll never find out. I’m better at covering things than either of you.”

  “Not as proficient as you think. Did you realize you are being investigated? Your assistant, Corinne … she was sent to watch your every move and decision. She installed a program on your computer to log all your actions.” Dom smoothly lied through his teeth to provoke a response.

  “That little twit doesn’t possess the ability to track my moves.” Her eyes unconsciously flicked to her safe hidden behind the painting depicting the red rose of the House of Lancaster where she kept all the files she pilfered.

  Dom strode to the rose painting. “You can give me the combination and save me the trouble of spending about two minutes cracking your safe.”

  Harriet gaped at Dominique. “How … No!” She stood to stop him.

  “Sit down,” Jeannette said as she moved closer but out of range for any attempt Harriet might make to obtain the gun.

  Within ninety seconds, Dom opened the safe. “What do we have here?” He pulled out several old files and a thumb drive. He turned back to Harriet. “We now hold the proof we require.”

  As Harriet resumed her seat, she waved to the monitor as she took another gulp of alcohol. “What now? You obviously are not here to execute me you or would’ve done so already. You can’t convict me of anything. Having those files here doesn’t violate my clearance, and you possess no proof I sold intel.”

  “Au contraire. We have proof of you selling Operation Sandsnake to Makar Yurievich. Want to view the photos?” Dom retrieved Kazimir’s phone and pulled up the incriminating snapshots.

  Harriet blanched at the evidence.

  Jeannette said, “Anything else you would like to confess before you die?”

  “You aren’t going to shoot me. You don’t have it in you to kill, Jeannette.” After taking another sip of vodka, she gazed down at her tumbler. It finally registered that Jeannette told her to drink and Dominique poured her more. Her eyes widened in horror. “You poisoned me, didn’t you?”

  His voice languid, Dom said, “A new poison I learned about. Almost killed a man who helped rescue our girls from the sick bastard you sent them to. Rest assured, we saved the girls before any permanent damage was done to them. The man will recover, however, the pain he experienced was quite excruciating. He ingested a minute dose. You, however, consumed enough now to dispatch twenty cows fifty times over.”

  A stab of pain hit Harriet in the gut. She bent over, and her vodka glass fell as she wrapped her hands around her stomach. Sweating profusely now, she gaped at both Dominique and Jeannette. “You won’t get away with this. A toxicology report will show the poison, and they will realize this is murder.”

  Jeannette stepped forward and moved a bottle of herbicide from behind the computer monitor and set it in the middle of Harriet’s desk. “Yes, it will reveal diquat, but won’t be classified as murder. It’ll be ruled suicide because this common weed killer comes from your greenhouse. Plus, statistically, women choose suicide by poison more than any other means.”

  Harriet stared at the bottle as Jeannette splashed a tiny amount around the vodka bottle sitting on her desk. She begged, “Give me the antidote. I’ll pay you everything I have. Everything. Then you will never see me again.”

  Dom shook his head. “There is no antidote. No amount of money will save you. You attempted to kill my children and me. You endangered the lives of honorable men and women in your quest for money. You’re despicable. Your hate brought you to this point. A jury of your peers and superiors found you guilty of treason. You are hereby red-flagged and sentenced to death.”

  Harriet screamed and gripped her gut. She convulsed and fell from the chair withering in pain on the floor for several minutes. Jeannette turned her head, unable to observe. She set the Ruger on the desk and left the room.

  Fifteen minutes later, Dom found Jeannette seated on the stairs with her head on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. Her quiet crying pulled at his heart. He sat next to her and put his arm over her shoulders, drawing her close. “It’s done. She is dead.”

  Jeannette lifted her head, wiped her tears, and blew out a shaky breath. She turned to Dom, captured his caring eyes, and caressed his jaw. “My tears are not for her. They are for William’s son. For all Daniel did, and all he was willing to do to save our sweet girls. If he experienced even a fraction of the pain Harriet did, that is a debt that we can never repay in full.”

  “His agony was much the same, only prolonged for days. Should William or Daniel ever need anything, I will be at their disposal.” Dom kissed Jeannette on both cheeks, both eyes, and lastly on her lips. He stood and held out his hand to the love of his life, and her hand landed in his. As she stood, Dom said, “Let’s go home to our innocent hearts.”

  “What are we going to do with the contents of her safe?” Jeannette asked.

  “They are too sensitive to remain here. I will give them to Colonel Andrews tomorrow. He will notify those who have been compromised so they can take precautions. I would love to divert her funds to support our new cause, but they must remain intact for internal investigators to attempt to track the sources of income.”

  Dom and Jeannette stealthily slipped out of Harriet’s home and into the dark of the night. The wicked witch was dead, their children safe, the Yurievichs dead … the only action left before Dom could focus solely on his daughters was to assist Mike in tracking down and dealing with Savelievich.

  Fìor Ghàidhealtachd Laoch

  63

  June 3

  Minnow – Lower Deck – Midship Cabin – 0200 Hours

  Patch woke still sick to his stomach … never had he been so ill in his life. He groaned as he pushed away the pillows holding him in place and sat up. His eyes met Brody’s across the berth.

  “Need some help?” Brody asked as he observed Patch struggle to pull the twin mattress away from the door to the bathroom.

  Hating being so weak, Patch gave Brody a nod. “Gotta take a leak.”

  Brody nudged Danny. He never left his side without telling him first. Usually, Blaze or Mason took over for him.

  Dan blinked open his eyes, only lightly dozing as exhaustion caught up with him. His body tensed as it always did when he realized he was still on the yacht. “Yeah?”

  “I gotta go help Patch. Do you need to take a piss too?”

  “No.” Dan glanced about for his substitute hand, noting only the three of them occupied the cabin. His clasp intensified on Brody as his eyes conveyed renewed fright.

  “I’ll only be on the other side. Not far. Just put both hands on the railing,” Brody whispered.

  The thought of losing human contact caused Dan’s body to involuntarily shudder when Brody lifted his hand close to the berth rail. He transferred his hold as he resorted to sniper breathing.

  Anastasia appeared in the entry as Brody stood. She noted the fright in Dan but took her cue from the others and said nothing. Smiling she asked, “Patch how are you feeling?”

  “Like I’ve been keelhauled, run over by a semi, dragged fifty miles by horses, and …” Heaving stopped his litany of horrible things.

  Brody scurried over the platform, reaching Patch swiftly and grabbing the basin in time for Patch’s most recent portion of broth to make a reappearance.

  Anastasia noted Brody had things well-in-hand with Patch so moved towards Dan. She sat next to him and pried one of his hands from the metal railing. She scooted around, curling her body in the tight space, laid her head in Dan’s lap, and pulled his arm around her waist. She yawned. “Appreciate it if you would hold me in place while I sleep. Blaze sent me down to rest for a few hours.”

  The shaking of Dan’s body lessened having contact with Anastasia. He managed a smile. “Sure. Glad to be your tether.” Dan recognized he didn’t fool any of them and Anastasia’
s request was for his benefit rather than hers. Though at this point, he didn’t much care anymore.

  Gazing up at Dan, Anastasia asked, “You ever been camping?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How about mountain climbing?”

  “Yes.”

  Anastasia sigh as memories of her youth filled her mind. “I love climbing almost as much as sailing. Making it to the top and gazing out over the scenery … nothing better than a cool wind in my face and being in nature.”

  Images of his summer with Buzz, Dutch, and Wilson came to Dan’s mind. “My favorite climb was near Canmore in Alberta when I was seventeen. Spent a week camping and learning to track with Wilson, Buzz, and Dutch.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Wilson is Bella’s security man … ex-Special Forces, and the others are friends from his old unit. They’re my friends too. Buzz trained me in Judo, and I learned to navigate via the stars from Dutch.”

  “Sounds like you had fun.”

  A small smile grew as Dan recalled the trip. “Yeah, I did. Those three guys taught me so much.” Dan chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Just recalling fly fishing with them on that trip. We went fishing along this shallow stream, and none of us caught anything all morning. We hiked down the tributary, and we came to this part where it ran through a gorge of sorts … no bank. About halfway through the ravine, I finally hooked a trout.

  “With no shore to fling the fish on to, I whipped the huge trout into the rock wall behind me, knocking it off the hook. The trout flopped back into the creek. Since it was the biggest one I ever caught, I didn’t want to lose it. I launched myself into the shallows and managed to grab the stunned fish. Luckily, I only ended up soaking wet. We had grilled trout for dinner.”

  “I love fresh fish … though after smelling Mason I’ll hold off for a while.” Anastasia curled her lips in disgust.

  “Was it that bad?” Dan asked.

  “Yes. Worst odor ever.” Anastasia yawned again.

  “I should let you sleep,” Dan said.

  “Mm yeah. Sing to me,” Anastasia suggested, knowing she needed rest but giving Dan a way to distract himself from his anxiety.

  “What song?”

  “Anything you want.”

  Dan thought a moment and in a soft voice began to sing ‘Wait.’ Brody’s voice joined Dan’s after he helped Patch back from using the head. Anastasia smiled and closed her eyes as the voices of the two men melded melodiously. She drifted off when they moved on to ‘Sound of Silence’ as she thought if they weren’t soldiers, they would make a fantastic singing duo.

  Minnow – Main Deck – Helm – 0600 Hours

  Mason paced. “We need to go now. If Mike says he can fly, I am willing to trust him. Blondie and Patch need off this damned boat. They need medical attention. Patch can’t keep anything down and Blondie—”

  “Blondie is a mess. I know. I want both off but not at the risk of their lives.” Blaze clenched his fists.

  Dropping to the bench seat near the controls, Mason stared at Blaze as he endeavored to calm himself. “This is a risk we must take. Patch is in bad shape … dehydrated. The kid isn’t peeing enough though he is drinking the broth. And speaking of broth … we are all out. I found nothing on either of the other boats. Blaze, if we wait longer, we will be in worse shape too and more likely to screw up. Yes, going now is risky, but staying until it is calmer is more so.”

  Appreciating Mason’s candor, Blaze considered his words. Mason made sense. Unclenching his hands, he patted Mason’s shoulder. “You’re going to make a damned fine unit leader. Your points are well thought out.”

  Mason snorted. “Just channeling Winds.”

  Blaze chuckled. “Thought so. You contact Mike. I’ll go wake Anastasia.”

  Minnow – Lower Deck – Midship Cabin – 0610 Hours

  Entering the cabin, Blaze grinned at the sight of Anastasia curled in Blondie’s lap. He hated to wake her, but he needed her with him at the helm to navigate the waters to the rendezvous point. Crouching, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her.

  When her eyes fluttered open, he spoke quietly hoping not to rouse Blondie. “Morning. Mike indicates the weather cleared enough to make the flight.”

  “Good. Wake Brody.” Anastasia shifted to a seated position, her hand still clasped by Dan’s.

  Dan stirred with the movement. Bleary eyes flickered open. For the first few moments, he focused on the blonde beauty smiling as his sleep-deprived mind slowly registered his location.

  The grip on Anastasia’s hand tightened as Dan woke. She caressed Dan’s cheek, hoping her touch would calm him. “Thanks for being a comfy bed. I slept like a baby.”

  Brody groggily crawled to Danny after Blaze woke him. He slept little in the last four hours as he tended to Patch. “I’m here, Danny,” he said as he switched places with Anastasia.

  Blaze said, “We should reach the rendezvous by mid-morning. We are going to take it slower this time, but the ride will still be bumpy. Mason will come soon to take care of Patch.”

  Once Blaze and Anastasia left, Brody whispered, “I guess we’re gonna hold hands a bit longer, only it will be me squeezing the life outta yours once we are on the plane.” Brody rubbed his grainy eyes.

  His head lolling as fatigue attempted to pull him back into sleep, Dan muttered, “Thanks, Brody. I couldn’t do this if not for you.”

  “Likewise, plane-wise. Go back to sleep. I’ll be right here. I won’t let go.” Brody tucked a pillow in the corner for Dan. When sure Danny slumbered again, he sighed and leaned on his brother’s shoulder. Closing his eyes, Brody sought more rest too.

  Neither woke as the Minnow cruised out of the sheltered cove and entered the rougher water of the open sea nor when Mason appeared in time to assist Patch when his retching renewed.

  Minnow – Main Deck – Interior Saloon – 1030 Hours

  Anastasia held Patch who lay on the padded bench. He remained so seasick that Mason carried him up here in preparation for them leaving the yacht. She rechecked his life jacket and makeshift harness to make sure both were securely fastened. Anastasia was worried for him, moving Patch from the boat to the seaplane would be risky in his condition. He is too weak to help himself and if he ends up in the water ….

  Brushing away her thought, because there was no way the guys would allow that to happen, she leaned down to him and said, “Not long now. Mike is approaching.”

  Patch grabbed his stomach as it threatened to heave again. He now had a new appreciation for the pain Blondie experienced. His abs ached with every movement from all the hurling. Damned glad they were getting off this yacht, he vowed never to step foot on a boat again if at all possible. Doing his best to quell his nausea, he asked, “How’s Blondie?”

  “Still weak and shaky. Brody and Mason are rigging his harness now and will bring him up in a few minutes.” Anastasia increased her grip on Patch as he succumbed to another round of dry heaves. She loved the sea, but she couldn’t wait to get Blondie and Patch off this boat and to a hospital.

  Blaze strode up to Anastasia, barely able to keep his footing on the slick wet decking as the surf heaved them up, down, and sideward. The weatherman had been wrong, and the tempest renewed itself bringing driving rain. However, Mike insisted he could make the landing and take-off on the rough sea. Blaze agreed because Patch and Blondie required medical attention and they were now almost out of fuel.

  He wiped the rain from his eyes as he called out, “Anastasia, when Mike lands, I need you on deck as I swim over to rig the lines between the yacht and the plane. Mike can’t land too close and risk the waves knocking the aircraft into the Minnow. Brody can watch over our guys in here.”

  Anastasia nodded. “Understood. After Mason brings Blondie up he is going to work on sabotaging the boat. I told him he didn’t need to blow a hole in the hull. I worked a piracy op where one of the primary targets attacked rich couples. He robbed them, locked them
below deck, and sunk their yachts after making a mayday call. I learned a few simple things Mason can do to sabotage this yacht so the sinking will appear accidental. He will remove the clamps on the seacocks so the hoses below the waterline will come off.”

  Patch gaped at Anastasia. “Remind me not to go on a boat with you if you’re mad at me. Wait, I won’t need the reminder. Never going boating again.”

  She laughed but put a gentle hand on the back of his neck and kindly massaged, trying to give him some comfort.

  “How much time will we have after he takes them off?” Blaze gathered rigging to attach to the gunwale.

  “We should be off before there’s a problem.”

  “More specific. How long?” Blaze demanded not liking the vague answer.

  “Given the rough sea, we’ll have about thirty to forty-five minutes.”

  Blaze grimaced when another swell sent them up and down and listed the boat crazily to one side. He hoped they could move Blondie and Patch across in that time. Neither was in any shape to go for a swim. “Okay.” He patted Patch on the shoulder. “Not much longer, buddy.”

  Patch’s response was to bend over and heave again.

  Mason insisted on carrying Blondie from the cabin and set him down across from Patch, primarily because this position provided Blondie a solid grip on the stair rail leading up to the sun deck. “Got a firm grip?”

  “Yeah.” Dan wrapped one hand around the railing as Brody dropped the gear packs on the floor and sat next to him, giving him his human lifeline again.

  Seaplane

  Mike made his approach and the airplane buffeted about in the wind and surf as he landed. The weather more turbulent than he expected, but he couldn’t call it off and head back. The guys were out of fuel, food, and by the sounds of it, Dan and Patch were in terrible shape.

  He managed to land and cruised closer but not close enough to cause damage and leave them all up a creek without a paddle. Mike crawled to the rear, opened the door, and signaled he was ready. Anastasia waved back to him. Now he only had to wait for Blaze to swim over. He hoped Blaze was a strong swimmer since the choppy sea would make traversing the distance extremely difficult.