by Jana Leigh
“Bat cave?” Steve said and turned to her.
“Yep, that is what Noah and I have dubbed your little cabin because you refused to allow us to come and see it. Dallas and I were going to try to follow you home one night but we figured you would see us. So when do I get to see this little log home you have built into the side of a mountain?” She asked.
“Not until Jolly is coming home too. I promised never to take you there unless we were together.” Steve said pecking her cheek with a kiss.
“Bro, that was before the accident. Now we are going to have to make sure she gets all of her stuff up there. I think we should bring Noah, Dallas, and Bailey to stay in the guesthouse. With the security system we have, it is like Fort Knox up there. Besides, I think we are all in danger now, the Digrossi family have declared war on us. They wanted Bailey and the books, now that she has turned them over to the feds; they are going to want to silence her. They already tried one way, now they will try to get anyone close to her.” Jolly said and grimaced when he had to move a little.
For the most part Jolly was a walking miracle. He had broken his leg in two places, his arm and shoulder, plus taken multiple gunshots to his torso. The man had just been in surgery fighting for his life yesterday and today he planned an attack. Calli shook her head. Neither of the guys was looking at her, they were discussing the logistics of moving everyone out to the cabin.
“Stop!” She yelled and stomped her foot.
“Listen here, tough guys. Jolly is lying in a hospital bed lucky to be alive. Shouldn"t we worry about this later?” She asked.
“Baby girl, I wish we could, but these guys are playing for keeps. We have to get us all to safety ASAP.” Jolly said gently.
“You don"t know the half of it. I was at the loft dealing with Andres Digrossi, Jr. He is apparently the bastard child of the Digrossi Family, the only one who has a head on his shoulders and is not involved in the criminal side of the family. His father is the head of the family in New York and is the one who put the hit out on Bailey. He came because he heard some of the plans they were making and wanted to warn us and help. He is ready for his family to go down. The hardheaded son of a bitch also refused to leave the loft until he spoke to Bailey. Apparently, they had been conversing for the past few months on the phone, that is when Jr. figured out where all the money was. He is some hotshot lawyer in New York; he placed a target on his back the second he left New York.
Bailey has this idea now the man is worth protecting, she ordered Dallas and Noah to either help him too or she was leaving to go into protective custody with him. Dallas did not take too kindly to his future wife thinking she was gonna shack up with a tall dark stranger, so it was a mess. The guy has some secret need to protect Bailey too, he says he knew what his father was planning but did not have enough time to stop it. Now he is all about sticking to Bailey like glue until she is safe. Basically, I have a cluster fuck that needs to be unscrewed and I need time to do it where we will all be safe. The feds agreed that they could not handle their protection because they have a mess of their own to deal with. Who the hell knows how many more people Trent bought off?” Steve said, running his hands through his short hair and pacing.
“Okay then, TMI.” Calli said and went to Jolly"s side. “Think we have to compartmentalize here guys. Jolly is wounded and needs to have rest. Bailey, Dallas, and Noah need protecting and that Junior guy needs his head examined. I will not be leaving either of your sides again so you can go and get shot. So how many bedrooms does this cabin have?” Calli asked.
“I don"t really know.” Steve responded and then frowned. “What about Ginny? She is the only one we have forgotten about and she was at the hospital talking to the nurses and doctors last night and this morning arranging for nursing care. I never thought to make sure she had a guard. Shit.” Steve said and ran out of the door. Calli was going to follow but could not decide where she needed to be. With Jolly or Steve.
“Baby girl, stay right here.” Jolly warned as he looked at her indecision. “Until we get all of this sorted out, you stay with me.”
Calli nodded in agreement and sat down in the chair next to his bed.
Chapter 5
Steve ran from the hospital room and saw Ginny standing at the nurse"s desk. He let out a sigh of relief because he was not going to have to chase her down. He slowed his pace to a walk and reached her side quickly.
Ginny looked up in surprise when she felt him take her elbow and begin to propel her away from her task. “Wait a minute.” She said and frowned at her friend. “I have a few more things to get signed so we can arrange for transport. Including the location of the Bat Cave.” She said pulling her arm out of his grasp.
“That will not be necessary Ginny; I have taken care of the details of transport. What else do you have planned here?” Steve said grasping her arm with his hand firmly.
“Oh, okay, I just have to get insurance forms filled out with correct billing address. The insurance company called this morning and told the hospital you did not live where you were listed. They wanted a current residence before they could process the claim.” She said and then pulled out a piece of paper.
Steve frowned and then leaned in to look at what she was staring at before stating,
“Weird, all the insurance is billed through the agency. We have never had an address request before now. Who did you talk to?”
“Um, a Mr. Mead, he said he was your policy manager.” Ginny said and looked at her friend. “He"s not, is he?”
“Not a name I have ever heard. Let"s call back to the office and see, by the way how did they get ahold of you?” He asked.
“I gave the business office my number yesterday in case they needed more information.
I figured I could just run over and get it instead of bugging you. I gave them my cell and home numbers just in case.” She said and her eyes grew wide thinking of the implications of her giving that information. Anyone could find you doing a reverse look up. She had insisted she was a close personal friend of the family so when the insurance company called the hospital they had given them her phone numbers.
“Well then, you are now going to be with us. I will call and see if we can get someone to your house and get your stuff. You just landed smack dab in the middle of our case.
Welcome to the club missy, we are all going to hole up at the cabin. No one has the actual address and it would be hard to find right now anyway, we buried it in different shell names.” Steve started guiding her to Jolly"s room. “Let"s get you into the room first and then deal with things afterward.”
“Whoa there cowboy. I think I can handle this myself. I really do not think they will come after me, do you? I am just a contact person, a lowly employee and not even for your company.” Ginny started, feeling like she was losing her mind. She had been employed with Dallas for the last four years; she was a friend and confidant to both of the men. They invited her into their inner circle and she met Steve, Jolly, and Calli. She found she enjoyed their company just as much, but she never felt like she was truly someone other than an employee. Even with Calli, Ginny held back.
“Ginny, we will not take that chance. You know if Dallas ever lost you, he would not know where the hell the sun was located. Besides everyone knows how close you are to us.” Steve said and pushed open Jolly"s door.
“Not that close, you know I do get paid to hang out with you sometimes.” She said desperate to convince him she was not in danger.
Calli and Jolly disagreed instantly and Steve frowned down at her. “What the hell are you talking about? You are our friend the same as any of the others. We trust you with our life or you would never have been invited to any of our homes.” Steve huffed.
“Where do you get off thinking you are just an employee? I should call Dallas and tell Noah and him what you just said. They would have no problem kicking your ass.” Steve groused.
Ginny rolled her eyes and said, “You know what I meant. Of course I am your friend; I just
meant I was not nearly important as Jolly, Calli, or the others.” She said impatiently. “Dallas and Noah have Bailey and you both have Calli, I figured now that you were all together, that I would be the seventh wheel. No worries, I get it.”
“I should kick your ass now, but I think I will wait for Noah.” Calli came and stood next to her, pinching her in the arm. “You are my best friend, who else would I call when I need to eat a half gallon of ice cream when Lifetime releases a new movie? Besides, these insensitive assholes will never go to the Disney Movies with me.”
“Ouch,” she said and rubbed her arm, “Bailey can go with you now.” She muttered and looked at the tall woman. It was funny really, Calli was six feet and Bailey was barely five feet tall. Then average Ginny was in the middle with nothing really remarkable about her. She secretly wished the guys would have fallen in love with her but she knew she would never have been able to live like that. She was a one-man type of a woman.
Her family was huge and her three brothers would have a fit if she became involved in a relationship with more than one man. They were very traditional even though they knew and loved Dallas and Noah. She just wanted to find a nice man that would love her like her parents did each other. They were Italian and had passion and love.
“What? You cannot be replaced. What is going on with you?” Calli asked and put her arm around her friend. She had never had self-esteem issues before, what was going on with her now? Calli wondered but never had a chance to talk to her, because Steve"s phone began ringing and she knew something was wrong the instant he started snapping into the phone. Calli returned to Jolly"s side of the bed, pulling Ginny with her and took his hand looking for comfort. She knew something bad had happened, she just wanted to know which of her friends was hurt now.
Steve finished with his phone call and turned to his friends and sighed. “Okay, Andres Junior took a bullet in the shoulder. They are bringing him down to the ER as quick as they can. Someone took a shot from the building across from the loft. Bailey was standing right next to him so we are not sure who they were aiming for him or her. We gotta get out of this town while we only have injuries, not causalities. So, let"s get organizing this thing, girls. Bailey, Noah, and Dallas are on their way with Andres. We need to get transport ready and Jolly needs to be released with us.” Steve said and started snapping orders to them, Calli pulled out her phone and called her part time employees and had them start to gather clothes for all of them. None of them had time to pack, and they needed to get bare necessities together for eight of them.
Ginny took over getting a few weeks" worth of food arranged and ready to be picked up at the local grocer. Thankfully, she knew all of her friends likes and dislikes because she always paid close attention to it in case they needed her to organize a party or something. She just had a hard time thinking she fit in with these people. She loved them and cherished their friendships, but she was a down-home girl that still went to Sunday dinner at her family. Shit, she was going to have to call her mom and tell her she would be out of town for a while. She refused to tell them the truth because they would all freak and want her to come home.
An hour later, Dallas and Bailey arrived at the hospital room. They went to Jolly and talked to him before turning to discuss the situation with Steve. Bailey still felt guilty and it showed in the bags under her eyes and the pallor of her skin. She probably stayed up the whole night trying to convince the boys to let her go; they of course refused and would have put up quite a fight.
“Noah is with Andres downstairs. They have bonded over being shot.” Dallas said and rolled his eyes. The girls both giggled at the look on Dallas"s face, they knew he loved the other man but sometimes he got pissed when he tried to save the world. Noah had a few issues with strays. He loved to bring them home and take care of them, but often it led to a few more problems than he anticipated. A few years ago, one such stray had become a stalker, and tried to kill him when Noah told him he did not return the feelings. Dallas was his protector, and more often than not, it was a full time job.
Steve finally got off the phone and they all wanted to hear what was supposedly going to be happening and what they had found out about the sniper. “Ok boys and girls, we are going to have a little sleep over in the Bat Cave. Calli and Ginny have been trying to organize food, clothes, and necessities for all of us. We just really need to get everyone together, along with the nurse we are taking with us for all you sickies and then we will be off. I think we have a bus coming.” He teased. “Also, the sniper left no marks on the other building and so we have no idea who or what we are dealing with. I really need for you guys to make all the calls you need to from here before we leave. Because we will be leaving the cell phones and any other device, they could use to track us. I will get new ones for each of you when we are safe, but until then, sorry. Tell everyone you are sick or going on an extended vacation for now. So we have about an hour before the others should get here and then another hour before we leave. No one leaves this room without an escort and keep the windows closed.”
They all nodded in agreement. Bailey was the one who started crying first. “I am so sorry, guys. You barely even know me and I have ruined your life.” She said and then buried her face into her hands.
“Baby, this is not your fault. Listen, I thought we already talked about this. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, it could have happened to any of us. I am thankful we found you before they could really kill you. Just think what our lives would have been like without you in it.” Dallas said softly to her trying to console her, but it was not really working.
“Yeah Dal, make sure you throw in the part where everything happens for a reason,” Calli scoffed. Dallas looked at her warningly but she continued on. “Bailey face it, yeah it kinda sucks that you were working for a mob boss and all. And yeah, we have all been sucked into this mess, but realistically it is not your fault you worked for a low life scum.
It would be if you continued to do the job they asked, but you are trying to help put him in jail. So no, the fault is all on him, the little pecker head is refusing to admit he is a criminal, and needs to go to jail. Our guys will get them and in the meantime, we get to go on a vacation with four hot guys and we get them all to ourselves. Yummy! I am saying thank you, girlfriend.” Calli said and bent down to take the little woman"s hand against her face. “Also the way I hear it, we have a fifth hot man and a lonely little friend who needs a little attention. I think we will have fun getting those two together, don"t you think?”
Ginny blushed bright red because she knew Calli was talking about her and this guy Andres. Well they could scratch her off the list because she refused to even look at a man who was also Italian. She had enough of those bossy men growing up; she refused to get involved with one. Then Noah walked in and the man in question followed. Shit was she in trouble, Ginny thought looking at the totally gorgeous hunk of a man that entered the room. He was as tall as Dallas and had bulges in all the right spots. She looked him over as he continued into the room and was introduced to everyone. When it came time for Ginny to meet him, she was sure she would pass out. He was a Greek God.
Steve came forward and introduced them together. She felt a shock of electricity when they shook hands and looked into his deep blue eyes and smiled when the man frowned down at her. He probably was trying to figure out who the hell she was. Bailey and Calli were both gorgeous and sophisticated, and here was mousey little Ginny, the plain Jane of the bunch. She gently pulled her hands away from him and went and stood in the corner. She had to make the call to her family and she knew it was going to take a while.
She would use every precious minute she could to explain why she was going out of town on the spur of the moment.
Calli made her arrangements and then went to focus on Jolly. She fussed over him getting him ready to leave the hospital. The man had barely made it through surgery yesterday and today he was leaving the hospital. She just hoped the nurse was good at her job becaus
e if anything happened to him she realized she would be lost. No matter what the outcome of this crazy adventure, she was on her way to her new home with Steve and Jolly.
Chapter 6
Steve was only half joking when he said they would be traveling by bus. Yes, it was a huge bus, but it was one of those kinds that were retrofitted for bands to travel around the country with. Instead of being loaded with plush surroundings, it had state of the art equipment for surveillance. Like this big monstrosity would not stand out on a busy street. Steve had laughed when she said that, explaining this was used for when they were asked to do security for stars coming to Colorado to visit, or political people traveling through. It got the job done and at least ten guys could work in here comfortably.
They were traveling up the curving road, all of them silent and pensive. None of them had been happy about the turn of events, but Steve made the decision to keep them all together and he was going to stick to it.
Calli sat in the back in the bedroom area with Jolly, who was being taken care of by the nurse he had hired to join them. Jolly was very unhappy the nurse was male but when Steve called Calli had insisted on it. She was trying to soothe his grumpy attitude about having a male nurse take care of him, promising to take care of the sponge baths and other personal needs. Steve chuckled when Calli told him how she had taken care of Jolly before lunch.
Steve stood when he saw that they were approaching the gates to their estate. When Jolly and he had called their new house a cabin, it had been a joke between the two friends. Their friends had never asked about what their new home was going to be like.