“That woman must be special if you’re still smiling.” Gabriel threw the comment over his shoulder as he boarded the jet.
“You know she is. She’s moving up here. I’ll be needing a couple days off. I’m marrying her.”
Gabriel turned. The self-satisfied smirk across the man’s face said more than words could.
“You knew?”
“Had a feeling. I took the liberty of starting the wheels in motion to ensure you’d be able to adopt Reece.”
“Is there anything you don’t know?”
“Sure.”
“Like?”
“Like why you can’t see your own worth. Why your brothers feel the need to protect you, when, if they only opened their eyes, they would see you are the solid rock that the future of this organization will be built on.”
“Jacob, too?” Jason got that. Even though Jacob was the youngest, the man had a huge need to protect his family and his people.
“Jacob? I don’t know what his opinion is on this. I was talking about Justin and Jared.”
Jason sat down in the pilot’s seat and nearly broke his neck doing a double take at his boss. “What? Wait… Justin?”
Gabriel sat down and started powering up the aircraft systems. “I know I told you I’d give you six months. But if I explain Justin, I’m going to need a commitment from you.”
Jason busied himself with the business of getting the aircraft onto the apron so they could taxi.
He was staying at Guardian, that was a given. Faith knew the hours he’d need to work. He’d been honest during their late night telephone calls. Admitting that the demanding position had fed him in ways he didn’t know he needed wasn’t hard. When he started this journey, the certainty he’d disappoint Gabriel had fogged his belief in the clarity of the other man’s vision. Now he had no reservations about his mentor’s vision being the absolute best for everyone, including himself. But Justin? What in the hell did he have to do with Guardian? He was a successful businessman and restaurant owner. He had nothing to do with Guardian.
“Does Faith know what she’s signing up for?”
“Yes, and just so you know, I’ve made up my mind. I’ll take care of your baby until Deacon and David are willing to assume the mantle. Faith knows the basics of what I do. Together we can and will take care of Guardian Security, but I won’t do this without her. She’s my center.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Gabriel waited while the tower cleared them for takeoff. Jason flipped the Guardian communications system on as the jet powered toward the end of the runway and lifted into the sky. Now that they’d cleared the ground support telemetry, their comms wouldn’t disrupt the aircraft’s systems.
“Anna has always been my ground zero. Just after I found her, there was a period of time when she disappeared. I thought I’d lost her. Fuck, I never want to experience that feeling again. As long as she’s with me, I can do just about anything.”
He nodded and guided the aircraft into a bank from their current path back to the east, easing into a staggered climb because of traffic around the airport. He pulled the stick back and felt the lady’s nose pull up.
A piercing wail sounded over their headsets. “Echo Papa! Echo Papa! Arch Angel take countermeasures for Echo Papa.” Jacob’s voice thundered over the radio. Jason immediately implemented the emergency procedures Jacob demanded.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday. Dulles Tower, Guardian One declaring an in-flight emergency. Request approval for immediate landing.”
“Negative, Guardian One. The approach is full. Hold at your current altitude.”
Gabriel switched on the radio. “Dulles Tower, implement DV 227 protocols.”
Jason lowered the stick, leveling out a mere ten thousand feet beneath their flight plan’s stated cruising altitude.
A new voice cracked over the radio. “Roger that, Guardian One. Turn left to heading 242 and descend to ten thousand feet. Hold on course for diverting aircraft. Give me two minutes, Guardian One.”
Jason keyed the mic for the Guardian radio systems. “Alpha One, sitrep now.”
Jacob’s voice rang over the speaker. “Aircraft ground crew, security and refueling contractor at the hangar found dead. Aircraft compromised… possible sabotage.”
Shit. Jason glanced at the tense face of his boss. “Any chatter?”
“No. Gabriel, Anna is fine, her car was run off the road. Her security detail pulled her to safety. She’s shaken but alright.”
Jason’s cell rang with Faith’s number flashing. Gabriel grabbed the phone and hit the speaker icon.
“Jason! My trailer, it just blew up! Oh my God, we were supposed to be in it!” The terror in her voice carried through the connection.
Jacob’s voice in the background barely registered. “Where are you, baby?”
“At Helena’s. Jason, I’m so scared.”
“Are you and Reece okay?”
“Yeah, but he was outside in her side yard when it happened. Jason, there was a man in a suit looking for me yesterday. Helena told him when I’d be back.”
He kept his voice calm, the antithesis of his raging emotions. “Alright, princess, is there a cop nearby?” He heard the tower’s direction and automatically put the plane into descent and decreased his speed as he changed his course direction to make the approach.
“Yeah, outside. Do you want me to go out and get him?”
“No!” Both Gabriel and Jason shouted the word at the phone. Gabriel lifted a hand in apology when Jason glanced at him.
“Stay in the house. Get away from windows. If the cops need to talk to you, make them come in. Do not leave Helena’s trailer for any reason, do you hear me?”
“Jason, what is going on?” Faith’s voice pleaded for answers he didn’t have.
“I don’t know yet, baby. I’m going to make a few phone calls. I’ll call you back. I need you to be strong for Reece. Just do what I asked. Stay inside. Keep Helena with you. Is Cal there yet?” He hit the switch to lower the landing gear and held Gabriel’s eyes as the wheels locked into place. One more way the plane could have been sabotaged and wasn’t. Thank God.
Reece’s cries intensified in the background. He could tell Faith was holding him now. “No. No, he’s not. It’s okay, baby.”
“Momma, tell Daddy I want to c-come back and live wif him!” Jason pulled back on the stick again, bringing the plane’s nose up out of the descent, lining up the instrumentation, and there was nothing he could do to stop the tears that welled in his eyes. Fuck the world if they saw what the little boy’s words meant to him.
“Tell him I’m coming to get you both, Faith. I’ll be there as soon as I can be. I love you.” God, he hoped he was telling the truth. He hoped he’d survive this landing, that the plane didn’t explode at a certain altitude, or when he engaged the brakes, or reversed engines. So many ways whoever had access to the bird could kill them—both him and Gabriel.
“We love you, too.”
“Babe, I have to make some calls. Hang up. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
“Alright. Goodbye.”
He refused to say that word. “I’ll call, princess. Hang on.”
Both he and Gabriel saw the red strobe of the emergency vehicles’ lights lining the runway. The altimeter’s digital readout counted down the landing. With practiced ease, they sat the bird on the runway and glanced at each other as he applied the brakes and Gabriel hit the reverse thrusters to slow the aircraft. The beautiful lady lurched as he maneuvered her off the active runway toward the waiting emergency vehicles.
“Get to the door and open it.” He demanded his boss move as he maneuvered the aircraft to a stop. Gabriel had the hatch open and was back at the cockpit as Jason was unbuckling. They made quick work of dropping to the tarmac and sprinting to the convoy of black Suburbans that raced onto the runway.
Jared pulled them both back behind the vehicle. “Jacob and I have locked down your family, Gabriel. The personal security details have reported in
and all have gone underground.”
“Jared, Faith’s trailer was just blown up. I need a team out there to bring in both Faith and Reece.”
Jared’s head snapped toward Jason. “Holy fuck! This was a coordinated attack against both of you?” He grabbed his cell phone and started barking orders.
Gabriel grabbed his arm and brought his attention from Jared’s shouts. “This has to be linked to a recent event. The last twenty-four to forty-eight hours.”
He knew the second Gabriel said the words. “The Russians.”
Gabriel nodded. “They got to Yuri. That is the only explanation.”
“He didn’t know about Anna or Faith.” Jason poked a hole in the theory.
Gabriel scrubbed his face and groaned. “Someone did. Somewhere, somehow we’ve let someone see us.”
Jason put his hands on his hips. He’d be damned if he’d let anyone take shots at his family.
“We need to circle the wagons. Go to Anna. Make sure your family is safe. I’m going to get Faith. I’ll have Jared get word to the family at the ranch. Jacob has a full-time team on Tori and the boys, but he might want to send them to the ranch. Chief and the twins will take care of them.”
Jared turned and strode over to them. “I have a team from the local office of the FBI heading over to put Faith and Reece into protective custody until Lima Team gets there. Jacob pulled them out from night maneuvers. They were working as aggressors against the SEALs and the Recon teams in Beaufort, S.C., who are doing some annual training. They’ll be there in a couple hours.”
“Don’t let the FBI move them from the trailer. I don’t want to take the chance someone is lying in wait. I need a clean bird. I’m heading to Georgia.”
“It’s smarter to get you back to headquarters. We can protect her.” Jason snapped his eyes down and glared at the restraining hand Jared placed on his arm.
“When you fall in love, you’ll realize just how stupid that statement was, Jared.” Jason pulled away and headed toward the lead vehicle.
“You realize your brother is trying, right?” Gabriel fell into step with him. “When he goes over the edge, it will be spectacular.”
He couldn’t even bring himself to care. He needed to get to Faith. “I want a fucking first-row seat when it happens. I’m going to heckle him like a son of a bitch.” And he would—after the bastards who attacked his family were six feet under.
Chapter Sixteen
Jason exited his vehicle and strode through the blackness of night toward the entry control point of the disaster that once was Faith’s trailer. A cop stepped into his path and held up his hand. Like the man had a chance of stopping him from getting to his family. Jason flipped his credentials to the man in a preemptive strike. He was trying desperately to hold his temper at bay. His body literally shook in suppressed rage. He had to hold Faith and Reece in his arms, to make sure they were okay. The stench of the fire and the charred remains of her trailer only intensified his overwhelming need to get to them. Jason grabbed his badge after the cop handed it back and ducked through the crime scene tape that blocked access to the charred remains of Faith’s trailer.
The patrol officer who watched the entry control point moved in front of him. Oh, hell no. The man had no idea the tempest that Jason was trying to control. With the last of his restraint he tried to warn the officer. “Listen, I know you think you’re doing your job, but you need to get the fuck out of my way.”
“Hey, this is a federal crime scene! The FBI is in control. You can’t go in there without permission,” the young, green, and apparently stupid Garden City cop shouted before he ran toward Jason. His biggest mistake? He didn’t listen to the warning. He got between Jason and his family. Wrong fucking move.
“I’m sorry, sir, you can’t…”
Jason laid the kid out in two seconds, disarmed him and whispered in his ear. “Son, that smoldering piece of metal is my fiancée’s trailer. Right now what you need to do is go find your supervisor and tell him you just tried to block the CEO of Guardian Security from getting to his fiancée and his boy.” Jason lifted off the man, pulled him up off the ground and without a word headed toward Helena’s trailer. The distinct sound of a hammer being pulled back froze his stride.
Jason stopped and slowly cocked his head without turning around. He saw Elliot Sawyer, Lima Team’s leader, step out of the shadows at the front of Helena’s trailer. The man’s voice rang out loud and clear, “Arch Angel’s in jeopardy.”
He turned to eye the Garden City police officer who held his service revolver in a determined two-handed grip. Never before had Jason felt the need to use sublime power conveyed with the position he’d inherited from Gabriel. His appointment to the helm of the company placed him under established protection protocols. The anomalies of today not counted, he was almost untouchable. His family would be protected and the five seasoned warriors that ghosted the perimeter of the crime scene would neutralize any threat, foreign or domestic, that posed a risk to him.
“Officer, lower your weapon and the five M-4s currently targeting your heart will stand down. You’ve seen my credentials, the men who are guarding this trailer have obviously been cleared by the FBI. They recognize me and work for me. I’m not going anywhere. Make the calls you need to make.”
Jason blinked as his men’s laser sights lit up the night putting a punctuation mark on his comments. The older officer’s hand slowly rose and the hammer eased back softly. “Radio for your supervisor. Have him report to that trailer. The FBI will debrief him. And officer?”
“Sir?” The older man gulped dramatically. “Thank you, for your service.” Jason turned and headed toward his team leader.
Elliot stepped further into the pool of light the streetlight cast on the cement drive leading toward Helena’s trailer.
“The area is secure, sir. She’s inside with the residents of this home. Alpha and Bravo have confirmed you have vetted the families. The husband’s been allowed to keep his weapon. The woman had a handgun. For our safety, we took it until the husband was released off shift.”
Jason chuckled and put a hand on the team leader’s shoulder. “Thank you.” He didn’t have the words to express what the men’s protection of his family meant.
“We’ve got your back, Jace. I only stepped in because I didn’t want to do the paperwork you killing that stupid cop would have caused.”
“I might not have killed him, Elliot. Trying to turn a new leaf and all that shit.”
“Right. And you weren’t the man who singlehandedly handed that SEAL team their asses during the last large force exercise.”
“A lot has happened since then.”
“Yeah, you’ve moved up the food chain by about forty steps.”
“Lost my edge.”
“Yeah? And I have some swampland in Arizona to sell you. Fuck, Jace, my cousin was with you in theater when all that shit went down. Said you were the best skipper he’d served under, and that tough son of a bitch doesn’t give endorsements easily.”
Jason glanced at Elliot and nodded because words were inadequate… once again.
“He’s here! Momma, he’s here!” The screen door swung open as the boy and his dog raced out of the trailer.
Jason scooped Reece up as he launched off the top step of the porch. The little boy grabbed Jason’s neck and buried his head against his shoulder. “All my toys are blowed up! I cried. I was scared but Momma said you were coming to get us. I want to go back to your house. Nothing bad can get us at your house, right?” Reece’s tears shredded him. He rubbed his boy’s back and held him tightly as the child clung to him.
“I promise to keep you safe, Reece. I promise.” Jason kissed the little boy’s temple and glanced up. Faith stood at the top of the stairs. He held out his arm and she raced down the stairs.
“Jason.”
Her soft sob gutted him. He folded her into his arms. Her trembling body pressed against him while he held Reece in his arms. This—this was what he’d been
missing for as long as he could remember. A person, two actually, who loved him unconditionally.
“Shh… princess, it’s alright. Come on, we’re heading home.” He started to turn back to his convoy of vehicles and the security he brought with him.
“Wait, what about Helena and Cal? Are they in danger?” Faith glanced back at the trailer.
“We have two teams of local-based FBI who are taking them to a safe house tonight.” Elliot’s reply came from the shadows.
“Thank you. Let’s go. If there is any question about their safety, we will either relocate them or bring Cal on and make him a member of Guardian. He has some of the background we require. But right now, I need to get you out of here and back home where I can make sure you’re safe.”
Faith nodded and waved at Helena and Cal, who stood in the doorway. A disturbance near his vehicle stopped his turn and movement away from the trailer. Elliot stepped in front of Jason and his family. The team members formed an immediate circle around them. “Ready when you are, sir. We have orders from Alpha to escort you back to D.C. and make sure your family is secure.”
“Then lead the way, Lima.”
***
Reece’s body jerked in his sleep. Jason still held him. Every time he moved, the little guy whimpered in his sleep. He held Faith close and she leaned against her head against his chest with her eyes shut.
“Where were you when I called?” Her words were soft so she wouldn’t wake Reece.
He shifted, his mind swirling with the swarm of actions that needed to be taken, the directives he needed to issue and the resources he needed to move to thwart this threat. “I was attempting an emergency landing at Dulles. We believed our plane could have been compromised.”
“Compromised?”
“The ground crew that services the jet we use were found dead in the hangar after we took off. It was assumed that the plane had been tampered with. We landed successfully, though.”
Jason (Kings of Guardian #4) Page 12