Hoyt squeezed in with the rest of the crew, all of the members of Task Force Scorpion were crowded around the conference table with their back up, Team Omega. Col. Grey had been unable to secure a full Special Forces team on such short notice and had called in a favor from his old buddy, Holden, a former SF operative, who’d sent in a full team of former operatives turned private contractors.
Hank was also present. He leaned in now and pointed to the east, west, and south borders of his property. “These are your weak spots—the places where the trees come right up to the fence line. I cleared out a perimeter inside the fence when I first bought the property, but didn't do anything around it.”
“I want teams of two on the front here.” Hunter pointed at the northeast and northwest corners. “Col Grey has acquired two security towers. Rowdy, I want your men in two-man teams in those towers. Hank can help show you where to place them. Use the camo net to break up the towers outside. From there you can cover our flanks and catch anyone coming from the north.”
Hoyt pointed to the back of the property, where it was all wooded. “What about the south?”
“I want to set up three teams of roving guards. Here, here, and here.” Hunter pointed the areas out on the map.
“I've already set up thermal cameras on the southeast and southwest corners, and there’s one centered on the south line. So we’ll have eyes on the property in the places where we don't have enough men,” Ethan, TF-Scorpion's resident technology genius, said.
“Hoyt, you and Jared will set up at the command post in the center of the property. You can see clear to the highway from there, so you can watch over this residence—” Hunter pointed to a small square to the left of headquarters. Hoyt knew it represented his team leader’s own house, “—and the other two properties here and here.” Now he was pointing at Hank's house and the ranch house where Jared and Hoyt lived.
“Rowdy's team will have two guards stationed at the front gate at all times. They’ve set up a serpentine of downed trees from the property at the entrance of the gate starting a hundred meters out from the gate. Ethan has set up motion-activated thermal cameras at the entrance to the drive off the main highway to alert us to any approaching vehicles.”
“And who's going to be tracking down the terrorists in the meantime?” Hoyt asked. He wanted to be out there hunting those fuckers and taking them down one by one.
“Mr. K and his team are working round-the-clock. As soon as we get a lead, we’ll send out a team. But until then I want you all to stay tight. Malik has continued his monitoring of the social networks and the chatter increased drastically as of yesterday. We don’t know whether or not that had something to do with the attack on Hayden, but until we know more, our best option is to stay here and protect our family.”
“Any questions?” Hunter looked around the table. Everyone nodded, good to go. “Good, Rowdy's team–stay with me. Hank’s gonna take us on a tour of the property. My team is already familiar with it, so they'll go ahead and set up shop. Hoyt and Jared, get on the roof. There’s some camo net in the back. Riser and Aaron, you've got Hank's house. Me and Ranger will take mine. Ethan will stay here to monitor the cameras. Merc and Cord, you'll swap out with Jared and Hoyt. Twelve hour shifts. You rest until your shift, just like in the suck.”
Chapter 29
Hayden woke the next day to the sweet aroma of wild flowers. They were everywhere, on the bedside table and the dresser, across the bed. Some in vases, others bundled with ribbon or twine. Purple and yellow. Just like the bouquet she'd picked for Hank and Maxi.
She lifted the bundle off the table and held it to her nose. Tears pricked her eyes. The beauty of the gesture nearly overwhelmed her and made her forget the dull pain in her shoulder.
Moving slowly, she set the flowers back on the table and used her good arm to push herself upright. The wave of dizziness took her off guard and she almost fell back. Hayden forced herself to take long slow deep breaths until the room stopped spinning around her. One step at a time. She swung her right leg off the mattress, followed by her left, then eased a foot down to the floor, holding onto the bedpost until she stood steady.
The distance from Hoyt's bed to the door was about ten feet. She could manage that. Hayden steeled herself and took a step. Then another. By the third one she had to let go of the bed post. The room swam around her, she wobbled and slapped a hand on the nearest wall. Sweet Jesus, she might have overestimated her ability.
Maybe she should just wait for Hoyt to come back. No, she wanted to see him, now. More than that, she needed to find out what was going on. Had they caught the shooter? Or was he still lurking out there, waiting to pose another attack on her and the people she loved.
Hayden swallowed past the lump of fear and pushed on the door. She made her way down the hall with short, careful footsteps, moving toward the kitchen.
When she was a kid, she'd loved to sneak over to the low-slung ranch house with her brothers and play. It stretched out long, with the bedrooms on opposite ends of the house, the kitchen and living room in the middle.
Sounds drifted toward her from the kitchen and Hayden slowly shuffled that way, carefully bracing her hand along the wall. The sound of voices grew louder, and then there was a small burst of laughter. Was Hoyt in there?
Heart tight with anticipation, Hayden ducked into the hall bathroom to do a quick mirror check. Jesus Christ, bad idea. Some blood spatter was still caught in her tangled mass of hair, making her look like the post-prom version of freaking Carrie.
Hayden switched on the sink and quickly splashed some cold water on her face, all with one hand, which took twice as long. She dried her face with a hand towel and reassessed. Ugh. Now she just looked like a shinier cleaner version of Carrie.
Another bark of laughter, this one sounding a little like Hoyt. She really should go back to her room and wait for someone to check on her, but her desire to see him outweighed that thought. Besides, he always told her he liked her better without makeup.
Well, she was fixing to test his theory.
Hayden shuffled down the hall and hung a small right into the kitchen only to stop dead in her tracks. Hoyt was nowhere to be seen. As a matter of fact, she didn't recognize half of the six men in here. She gasped as every single pair of eyes fixated on her.
Hunter turned toward her from his position at the sink, his expression dark and stormy. “What are you doing out of bed?”
Hayden flinched, not because of the tone of his voice—which she would kick his butt over later—but because one of the men at the table had pushed his chair back, sending the wood legs scraping over the tile.
“Ma'am, take my chair.” The stranger, who had chestnut brown hair and a matching beard, held out a hand in her direction. His expression was kind, but she hesitated.
Hunter barked out, “She's not sitting, she's going back to bed.”
Hayden's chin lifted of its own accord and she took the guy’s hand and allowed him to assist her into the chair. “My name's John David, ma'am, but the rest of these eggheads call me Rowdy.”
Eggheads? They are about as far from that as you could get. Hayden counted five other men, and with Hunter and Rowdy, that made seven. All of them were clothed in black from head to toe and strapped with guns. The kitchen table had been turned into a holding place for weapons and radios. Getting out of bed probably hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
“It's okay, we're part of the team that's going to help protect you from anything like this—” Rowdy gestured to her arm, “—ever happening again.”
And despite their fierce get-ups, something about this man put her at ease. He was about Hunter's age and just as big, but there were laugh lines grooved around his eyes.
Hayden smiled and decided to focus on the least intimidating person in the room. “Thank you. I appreciate that. This has been one of my least favorite experiences.”
Tension exploded off Hunter. Hayden could practically feel his black eyes boring into h
er, but she refused to look at him. He might command his troops at his whim, but he didn’t control her.
Rowdy's eyes twinkled and he winked at her. “I totally agree. Getting shot is a real pain in the ass.”
One of his teammates, the one with a shaved head and beard, muttered, “Especially when you get shot in the ass.”
Rowdy shot the man a glare. “Seeing as how I was carrying you out of a firefight, you'd think I'd get a little more appreciation.”
The rest of the men burst out laughing, easing the tension in the room. Until Hayden’s brother opened his big mouth again. At least he tried to temper his voice. For him, that meant not shouting. “What are you doing out of bed? You shouldn't be aggravating your injury.”
“I feel fine. Besides, I was looking for Hoyt. Have you seen him?”
“Why do you want to see him?”
So I can tell him how much I love him and appreciate him.
“He gave me some flowers, I want to thank him.”
Hunter took a lumbering step toward her. “When?”
“I don't know. I just woke up and they were there. What's your problem anyway?”
Another teammate of Rowdy's, this one a little bit shorter but with arms like tree trunks, cleared his throat. “This wouldn't be the badass dude with the scar and all the tattoos?”
“Yes,” Hayden said.
“He came by at about three a.m. on his way back to overwatch.”
“And why the fuck would you let him near my sister?” Hunter growled
“Why wouldn't he? This is his house, and I was in his bed.” Hayden pushed up out of the chair too fast. The room tilted, but two sets of hands grabbed her waist to steady her.
Heat rose to her cheeks, but she nodded. “Thank you, I've got it now.”
“Hunter, you better tell me what the deal is between you two. Hoyt is your teammate. Your friend. Why are you so pissed that he was here?”
Hunter slammed his lips shut and that stubborn James mask slipped over his face. The one that Hayden could never figure out how to crack.
“I'll find out.” Hayden wagged a finger at Hunter. There was something else going on here, something besides his overprotective brother routine.
“Command, this is the front gate.”
Rowdy grabbed one of the radios off the table and held it to his mouth. “Go ahead.”
“We got a visitor requesting entrance. Over.”
Rowdy looked at her brother. “Hunter, you expecting company today?”
“No.”
Rowdy spoke into the radio. “ID?”
“I have a Chance Bekham. About five-ten, one hundred sixty pounds. Blond hair. Claims to know Hayden James. Over.”
Hayden cringed, she didn’t want to see Chance, not now, not after she and Hoyt had finally reconnected. He didn’t compare to Hoyt, no one did, and they never would.
Hunter's frown deepened. “You know this person?”
“We go to school together, he's nice.”
Hunter turn to Rowdy. “Send him away.”
“Don't you dare, he's my friend.”
“He’s an unknown, which means he’s a threat. And he's not getting on my property.” Hunter closed the gap between them.
Hayden met him glare for glare and rose up on her toes, her thought about avoiding Chance gone in the face of Hunter’s overbearing attitude. “He’s my friend and I do know him, therefore he is not a threat.”
“Don't be stupid. You're not up for company yet.”
Hayden gestured to the rest of the room with her good hand. “And yet here I am entertaining one of your teams.”
The radio crackled again. “Sir?”
“Find out what he wants,” Hunter said.
Rowdy repeated the question into the comm and the response came back a few seconds later. “Something about bringing classwork and coffee for Hayden. Want me to turn him around?”
Hunter's expression didn't let up one bit. Hayden knew if she wanted to win this battle, she'd have to pull out the big guns. “If you don't let him in, I'll tell Evie you shouted at me for no reason.”
Hunter's tiny wife was the only woman Hayden knew who could bend her stubborn, alpha brother. Not that she ever did. But she could.
“You think she'd believe you over me?”
Hayden turned on the water works, something she'd learned to do at a young age. Her father had figured out her game years ago and the whole tear trick didn't work on him anymore. But Hunter and Ranger still fell for it every time. She sniffed as she sank into the chair and then winced for good measure. “I just want to see my friend. These past few days have been so terrible.”
Apparently tears still worked on her brother, and judging from the way the guys were glaring at Hunter, they worked on every other man in the room too. He shifted and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Jesus, let the guy in. But put an escort on him. If he tries anything twitchy, blow his head off.”
Hayden looked down at her lap, trying to hide her smile. Worked like a charm. When she got her features back under control, she chanced a peek. Hunter had turned back to the sink, and was staring out the small back window. The rest of the team members were still glaring at him, all except Rowdy, whose twinkling blue eyes were locked on her. “I've got a baby sister too.”
Her cheeks flushed. “Oh?”
“Yeah, and I just figured something out.”
Please don't call me out.
Rowdy just smiled. “Hunter, my man, you better take care of this girl. She's good.”
Holding her gaze, Rowdy spoke into the comm. “Escort the guy in. Don't leave his side.”
Hayden decided to get out of there while she still could. A thought hit her and she stopped at the door. “Hunter, be nice. I'm going to go clean up. When I come out, Chance better still be here. And he better be unharmed.”
Hayden almost ran down the hall to Hoyt's bedroom. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she collapsed back against it and expelled a breath.
She had absolutely no desire to pursue a relationship with Chance, and she had to make that clear to him today.
Hayden spied her bag on the bed and sent out a silent thank you. A shower and a change of clothes would be pure heaven. She could deal with Chance and then prepare for her seduction of Hoyt Crowe.
Chapter 30
Hayden reentered the kitchen about thirty minutes and a quick shower later. Whoever had packed her bag deserved a medal of honor. They'd included a complete shower kit, her makeup, and a selection of comfortable but cute clothes, including her favorite blue-checkered tunic and matching gray tights. Both of which had been surprisingly easy to change into considering the fact that each time she moved her arm it felt like someone was pouring acid on her shoulder.
She'd done a last check before leaving the bathroom. Her make up looked good, but there was a lingering pale tinge to her cheeks. Definitely not her best day, but hey, she'd had a bad week. Gunshot victims simply don’t have rosy cheeks. End of story.
Poor Chance looked worse than she did, though. Sitting at the kitchen table, surrounded by Rowdy's team and her overbearing big brother, his face was whiter than the Oyster Toaster on the counter.
“Hey, Chance,” Hayden said, announcing her presence in the room. She tried to ignore the fact that she instantly had eight pairs of eyes aimed her way.
Hunter was the easiest to ignore, since she was still pissed off at him.
Chance cleared his throat but didn't stand up. His normal light-hearted grin looked forced. She couldn't blame him for being intimidated. The men crowding the kitchen weren't your typical small town workers. They were big, bad, and intimidating beyond words. Perfect for war, but scary as hell to civilians.
Hayden let loose a frustrated sigh and crossed the room to him. “Want to come into the living room and visit?”
“Yeah.” He pulled at his collar and glanced up at Hunter.
Hayden frowned at her brother. Hunter's scowl broke into a grin—really more of a baring of
teeth—and he held up his hands in surrender. “I didn't touch him.”
“You didn't make him comfortable either.”
“Hey, you told me not to hurt him. I kept my end of the bargain.”
Chance eased his chair back, but the loud scrape might as well have been a shout. “It’s all good.”
Hayden gave Chance a reassuring smile before turning her glare on her brother again. “You're terrible.”
Hunter just grinned.
“Come on.” Hayden gestured for Chance to follow her to the living room. “We can hang out here.”
She carefully settled onto the couch. Chance came into the room all twitchy and nervous, carrying a paper cup from the Java Shop. “Here, I thought you might like some coffee. Probably cold by now, but hopefully still okay.”
Hayden took the cup, sniffed it, and smiled. “Mocha. How did you know?”
Chance settled on the other end of the couch, a full cushion separating them. “I cheated and asked Mandy.”
Oh Lord, Mandy was going to be pissed. Hayden hadn't called her or anything. “What did she say?”
“Not much, other than that she’d like to hear from you when you’re feeling better.
Chance looked away, sweeping the living room with his eyes. Looking everywhere but at Hayden. A move that was very atypical for the exchange student. “Chance?”
His shoulders rose and fell, like he was taking a deep breath, then he turned to face her. “I was so worried. I didn't know what happened, no one did. The cops aren't talking and neither is the media. But everyone knows you got shot.” He edged closer as the words tumbled out. “They shut the whole school down yesterday, and they only just re-opened classes this morning. I've been trying to call you, but you never answered...”
Hayden's heart twisted for him. Though she’d picked up on his interest a while ago, he was acting like they were in love or something. His eyes were fixed on her, his expression devoid of any playfulness. He edged even closer, not stopping until their legs touched. Hayden wanted to scoot away, but she was already sitting at the edge of the couch. “Chance, I'm sorry you were worried.”
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