When they arrived back at the hospital the doctor had told them Brin and Marcus would be released this morning. Because they needed another day to prepare on the island, they were not set to leave until the following morning when the plane arrived from Healing with the others aboard to get them. So for the night, they were staying at Vince’s motel. Tulu had a great time arranging that for them, making sure they would have everything they needed for the night.
Grant was staying with them also; overnight he had informed his partners that he would be taking a leave of absence and he closed up the bungalow. Jessie had been shocked to see the man had barely moved into the house. When asked, Grant said it didn’t feel like a home yet.
They had also spoken about how they were going to deal with Brin. Both of them agreed they wanted her, and both agreed they would take it slow, let her get comfortable with the notion of two men. When Jessie explained about his friends' lifestyle, instead of being horrified, Brin had been curious. That gave both of them hope that she would be open-minded.
“Where are they?” Jessie grumbled and resumed his pacing.
“The nurse said the doctor was filling a prescription for her, since we were flying to an island where there is not hospital, he wanted to make sure she had what she needed in case of an emergency.” Grant laughed and then said, “So Healing, Wyoming?”
Jessie looked at his friend and smiled. “Yeah, we are ranchers now.”
“I just can’t see that yet, man.” Grant laughed and shook his head.
“Well, maybe seeing is believing. When this shit is all done, we could probably use our own vet there,” Jessie said smoothly.
“Real subtle.” Grant laughed.
“Hey, keep an open mind,” Jessie argued.
“Things are moving fast,” Grant said slowly.
“Sometimes it happens like that,” Jessie said. “One day you think you are on top of the world. Doing what you love to do, then the next you are flat on your back and having to change your life.”
Grant looked at Jessie closer. “Regrets?”
“Too many to count,” Jessie admitted.
The door swished open before they were able to continue the conversation. Brin and Marcus were wheeled out to the front and both men moved with a smile to help her out of the chair.
Brin loved that both of the men were fussing over her and Marcus. Although she also recognized the fact that soon she was going to get irritated with their hovering. For now she would let it slide, she liked the feeling of being safe.
They had arrived at the hotel with a flourish of activity. Jabo and Sassy had gotten out at the same time and insisted on following them. Then Brin saw Jabo’s truck, it had to be because he apparently finished the strange paint job that he wanted to show off. Sassy explained to her that a few days ago the truck had been painted half baby blue and half baby pink because the man had been so excited about becoming a father. When Sassy had a boy instead of the girl she had been telling him they were having, the man apparently bought out the rest of the baby blue spray paint in town and finished the job, writing ‘It is a Boy’ in dark blue paint across both doors. They had named their son Titus, which was now written across the hood. The truck was an eye sore, but Brin could appreciate a man who was that excited about his child.
Once they arrived to the small strip motel, Brin had even been more surprised to find half of the town of Smith and Wesson in the parking lot, they had tents and tables set up and were smoking some kind of animal, Brin was afraid to ask and so she convinced herself it was a pig. Apparently, this was how they welcomed new town members into the fold. Titus and Marcus were both celebrated as new citizens.
Grant and Jessie got Brin settled in a chair with Marcus, and then preceded to get her a plate of food and a large glass of punch. She watched as the town people arrived with more food and presents for not only Sassy but her as well. Just small things that she needed like, a diaper bag filled to the brim with little things, and packages of diapers. She was feeling overwhelmed with this town.
An older man walked up to them, this was Vince, she remembered. He owned the motel and was generous with the room situation. Brin and Jessie had argued about it for an hour last night. She refused to share a room with him. When she found out that Grant was also staying and Jessie only booked them one room, she had refused to leave until they had another room. Both men found it humorous, but they complied with her requests.
These were such wonderful people, she thought as she watched both Vince and Bob the banker walking around with pitchers of sweet tea. Jessie and Grant were sitting on either side of her as they ate and talked, Brin listened half-heartedly but when she heard ‘island’ she listened closer.
“So where exactly is this island?” Grant asked.
“Not sure,” Jessie admitted. “It is off the coast of Texas that’s all I know. Hey, I trust Alex’s family, they are more anal than we are about security,” Jessie commented.
“Tell me about them,” Brin asked. “I mean, I think I have met almost all of the team at one time or another. I liked them, but what about the women?”
Jessie smiled. “You will love them. Sable is Wolfman’s sister. Alex and Slone met her when we went to help her after the bombings. She had a problem with a stalker. Sable is a few months pregnant and loving every minute of it.”
“Are Slone and Alex jealous at all, whose baby is it?” Brin asked. When she had heard about the ménage relationships it hadn’t bothered her, but she did have a lot of questions. And she certainly wasn’t going to ask strangers about private things.
“No, both men feel like they are the father. That is the way it is with ménage relationships. They accept the fact that all children born will be theirs,” Jessie said slowly, looking at Grant who nodded.
“My uncles are in a ménage relationship. My cousins said it was a great way to grow up. One of the dads was always there, and my aunt was the happiest woman you have ever seen. She loved both men with all her heart,” Grant said quietly. “You know, there is something to be said about that lifestyle. It is not for everyone, men are men after all. But I think if the men really want it, and they have a good relationship, it would be a happy home.”
Brin chewed on her bottom lip and looked down at her child. She wondered what it would be like to have two men to rely on so much. She wanted to go back to work and use her degree, but even with one husband, it would be hard. Doctors could work some long hours.
Vince came to the table and she smiled when he filled her glass. “Hey, Vince.”
“Well, how is our newest member of the community doing there?” Vince said and laughed when Marcus startled and opened his eyes. “He is a handsome devil.”
Brin smiled. “That he is,” she whispered and then sighed when Grant reached over and took the small bundle in his arms and Brin felt a sense of peace.
“So, how is Tulu?” Vince said hopefully, looking at Jessie closely.
“She is fine, getting settled and all that,” Jessie said vaguely. She was actually getting ready to go into hiding but there was no way he was announcing that. Especially not in this heavily armed town.
“Her phone is not working, you know anything about that?” Vince asked frowning.
“Uh,” Jessie said and Drake came up next to the older man and slapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey, Vince, we need to talk,” Drake said and pulled the man away.
“What is going on?” Brin asked quietly.
“Vince seemed to take a liking to Tulu when she was here. I guess he hasn't been told yet about everyone’s plans.” Jessie shrugged.
“Aww, that is so cute, you should at least let him know she is safe and not ignoring him,” Brin argued.
“Drake will take care of it. Now, do you need to go rest for a while?” Jessie said smoothly.
Jabo and Sassy came to their table, sat down with them, and smiled. So much for the rest, Jessie thought. He was hoping to get a few minutes alone with Brin and Grant. They plan
ned to talk to her about what they wanted to see if she was open to it.
“Hey, ya’ll,” Sassy said with her small bundle tucked into the crook of her arm.
Brin and Sassy began talking while the men listened and looked around the parking lot. It had a great visual on the road, so when the same black SUV drove by three times Jessie began to get a little nervous. He looked at the men around the table, meeting their eyes and motioning to the street. Grant and Jabo both picked up the cues and watched as well. When the SUV slowed and turned into a parking lot across the street, Jessie and Jabo stood.
“Get the women inside,” Jabo said shortly.
“Why?” Brin asked until she saw the look on Jessie’s face. It was cold and hard, she looked at Grant who nodded and gathered both of the women and hustled them into the small motel room while the rest of the men in town seemed to know something was going on, and ushered the rest of the women to other rooms. Before she knew it, Brin was staring out the small window looking at a wall of armed men whose backs were to her, standing like sentries.
“Damn it, Jabo is gonna get his ass shot, just you watch,” Sassy complained.
“Who are they looking at?” Brin asked and turned to make sure Marcus was still sleeping in the cradle Vince had supplied.
“Who knows, probably a hillbilly from the next township, they get all worked up about stupid shit, someone probably killed a gator in the wrong swamp,” Sassy said bored.
“Does this happen often?” Brin said, looking at the woman who didn’t seem to care that everyone outside of the room was carrying a gun and looked ready to kill.
“Bout once a week. The boys over in Splendid, the next town over, seem to think they own everything on the south side of the road. Well, not true, Virgil, Ray, and Sam’s swamp tours run that side of the road. Every once in a while, one of the gators gets caught in the boats and they argue about boundaries.” Sassy shrugged and checked on her son. When she was done, she waved to the pile of packages on the bed. “Wow, look at all this stuff, have you opened anything? Jabo put all of ours in the back of the truck already.”
Brin looked over her shoulder distractedly, “No, Grant was making a list for me to send thank you notes though. I don’t even know these people and they gave me all this.”
Sassy snorted, “That’s 'cause you and your men are the talk of the town.”
“Men? What?” Brin said, finally tearing her gaze from the front.
“Girl, don’t play coy with me. I saw the way they looked at you, they are one hundred percent off the market right now, has all the women in town in a tizzy. They have been trying to set Grant up for months.” Sassy laughed.
“No…I mean, Jessie is the father of Marcus, but that is it,” Brin argued. “I am a MOTHER!”
“Please, like moms don’t do the nasty every chance they get. Heck, Jabo argued with the doctor for an hour about the whole six week thing,” Sassy said. “With two of them, I swear you are going to be running in circles to keep from being tempted by those two.”
“Oh no, they both look at me like someone who they have to take care of. I mean first, we have Jessie who I only slept with once, and got pregnant—I am more of an obligation to him. Grant was someone nice who picked me up on the side of the road. Plus, he is Jessie’s friend. They are just trying to keep Marcus and me safe.” Brin laughed nervously. Sassy was saying what she was thinking, what she was hoping. Ever since the mention of ménage relationships, Brin had this crazy fantasy about both men. What it would be like to be loved by two men, those two men.
“Brin, you have lost your ever lovin' mind? I have seen the look in both men’s eyes. Besides, Grant is leaving his practice to come with ya’ll,” Sassy said and Brin turned back to the window in enough time to see Jessie and Drake walk to the edge of the road and yell something to the men in the car.
West and Thane stood outside of the morgue. They wanted the details of the death of Arden’s parents. So far, they had been stonewalled. But with one small phone call, all of the avenues seemed to open up for them. Thane was really glad that on one of his last missions it had been to save the daughter of a Senator who happened to be representing this great state.
When someone said, "I owe you one” Thane filed it in his head. Before this was all done, he figured he would have called in all of his favors and then some.
“We are supposed to meet the head coroner. From there we will see if we can get into the house,” Thane said and West nodded.
“I have a few guys ready and they are more than willing to help. We also have eyes and ears on the locals to see if there is any chatter about something big going down here. Someone ordered this, and these guys were too stupid not to talk. They always talk,” West snorted and Thane nodded.
“They want the recognition,” Thane said.
“Yeah, bragging rights goes a long way around here. Plus, if these people had a territory, someone is going to take it over. Their operation was too big,” West said.
Thane snorted and shrugged. “Kill one roach and another one follows.”
The two men walked into the small building that housed the Houston morgue. It was slightly colder inside, but held an almost stifling heavy antiseptic smell that made both men breathe shallowly. A guard sat at the entrance of the morgue. Both men showed their IDs and waited while the guard called back to someone. It only took a few minutes for a harried man to appear wearing doctor's scrubs.
“Gentlemen, if you would follow me,” the doctor said. “I was told to give you as much information as you need, there is some question the case is federal and not local?”
Thane grunted a response, refusing to tell the man they were skirting a tight rope of legalities. Sure, the Commander had gotten the okay for the investigation, but the FBI would be taking over soon.
“How were the victims killed?” West asked.
“Both of them were tortured. The male victim had all of his fingers broken, and his tibia was shattered. Multiple stab wounds that wouldn’t kill anyone but cause a lot of pain. The female victim was raped and beaten for hours. These are their personal belongings that were brought in,” the doctor said and then went on to give them detailed causes of death, but what it boiled down to was they were tortured and then their throats slit.
After examining the rest of the evidence, the two men went to the police station where they were given a rundown of the investigation. It appeared that Arden’s parents were killed by a drug cartel, which didn’t really make too much sense since they were not involved in running drugs—they were involved in guns. The police said it was a cut and dry case and the suspects were being taken into custody later in the day. They set up a sting operation to capture them.
Thane and West spoke quietly as they walked out of the station.
“It is too pat, the evidence was just there? I don’t think these guys make those kind of mistakes,” Thane said, looking around the street.
“Yeah, we need to find out who hired the assholes,” West said. “Let me make a few calls.”
“I will call Alex and the others to let them know what we found. We should go to the house and see what else we can find,” Thane said and West nodded.
No one believed that Team TEN was being targeted by the drug cartel, why would they be? Very few people knew that Arden had taken a flash drive when she ran away from home. The contents of the drive were only just discovered, and according to the documents, Arden’s parents were involved in using their relief organization as a front for gunrunners in the Middle East somewhere. Thousands of military weapons had made their way into the hands of people targeting the United States. Some of the missions Team TEN had completed may be connected. They just weren’t sure how, they were random missions that should not have been connected, but it appeared they were.
Thane called Alex to give them an update. “We are going to the house next, so far it is the same as the reports. They are saying there is a drug connection.”
He heard Alex sigh, “Yeah, Gage is
calling a few people at the FBI he has contact with and seeing if he can find out some information. We are going over the thumb drive right now. There are a few names that are popping up, but so far they are either incarcerated or dead.”
“Any of them connected to our missions?” Thane asked.
“A few, but they were big ops, I can't imagine why we would be targeted, none of them were solely our mission,” Alex said.
“Keep us updated, West is calling some of his contacts as well, maybe if we shake enough trees, something will fall out,” Thane said.
When he hung up the phone, West was frowning and writing in his small notebook. “What?” Thane asked.
“Do you know a Joel Lipit?” West asked.
“Brian’s brother, he works for the FBI. When we came back he came to the hospital to see Drake, they were friends. Why?” Thane said.
“He is missing. Last indication was he was working on a case related to the cartel in question. Last week he reported in that he was getting close to blowing the cartel out of the water, and now he is missing. They said he was last seen in this area. His partner is going to call me back in a few,” West said. “They also said if we are going to the house, people are watching it, so we are going to have to be careful.”
“Who is watching?” Thane said with an ominous tone.
“They aren’t sure, but they have picked up a few signals in the neighborhood, people trying to tap into the police chatter. Maybe we should call in a few guys to help us,” West said.
Thane looked at West and nodded. “Make the call, if you need to delay our going to the house, let me know.”
“Hang on, let’s grab some lunch, and see what is going on,” West said and Thane nodded.
In an hour, they had four SEALs and three FBI officers helping them to get into the neighborhood without being seen by the men who were watching. Apparently the word on the street was that it was not the cartel who ordered the hit, they were paid by a powerful man, one that apparently had a hard on for Team TEN.
They were approaching the house of Arden’s parents from three directions. One from the south, the north, and the west. One of the cars watching the house was parked on a side street to the east, and West and one of the men from Team TWELVE were circling around and coming up behind the car. Their intention was to capture and interrogate the men.