Page 73 of Her Delta Force Protector

They loaded them into Kade’s boat, and when they were all seated, Viper hog-tied their legs together. Chase would take them to the marina across the lake where Skylar and some of her deputies were waiting for them. That left him, Viper, and Cupcake to deal with Watson and friends. Three against three. Not at all a fair fight for the incoming second wave of clowns.

“You guys got to have all the fun,” Harper said over the comms. “I’m bored.”

He figured he had about twenty minutes to go steal some kisses before it was game on again. He’d managed to keep Duke out of the lake and had retrieved and clipped on his leash while Cupcake was doing his phone thing. He handed the leash to Viper. “Don’t let Duke go in the lake.”

Viper smirked. “And where might you be going, sugar lips?”

“My woman’s bored. Enough said.” He walked away from the laughter of his teammates.

But...my woman? Stuff like that had to stop coming out of his mouth.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Theo couldn’t be happier with the way his plan was unfolding. He had five men already on-site who’d just as soon shoot you if you said hello wrong. Kade Church was halfway to drunk, and Harper Jansen, the bitch, was inside the cabin without a clue he was coming for her. They were going to be in and out before anyone could stop them or know who they were.

Harper Jansen had to be rattled by the appearance of US Marshals showing up, looking for her. That had been a brilliant move on his part.

Then there was Rex’s surprise. He glanced over his shoulder, to the back seat of Stockton’s Hummer. Someday, he was going to have a hot shit Hummer. “I can’t believe you got us a drone, cuz. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Rex shrugged. “I wasn’t sure it would get here in time.”

“What the hell is this?” Stockton growled.

“Is what?” Theo faced forward. In the middle of Marsville’s Main Street, there was a turquoise Cadillac, nose to the back bumper of a rusted-out pickup that had to be older than the Caddy. The car and truck blocked both lanes through town. The old lady he’d seen talking to the police chief was whopping an older man on the back of his legs with her cane, while a goat chewed on the hem of her dress. The old man looked like he was doing a jig. Any other time, it would be funny, but not today.

“There another way around this hick town?” Stockton said from the driver’s seat.

“I’d think so.” Theo looked behind them. Even if there was another way, they were now blocked in by the traffic behind them. Theo rolled down his window to yell at them to move their damn vehicles to the side, but the police chief, who he now knew was Kade Church’s brother, walked around the Caddy and headed toward them. Theo powered his window up.

The chief stopped at the driver’s window and tapped on it. “Roll it down,” Theo said when Stockton shot him a what-the-hell-do-I-do-now look. The police chief had never seen them before, so they just had to be cool and not give him a reason to search the Hummer.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” the police chief said after Stockton lowered his window. He poked his head in and his gaze landed on each of their faces. “Sorry about this. Hope you’re not in a hurry.”

Stockton grunted.

Theo wanted to strangle him. He leaned around Stockton. “We’re good, but you’ve got a bit of a traffic jam going now. Maybe they could move their vehicles to the side of the road while they duke it out?” Some humor would probably help, so he said, “Might want to pull the goat away from the old broad before the public gets a view of her skinny fanny.” He laughed. The chief didn’t. Behind him, Rex groaned, and Stockton frowned at him. Nobody had a sense of humor these days.

The chief walked back to the fighting couple, talked to them for a few minutes, and the old woman glanced at them. She gave the man another whack with her cane, then she stomped their way with the goat hopping behind her, still chewing on her dress. Stockton’s window was open, and she leaned her arms on the door.

“Chief Church...” She tilted her head as if thinking. “That sounds funny, Chief Church. We don’t call him that. He’s just Chief to us, but if I just said Chief, you wouldn’t know who I meant. The Chief said we’re inconveniencing you, and as a member of the town’s founding family, I reckon it’s my duty to apologize to you boys.” She pulled what looked like tickets from inside the neck of her dress. “Welcome to Marsville, the home of the Marsville UFO Museum. These are good for twenty percent off admission.” She handed Stockton the coupons.

The old man she’d been arguing with walked up behind her. “Give me Billy back, Miss Mabel.”

“I don’t have your goat, Earl. You need to keep that menace to the town locked up.”

“You got him right behind you, Miss Mabel. Give him back.”

She turned, and the goat hopped around behind her. “See, no goat. Maybe you should go have a lie down, old man.”

The old man reached down and wrapped his arms around the goat. “Come on, Billy. It’s dinnertime. Let’s go home.” He pulled the goat away, and a swath of dress tore off. The goat chewed on the material as the two walked away.

The police chief returned. “Miss Mabel, you leave those men alone. We need to get your car moved out of the road.”

“And you need to tell Earl to stop making sudden stops in front of me if he doesn’t want me to run into him.” She tapped on Stockton’s shoulder. “You boys make sure to visit the museum.”

“What just happened?” Stockton said as the woman marched away. He dropped the discount coupons in the cup holder.

“They really do have a UFO museum,” Rex said. “I’d like to see it.” When Theo glanced back, Rex turned his laptop around to show the picture on the screen of the museum. “Cool, huh?”

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