Page 2 of ELITE Protection
“You married Carrie?” Isaac remembered Pete’s little sister as a junior high cheerleader. She was cute but she was his buddy’s little sister, thus off-limits. Besides, there were plenty of well-developed varsity cheerleaders to occupy his time.
Mark smiled as he set his bottle back on the table. “Yep. I’m the luckiest man around. Just another perk of living here.”
Pete focused intense brown eyes on Isaac. “That reminds me, I was serious when I suggested you join the Forest Service.” He held up one hand. “Before you get started, I know and understand why you wouldn’t want to live here. But now that you’re back, you might change your mind. We’re always in need of more men, especially with your training and local expertise. Offer is always open.”
There was no fucking way Isaac would ever choose to live in Montana again. He couldn’t get away from this place fast enough at eighteen. He was only back now out of necessity.
“Thanks, Pete, but I’m only here for a few days.” At least Isaac hoped that was the truth. Since he didn’t have enough details about his next assignment yet, he wasn’t sure how long he’d have to remain in the area. He didn’t like being this close to his father’s home and the past he thought he’d left far behind.
Refusing to go down that path, Isaac needed to pave the way for Guardian Security. “If you decide to quit being a mountain man and join civilization, your skills are always needed at Guardian.”
“What is it exactly that you’re doing up here?” Pete leaned his elbows on the table. Lowering his voice he asked, “Can you tell me?”
He wasn’t on any kind of a top-secret mission, at least as far as he knew. “My client’s parents have used Guardian Security services for years. Seems their little princess has pissed off someone, and they want her protected for a while.” He shrugged. “That’s all I know right now. I’m supposed to get more details later tonight from someone higher up the food chain.”
Pete cocked one eyebrow. “So, her folks sent her to Big Sky, Montana?”
“I guess they own a place here and thought it was far enough away from Atlanta that she’d be safe.” Isaac smiled. “I could handle an assignment skiing my ass off for a couple days on somebody else’s dime.”
Although working for Guardian Security paid extremely well, lift tickets at the exclusive resort were pricey. Thanks to a few old high school friends he’d run into last night at this very bar, he was able to sneak onto the chairlift before the slopes actually opened. First tracks in fresh powder was one of the few good memories Isaac had growing up in the rural mountains. He’d spent his morning acclimating to the high altitude by getting in as many runs as possible.
“You’d better hope she knows how to ski better than the movie star wannabes that live in the huge mansions on the resort slopes.” Mark scowled. “I didn’t know anybody could be so damned uncoordinated. I’ve picked up bony asses off the slopes so times I lost count. They should give me a red jacket and put me on ski patrol.”
Pete burst into a laugh. “I wish I could’ve been there to see Carrie’s face. My sister has a jealous streak.”
“She’s the one who stopped me ‘to help the poor lady’ each and every time.” Marcus grinned. “After about the fifth time she watched some woman hanging all over me trying to get her skis back under her, Carrie just skied on past any other damsels in distress.”
Pete chuckled. “Sounds like something my little sister would do.”
After a moment, Mark’s whole face transformed. “Yeah. She’s got a mean streak in her. As long as it’s not pointed at me, I’m golden.”
“Any idea how long you’ll be here?” Pete asked.
“If I’m that lucky, a few days. Maybe a week.” Isaac admitted, “I’d like a short assignment.”
“Then back to Atlanta?” Pete finished his beer and set the bottle on the table.
The men remained silent as the waitress slid their pizzas in front of them and asked if they wanted another beer. They all rejected the offer in favor of the full water glasses on the table.
“I may take a day or two and drop in on my Uncle Samuel.” Isaac hadn’t seen his mother’s brother in almost a year, since they had finished the inside of the cabin on the backside of Lone Mountain. He missed the grouchy old man who had given him the few good memories he had of his childhood after his mother had died of ovarian cancer when he was eight.
“Uncle Bullshit?” Pete said with a smile.
“Samuel Bull Tail,” Isaac corrected, although he often wondered if half the stories he’d heard over the years were real. He’d seen the Ranger patch on Uncle Samuel’s U.S. Army uniform and had once donned the green beret and marched around the small home he preferred to the large, two-story ranch house he’d grown up in.
“I’ve heard that name a lot,” Mark noted. “Are you Crow?”
“According to Uncle Samuel, yes.” Isaac bit into what had to be some of the best pizza in the world.
“We had a few Crow and Northern Cheyenne in our school, but most went to the schools closer to the reservations,” Pete said before winding a long string of cheese around the tip of his slice. He stared at Isaac before taking a bite. “You kinda look like them.”
“Yeah, I take after my mom.” And thank God for that. He was happy to look into the mirror every day and see his mother’s high cheekbones and square jaw. Facing a reminder of his father carved into his own face day after day would be more than Isaac could bear. Not having to shave off beard stubble each morning was another sign of his true ancestry. A heritage his father vehemently denied.
“Do you have other family in the area?” Mark’s question was innocent given that Isaac rarely spoke of his father. Pete knew the story, or at least part of it.
Since Pete had been on a mission in Iraq while Isaac’s platoon was training in Alaska, he had seemed to know what Isaac needed upon him returning from his first mission to the sandbox. They had hit every bar in Virginia Beach and fucked several base bunnies before needing to sober up to resume training Monday morning. Isaac would be forever thankful for the way Pete had looked out for him during those first transitional days back on base. He’d been pretty fucked-up.
Mark looked at him expectantly, but it was Pete’s gaze that bored deep.
