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“And you didn’t think to wake any of us?” frowned Alec.
“Actually, we did, but they were moving so fast we didn’t want to lose them. There are a lot more of us than there are of them.” The men just stood there, and then Ro stepped forward.
“Well? What the hell are you doing standing there? Go help them!”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Jean, walking toward his wife, kissing her. “By the way, that was fucking hot, and we’ll talk about that later.”
“What are you guys doing?” asked Gaspar.
“We’ll head back to camp and be there if you need anything,” said Sara. “Be careful. They are armed, and according to the two we captured, they’re absolutely crazy.”
“Not as crazy as we are,” said Miller, walking past her. Alec stopped in front of his wife, looking down at her with a gaze she knew all too well.
“I’m not hurt. I didn’t put myself in danger, and I knew you were right behind us,” she said, kissing him. He shook his head, hugging her.
“I’m proud of you.” She stood in shock for a moment, then just smiled at the massive back of her hulking husband.
“Well, that went better than expected,” smiled Hannah.
“Easy for you to say,” said Sara. “Your husband is still at base camp running comms. I imagine he’ll have a few choice words for you.”
The women just laughed, but Hannah knew they were right. He wasn’t the big, assertive, overprotective beast that most of the men were. But he had his moments.
“Let’s go,” said Lissa. “We’ll try to prepare for whatever they bring back. I suspect we’ll be seeing our sisters in a little bit. Hopefully, all in one piece.”
The men were jogging, some running down the trail. Akin was able to place the protective sound bubble over them, so even the women wouldn’t hear them coming.
When they approached Mary, Tory, and Alexandra with the two prisoners, they couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Hi, honey,” smiled Mary at Angel.
“Hello, babe,” he grinned. “Find yourself something interesting?”
“You might say that.” She handed him her weapon. “You wanna take over now?”
“I think that’s a good idea. Park rangers and the FBI are on their way to this location. A few of us will stay with you, while the others move ahead.” As he was speaking, the others kept moving. Angel, Gabriel, and Nash stayed with the women and the two prisoners.
As the rest of the team continued down the trail, they knew they would catch up to the women, and most likely the escaped convicts. With the kids in tow, they would be moving slower than they wanted.
When they saw the heads of the women further up the trail, they took off toward them.
Suddenly, Erin stopped, turning to look behind them, feeling a presence rather than hearing one.
“Oh, oh,” she said, looking at Lauren, Faith, and Grace. “Looks like the cavalry isn’t happy with us.”
Nine, Trak, Ghost, and Ian stopped in front of their wives, inches from their faces, looking down at them.
“They have children, Nine. Little boys who are scared, hungry, and just want to go home. You would have done the same thing,” said Erin calmly. His breathing slowed, and he nodded at his wife.
“You’re right. We would have. I’d like to say we’re better trained for this, but so far, it looks like you’ve done just fine on your own. I’m proud of all of you. Angry that you didn’t come back for us, but proud all the same.”
“Thank you,” she smiled, kissing her husband. Lauren was still looking up at Trak, who hugged her, then kissed her over and over again.
“I love you,” he said quietly. “I love the woman you are. I admire the fact that you wanted to protect those children, but please, I’m begging, let us take over from here.”
“I think we can do that,” smiled Lauren, kissing her husband again. Ghost chuckled as they all got their hugs in.
“The two we left back there said there’s a cave up ahead that has money they stole from an armored truck. They’re using the kids as a safety net to be sure no one comes near them,” said Grace. “Don’t let them hurt those boys, Ghost. They’re terrified.”
