Page 100 of Defending You
“So they know you’re alive.” Bartlett’s expression darkened. “They’ll be expecting us.”
“Maybe. But unless they found the phone in the truck, they don’t know that I know where they are.” Asher flexed his fingers, testing his grip strength.
“What’d they come back for?” Grant asked.
“Looking for something. It has to be in the bag Cici took from the jewelry store.”
“The necklace,” Alyssa guessed. “What else?—?”
“She had the necklace on her.” He explained about the zipper pouch she’d bought. If not for the thugs having returned, he’d assumed Cici would be dead as soon as they found the jewels.
Maybe it was only desperation that kept his hope thrumming now.
He tamped down that thought. “They were looking for something else, something small, by the way they scoured the ground. Something that has Gagnon scared enough to risk everything.”
Alyssa’s golden eyes were sharp. “What kind of something?”
“No clue. But whatever it is, they’re willing to kill for it.” The weight of those words settled over the group like a shroud.
“Where is it? The bag. Did they find it, or?—?”
“I hid it.” He described where he’d stashed it, and Alyssa jogged into the woods, Callan following.
Bartlett’s phone buzzed. He answered. “Talk to me.” His expression grew grimmer as he listened. “Copy that. Hold position.”
He ended the call and faced the group. “My men witnessed a van arrive. Eight guys got out, geared up. There were already two vehicles there, so we’re looking at ten or more.”
“Twelve.” Asher refused to bow under the weight of what they were facing. “Gagnon, Falcone, and…Pretty Boy.” He couldn’t recall the guy’s name. “Two came back looking for me. We have to assume Souza stayed with Gagnon and Cici. If eight more showed up, then?—”
“Twelve.” Bartlett nodded once. “Okay. The mill’s got three buildings—main factory, office complex, and a smaller outbuilding. Four of the new guys went into the factory. The rest fanned out to surveil the perimeter.”
“Six against twelve,” Grant said. “I’ve faced worse odds.”
“Seven.” Alyssa’s response emerged from the forest a moment before she did, Callan at her side. “I’m going to help.”
Callan said, “Sweetheart?—”
“Don’tsweetheartme.” She snapped, then turned to Bartlett. “She’s my sister.”
“Don’t freak, cuz,” Grant said. “You can provide overwatch.”
Callan swiveled on him. “She’ll stay where it’s safe.”
“I absolutely will not!”
Grant looked between the two of them and smirked. “Yeah, good luck with that, man.”
Alyssa and Callan engaged in a useless staring contest.
“We need her,” Asher said. “She’s smart and competent, and we need all the help we can get.”
Alyssa stepped close to her fiancé and rested a hand on his arm. “Callan, you have a sister. What would you do to protect Hannah?”
Callan looked away, obviously wanting to argue the point.
Alyssa dug into Cici’s purse, pulled out the velvet bag, and scattered the contents on the roof of the car.
Grant drew Asher’s attention back. “Tell us everything you know about these guys.”
