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“Hey,” Frank pulled my attention back to him, “not the time, nor the place, to be having this conversation.”
He was right. It wasn’t, but I didn’t care. “What did you show her?”
Frank looked at the ground and shook his head. “Paul, there’s a lot more going on here. Right now, we just need to get back to Shadows before anyone gets word we’re here with the child. Copy?”
I locked my jaw, pissed he wouldn’t share. “Copy.”
“Frank,” Mia was behind him, and my stomach twisted, “the little guy is ready to be loaded on the chopper the?—”
“What’s wrong with him?” I interrupted, growing more impatient with every second.
Frank placed a hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Has the doctor said anything?”
“Yes,” she looked back at me like the professional she was, “he has bacterial pneumonia. I won’t lie, it’s a pretty bad case, and given the little we know about his life, he might not have gotten all his vaccines.” She paused when she saw my face. “It’s okay. The doctor thinks we got to him in time.”
“Thank God,” I huffed with relief.
“We gave him a good shot of medication, and he’ll be on it for the next few weeks. Once we get back to Shadows, I’ll check in on him frequently and monitor him from there. He needs lots of rest and fluids, but most importantly, he needs to be in a stable environment. The less stressed he is, the better.” She eyed me when she said it and stepped forward. I knew I was about to get a tongue-lashing from her. “That means whatever the hell you have going on with Nicole better get wrapped up soon because that little boy needs her to get through this, and after that he’s going to need you. So, hash your shit out and move on. You copy me?”
Frank smirked while I fought not to roll my eyes. I knew better than to push Mia. She always gave it to me straight, no matter what. All the wives were the same. “Copy.”
She looked at her dad. “I’ll spread the word we got the green light to ship out.”
“Good.” He glanced at me, but I didn’t wait to hear what he had to say. I headed for the SUV. I needed to get home.
FOUR
NICOLE
One would think I would be delighted to finally get to see the famous Shadows safehouse. Most of the population would never see the place or ever hear of it. Its reputation within the military and other private circles went back as far as I could remember. It had been such a success that they built two more. Dusk was the second to have been built and was supposedly in North Carolina somewhere. The third, only recently finished, was whispered to be in Washington. That particular one I knew had been created for Frank’s team, Eagle Eye. I’d heard rumors of a fourth, but I couldn’t find anything concrete on it. Safehouses like those had saved countless lives and had given us a leg up on the Cartels.
So, why did I struggle to look over the contract Cole handed me while we were still in the air once we took off for Montana? Perhaps it was because I’d been accused of using an innocent child just to get a story by the man I had begun to have feelings for. I should have known better. History had proven time and time again I wasn’t meant to find happiness with another person. Especially with a friggin’ soldier.
The chopper shook as we flew over high mountaintops, and I gripped the sides of the seat, hating that my stomach wanted to leap right out of the beast. Of course, Mark grinned at me while I rode out the turbulence. The others seemed completely unfazed as well. Even Mia and Savannah didn’t seem to notice that we were being swung around like a child with a yoyo. I much preferred to have my feet on the ground looking up rather than looking down.
I went back to reading and tried to look relaxed even as my stomach swore at me for putting her through such an ordeal. My fingers turned white as I held on with one hand. That was when I read the part about what happened if you were to reveal the location of the safehouse or say anything about what went on there or who might be there. I swallowed past the lump in my throat when I saw the words shall be punished with up to life imprisonment without the chance of parole, and a two-million-dollar fine. I didn’t need to read the rest, I knew I never had it in me to tell such secrets anyway. My focus was pulled when a flash of movement caught my eye.
Paul used his hands to sign something to John, who nodded, then signed back. I wondered what they said.
“Any questions?” Cole’s voice crackled over the headset and pulled my attention back to the task at hand.
“No, sorry.” I swiped the pen across the page to sign and date the contract. I handed it to him when he reached out his big, strong hand.
“Welcome to Shadows, Nicole.” He pointed out the door. “Look for a chimney in the direction of that huge oak.” If you didn’t know where to look you wouldn’t be able to spot it. I could see why they’d built it there; it had a bird’s eye view of its surroundings while still being heavily protected by the rough terrain all around it. The roof was camouflaged so well that I had to look twice to really see how massive it was.
“Now that I’ve signed, can I ask a few questions?”
He nodded. “You can.”
“Can’t anyone fly over and discover the house?”
“The story my father had come up with years ago was that the property is owned by a multi-generational family into green energy. We even have people in place to step in and set the record straight if needed. Anyway,” he waved off that direction of the story, “because it’s green energy, we have a no-fly zone for miles. Of course, commercial airlines can fly over, but they’re so high up and Shadows is camouflaged enough that we don’t run the risk of being seen by them.”
“What about drones?”
“It’s a restricted area. If our radar detects a drone, it’s shot down before it gets anywhere near our property line.”
“What about those people?” I pointed to what looked like a small town.
