Page 61 of Last Chance

He took her hand and drew her into the kitchen. “Stick with me, kid. I’ll teach you everything I know.”

“Deal.”

Together, they threw together stacks of sandwiches. Janie goggled at the pile of food on the platter. “That’s enough to feed an army, Sawyer.”

He shrugged. “High metabolisms plus a high-powered training regimen. We train hard to be prepared for anything at a moment’s notice. The terrorists don’t let us stop to catch our breaths. We have to be in better shape than they are to beat them in a fight.”

“Are you?”

“Oh, yeah. Brody doesn’t let us slack off. Even if he did, the trainers at Personal Security International, the training arm of Fortress, would catch it and take us off deployment rotation until we were back in shape.” He grimaced. “Brody would get the worst of it. The trainers don’t mess around. Most of those men and women were Special Forces. They don’t put up with less than one hundred percent effort from every operative. We don’t want to get on their bad list. They have devious minds with inventive and painful training sessions. None of us wants to spend extra time with them. As it is, we have to go in for retraining every six months. It’s a brutal two weeks. We all hate it, but the training works. We’re in better shape than most active Special Forces units.”

She sat down abruptly. “You really could have carried me for miles, couldn’t you?”

He nodded.

“I did not know, Sawyer.”

“No reason you should.”

“I’m impressed and in awe of what you’ve accomplished.”

He was silent a moment. “Does the amount of training we have to go through bother you?”

“No. In fact, I’m grateful. It means you’re more likely to come home to me in one piece. Next time you go to PSI, thank the trainers for me.”

Man, wouldn’t that give Durango, the primary trainers for Texas Team, a real laugh? “I’ll do that.”

They just sat down together at the kitchen table when Brody returned. He looked at Janie. “Call your brother.”

“I’d planned to ask soon if that was permissible. Why?”

“He’s at your store, demanding to speak to you.”

CHAPTER 15

JANIE STARED AT Brody. “David is here?” What was her brother doing in the country? She’d only been back about 24 hours herself. Why had David flown in from Chile? “Why would he come here?”

Brody watched her. “If what we suspect is true, you know why.”

No. She shook her head, unable to believe her brother was involved in what had been happening to her for the past few days. But why else would he show up out of the blue since he was still angry with her and wanted an angle to force her to share Granny Irene’s estate?

Granted, he couldn’t pick up the phone to call Janie since her cell phone was still in Mexico, but he could have called the store. David had the number. Although he had never used it, she included it in all her emails to him.

“Did he say what he wanted?” Sawyer asked, his hand covering Janie’s.

“Not according to Jeremy. He showed up, demanded to see his sister, and refused to tell the operatives or employees why he flew in. The operatives explained Janie was out for the day and wouldn’t be back in the store. Apparently, he became belligerent with the employees and threatened them plus the operatives if he wasn’t able to contact Janie. He’s using the worried brother card to gain sympathy, but it’s not working. Jeremy and Molly are skeptical of his good intentions.”

She groaned. Of course he would demand to be in her life now. As much as she didn’t want to do it, Janie knew she had to see him. The Texas Team wouldn’t be happy with her. “I need to see him, Sawyer.”

“Are you sure you want to do that? He could be responsible for the hijacking, as well as the attempts on your life since you’ve been back.”

“And he might not be responsible.” She held up a hand, already knowing what he would say. “I know. I’m not facing reality. What if we’re wrong and he’s not responsible for what’s happening? Besides that, if I don’t see him face to face, he’ll keep after my employees and your friends until he gets what he wants. You want to talk to him, right?”

“You bet we do. We have several questions for him.”

“This is your chance to do it without having to catch a flight to Chile to find out if he’s responsible for the hijacking.”

“I still don’t like it,” Sawyer said. “I feel like I’m throwing you to the lions. If he is responsible for the hijacking, this might be a trap. I don’t want you caught in another one.”

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