Page 75 of Royal Pain

“I’m fucking glad you’re here, gentlemen. Come in.”

I’d known Jeff Tyler and Ron Reynolds for years. They’d been buddies of mine shooting basketball long before becoming my on-again, off-again employees. It wasn’t just grunt work they performed. They were highly intelligent men with military backgrounds, real sharpshooters and considered dangerous men.

They handled certain computer functions, detective work, and exactly what they were doing now. I was about ready to require their true mercenary skills. Even if I wanted to handle putting a bullet between Joseph’s eyes myself.

I noticed two other of the soldiers they knew and had worked with already walking the perimeter. It was damn good not to need to tell them how to do their jobs.

They closed the door, following me into my office.

There would be no drinking and it had nothing to do with the late hour.

I turned on my desk lamp, still trying to put everything into perspective.

“What do we have, boss? You sounded… unusually stressed,” Jeff said. Perhaps he knew me best, sometimes better than my own brothers did.

“We have a bunch of fucking monsters and I’m not exaggerating. They run a community in Connecticut but at least some members are headed this way. They control everything, including who marries who. Not like a traditional community association but like a cult, a commune.”

The two soldiers looked at each other and half laughed. While they were dressed nicely in expensive suits, they were more comfortable in fatigues, and I couldn’t care less if that’s what they wore at this point. Maybe it would help the enemy understand what they were about to go up against.

“Sounds like a great place to raise a family,” Ron piped in.

At least I could chuckle. “Fate had me meet a lovely young woman whose son was recently kidnapped by her ex, who is one of their members. She thought she’d gotten away from this cult by divorcing the man but you never leave a place like this unless it’s in a coffin. She is staying with me for an extended period of time and I am going to help her get her son back.”

Their eyes opened wide. They knew I had another side to me, but they rarely saw it in action.

“You think they’re coming here,” Jeff said casually.

“I do. My brothers and I are working on trying to find a route to destroy them and given my relationship with the woman was discovered, we have it under good authority they are coming totake her back. That will not happen. I will be in this house until a plan is formed and we head to Connecticut to lay it all out. But given I’m no mafia prince, my security is good but could easily be hacked and I have far too much land to watch every inch. I need to ensure none of the bastards get through.”

Ron grinned like some lunatic. He’d only grown more dangerous since leaving the military. Right now, that’s exactly what I needed. “Kill, maim, or imprison for your interrogation?”

I honestly had to think about the question. I doubted Joseph would be stupid enough to leave his lair, which meant he would send minions to bring her back. But heavy in the numbers. “It is going to entirely depend on their behavior. However, I do want to be able to thoroughly interrogate at least one of the bastards.”

I looked from one to the other and Jeff still had his eyes opened wide. “How many do you think we can expect?”

I rubbed my jaw as I took a deep breath. “Honestly, I’m not certain. We are constantly checking the intel but they’re going to keep it as close to the chest as possible. If I had to guess, I’d say at least six and perhaps as many as a dozen.”

“Piece ‘o cake,” Ron bragged. For him, it wasn’t really a brag. He’d been known to kill fifteen in less than thirty seconds in his military days. He was a fire machine and I was thankful to have him on my team.

“If you need to hire more men, do it. Obviously, I’m paying top dollar.”

Both men nodded.

“What’s the girl’s name? I think we need to know that.” Jeff was the reflective one, the guy who didn’t leave any stone unturned.

“Of course. Evangeline Weathers. As I said, she’s upstairs. When I’m gone, she’s confined to the house. For now. We’ll see. I have two housekeepers who will be coming and going. I’ll explain in the morning what’s going on. Oh, and I have a landscaping team. I would check them out because it would be an excellent way of infiltrating the household. You have free rein over the house as needed. Obviously check the pool in the back every so often. Evangeline loves the pool so I am allowing her the opportunity to swim.” I was grinning and the guys noticed it.

“Boss. I don’t mean any disrespect but you like this girl.” Jeff’s voice was unusually low.

Huffing, I shook my head. “Yeah, I do. But it’s more than that. She was given a raw deal and this shit cannot and will not go on in this country.”

“Understood, boss. We’ve heard of these kinds of organizations but overseas in countries where the leaders of the country dictate everything. Not in America. We will prevail.” Ron was certain of it and I adored his conviction.

One reason?

Because the man had never failed at anything he’d attempted.

And I seriously doubted it would start now.

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