Page 8 of Bryson's Treasure

His brother smiled down at Azadeh. “I think I’m the one who’s supposed to thank you. If you hadn’t answered that phone, I bet I wouldn’t be talking to my brother now.” He ran a hand through his hair. “When you called for help, and I heard a bomb, I almost lost it. Thankfully the Ross brothers were close by. I don’t know what I would’ve done. We’ve lost enough family.”

He was right. Their mom dying when they were young was hard, but the death of their dad was even worse. Remorse washed over Bryson. He’d spent so many years going after the next mission and not coming home to see his dad.

Bryson grabbed Azadeh’s hand. “Do you have room for both of us?”

“Yes.” His brother narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know why you would even ask that.”

Bryson couldn’t help but frown. “It’s not that simple. The Ross brothers told me I have a mark on me, and I haven’t had time to look into Azadeh much.” His gut twisted, thinking about putting his brother in harm’s way. “Antonio helped me get her here to the US. He was able to get her a temporary visa, but it’s not in her name. She was supposed to be wed to Ibrahim al-Asiri.”

Noah let out a stream of cuss words, and Matilda gave him a questioning look. “Who’s Ibrahim al-Asiri?” she asked.

“He’s the leader of a radical group and likes to collect young brides. The younger, the better.”

“No marry, please.”

Bryson dropped to his knee next to the girl. “I will do everything I can to keep you safe, and if that means going on the run, we will. You will not marry that man.”

She let out a little sigh and wrapped her arms around his neck. The young girl already had him wrapped around her pinky. She had also saved his life three times now. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to make sure she was safe and could live a normal life.

“Let’s be clear,” Noah interjected. “You saved my brother, and that makes you family.” He turned from Azadeh to Bryson. “We’re in this together. We’ve spent too many years fighting alone. It’s time we fight as a family.”

His brother was right. They’d all been away from each other too long. “Thanks, protecting Azadeh is my number one goal. I’m not sure how long we’re staying in Montana, but this is where Antonio booked our flight to.”

“We wanted you out here with us,” Matilda said as she led the way toward the exit. “Grayson and Kara are settling in at the Steele ranch, but we figured you might still want to work somewhere else, and our friend Hank Patterson is always looking for people to join Brotherhood Protectors.”

Bryson opened the back door to the quad cab pickup. “Hank Patterson?” he asked before jumping in next to Azadeh.

“That’s him.” Noah opened the door for Matilda to climb in. “He has a good crew out here. Over the past few weeks, he’s dropped hints about me joining, but I’m trying to put those days behind me and clean up Kara’s ranch.”

“How is she?” Bryson had heard bits and pieces of the story. He still couldn’t believe her own dad was going to sell her for the land. Now Bryson’s oldest brother was engaged to a billionaire.

“They came up and helped when we raided that cult to get Matilda’s brother out.”

“Bryson told me about that. Did all the girls go home?”

Noah sighed. “All but one. She said she didn’t have anywhere to go. She wasn’t telling us everything, but we worried she would shut down if we asked too many questions.” The truck started up, and warm air filled the cabin. “Lynn is staying at Brighter Days for a while. It’s a rehabilitation ranch for wounded vets. They also have a really good therapist. Not only was she the oldest one there, she was also kept there the longest.”

The hairs on the back of Bryson’s neck rose. “Are you sure she wasn’t part of the cult?”

Matilda answered his question. “Not one hundred percent sure, but my brother said Lynn helped the younger girls. I think she’d gone through something in her past, and she was going through the motions, not picking up on the clues of what was going on around her.”

Bryson rolled his neck, trying to relieve some tension. “Young girls were being sold. How could she not pick up on the clues?”

“Keith Creighton, the leader, is really good at brainwashing people. Taz is engaged to the owner of the ranch. He thinks she feels bad for not picking up on the cues, but she’s also hiding from something.” Noah went more in-depth about what had happened to Matilda on the way to the Montana Gold Ranch.

Snow fell around them. The light jacket Azadeh had on wouldn’t be warm enough for the coming days. December in Montana could get brutal. It would get cold enough in Afghanistan to snow, but nothing compared to what the temperatures could reach in Montana.

“What the hell?” Noah grumbled.

Bryson looked out the window to see an old pickup truck smashed into a tree, but the truck was still pushing the tree. Through the window, he could see someone hunched over the wheel. He threw open the door and ran toward the truck. Dirt filled the air from the tires continuing to spin. The sound of the tree cracking had Bryson’s blood racing. If the tree broke, a deep ravine was on the other side. His feet raced against the road. The woman inside was still unconscious when he made it to the truck.

He tugged at the door handle, and it didn’t move. The truck was locked. Not sure how much longer they had, he reached for a rock on the side of the road and broke the side window. Glass shattered everywhere, but he didn’t have time to think about that as he quickly unlocked the truck door. He pulled the woman as hard as he could. Her limp body fell against him just in time. The tree snapped, and the truck went over the cliff. The sound of crunching metal came from far below, but the woman in his arms was still out.

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