Page 5 of The Brat Tamers

2

LEE

The Townsend men exit the office and walk across the foyer back to the library. I close the door behind us, my gaze bouncing between my team members, Case and Porter, before landing on Victor. “We’ve got to get her out of here.”

Victor nods. “Absolutely. The sooner the better. What did you see on the trace?”

We all turn to look at Soren, who is sitting at a small writing desk with his computer. We put a trace on Mr. Kushner’s phone when the FBI wasn’t looking because a pissing match started as soon as we walked in the door. By all means, they need to do their job, but we do things a little differently and have one of the best hackers in the world on our team.

Soren shakes his head. “Whoever this is, they’re good. The signal is bouncing all over erratically. It doesn’t sit in one place long enough to leave much of a fingerprint, but I’ll get it. It’s going to take me a minute or two to narrow it down.”

“The location on her phone stopped moving at six thirty-three this morning, so they could be three hundred miles from here by now. The first phone call was within minutes of the kidnapping, but this call came from a location where the kidnapper can mask themselves,” I summarize, thinking about all the places she could be hiding. She could be anywhere. In six hours, they could have flown her across the country if the kidnappers had the means.

Most kidnappers don’t have the means, but considering Epiphany’s international reach, anything is possible.

Soren’s fingers fly over the keyboard. “That’s a good point. Let me try something different.”

“We also need to scan the audio for any background noise,” Victor states.

“That’s already happening.”

“Okay. While Soren’s doing that, Reese, your team is on the extraction of Leti. You should go to the garage and get everything ready. Lee—you, Case and Porter, have the princess. Good luck.”

Reese and Caiden chuckle and slap us on the backs. Fuck, this is going to be one of the hardest missions of our lives. I’d take being shot at over babysitting a grade-A brat, who, by the look of her, desperately needs to be tamed. I glance at Case and Porter and know their thoughts sync up with mine. As soon as she came jogging into the house in a bikini top that barely contained her full breasts, the chilled air immediately pebbling her nipples, I knew we were in trouble.

And her attitude? Fuck, nothing gets me harder than getting a brat to submit.

I tilt my head in Porter’s direction and he nods, walking out of the room without a word spoken between us. That’s how it is between the three of us. We’ve known each other for almost fifteen years. Introduced in AIT, they recruited us and sent to PsySpecOps training as a three-man team and have remained an active unit for twelve years. We’ve seen combat together—actually, we’ve seen a lot of shit together. When I got shot three years ago and was looking at medical retirement, Case and Porter decided to separate at ETS and joined me in the civilian sector. Victor, who used to be our commander a half-dozen years ago, started this security agency and employs almost exclusively PsySpecOps soldiers.

There’s something about the men who not only make it through training but make a career of it. Our brains are wired a little differently. Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t really give a fuck. That attitude, by the way, is definitely part of what makes us different.

Every single one of us underwent a psychological evaluation prior to trying out for the career field. Based on our results, they grouped us together into teams of three. If one man washes out, the entire group washes out. I have yet to see a group put together and make it through training that wasn’t in perfect sync.

Case, Porter and I are as close as brothers can be without sharing a womb. But we share everything else, including women, and we’ve been looking for the one who will one day complete our family for some time. When Victor called this morning and had me run a background check on Epiphany Krushner, I felt a spark that I had every intention of burying deep. But then Case and Porter pulled their lazy asses out of bed, saw who I was researching, watched a handful of her YouTube videos with me, and we shared a look that I knew meant trouble.

I hoped that when I met her in person, our initial attraction would fade, but then she had to be a smart ass—even more bratty than she is on camera—and I knew we were fucked.

Victor looks at me. “Are you heading up north?”

Nodding, Case and I exchange another look. We’re taking her off the grid, which is going to send her over the edge, and fuck if I’m not looking forward to it.

“Something tells me this is going to take longer than expected,” Reese says as he stands behind Soren, watching the ones and zeros on his computer screen.

“Unless you kill whoever the fuck is behind this during extraction,” I say as dryly as possible.

Reese looks up with a treacherous smile. “One can only fucking hope.”

“Don’t get shot.” I chuck Case on the shoulder and tilt my head to the door. “It’s time to get the princess packed up and on the road.”

“You’re the only one that gets shot.” Reese shoots the low blow across the bow—landing a direct hit. If we weren’t at a client’s house, I’d take him to the ground.

Instead, I point my index and middle finger at him like a gun, shake my head and mutter under my breath, “Fuck off.”

I can hear him snickering as I close the door. Porter is standing in the foyer with Mr. Krushner and Epiphany.

No, not standing, arguing with the two of them.

“Why are we still standing here?”

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