CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

"Hey, we just got a text back from our boy. He's gonna meet me and Tailor off Highway 26 at some old farm stand. You boys stay back, and we'll manage the situation," said Alec.

"Uncle Alec, we understand that you're going to take care of it, but we're not letting the two of you go up there alone," said Rett. "We'll be close by in case something goes wrong, but we're not letting you do this by yourselves."

"Little man, I am twice your age and twice your size," smirked Tailor. "I've been doin' this shit my entire life. If some mountain boy wants to take on me and my brother from another mother, bring it on. It's been a while since I was able to break someone in two. Gaspar says we can't do that no more."

"Seriously," said Alec, shaking his head in disappointment. "But Trak gets to play with knives and let Alvin do his thing. I'm lookin' forward to this. Love the sound of breaking bones in the morning."

The younger men stared at the two giants, shaking their heads.

"Y'all need help," said Garr. "That's just sick."

"Sor, Dan, and I will follow the two of them. Garr, Gator, Matt, and Kev, you take the western side of the forest. Rett, East, and Leif, you take the eastern side. We'll meet back here at the inn by midnight tonight. Keep comms on and stay in touch," said Alistair.

"Let's go," said Garr.

"Wait! Hold up," said their innkeeper. "I've got some bags of sandwiches, fruit, a few cookies and brownies, and there's a cooler inside the door with water and soda. Y'all need some energy."

"Ma'am, what's your name?" smiled Alistair.

"Iris. And thank you to whoever chopped all that wood already this morning," she grinned.

"Well, thank you, Iris," said Alistair. "And you can thank Dan, Gator, and Leif for the wood. We'll get more done this evening when we get back."

"You boys be careful. I'll make sure there's food waiting for you when you get back."

The men headed their separate ways, taking four different vehicles. The first stop would be to meet up with Roper. Alec and Tailor were in the vehicle ahead of them, while they stayed back several cars, following on the trackers.

"I'd sure love to see his face when the two of them step out of the truck," smirked Sor.

"We have the pin cameras on, so we'll catch it all," said Alistair. He stared at the roadside, recognizing that there was very little in the way of homes, businesses, or traffic.

"Not much here, is there?" asked Dan.

"Depressing as shit. Some of these shacks actually have people living in them," said Sor. "I've been to some pretty shitty locations around the world, but those were third-world countries, not America. Why are we letting this happen?"

"I don't think it's a matter of letting it happen," said Alistair. "I think it's just a matter of it happening. People get down on their luck. They lose their jobs, get injured in the mines, get addicted to drugs. Everyone wants something better, but they don't know how to get there."

"It's true, and I know we're all very lucky. But I also think maybe we weren't the kind of men and women to fall into this. I mean, I just feel as though we have something different inside all of us that says, ‘get up and do better.'" said Dan.

"I would agree with that, but it comes from our families. Our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and those we call aunts and uncles. Hell, I've watched Tailor and Alec my entire life and always wanted to be like them," said Alistair.

"I didn't really have that," said Sor. "My folks were good people. Hard-working. But they both died when I was in my first tour. My examples were those around me, but I could have just as easily gone the other way. A lot of my teammates damn sure did. They threw away everything they had for a little high or fun. I knew this one dude who just wanted to fuck his way through whatever city or country we were in. Dude ended up with eleven kids. Four were dumped on his doorstep to take care of."

"Did he not hear of condoms?" frowned Alistair.

"You guys know the military pounds that shit into your brain. Hell, they give them to you. Be careful, be smart, all that shit, and he definitely didn't listen," said Sor.

An hour into the drive, they saw the two men pull over next to an old wooden structure. If it had been a farm stand, it was a small one with very little space for setting out their produce.

Alistair backed into a recess in the woods, hiding the dark vehicle with the darkened trees and backdrop. It seemed everything had a fine layer of coal dust.

"Car coming toward us," said Alec.

"Roger that. We've got you."

The sleek black Land Rover pulled up to the farm stand, and a man in his mid-thirties stepped out wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and hiking boots. He also wore a Rolex watch and a diamond in his left ear.

"Hi there," he said casually.

"You Roper?" asked Tailor from the passenger window.

"I prefer to speak to people who get out of the car to greet me," said the man, attempting to put on his tough-guy persona. There was no doubt he was carrying a weapon, and there was no doubt he would be prepared to use it.

Tailor opened the door and Alec opened his door, both men stepping out as the vehicle creaked and raised with relief as the shock absorbers were finally free of their load. Tailor walked around the vehicle to stand next to Alec and stared at the smaller man in front of him.

"Holy shit," he muttered.

"What's the matter, little man? Never seen two men get out of a car before," smirked Tailor.

"Uh, no. I mean, yes. You guys called about the diet help, right?"

"That's right," nodded Alec. "We've been told we need to lose a bit of weight to be more effective as bodyguards. We're both strong and relatively quick. We just need to drop forty or fifty pounds."

He stared at the men as if wondering if they'd lost their minds.

"Listen, this new drug helps people lose a lot of weight, but it might help you lose too much for what you want."

"Let us decide that," said Tailor.

He eyed the two men with interest and a healthy dose of suspicion. Seeing the sleek black SUV they were driving, he was pretty sure they'd have the money, or they wouldn't have reached out to him.

"You gonna stare, little man, or sell us the shit," growled Alec.

"Why do you two wanna lose weight?" he asked again.

"We've got a new gig as bodyguards, but the boss says we have to lose some weight. That's all. We don't have a lot of time, and I'm not a fan of running marathons."

"Bodyguards, huh? You boys look like you could be bodyguards now." He could see that Alec and Tailor were losing their patience, and he almost thought it was funny. Almost. "Listen, if you're really interested in being bodyguards, maybe you'd like to come to work for me."

"You? I don't see that you need any bodyguards," said Alec.

"Well, a man in my business gets into trouble sometimes. You never know when you need a little backup."

"You know, the more I look at you and talk to you, the more I feel like you might not be the man running this show," said Tailor. "The man running the show wouldn't let me see his face. He'd be hiding somewhere behind closed doors. I've worked with some men like that in my day. Don't appreciate the cowardice of it all. I prefer a man with balls. Big ones."

"Everybody has a backer," laughed Roper. "My backer prefers to remain anonymous. If you know about our stuff, you know it works, and we'll be selling it to the highest bidder soon enough. We'll all be rich."

"That usually requires a lot of capital and someone flush with cash," said Alec.

"You seem to know an awful lot about business for a bodyguard," frowned Roper. "Maybe you're not who I thought you were."

"I'm more than just a man needing to lose weight, if that's what you mean." Alec reached inside his pocket and pulled out two rolls of hundred-dollar bills. He set them on the hood of the car and looked at Roper. "Ten grand. That's what I want."

Roper looked up at him and then over to Tailor. He took the money and reached inside his own vehicle, pulling out a sack that contained ten bottles filled with the pills. He handed them to Tailor, who counted the bottles and nodded.

"If you guys change your mind and want to come to work for me, call me," he said.

"You mean work for you and your boss," smirked Alec. "We've got a job, but if you need bodyguards, we know some good dudes that could use the work. They don't need to lose weight, so they're ready to go now."

"Maybe," nodded Roper.

"If we need more of these this week, will you be around?" asked Tailor.

"This week? That's enough to last you two months!"

"We're big dudes. It's gonna take a lot to suppress our appetites. Will you be available if we need more?"

"Yeah, man. Yeah, I'll be available. You've got my information now. Call me." Tailor smiled at the man, shaking his head.

"We'll do that."