Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN

SETH TURNED FROM the kitchen counter to study Teagan's face as she walked into the room. He set aside his bottle of water and met her halfway. "Rough night?"

Teagan wrinkled her nose. "It shows?"

He cupped her nape. "To me and probably to Violet. I doubt the others will notice."

"Good. I don't want to answer a million questions."

"How about one?"

She stilled, wariness in her eyes. "What's the question?"

"Do you want our first actual date without an audience to be traditional or something different?"

Teagan grinned, the tension in her body disappearing. "Something different."

"My choice?"

"Surprise me." She winked. "But only if I can return the favor and surprise you on our second audience-free date."

"Deal." He liked she was confident enough in their relationship to see them as a couple in the future.

"You're not worried about what I'll choose?"

"Why should I be? I'll spend one-on-one time with a fascinating, beautiful woman. I can't lose."

"Even if I take you shopping?" she teased.

He chuckled. "Sweetheart, I can carry bags with the best of them. Bring it on." Seth wasn't a fan of shopping, but if that's what she wanted to do, he'd go without complaint. As long as he was with Teagan, life was good. And that thought right there proved how far he'd fallen for this mysterious lady.

The rest of their teammates filed into the room. "Any coffee left?" Marsh grumbled.

Seth studied his teammate much as he had Teagan. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Did you expect otherwise after what we witnessed in that dining hall?"

He squeezed Marsh's shoulder. "Keep your eyes open today. Look for opportunities to connect with Jillian. I want her out of here as much as you do."

"What's our schedule today, Major?" Knight asked as he cracked the seal on a bottle of water for himself and tossed a bottle to Marsh.

"Taking it easy on you today. Four-mile run before we head to the training center. After we've passed whatever tests Richardson has cooked up, we'll go back to our normal training routine in the mornings."

"Sounds like fun," Noah muttered. "Not."

"Have to stay ahead of the criminals and competition."

Bowen groaned. "Do you have to be so cheerful about it?"

Seth grinned, the grousing a reminder of their time in the military. "Suck it up, buttercup. Stretch out and let's go. I want to find out how early people wake in the compound."

Minutes later, he locked the door and set a slow pace for the first circuit of the compound. Nothing much had changed since he and Teagan were out the night before. If anything, the guards were more tired than ever.

Seth frowned. He glanced at Teagan. "Same guards."

"Yep. Big mistake."

"One of the first changes I'll recommend."

"Don't make many suggestions," she said wryly. "We don't want to make it too difficult for our friends outside to get in if we need backup."

"Right." This was why he despised undercover assignments. He hated living a lie. If he didn't offer the suggestions, men and women inside this compound might die when the feds or the enemy attacked the place. Not only that, Peters and Richardson would wonder about his expertise in security if he didn't make suggestions to improve things in the compound.

Teagan was correct, though. If he beefed up security too much, he'd make the job of their backup team harder. He hated walking the undercover tightrope.

Seth glanced around as they began the second lap. According to the distance readout on his tactical watch, they needed to run eight laps to make the four miles.

By the time Seth and his team finished their run, they'd drawn an audience. Several of The Brotherhood members watched as they jogged back to their quarters.

He unlocked the front door and signaled for silence until Violet and Teagan had checked each room for new electronic devices.

The women returned minutes later. "House is still clear," Violet said. "Breakfast or not?"

Seth glanced at his watch. "If anyone wants to eat, make it light. No telling what we're in for. First stop for me after the training center will be the machinist's shop to make a key for each of you. You can get food whenever you want as you have time. The rest of our lunch and dinner meals should be on schedule with everyone else. We can't be antisocial if we're hoping to learn The Brotherhood's agenda."

"I vote for a protein shake." Teagan headed for the kitchen. "I saw a blender in the kitchen as well as what we need for shakes. I won't need anything else until lunch."

"Same." Knight trailed after her, followed by the rest of the team.

Soon, each of them had downed a shake and put their glasses in the dishwasher.

"Change into clothes you can move in," Seth said.

Teagan and Violet exchanged glances. "Black cargoes and t-shirts with tactical boots," Teagan said. "Standard Fortress uniform."

"Perfect. We all have something similar. Might as well dress and act like the unit we are. Meet in the living room in fifteen minutes."

When they entered the training center thirty minutes later, they were the center of attention. Conversation ceased as they approached Peters and Richardson.

Peters smiled at Seth. "You're early. I like that in my troops."

He gave a slight nod, shifted his attention to Richardson, and waited. This was where the challenge would come from. Richardson had something to prove after the fiasco yesterday with his enforcers. In a community this size, the news had spread about Seth's men taking down the ambush team.

Richardson sneered. "I hope you and your team are well rested, Dixon. My men will not go easy on any of you."

So, this jerk thought Teagan and Violet were the weak link. Richardson and everyone else in this training center were in for a surprise. "You don't care about our health. Let's get on with this."

Fury glinted in the leader's eyes. "You and your team take position in the center of the mat." Richardson motioned to the rest of the people in the room.

Their one hundred plus member audience moved to surround the mat.

Really? Did Richardson think Seth and his team would bolt if faced with a tough challenge? If so, he was in for a big disappointment.

Seth signaled his team and, after a stare down with Richardson, joined them. He and his teammates watched as the enforcer team from yesterday's debacle plus ten more men swaggered onto the mat and formed a circle around Seth and the others.

A two-on-one challenge. He glanced at Teagan, eyebrow raised. Seth knew he and his men could handle two men at a time, but what about Teagan and Violet? Had Maddox trained them to take on two opponents at once?

She winked at him.

Well, guess that was the equivalent of no problem. "Spread out," he murmured to his team. "Watch your backs and that of your teammates."

As he watched, Jerry and another man followed Teagan to her position a few feet away from Seth. Two other bruisers headed for Violet.

Violet and Teagan grinned at each other and turned back to face their opponents.

Seth almost wished he could stand on the sidelines and watch the women take apart the men challenging them.

Richardson blew a whistle. Immediately, noise in the training center exploded as the enforcers converged on Seth and his teammates. The militia members egged on their comrades and heckled the newcomers.

Out of the corner of his eye, Seth saw Teagan's mouth stretch into a saucy grin at her opponents as she teased them with a come-ahead gesture. He snorted. She was actually enjoying this. Crazy woman.

Seth's attention shifted to his two opponents. The biggest of the two rushed him, telegraphing a move to wrap him in a bear hug by spreading his arms wide and lumbering toward his opponent. He sidestepped, tripped Bear, and used the other man's momentum to shove him to the ground. Before he could follow up with a neck chop, the second man moved in.

This one had more brains than his partner. He circled, looking for an opening. Seconds later, he darted in with a roundhouse punch aimed at Seth's face.

Seth blocked it and landed his own right cross, followed quickly by a left. When Brains stumbled back, Seth sensed rather than saw movement at his back. He ducked and shifted to the right.

Bear's momentum sent him careening into Brains, taking them both to the mat. "Get off," hissed Brains.

While these two untangled limbs, Seth took a second to check on Teagan. One of her opponents was down, unmoving. An angry Jerry came at Seth's woman with his hands fisted. She spun on one foot and a split-second later, her foot connected with Jerry's jaw.

Nice. Very nice. His girl had this fight in the bag. A quick glance at Violet showed she was as adept at hand-to-hand combat as Teagan. Poetry in motion. That was the only description he could come up with for the women. No question, the trainers at PSI had done a spectacular job increasing Teagan and Violet's skill level beyond what the Army taught them.

Brains shoved Bear to the side and leaped to his feet. With a roar of fury, he sprinted toward Seth. Again, he sidestepped enough that Brains missed him. Seth slammed the side of his fist against the back of Brains' neck. The man dropped to the floor, unmoving.

One down. One to go. Seth turned his focus to Bear, who finally stood up.

The big man shouted obscenities. "I'm going to kill you. I don't care what Mr. Peters said. You hurt my friend."

Seth balanced on the balls of his feet, waiting in silence. Jawing like that wasted time and energy and caused men to lose their focus.

"Jeff," Peters yelled. "No!"

An ugly smile formed on Jeff's face. "You're going to die," he told Seth and lunged, tackling him.

The two men hit the mat. Jeff sat on Seth's stomach, making it hard for him to breathe. Man, this guy must weigh at least 300 pounds.

Jeff's beefy hands wrapped around Seth's throat and squeezed.

He shot his fisted hands between Jeff's arms and slammed them into the big man's locked elbows. When Jeff lost his balance and pitched forward, Seth wrapped one arm around his neck, hooked a finger in the side of Jeff's mouth, and yanked his head around. He bucked his hip, threw Jeff off him, and followed him over until Seth was on top. Four punches later, his opponent was out.

Seth scrambled to his feet and glanced around the mat to see if his teammates needed a hand. All of them had taken down at least one of their opponents, most of them both.

He went to Teagan whose attention was still locked on Jerry and his partner, currently sprawled at her feet, and wrapped his hand around hers. "You okay?" he murmured.

"Peachy. That was the most fun I've had in a while. You?"

Fun. He shook his head, smiling. Seth knew many things that were more fun than a fight, but if she enjoyed the challenge, he'd let her enjoy the moment. "I'm fine. Noah, finish him off. We have other things to do this morning."

"Yeah, yeah." His partner went with a series of fast punches, ending with a kick to his opponent's groin. The man flew back several feet and didn't move.

The rest of his team finished their fights and stepped back from their fallen opponents.

Peters stepped onto the mat. "Congratulations, Seth. You and your team are the victors of this fight. You have one last thing to do before this exercise is finished. Kill your opponents."

The enforcers, conscious and stirring, froze, expressions of horror on their faces. Several members of the audience gasped.

Was Peters nuts? No way was Seth going to murder fourteen men in cold blood. This wasn't a war zone. "Forget it," he said, voice flat.

"What did you say?" Peters snapped.

"You heard me. I'm not murdering your enforcers in cold blood. They've been defeated. We proved our point. No one should die when you need every man in your militia. They're your people. I thought you valued the loyalty of your men as much as I value my team. Was I wrong about that?"

Peters flicked a glare at Richardson before returning his attention to Seth. "It's obvious the enforcers are not well trained. Of what use are they to me?"

Many of the enforcers stood, some with the help of Seth's teammates. The fourteen men were pale and sweating, afraid they would die in the next few minutes.

"They're loyal, willing, and already on board with your goals. Beyond those important qualities, anyone can be trained."

"Will you disobey my orders when it comes to the enemy as well, Dixon?"

Got him. "These men aren't the enemy. They're now our teammates. We'll train them, but we won't murder them. If you want them dead, kill them yourself."

"No." Richardson moved toward Peters, hands clenched. "You're not killing them. These are good men. They don't deserve to die for having an off day."

Seth kept his expression blank. An off day? What a joke. The men's lack of skills directly resulted from Richardson's poor training regimen. This wasn't an off day. This was lack of discipline and training, and those problems rested squarely on Richardson's shoulders.

"They're weak. Only the strong survive in war," Peters snapped.

"They survived, and this isn't the fight we need to win." He came nose to nose with his partner. "We can't have dissension in the ranks. Killing these men would destroy the camaraderie we're trying to build. Is that what you want?"

Silence reigned for one minute, then two. Peters inclined his head, conceding the point and signaling an end to the standoff.

Thank God. Seth couldn't murder men who weren't threatening him or his teammates. If that was the price of mission success, he'd call in the feds and declare the mission a failure. Murdering men in cold blood was a hard no for him. Serve and protect? Absolutely. Murder? Never.

"Very well," Peters said, voice soft. "I'll let it slide. This time. Their failure is yours, my friend. Even the female newcomers beat two of your enforcers each. Perhaps it's time to turn over the training of the enforcers to someone more qualified to handle it. Give the responsibility to Dixon."

Richardson scowled. "The enforcers and the guards are mine, as well as the day-to-day logistics of the camp's inner workings." His voice lowered. "If you paid more attention to something other than coercing a woman to warm your bed every night and having those not so secret closed-door meetings while I'm tied up with other things, I wouldn't be working twenty hours a day."

Peters' eyes glittered. "It's lucky for you I had the foresight to recruit Dixon's team. As of right now, they're my personal enforcement team. If you want your own team, choose some of these losers to protect you. In fact, if you're wise, you'll ask Dixon to train your people. Might be the only way you'll survive the coming war."

Teagan's hand tightened on Seth's at the implied threat.

Yeah, he'd caught that. What war was Peters talking about, and how soon? And that threat to Richardson? No way to miss the implication that Richardson should look for threats from the enemy and inside the militia.

Richardson slid an angry glare at Seth before turning his back on Peters and signaling his enforcers to follow him to another room. Before the door shut, Richardson laid into his men for their poor performance.

Peters shook his head and turned back to Seth. "Time to assume your new duties. Who will guard me throughout the day?"

Seth signaled to Knight and Marsh, who approached. "You're on Peters for the next five hours. Teagan and I will take over after lunch."

"Why only five-hour shifts?" Peters asked. "We worked 12-hour shifts in the military, as I'm sure you did as well."

"You're a prime target, sir, as is Richardson. We'll protect you better with shorter shifts. With someone of your importance, we can't afford to miss anything because of fatigue. If we lose your leadership, The Brotherhood will have to overcome the setback." Made Seth's stomach twist speaking those words, but Peters had a big ego.

Peters looked thoughtful and pleased. "What about at night? Surely I'm more vulnerable at night than during the daylight hours."

"Two of Richardson's enforcers can stand watch at night. One in the front and one in the back of your quarters."

"I want your team."

Seth shook his head. "There are only six of us available for duty. Violet's skills are needed at your clinic. She will not be on watch rotation. We already assessed the compound's night watch before we turned in last night. If two enforcers are assigned outside your quarters, along with the guards spread throughout the camp, you'll be safe and my team will rest and train together as we should. I'm not sacrificing our effectiveness by stretching our responsibilities too far."

Peters' eyebrows rose. "You don't believe the compound guards are enough by themselves to keep me safe?"

"No, sir."

"Explain."

"The guards are on duty too long. Teagan and I made a circuit of the compound last night and again early this morning. The guards were exhausted from the long shift and were not as observant as they could have been if their shifts were kept to six hours or less. You have enough guards and enforcers to cover six-hour shifts without a problem. Everyone will be more alert with that watch schedule."

"And you believe this is the best way to protect me?"

"And everyone else in this camp, sir." Seth folded his arms across his chest. "You wanted me to evaluate security, didn't you?"

"Not specifically."

"You hired my team for our expertise. I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't present you with a plan to increase security around the compound and, in particular, around you if I found the arrangements unsatisfactory."

"You observed holes in our defenses?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll speak to Richardson. He should know you have recommendations."

"Are you sure that's wise? He doesn't seem open to suggestions."

"Then it will be your job to convince him otherwise, won't it?"

"Is that an order, sir?"

"It is."

Suited him. Gave Seth a chance to confront Richardson one-on-one and get a feel for the relationship between Richardson and Peters. "I'll take care of it."

Peters gave a slight nod. "Very good, Dixon. Very good, indeed."

"Thank you, sir."

The Brotherhood's leader motioned for Knight and Marsh to follow him. "I'll see you and Teagan in a few hours, Dixon."

Once everyone else left the training center, Noah rounded on Seth. "Are you nuts?" He glared at his partner.

"Richardson and Peters are military."

"Then they should have seen and fixed the holes themselves. Why are we doing their jobs for them?"

"Because it was a test."

Teagan smiled. "Wondered if you caught on to that."

"A test?" Bowen said, voice low. "Are you sure?"

"Even the most incompetent officer learns enough to set up a perimeter watch. What we saw was too bad to be normal operations. They wouldn't have put up with this kind of incompetence in the military." She shook her head. "This was a test of our loyalty, proving that we had the best interests of The Brotherhood at heart."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Well, did we pass?"

"We're still alive without new bullet holes," Violet said. "I say it's a win."

"Orders?" Noah asked Seth.

"Go with Violet to the infirmary and make sure everything is as it should be. When you finish, come find me." He shifted his attention to Bowen. "You and Teagan are with me."

"What's first on the agenda for us?" Teagan asked.

"Find the machinist's shop to make copies of the keys. After that, we'll track down Richardson and convince him to let us help train enforcers and guards."

Her lips curved. "Your idea of a date is lacking, baby."

Seth chuckled. "I'll make it up to you."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Can't wait to see Richardson's face when we volunteer for training duty," Bowen said.