Chapter One

Ciaran

“What do you think of this one?” Kimberly, our town’s most sought after real estate agent, pins me down with a raised brow. I swallow and shuffle my feet against the hardwood floor, knowing I’m probably pissing her off. This is the sixth house she has shown me in the past two weeks, well, now that I really started looking. It’s not that the house isn’t great, it has the three bedrooms and a master bathroom, which checks everything on my list, but I don’t feel like it’s us. Us. Maybe I would connect with a home more if my fiancée was willing to look at them with me. The minute I even bring up looking for a house, Saylor bails and makes an excuse to get out of it. Between planning a wedding and trying to find our forever home, one would think I’m the female in the scenario. I’m all into planning, but I secretly hope every day that Oaklynn will convince Saylor to move the date up. She won’t budge. Some guys might think I’m lucky, although I can’t turn off the roar inside my chest constantly telling me to make her mine. Legally, spiritually, and in every single way it counts.

I sigh, my eyes swinging to Kimberly who’s still waiting on my reply. The minute she sees the look on my face, her shoulders fall. “I’m sorry.”

“What is it this time?” She quirks her head, one heeled foot crossing over the other.

I glance around, trying to pin down something, anything, to give her to go on. I glance out the window right into another yard, and maybe that’s what it is. I’m used to more distance from my neighbors after growing up with Matt. “The yard feels too open.”

“The yard feels too open,” She repeats back, before whipping out her cell phone and making notes. I watch her light pink nail taps on the screen. She glances up when she notices I’m watching her. “You know, sometimes when a couple looks together, it makes it easier than taking on all the decisions yourself.”

I nod, knowing she’s right, but I don’t really have the option right now. I wish I could explain the need to own a home together right now, but I can’t. Just like all my other gut feelings, this one hits hard. “When things slow down for her it will be easier.”

“Okay. Well I’ll add this to my notes,” Kimberly informs me as we move towards the front door and back out onto the front porch. “Are you sure you don’t want to look further out of town? It might increase our likelihood of finding what you really want.”

I shake my head, knowing the perimeter I need to keep with Rogue, “Nah. We have time.”

Kimberly gives me a smile, and we head to our separate vehicles. The minute I slide into my truck, my phone vibrates with a message from Kai.

Kai: Should we start without you?

Me: On my way.

I manage to text quickly and then make my drive through town. On the way, I pass Saylor’s work, seeing her car parked in the lot. I breathe out, feeling better now that I know where she is. Savage Lakes has been quiet for many years, but every once in a while, I remember the year we almost lost everything. Now, each move we make is to keep Rogue strong, and stay one step ahead of anyone who threatens us in the future.

I’d be lying if I said one particular situation wiped out anyone gunning for us. If anything, the years have shown that the bigger our reach, the more complex the various types of danger have gotten. We get bigger, and the bad guys get smarter. With social media and technology constantly changing, we move to adapt, but once in a while a secret weapon is needed. The purpose for our meeting today is to discuss our weapon, and the cryptic as fuck message he sent Kai last night.

The door to Rogue closes behind me, the smell of oil and gasoline hitting my nose. On the way back to the office, a few of the guys working tilt their heads in my direction, and I nod back.

“Where have you been?” Matt asks, rolling out from underneath one of the cars. Retirement for Matt lasted about a week before he needed something to keep him busy. He and Jason decided to rebuild the auto repair business, and now they fix cars part-time, and assist with Rogue business when needed. Matt also continues to send me house listings weekly, knowing how much I’m itching to find our own home.

“The listing on the South end,” I tell him, shaking my head when I see the way he frowns.

“Not the one?”

“Not even a little bit,” I tell him quickly before opening the bulletproof office door.

“Finally,” Kai says and cracks a crooked grin at me. “I thought we were going to have to contact Kimberly ourselves.”

“Fuck off,” I shove his shoulder and take a seat at the table with him and Silas. I notice Oaklynn is also here, so there must be a change from last night. I glance up at the screen on the monitor and see a picture of a group of men, dressed in black, with weapons holstered on their sides.

“This from Reed?” I nod towards the screen.

Silas looks behind him, and then grunts, “Surveillance picked up this image. The message Reed gave us last night turned out to be a series of coordinates. One of them allowed us to pick up this image, the rest appear to be shipping containers.”

“He didn’t send any other information?” I question skeptically. Both my friends shake their heads.

“The images I captured show each of these containers registered to the same company,” Oaklynn says. “I was then able to get this image from our contact in New York.”

I tense at the mention of that state, my gaze rolling towards Kai. He shrugs.

“The guy has details we need sometimes.”

I crank my neck from side to side, “If there is a way to leave Nash Aimsworth out of Rogue’s business, let’s do that.”

Oaklynn rolls her eyes, “Oh please. You won already. You’re marrying the girl, and she chose you. The information Nash can help with though, is about saving lives.”

I keep my eyes on Oaklynn and notice how she never shrinks away from me. She’s too comfortable. That, and her best friend has me wrapped around her pretty little finger, although I’ll never admit to it. Only Saylor knows what she does to me. “Still. Ainsworth made it clear we stay out of his jurisdiction, so I’d prefer to not ask for favors if we don’t need to.”

“Anyway,” Oaklynn continues, while giggling under her breath. “The company is SIEGE, they are labeled as car importers.”

“Clearly a cover up,” Kai throws out, and Silas grins.

“And that is why Reed sent this to us.”

With my hands folded in front of me on the table, I look over the images again. The location appears to be somewhere outside of Las Vegas. “He must be in deep with this gang if all he was able to send was a bunch of numbers.”

“Matt is still tight-lipped about what Reed is doing half the time,” Silas adds.

“As long as Matt thinks Reed is in an okay place, we keep up with what he gives us,” I respond, even though part of me hates it. There are so many unanswered questions, and I can only assume Reed is moving with the tide of the deep underbelly of darkness in order to feed us the information he does. “Are there any teams we can mobilize tonight, if needed?”

“Teams Sierra and Tango,” Silas answers.

“We could move them, and tell them to sit on it until we can get there,” Kai glances at me. “These containers are too big. I think if we wait too long there is a good chance we’re going to lose them.”

“Do it,” I agree with the order. Silas picks up his phone and makes the call.

“No luck again?” Kai turns to me, and I sigh.

“Nope.”

“Probably a good thing,” Oaklynn chimes in, “I don’t really see the Robin’s Egg blue barn in the back as something Saylor would like.”

I glance from Kai to Oaklynn and he shrugs. Clearly nothing is sacred between friends anymore. “Well, if she wants to give an opinion, then she’ll have to go look with me.”

“There’s a lot going on right now,” Oaklynn glances at me pointedly.

My anger immediately deflates, melting away. There has been a lot going on, and I know Saylor is handling it in typically Saylor fashion: by trying to make everyone else happy. The counseling center is new, and with our recent surge in survivors, she has been working overtime to make sure everyone is seen within their first twenty-four hours of being here. In addition, Saylor is insistent on being at home to help Mila with college, and spending time with her baby brother. Something Silas is more than willing to do too. Their family has grown, and both of them are hellbent on being there for their siblings. I don’t mind. I want them both to have this experience after the things they have been through, but Saylor should be able to move forward as well. I want to take care of her.

“Both teams are getting packed up,” Silas breaks through my thoughts. “They can be there within the hour. Let Reed know to be aware.”

“Which means we have twenty-four hours,” I tell them. “I’ll text Reed. We leave in three hours.”

Everyone gets up, and I pull out my second cell phone. The one I keep strictly for Reed.

Me: On the move.

I stare at the screen and wait. Nothing happens, and after a few more minutes, I pocket the phone. It’s not unusual for Reed not to answer when he is immersed in an assignment. It just feels empty when we don’t hear from him. I know Saylor worries, we all do. I push the worry down and remind myself who Reed is. If anyone can handle the situation he’s in, it’s him. Our plane leaves in three hours, and I need to pack up.