CHAPTER EIGHT

"I'll come join you as soon as I can, baby," said Sor, kissing her cheek.

"We've got her," smiled Gwen. "Come on. Let's talk about the great wine selection here at Belle Fleur." Sor smiled at the women, nodding his appreciation as they walked toward the magnificent smells of dinner.

"Do I need to leave?" he asked the team.

"Leave? What the fuck, Sor? You're not going anywhere, brother," said Eric. "We want to pick your brain about your last few months in service. You are one of us, Sor. And so is Nell. Y'all are under our protection. Clear?"

"Clear," he said with a slow sigh. "Sorry about that. I was just feeling as though you were worried about everyone here."

"We are," said Cam. "But our security, the things we have in place, take care of that. You know that. No one finds us. They found her because the cabin was in your name. It probably wasn't all that hard, Sor. We should have thought about changing the name on your deed."

"No, no, it's my fault. I've wanted to move her over here for a few weeks but just didn't force the matter."

"Why?" asked Luke.

"Why? Because I'm fucking crazy about her, that's why!"

"Okay, okay," he laughed. "I was only asking to see if there was something else going on. Something that you were worried about."

"No. That's the other thing in all this. I have no fucking clue what Marshall was talking about."

"Let's walk through this," said Cam. "What did you do when you left here for the last six weeks of your duty? Were you sent anywhere?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Nowhere. We participated in some training. Helped with a few things at base. Logged in and replaced some equipment, but that's about it. Nothing exciting."

"What about before that?" asked Hex. "Where were you deployed?"

"Where weren't we deployed," he said in frustration. "Our team was good. Really good. Myself and two others, Marshall included, were registered nurses as well as the best trauma medics in the branch. We were in Cypress for two weeks after the earthquake, Haiti after the volcano, the avalanche in Nepal, and then helped with the rescue of those kids in the caves of Cambodia."

"Anything strange?" asked Eric.

"Strange? Brother, it was all fucking strange. You know how this is. You're sent in to help, and half these people don't want your help or want it then want you gone. No thank you. No we appreciate you. Nothing."

"Think, Sor," said Luke. "There was something."

"I'm telling you, there was nothing that I saw."

"Alright. Tomorrow, we're going to walk through every painful detail. For now, just have dinner with your girl and enjoy holding her tonight. We were lucky, and we're going to make sure we don't need luck next time."

"Thank you. All of you. I know you're going to say it's what we do, but it doesn't mean everyone always does it." The others stared at him, then slowly lifted their fists, raising their middle fingers. Sor just laughed, shaking his head.

"Let's eat, brother. Team Big is already in there scarfing everything down."

Sor was happy to see Nell laughing with the other women. One thing the belles of Belle Fleur knew how to do was come to the protection and service of their fellow belles.

"Hi," she said, smiling up at him. He bent down, kissing her in front of the whole world. The others just grinned.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"It's perfect, Sor. We're all just fine. I'm just fine."

"Well, that makes all of us happy," said Hex.

Enjoying the delicious meal, the men tried to keep the conversation light and fun, making sure that everyone relaxed at least for a while.

"What made you put that safe room in the cabin?" asked Hex.

"I don't know. Honestly, at first, I just thought it would be a good place to store weapons, but I hadn't had a chance to put anything in there yet. I'm damn glad that I did, though, and that I showed Nell where it was."

"I meant to tell you," she said. "You shouldn't store film rolls in there. It's too humid and hot here. The film will eventually crack."

Sor stopped mid-bite, dropping his spoon, and turned to stare at her.

"Film? What film, baby?"

"There were probably four or five rolls of film along one of the support studs. I just left them there, but you should probably get them."

"On my way," said Joseph, standing from the table. Nathan and Parker followed him.

"Where are they going?" asked Nell.

"Honey, I didn't have any film in there. I don't even own a camera other than the one on my phone. Are you sure they were film canisters?"

"I know what film canisters look like, Sor. I occasionally take my own photos for jobs that I do, but I use all digital equipment. You'd have to have a darkroom to use film. I don't know why I noticed them, but I did think it was strange to store them there unless it was something really important."

"We know someone who does," said Luke. "I'll get Ivy and see if she can develop whatever is in those cans."

"I don't understand," said Nell. "Are they not yours?"

"No, baby. They are definitely not mine."