She rose shakily to her feet and looked around.
An L-shaped kitchen, complete with granite countertops, sat in the west corner, and to its left were three doorways showing a bathroom and two bedrooms. “I’ll be right back,” Denver murmured, striding for the outside door again, grabbing his jacket on the way. The wind slashed into him when he stepped outside and crossed around the side to check the generator. A small shed safely ensconced it along with a couple extra containers of gasoline. Good. He was just closing the shed door as his phone buzzed, and he lifted it to his ear. “Denver.”
“Hey. It’s Ryker.” His brother’s voice was hushed. “Everyone is still asleep here, but I wanted to check in.”
“Madison and Cobb found me,” Denver said simply. “I just outran their soldiers on icy roads.”
Silence ticked for a moment. “Are you sure it was Madison and Cobb’s soldiers and not Richie and the Kingdom Boys? That gang found you somehow at our safe house. Maybe they followed you?” Ryker’s tone was a low growl.
Denver pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned against the freezing log cabin. “Not a chance. The soldiers I just fought with were well trained and armed beyond any local gang. One man actually jumped on the roof of our SUV while I was driving.”
“Fuck.”
Yeah. That pretty much summed it up.
“Are you secure?” All emotion deserted Ryker’s voice as he went into battle mode.
“Yes. We’re at the safe house.”
“Good. We’ll create an extraction plan. May need to borrow a Blackhawk from the brothers up north.” Movement sounded over the line.
Denver shook his head and then remembered Ryker couldn’t see him. “Negative. I have to stick with one op at a time, Ry. Madison and Cobb will have to wait.”
“They’re too close to you now.”
Opposing forces pulled at Denver, trying to rip him apart. He had to settle himself.Focus, damn it.“The window for saving that baby is too short. If she’s around here, and my gut says she is, then I have to stay in place.” The baby had to come first. “She’s an innocent, Ryker. There’s nobody else to protect her.”
Ryker breathed out. “I agree. She has to come first for all of us. If not, what the hell have we been fighting for?”
Denver closed his eyes. Thank God Ryker got it. “So we remain in place. Keep with the plan. You guys find the headquarters for Madison and Cobb, and I’ll focus solely on reclaiming the baby while trying to stay off Madison’s radar. Then we’ll go from there.” The weight of keeping everyone safe landed like boulders on his shoulders.
“You’ll need backup with the exchange,” Ryker said evenly.
“I won’t.” Denver tapped his head back on the log wall, his body hurting. His head aching. “Trust me.”
“I do,” Ryker said. “What about Malloy? They only way Madison and Cobb could’ve found you would be if they had been watching him. Which we kind of expected.”
“I know. I told him to take a vacation, and he told me to basically fuck off.” Denver sighed.
“Then we have to cut ties with him. To keep him safe,” Ryker said.
“Yep. Agreed. Let the group in Montana know,” Denver said.
“I will. You sound . . . off. Besides the obvious, what’s up?”
Denver started pacing. Tension uncoiled inside him, wanting out. Now. “Shit, Ry. I wasn’t going to tell you this, but Jory and I took a test. We’re not blood.” He couldn’t hold that in.
Silence.
“Ryker?”
“You have brothers, Denver,” Ryker said, his tone hoarse. “Me and Heath. We’re yours.”
Yeah. Denver stopped and shut his eyes. “I know.” It was true. They were blood. He opened his eyes again to look at the scar along his palm. “I do know it, Ryker.” For so long he’d had only his brothers. Everything eating him up inside came pouring out. “There’s more. Noni saw me kill, Ry. Cold. Again.”
Ryker exhaled across the line. “Oh.”
“Yeah. I mean, I had to or we would’ve died. But I killed fast and without any struggle.” Though would it have made a difference? Probably not. The end result would’ve been the same. “She’s been in shock since.”
