Mellie looks at me, probably not sure how much to say. I think for a second and opt for the truth. No sense lying. She’ll know soon enough what we have planned. “I’m hoping we can borrow them or Tony and his team can. Since they had to take a plane, they won’t have their usual supplies with them. I’d rather we’re armed since we don’t know what we’re walking into.”
“Makes sense to me. They’re in your Daddy’s study. He got that new gun safe last Christmas, remember? If he has weapons, they’ll be in there. You won’t need to worry about a key, it’s unlocked. No reason to when it’s just the two of us usually. If Iwant to kill him, I’ll just poison his food,” she says with a huge smile.
“Mom! That’s horrible. I’m telling him you said that.”
“Bless your heart. I tell him almost every day.”
“I love your family,” I say to Mellie once we’re out of her mom’s hearing range. Or I thought so until I hear her yell back, “We love you too, Providence.”
Mellie grins. “Guess you’ll be visiting Mississippi a lot more often now.”
I guess I will. Who’d a thought.
We head into the study, and it looks exactly like I imagined. Dark wood paneling on the walls, a big wooden desk, a deer head mounted on the wall. Mellie catches me looking at the deer and smirks.
“That would look out of place at your house.”
“Sure would. I think the only hunting Tony ever did was for insurgents, and I sure as hell don’t want one of their heads hanging on my wall.”
“No kidding. What about pedophiles and human traffickers?” she asks.
“Hmm, nah. My walls are fine without heads, but killing them? Yeah, I’m good with that.”
“Me too,” she agrees as she pulls open the walnut gun safe. It’s larger than I expected and has at least five rifles. I know a group of guys who will be thrilled to see them.
Grabbing the guns and all the ammo he has, we carry it into the dining room and lay everything out on the table. This way, when Tony gets here, they’ll be able to go through and pick what they’re going to use.
“I didn’t see any knives in there. Maybe he has them in the shed out back. Let me go check. You can come if you want,” Mellie says as she heads toward the back door.
“I think I’ll wait here. Sheds aren’t really my thing. There might be spiders.”
“Are you afraid of a little ol’ spider Ms. Providence?” Mellie snarks.
“Yup, I admit it. I’m a wuss. If there’s a spider in my vicinity, I’d get out the flame thrower and burn the house down. Luckily, I have a big strong former SEAL who kills them for me.”
I can still hear her chuckling as the screen door slams behind her. Staring at the guns on the table reminds me of what’s about to happen. I pray Mellie’s not wrong and that the girls are in that house and still alive. We need to get those little ones out of there. If we have to start from scratch searching for them, it will take way too long.
My phone buzzes as Mellie walks through the back door carrying a couple of knives. They’re not k-bars but they’ll do just fine, I’m sure. Tony’s face pops up. When I check the message to see he’s here, I can already hear them outside.
“Yay. They’re here,” I yell as I charge for the front door. I need to be in Tony’s arms more than I need my next breath. Pulling it open, I almost collide with him on the front porch.
“Whoa, baby. Trying to take me out?” Tony chuckles as his arms wrap around me to keep me from falling. But it’s right where I want to be. “You okay?”
“I am now,” I whisper against his chest.
“I’ve got you. Everything’s going to be fine.” He tilts my head back and meets my gaze. “It will be. It’s what we do, right? Get the bad guys and make them pay.”
“Right. It’s just a bit different this time,” I mumble, not wanting to share with the rest of the group.
“Whatever you need, sweetheart, you’ll have. Now and forever. Get me?” Sincerity shining in his beautiful green eyes.
“I got you. I’m not letting you go either,” I murmur.
“Thank God.” He gives me another squeeze. “How about we go inside and meet everyone?”
“Yeah, that’d be a good idea, huh?” As much as I don’t want to let him go, we need to do this. Once everyone is safe, we can go home and figure out the rest.
CHAPTER 13
