Beck's Six

“Fuck.” Roman spit the word out again. “With all these mountains, how the hell are we supposed to identify where they are? And are we supposed to find them and kick their ass?”

“The word was circulated that they’d either moved their operations or disbanded for whatever reason. But that was a false flag, apparently. This message from Swede says there’s a rumor they still have their headquarters here and are hunkered down, planning something big. Last time, they headquartered in the next mountain over to us, and they’d set it up the way they wanted. I’m guessing that’s where they are now.”

“If that’s true,” Roman said, “and they’re over there now, then they know we’re here also. Damn.”

“Damn is right.” Hank raked his fingers through his hair. “I chose this place for our training for two reasons. One, because we weren’t likely to come into conflict with other groups, certainly not people like these assholes. They did a fucking damn good job of keeping this whole thing under the radar. Better than all the agencies I checked.”

“No shit,” Roman agreed. “I’d heard all the stories about them, but there hasn’t been a smell of them in more than a couple of years. Rumor had it they’d pretty much disappeared. I thought they’d pulled in their tails and given up.”

“And rumors are just that,” Hank told him. “Apparently they are here and gearing up for something else. Something big. We can’t play a guessing game. We need to get firm answers.”

Beck frowned. “Who are they anyway? The Loyalists, I mean. Who did you say they were?”

“A far-right group—and I mean really far right—with a goal of destroying the country and taking charge and making it over the way they want. They like blowing up government buildings and events and killing a lot of people. That seems to be their answer to everything. That means whatever they’re planning now, they easily could have a store of explosives. A lot of them, so we need to be very careful.”

“Paladin can help there,” Roman reminded him.

“And we will definitely use him,” Hank agreed.

A tiny shiver raced down Beck’s spine as she listened to the description. “They don’t sound very friendly.”

“They’re not, and they’re damn dangerous. Run by a guy who calls himself Vern. Don’t know his last name, but I have Swede on it.”

“We need to check this out,” Roman told him. “Maybe it’s just a false alarm.”

“We should be so lucky. I told Swede to dig everywhere he can and find out what’s on their agenda this time.” Hank shook his head. “Damn! And here I thought we had a nice, isolated situation for training camp.”

“But more important,” Roman added, “if Leslie decided to take a run at that mountain, we need to get her back here before she stumbles into one of their hot spots.” He looked over at Beck. “We have to organize a search party right now, one that covers a lot of area without being too obvious. I’ve got an idea how to do this, and quickly. If we’re lucky, she’s still on this mountain, but I’m not counting on it.”

Beck was glad he wasn’t writing her sister off as just some idiot out riding in dangerous places. Roman had a solid air about him, a sense of control, but it was also tinged with hot sex appeal. Whenever he looked at her with his ocean-blue eyes, she felt shivers race through every sensitive spot in her body. And every scene from that one night suddenly raced through her brain.

Damn!

This is business, Beck. Not sex.

But, oh lord, it was hard to shut off her reaction to him. Did he feel the same way? He’d been very, very clear that they were one night and done. That was his standard operating method. But then why, since she’d first seen him at Hank’s, did he have a smoldering look in his eyes that sent messages he wanted to eat her up. That had to be wrong.

Right?

She shook herself so she could pay attention and listen to the rest of what he was saying.

“We need to get on this right away,” Roman told Hank.

“Amen to that.” He looked at the group gathered at the picnic table. “I want you paired up in teams. Each of you with one of my men. If this thing works out for you to join Brotherhood Protectors, we might as well see how you all work together.”

Fay Clayton nodded. “Good idea.”

“Okay.” Hank scanned the faces of everyone there. “Beck, you’re with Roman. You know each other and have worked together before, plus, he scouted this area with me when we set this week up. That means he knows what the landscape is. Besides, Leslie is your sister, and she won’t give you a hard time if you tell her she’s got to get the hell out of wherever we find her. I hope.”

“What about everyone else?” Fay asked. “Who are you pairing the rest of us up with?”

“Right. Well. For the rest of you in Beck’s group, I have agents I’m going to pair each of you with who I think will make good partners. I’m making these decisions based on what I’ve observed for the past couple of days. And maybe Leslie will listen to you, too. Everyone else will spread out to routes I assign to them and start hunting.”

Fay nodded. “Sounds good.”

Hank looked over the crowd. “Okay. Let me get this thing going ASAP. I’ll tap the men I already put on my list and get them together with you. You all will be searching the next mountain over where they tell me the Loyalists have their headquarters. I’ll get another team searching this one, just to make sure she’s not here. I hope she is. I hope this is just a false alarm, but these guys in the Loyalists are evil personified. If those assholes are anywhere out here, we need to find Leslie right now and get her back here.”