He watched the airboat slide up to the pier. One of the guards from the previous night, Jim, caught the rope and tied it up. There were five altogether and they were going to need a lot more than that. He was a little disappointed in them. He'd beat the hell out of Larry, so one would have thought they'd be a little more leery - or they had another team approaching from the road.
Stay alert up there, Zeke. Why send only five when they know we can fight?
They probably don't know you can dodge bullets yet, Malichai pointed out with a small laugh. And no, they all seem normal to me with no enhancements. I think they're ex-military. They carry themselves like it. And they know how to handle guns, but these aren't Whitney's supersoldiers.
That worried him too. Pepper had alluded to the men she was certain Braden would call in to track her and the babies. "Elite trackers." That sounded to him like Whitney's supersoldiers. He had taken the men applying for the psychic enhancements who had failed psychological testing and enhanced them and used them as his own private army. She'd mentioned that Braden had his own soldiers enhanced in some way. Where were they? Why send civilians into the game?
To Whitney, the supersoldiers he created from the men who had failed the testing were expendable, and he used them as pawns in his private war games ruthlessly. Wyatt knew they were ticking time bombs. The psychic enhancements came with a multitude of problems, although the earlier experiments such as Team One of the GhostWalkers suffered far more than the rest of them did. Whitney continued to perfect his technique. But still, some of them needed an "anchor," another GhostWalker to draw the psychic energy away from them when they became overloaded.
Adding physical enhancements as well added more to the strain. Being so outside normal society was extremely difficult. Eventually being so alone and isolated became wearing. He hadn't even realized how wearing until he returned home and stood on the sturdy pier he'd built himself out of love for his grandmother.
The men spotted him as they came into the yard; he could tell by the way they stiffened and then exchanged long looks with one another. If they were armed - and he was certain they were - they kept their weapons out of sight. He sent word to Nonny's two hunting dogs to stay quiet before reaching for the guard dog. It took a moment to penetrate the dog's barrier and overcome its natural instincts. He dulled its senses, pushing the scents of the bayou as well as that of his cat DNA so that the dog would be more interested in him than his prey.
This is a huntin' party. A recon. They're lookin' for signs of Pepper and Ginger, he warned all of them. Whitney appears to have no patience. He's a scientist, not a hunter, and he doesn' quite get this end of the game. That didn't make sense to him, but sending out the guards to their home was a huge mistake.
Pepper stirred in his mind. You keep dismissing Braden as if he isn't important. He's the one running the show here in the bayou. He directs everything that goes on at the laboratory in France as well as here. They run a legitimate plastics company, or at least a skeleton of one for show, but no move is made without Braden's say-so.
Wyatt thought that over. Whitney was used to having long-term goals. That meant he was a man of patience. He wouldn't make this kind of mistake. Pepper was right, Braden had sent these men, not Whitney, and that would cause a rift between the two. Wyatt was absolutely certain Whitney gave the orders to Braden, and right now, Whitney would not be happy that Braden was going out on his own.
So Braden took the initiative and sent his men to look for you. You know that can only mean one thing. Whitney doesn't have him in the loop for his end game, Wyatt said. No one goes against Whitney and lives to tell about it. No one. He's utterly ruthless. I'm not certain the man actually has blood in his veins. More like ice water.
Like Trap, Ezekiel said. He's our iceman.
Not like Trap, Wyatt denied. Trap feels compassion; Whitney wouldn't know what the word meant.
The guards made their way toward the porch. Blake, Jim and Larry led the way. The other two men had dropped behind them, slowing their gait in order to check their surroundings.
Wyatt stepped up to the edge of the porch. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"
All of them stopped instantly. Larry heaved a sigh. "I came to apologize to your grandmother. I wasn't certain you were serious, but even if you weren't, I thought about what you said and I owe her one."
"It takes five of you to come here to apologize to one little old lady?" He hoped Nonny's music was up loud enough that she didn't hear what he'd called her. She'd probably box his ears. He reached up and pulled on his earlobe, thankful he didn't have cauliflower ear.
Larry shrugged. "We actually had some other work to do, and because it took us in this direction, I thought I'd take the opportunity to make my apology."
"How is it you know my grandmother and where she lives?" Wyatt asked.
"Since we've been working at the place, your Ms. Fontenot has been out to that section of the swamp numerous times. It's fairly remote and we get a hunter or two occasionally, but she's been there regularly. Our company has to guard against industrial espionage, so we had to check her out."
"You thought a little old lady plantin' and harvestin' was committin' industrial espionage?" He grinned at them. "Seriously? Because she's gonna love that."
"All right," Larry said, looking slightly annoyed and embarrassed, "we had no choice. When the boss says to investigate someone, you do it, no matter how ridiculous."
Wyatt nodded. "I can understand that. After you shoved her, she thought maybe you were making dirty bombs in that place and the lot of you were treasonous terrorists." He watched their faces closely.
The men looked at one another. Jim hid a smile. Blake raised his eyebrows, and the two in the back coughed behind their hands.
"She said that about us?" Larry asked.
"About you in particular, Larry. You do realize that Grand-mere is an icon here in the bayou. If you really investigated her you would have found out her famille dates back to the first settlers and that she creates the medicine here. Had she gone to the other families here and told them, they would have strung you up by your balls."
Larry winced. "Would you mind if I just said my apologies and we let it go at that? I'm still sore from your little lesson. I don't think I need another one."
He moved a few steps closer with the dog. The dog didn't cast around looking for any other scent, his total concentration was on Wyatt.
The others spread out behind Larry, an easy maneuver, as if they were just hanging out while Larry approached the porch. The dog came with Larry. Wyatt didn't want his grandmother exposed to possible trouble, so the best scenario was to allow Larry into
the house. The parlor was a distance from the bedrooms, but if the baby started to cry or Pepper made a sound, the dog might alert before he could control it.
I would prefer to bring Larry and dog into the house. It would go a long way to makin' them believe we aren' harborin' any fugitives such as the Rougarou. Pepper, you'll have to make certain Ginger doesn' make a sound.
She won't, Pepper assured. She's a soldier.
He winced at that explanation. He didn't want his daughters to be soldiers or experiments. He wanted them to be happy children, with no worries of evil men who used them as experiments.
Your grand-mere might inadvertently give them away, Malichai cautioned.
Ezekiel grunted, his amusement more felt than heard. Grand-mere won't give anything away, Malichai, and shame on you for even thinking it. I never could teach you to see past the obvious. She's a wily woman and nothing gets by her.
Wyatt was pleased Ezekiel had noticed. And she'd better not hear you even thought that she'd give them away, because if she does, you won't be eating at the table for a long time to come.
Blackmail material. Oh, yeah. Ezekiel was elated.
"Just you. You and the dog," Wyatt said. "You can come into the parlor and have a word with Nonny."
Larry glanced back at the others. Jim couldn't keep the triumphant look off his face. Yeah. They had been military, but they weren't cloak and dagger.
I'm bringin' him in. Stay quiet, Wyatt reiterated.
Ginger doesn't cry, Pepper reassured. Not when danger is close. They were already in training, remember? The first thing they were ever taught was to maintain silence.
There was the merest hint of indignation, not in her voice, but in the way she felt. He knew neither of the others could tell and it made him feel closer to her.
I know, babe. I just needed to touch base and know she's okay in this situation. But caution her about bitin' just in case.
She has the right to defend herself if they come through the window and try to take her, Pepper objected.
She might have the right, but I don' want her livin' with the consequences, knowin' she killed another person, he said firmly. We're her parents. We'll do the killin' if it needs to be done, not her.