Within minutes they were all making phone calls to various hotels.

  Honey waved, turned to the others in excitement, when she said, “Thank you very much,” before smiling and hanging up. “A Freddie Brown registered a few days ago at the Oasis Motel. That’s only about a mile and a half from here.”

  “A hotel or motel did you say?” Jager asked. He was already clicking on his laptop to bring up the address.

  “It’s a motel. He can drive up to the side and park to access the room from the outside, so he doesn’t have to go into a lobby and be seen. The reservation was made over the phone. All in all, the receptionist was very helpful but only after I used your brother’s name for leverage.”

  “Ha. I don’t suppose she knows what vehicle he’s driving, does she?”

  Honey chuckled. “That’s probably one of the reasons why she was so friendly. He’s driving a black Porsche.”

  Silence fell.

  Allison looked up. “Obviously there’s some importance to that. Anybody want to fill in the details for me?”

  “We’ve been tracking a black Porsche since the start of this nightmare,” Badger said. “This just confirms we’re on the right path. We’re actually going to get this guy.” Excitement threaded through his voice as he pounded away on his keyboard.

  Allison smiled. “So, rental cars? You want me to start tracking those down?”

  Jager nodded. “If you want to. Not too many places in town that’ll rent a Porsche.”

  She picked up the phone, and, three calls later, she said, “Freddie Brown rented a black Porsche four days ago. He took it for a week and is expected to return it in three days.”

  Erick said, “Okay, I’m writing these details down. I’ve been collecting all the information since the start, so what we have to do now is come up with a grand plan in order to figure out who this Freddie is.”

  “We already know who he is,” Allison said quietly. “But we need to know who he is to Mouse.”

  The others nodded.

  “Good point.”

  Just then Kat got up, whispered something to Badger and walked into the kitchen. Badger looked around. “It’s dinnertime. Can you all stay?”

  Allison lifted her eyebrows.

  Jager understood. A lot of people were here.

  “I hate to put you out,” she murmured.

  Jager nodded. “We’re staying. Are we barbecuing, or are we ordering in?”

  Kat stood in the doorway and smiled. “The steaks are ready. I have cooked pasta to make a Greek pasta salad if somebody wants to help prep that. There are avocados to use up, tomatoes to chop, plus we’ve got feta cheese. I’ve already prebaked big potatoes. I’ll put them on the grill to warm.”

  That shifted it. Badger, Allison and Jager continued to hunt information on their laptops, but Laszlo, Talon and Geir stood to walk over to the barbecue grills. And that’s when Allison saw three massive barbecues lined up. She stared at them. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much barbecue space in my life.”

  Badger chuckled. “Having everyone close by means we need lots of space to cook.”

  She looked at Jager. “Is there anything else you want me to hunt down, or should I help the ladies?”

  He smiled. “You can do whatever you feel like doing.”

  She sat beside him for a moment, thinking about that. “No, I can’t.” But her tone was low.

  He glanced at her in confusion. “Why?”

  She gave him a wicked grin. “Too many people watching.”

  Chapter 14

  Allison got up and walked inside. She heard Badger chuckle as she passed him, and she shot him a twinkling look. The last thing she heard was Badger’s comment to Jager.

  “She’s a live one.”

  Jager’s heartfelt response made her smile. “Thank God.”

  In the kitchen she asked the others, “What can I do?”

  “Bringing the dishes and cutlery outside would be good. Get the men to set up the tables. Then we’ll just put everything out, and people can serve themselves.”

  “I can handle that.” She walked back outside and asked Talon, who was standing beside the barbecue grills, “I’m supposed to ask for help setting up tables.”

  The men brought out two very large folding tables and set them up in front of the grills.

  She went back into the kitchen and carried out plates, cutlery and bottled water. Kat came behind her with a very large bowl of potato salad, and one of the women—Allison had already forgotten her name—followed her outside with a large macaroni salad.

  Allison looked at the salads and smiled. “This is my kind of a meal.” The potatoes were being brushed with oil and then placed on the grill beside her. She smiled. “Wow, you guys know how to eat, don’t you?”

  “That’s the thing about almost losing your life.” Jager came up behind her. He put his hand gently on the back of her neck. “You learn to appreciate the simple things in life. Good friends and good food are two of them.”

  “Yeah, and what’s another one?”

  He pinched the back of her neck gently, tilted her head back and whispered, “You.” And he kissed her in front of everyone.

  She pivoted, threw her arms around his neck and hung on tight. When he lifted his head, she sagged against him and said, “That’s not fair.”

  He grumbled, “Neither was your comment earlier.”

  She could feel his body already responding to their kiss. She sighed with happiness, twisting in his arms but managing to stay within the circle of his embrace as she watched everyone around the barbecue area. Erick and Geir came out bearing large cutting boards of seasoned steaks. When slapped onto the hot grills, they sizzled, and she smiled. “Any chance I can get mine medium-rare?”

  “Absolutely,” Kat said. “It’s the preferred way for most of us.”

  Morning Blossom—Allison didn’t know how she would ever get used to calling the woman Morning, but Allison would never forget that woman’s name—came out with a covered basket.

  “What’s that, Morning?” Jager asked.

  She chuckled. “One of your favorites.”

  Instantly Geir was at her side. “I should test them,” he said, trying to lift the cotton cloth covering the basket.

  She smacked his hand away. “You had these yesterday. You don’t need more. This is for the others,” she scolded. He gave her such a heartbroken look that Morning laughed out loud, pulled back the cloth and let him slip his hand inside. He came out with a fresh warm bun that smelled of garlic and fresh butter. She put the bread basket on the table and said, “You’d think these guys never ate.”

  Allison grinned. “When they’re around this much good food, it’s no wonder. They’re probably afraid they’ll miss their next meal. Might as well tank up on as much as they can while it’s around.” Just then her phone rang.

  “How dangerous is this man?” Dennis asked her.

  “I wasn’t kidding when I said he’s responsible for at least six murders.”

  “Did he do it himself?”

  “No, we think he hired some of it out. Pretty damn sure he ran Jager’s parents off the road outside of Vail. We also traced him to Norway at the same time as one of the other men’s father was intentionally hit by a car in what was to look like a hit-and-run accident.”

  “Jesus.”

  “That’s just the start of it,” she said. “I’m talking with everybody right now as we try to figure out what he plans to do here. We’re setting up for a barbecue.”

  “Lucky you. I’m on duty until midnight.”

  “Sorry, bro.”

  He chuckled. “You’re so not.”

  She grinned. “How’s the family?”

  “Baby is finally sleeping through the night. It’s so much better,” he said with a laugh. “They’ll be happy to see Auntie Allison.”

  “Yep, maybe tomorrow.”

  “I’ve got a cruiser going to the Oasis Motel now. I want to know if he’s anywhere around, and we’ve also got an APB out on the Porsche. You watch your back. If this guy is a hired killer or any good at what he does, you’re not safe where you are.”

  “I know,” she said. “We all know that.”

  “Well, enjoy the moment. Who knows when this will all blow up?” And he hung up.

  She pocketed her phone, and the others turned to look at her. “He’s sending a cruiser to the motel, and he’s got an APB out on the Porsche. But Freddie has to be seen and caught before anybody can get any answers from him.”

  They all nodded.

  Jager, sitting beside her, smiled. “In that case we might as well eat hearty.”

  “Last-supper type of thing?”

  “Hell no. Fuel for the night ahead.”

  Just then Erick called out, “First steaks are up.”

  And they all stepped forward to grab a steak while they could. After that, laughter and moans of joy filled the air as people dug into their meals. When Allison bit into one of Morning’s homemade buns, she just stared at it. “It’s so buttery. How do you make these?”

  Morning looked at her with hope in her eyes. “Do you like cooking?”

  Allison thought about that. “I don’t know. I’ve never really done any.”

  “Well, if you ever want to …” She motioned toward the basket. “Those take about twenty minutes to make.”

  “I’ve got twenty minutes,” Allison said. “Or maybe Jager does.”

  He frowned at her. “How do you know I can cook?”

  “I don’t. But I figure, if I’m going to learn, you’ll have to learn too.”

  He grinned. “At the moment we’re all unemployed bums, and we could all learn to cook.”

  Allison looked around. “Don’t any of you work?”

  Kat’s laughter rolled across the open air. “I’m a prosthetic designer and engineer.” She wore a big grin. “Honey is a dentist. Morning ran a B&B and has found her creative side taking over, so she and Clary are both artists. Perfect for Santa Fe. Minx is a social worker. Faith’s on the job right now, but she’ll be here soon. So the women all work.”

  Badger groaned. “Well, I’m on medical leave, so I have an excuse.”

  Kat leaned over and patted his arm. “You do have an excuse.”

  That started lots of joking from the other men. “Okay, so this mission was our priority. Jobs were secondary.”

  Allison thought about that. “I guess this has driven you guys for years now, hasn’t it? First the accident, which you all had to recover from. Once you did recover, somehow you figured out this had been deliberately done to you, and that’s what sent you on this path of revenge. And, if we catch this Freddie guy, … is it over?” Her gaze went from man to man. None were willing to commit. And she didn’t understand that.

  Jager broke the silence. “If Freddie has the answers we need, if he’s the asshole who’s behind all this, then yes. I will be happy. As long as he’s off the streets forever.”

  “Exactly,” Laszlo said. “But, so far, it always seems like we’ve not gone far enough. We haven’t gotten to the bottom of it all. That’s what I’m waiting for.”

  “And then what?” Allison asked. “What do you guys do then?”

  The men eyed each other, turned toward her and shrugged. “We’re kicking around a few ideas, but we don’t have anything really locked down.”

  “Interesting. Not ready to make plans until the mission’s completed?” she asked.

  Jager nodded. “Exactly. Once we take care of this, then we can all see a future ahead of us.”

  “You see a future now,” she said quietly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten into these relationships. Relationships mean commitment. Relationships mean a future, something past tonight. So you already believe in a future. But you can’t be sure of it.”

  Honey nodded. “That’s very astute of you. But these men have been through a lot, so it’s understandable the future seems a little far away.”

  Allison nodded, but she wondered. There were seven of them. “You guys should set up your own company,” she said.

  Silence. The men looked at each other and then back at her. “Yeah? And what do you think we should do?”

  “Well, you’ve been pretty damn effective at tracking down what happened to you guys, so why not something along those lines?”

  “We thought about it, but a lot of people are out there doing what we do,” Jager said.

  She nodded. “But the world is pretty messed up. I highly doubt you’d be short on work.”

  “It’s possible.”

  When a phone rang, she checked to see if it was hers, but it was Talon’s.

  He stood. “Somebody want to throw on a steak for Cade? I’ll head over and relieve him.”

  The others nodded. Erick hopped up, walked over to the grill and slung a fresh steak on it.

  Allison still hadn’t met Cade. She shook her head. “It’s hard to imagine, with all the skills you guys have, that you couldn’t find yourself something useful to do somewhere.”

  “We didn’t say we couldn’t,” Erick corrected, turning from one of the barbecue pits. “But it’s also a physical lifestyle. Often gone for days and weeks on end. Not sure if that’s what we want anymore. Most of us don’t want to leave our family now that we have someone in our lives.”

  She thought about that. “So maybe you guys are the ones who should hire other people.”

  Erick frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

  “Why not a training center? You guys get to stay here, take on jobs. You’ll have to bring in and train some new guys, but, no matter where you go, you’ll be the handlers, not the actual investigators.”

  At that suggestion Erick looked more interested. “Not sure it’s something we all want though. We need to consider all options.”

  “Sure. Set up an umbrella company that covers anything you guys can do, and then figure out if two of you want to do security work, and two want to build houses. If any of you have e-skills, that won’t go out of style. You could even do private consults with companies.”

  She had to rein in her enthusiasm because it was her idea; yet the men had to make it something unique which would individually fit them, something that was their idea. She glanced at Jager to see a contemplative look crossing his face. And she smiled. Good, she didn’t want them to take her idea without looking further. She wanted them to think about it and to come up with their own improved version.

  A few minutes later, a stranger walked in, and she froze. Jager reached out and gently stroked her hand. “It’s Cade.”

  She eyed the new arrival with interest. “Hello, Cade,” she said as he walked toward her.

  His gaze was assessing, but, when he saw she sat beside Jager, he smiled. “Hi. Nice to meet you, Allison. Welcome to the family.”

  And she thought to herself, There was never quite such a nice greeting as one of acceptance.

  Jager chuckled at the look in Cade’s eyes as his gaze went from Allison to Jager and back.

  Cade stepped up beside them. “Yes, she’s perfect.” Cade grinned and squeezed Jager’s shoulders. “You have no idea how damn happy I am for you,” he said quietly. “Knowing we were all getting that part of our lives together and not seeing it happen for you was just heartbreaking.”

  “I think it was all in the timing,” Jager murmured. “And maybe I needed to go where she didn’t see the competition.”

  Cade stared at him for a moment; then he laughed. “Dude, you’re ugly, but you’re not that ugly.”

  Allison spun fiercely and stared at him.

  Cade stepped back, his hands up defensively, and he laughed again. “I think maybe you’re right. It just had to be the right person.”

  Without giving her a choice, Cade wrapped his arms around Allison and squeezed her tight.

  But Allison didn’t do anything other than hug him back. Jager could hear him say something to her, but he wasn’t close enough to hear the actual words. He frowned at Cade, waiting for him to move away. When he did, Allison’s face was bright pink. He stared at her suspiciously. But she gave him an innocent look back, and he knew something was up.

  Cade just chuckled and walked over to the steaks. “Hey, Erick, you’re not burning my steak, are you?”

  “You’re here. Cook it yourself,” Erick returned.

  “And, if you’re lucky, there might still be some of Morning’s garlic buns,” Kat said jokingly from the open kitchen doors.

  Cade spun. “Morning, did you save me one?”

  She sailed toward him with the basket. “There are two left. I would never let you starve.”

  He gave her a grateful look as he reached for one.

  Geir reached over and snatched the other one. “But there is a penalty for being late,” he said as he chomped down on the bun.

  The look on Cade’s face had Jager laughing out loud. Allison slid her fingers through his and said, “What you guys have is so very special.”

  Morning turned to her, hearing her words and nodded. “Isn’t it great?”

  “Well, it would be, if you fed me,” Cade said aggrieved.

  Faith joined the group, walked over and slipped her arms through Cade’s. “So, what’s this? You’re suffering already?”

  Cade chuckled, his face softening as he wrapped his arm around the woman at his side and held her close. “Every moment I’m away from you,” he said in a mock sepulchral tone, “means I’m suffering.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Hardly.”

  He dropped a kiss on her nose and then another on her forehead. “But I am. I’m definitely suffering if you’re not around.”

  “Well, since I was flying and just got home …”

  “You’re a pilot?” Allison asked.

  Faith looked over at her and chuckled. “Thank you.”

  Allison frowned. “For what?”

  “For not assuming I’m a flight attendant or on a business trip or something. But, yes, I’m a commercial pilot.”