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While each organization kept a respectful distance they had been mutually helpful at times and Jac tried to keep it between their lines when possible but it was hard to not second guess the decision when, within moments of their arrival, the park had transformed into a frenzy of activity as the sheriff’s deputies wasted no time in their investigation. Jac came over to let them know he had just gone to the Ganders’ back door and they were tied up, gagged.
“We untied them and removed their gags, but we used gloves so as not to muddy your DNA clues. Evidently their security guard was on break and the housekeeper opened the door to two men who overwhelmed her, then took the security guard by surprise leaving it simple to subdue the older couple. No oneappears hurt, but we already called an ambulance, and I left one of my guys there to wait for your crew to arrive.”
“Mr. Reynaud, where is your son?”
Cash had his arms crossed, legs spread in an aggressive stance. He noticed the other officer who was standing off to the side of the lead policeman seemed to view him as a possible threat so Cash dropped his arms. He expected Jac to order him to stand down, but he didn’t. It was the most he was going to compromise. The other man seemed to relax a hair. Good enough.
“With his nanny in hiding.” Jac always went generic when he could and technically he was truthful. He was with Finley, he prayed, and they were in hiding of a sort. He just didn’t know where that was, exactly. Not yet. The wording might have been off a little, but all is still technically true.
“It was an attempted kidnapping is what your man at the gate said so if the would-be kidnappers didn’t succeed, can you tell me why your child and employee are in hiding?”
Jac looked at the officer as though the man was missing the problem. He waited for the officer to catch up with his error of thought but when he didn’t indicate that he tracked, Jac gave the impression that he was filling in details that should have been evident to the average person.
“What would you do if your child had almost been kidnapped, your nanny terrorized, your bodyguard’s skull smashed in, and you had no clue who it was? If you were a man like me, who hid and protected people for a living, doing that for your child and a woman that is part of your family’s life would be natural. When I have eliminated the threat, then I’ll bring them out of hiding.”
Jac left out that he hunted people as well and his best skills and resources were fully activated as of the moment the firstKeep Safe distress signal was sent. Cash knew Jac’s reputation preceded him, so words were unnecessary.
The officer scratched his head. “I’m going to need to talk to the people involved.”
“When things have shuffled and Levi is recovered enough, both he and Finley will share what they know.”
“And your son.”
“No problem. As previously mentioned, my man was incapacitated and is getting treatment right now. My nanny is with my son and I can assure you she isn’t without protection as well.” Cash had to look down. The only protection his girl had now was herself, but that was pretty damn impressive. “But since he is twenty months old, and he is great at jabbering, that might not help but could be entertaining.”
The officer hesitated, then nodded. “As soon as, then, for the other two. Have you considered it was someone close to you that might be the culprit? Or possibly someone with a grudge?”
“Absolutely, on both counts, but it isn’t one of my group. No offense, but these are my people and family, and no one messes in their kennel or jeopardizes their safety without the rest of us getting involved. Finley activated the Keep Safe program on her cell that my wife helped to develop and has continually enhanced. Talk to her if you need more on that. Otherwise, if you will excuse me, I have two very important people to protect. I am also going to check in on my injured personnel before looking for the criminals who tried to take my son and his nanny. The same people who hurt that kind elderly couple’s staff and terrorized them in the house behind us. If you need more, come over to the house.” Jac pointed in the direction of his home.
“That where you live?”
“Correct. My office is on Rendezvous Road, but they are in lock down until this is over, so you’ll have to go through me.” Jac pulled out a business card from his back pocket and a pen fromhis jacket and wrote his personal cell number on the back and Becky’s office cell number.
“Here is the easiest way to get in contact with me. The second number is my assistant’s number.”
Jac nodded and walked off, his ear already to his phone to call his guys back to the house. The Colonel, who said nothing while the cop was talking to Jac, said, “I find it interesting that the officer never asked who the men with you were. It would seem they were a little lost as to what direction to take things.”
Cash’s heart was pounding like a drum in his chest, aching to get back to the house and find out the status of everything. He wondered how Levi was. The police were organized but not as intense as his team. Cash knew that Jac normally enjoyed watching as they worked with practices precision, each member focused on their task. Jac’s approach was to divide and conquer, knowing his guys were operating with laser focused care.
Today, the whole crew was impatient to end this. And end whoever did this. So was Cash. He had two people to worry about, plus little Storm.
“These damn games are coming to an end,” said Jac as he headed through the gate and to his house. Cash couldn’t agree more than the four men crossed the side estate grounds back to the house.
Once everyone had gathered back at Jac’s, they accepted the finger foods that Spring brought out as they walked and talked in the large meeting room. Spring’s face was blotchy from crying and it seemed that Mallory, the most maternal of the group, was comforting her as she helped her put out the food. This was family.
“How are the Ganders?” asked Sharlee. Jac rubbed her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. He sighed in frustration.
“Fine. A little shook up and they have no idea that there was anything more than an attempted kidnapping. They didn’t know that until I told them. They were devastated. I said I’d send someone over to look at their security system and we would upgrade where it needed to be tightened.”
“Right, so here is the most recent update,” said Kaden. “Aggressors are unknown as of this moment. That will not be the case for long.” Waiting was not easy for this group of people and Cash needed to fill his time fast. He headed for his security team on-site.
Jac had called Monroe no less than three times in the two hours they were at the doctor. Cash called twice. Levi wanted to laugh at their impatience, but it hurt to even think, so laughing was out for now. And Finley and Storm were gone. That was certainly no laughing matter. In fact, he felt a kind of desperation in the background of his mind when nothing else seemed to make sense. That feeling was overshadowing everything else. The car ride to Jac’s made him nauseous, but he’d get through.
Levi walked in with ice on his head, Monroe hovered like a helicopter pilot over a target exfil in a high value individual rescue. His over-protective teammate steered him to a chair and pressed a new cold compress on his head, removing the warmed one from Levi’s hand. Levi gently tried to push him away, but Monroe was not budging.
“Hell, man, are you okay?” asked Garrett. He looked at Monroe. “Did the Doc clear him?”
“To come here, yes. To hop into the field or do anything active on his feet? Not for at least a week. He is better serving the cause here, filling in every blank he can, so we have the fuckers who bothered to mess with our own. But likely thinking isn’t easy and won’t be for a while. No computers, videos, nothing digital for this week.”
