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The front gate was manned by two security again and that wouldn’t change until this mess was ended. No surprise, Kaz hadn’t shown up for his shift and hadn’t shown up at his second job that Sharlee had discovered just before dinner. They hadn’t time to worry about more than that right now. All codes, passwords, and electronic logs were changed. Alarms were reset, some cameras were stationary and some on pan. He had extra precautions inside and out. It would have to do.
They drove off the estate with another car following them as safety. Jac wasn’t going to play chase through the country roads tonight. He had things to do. Dropping the women off, as was the plan, the only vulnerable time was the moment the women left the vehicles and when the men returned, which was nearly five minutes.
“We can hold them off if they jump in immediately, Jac. Don’t worry.” Sharlee leaned over and kissed her husband as they pulled into Monroe’s drive. They waited for the gate to open and Sharlee gave him the rundown. “I have my weapons. Finley has hers, and Callie has hers. Ivy has her martial arts, and we can protect the others.”
Finley nodded. “Ivy good at playing the weaker sex, drawing them close enough to nearly castrate them.”
Jac chuckled. “That girl is something else. Kaden has his hands full. Okay, it’s been long enough for it to look like I gave you the rules and pick-up times, etcetera. I’ll be back soon.” Another quick kiss and the women got out of the car. Monroe met them at the door and ushered them in.
Soon, Becky, having picked up Ivy, who lived next door, pulled in and parked. They would have come this way, so they didn’t want to be out of character. Monroe met them and escorted them inside.
Ben had called Monroe earlier to discuss the hesitancy that Darcy was having to expose herself, even if it was practice. Ace had done a number on her security. Finally, they convinced Darcy to get in the car after Finley was conferenced into the call and talked her through the trip.
Oakley arrived with Ryker, who walked her to the door himself, handing her over to Monroe with some hesitancy.
“Fuck, I hate this.”
Oakley kissed him with determination and whispered in his ear. “Practice, baby. Just practice.”
“Yeah. I know.”
He returned to the car and was pulling out of the little circle drive when Colonel Ben and Darcy drove in. She jumped out of the car and ran into the house through the door Monroe held open. She burst into Mallory’s front room and sat away from the picture windows. No one said anything. They let her do what made her feel the most comfortable. Finley wanted to reassess if Darcy needed to be here at all. She’d talk to her guys.
All this was practice, but tomorrow night, Levi and Carter would do this to count. The ladies talked as they would on Saturday night. They helped decorate now and occupied themselves as they would then. Finley caught Callie’s eye and then slid her gaze over to Sharlee. They were the only ones with guns. They agreed that when the cue was received of incoming, Becky and Mallory would quickly slip into the bathroom closest to them and then into the safe room through the storage closet. There were several ways to get into the safe room, which spanned the entire basement level. Monroe wanted there to be no blocked exits.
Darcy, if she had to be here Saturday, would dive into the winter coat closet at the opposite end of the house, along with Finley and Ivy. They would get into the safe room that way. It would be tight, but they would get it done. She would do that tonight. The room was almost decorated, and the anticipation was making the room crackle. Levi, Monroe, and Carter would send the rest of the women to the other entrance in the master bedroom at the opposite end of the house. They should all be out of the living room and safe in ten seconds or fewer.
The guys would be the welcoming committee and Jac would bring in the response team. It should be over soon. Practice ran smoothly. The men knew that was not likely to happen in the real events but if their women were safe, the men could finish it.Finley could only hope as they all went home that it would be as well orchestrated Saturday.
Later that night, while lying in bed, Finley asked the guys about Darcy.
“She’s so scared. Why does she have to go to Mallory’s? We don’t need her.”
Levi answered her. “We do, baby. They know we have her and they want her back. That won’t happen, but it is what they want, so she is necessary.”
Finley looked at Levi with a furious expression. “So, you are using her as a decoy?”
“You are all fucking decoys, and I hate it. I know we’ good at what we do, but these are our women. We’re putting our hearts on the line for some asshole I don’t even know but want to annihilate.” Cash sat up in bed.
“Your heart?” asked Finley, sitting up next to him.
“Yes, my heart. And if you don’t believe me by now, I guess I’ll have to work harder to get you there.” He pulled her close. She took a deep breath as he lowered his head. She opened for his kiss and just before she was ready to give into her quickly rising libido, He released her mouth.
A moment after Cash raised his head, Levi kissed her temple to get her attention. “And my heart.” He took her mouth more gently, kissing her throat and the top of her shoulder, raising her chin to receive his mouth again. She was flooding. Her panties were drenched. These men.
“Okay then.”
“Good,” said Cash.
“Okay then,” said Levi.
After a few moments of recovery, Levi spoke up again.
“Finley, we have to play this as straight as we can. Rodney will think this is a trap if we do anything out of the ordinary or what isn’t expected. You know that.”
“I hate this. I don’t even know if Darcy is being taken care of. I mean, I don’t know this colonel. Neither do you, really.”
“I think he is who he says he is because we verified it. He’s a good guy. And she doesn’t seem to hate being with him,” said Levi.
