AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kyla entered and went to a brand-new set of stairs leading up to the loft.
The barn downstairs looked and smelled like a barn should, earthy and filled with the scent of hay and horse dung.
Upstairs was nothing like Breely expected. The loft had been completely remodeled to include drywall, paint, plumbing and electricity. A massive conference table stood in the middle, surrounded by rolling office chairs. An array of monitors filled the wall in the back corner with keyboards ready for use. Kyla went straight to the computer monitors and sat down at a keyboard. Before long, she had the keyboard humming with the speed of her strokes.
Moe nodded toward a door. “That’s the armory. Hank outfitted it with everything we could need for any mission, from bodyguard and protection details to small-scale war conducted by members of our team.”
Breely’s eyes widened. “Why would they do that?”
His mouth pressed into a thin line. “Like when we had a faceoff with a drug cartel running drugs through the Wind River Reservation, which was killing off teens and making it look like suicide when they wanted out. The cartel came to claim their territory. We disabused them of their claim. Hopefully, they won’t be back anytime soon.”
“Wow,” Breely shook her head. “Who even thinks we have wars going on here in the US?”
“You won’t see much about it in the newspapers,” Moe said. “It happened on a reservation.”
Stone, Hunter, Carter, Dax and Bubba entered the war room.
From the corner, Kyla called out, “I’ve got Swede and Hank on video. Transferring to the big screen now.”
The screen at one end of the conference table blinked to life. A giant head appeared before them.
“Have a seat,” Stone instructed.
Everyone gathered around the table.
Stone turned to Breely. “Swede, this is Breely Brantt, Robert Brantt’s daughter and only living child.”
Swede dipped his head. “Breely.”
Breely gave a tiny nod. “Swede.”
“We spent time at the dinner table discussing political issues that could have put Robert Brantt in the crosshairs of a corrupt government with connections to a powerful drug cartel.” Stone gave Swede a recap of what they’d learned from their research based on what Brantt had told them.
Hank’s face appeared beside Swede’s. “Hey, team. Breely, Chelsea. Glad to see Moe and Breely made it there safely. I hope the flights were smooth.”
“Couldn’t have asked for better flying weather,” Moe reported.
“Good.” Hank gave them all a quick smile. “We had a video conference with Brantt as well and went over every employee who worked at the ranch, those who still work there and those who were let go.” He nodded to Swede. “Can you put it on the screen for them?”
Swede looked down. The sound of clicking keys filled the silence. Moments later, Hank and Swede’s faces disappeared, and a list of names appeared.
Breely leaned forward, studying the list of names she found familiar and some she didn’t. Beside the names were listed two dates: date of hire and date of release.
Those without a release date still worked at the ranch. Breely skimmed over their names, familiar with all of them, a wave of homesickness washing over her. She’d grown up around these people, worked alongside them and knew their families, their dreams and sorrows.
None of the full-time employees jumped out as people who would attempt a kidnapping.
She focused on the names of those with a release date. Half of them had left of their own accord.
“Brandt put a star by the names of people who were fired or laid off,” Hank said. “It narrows down the list to ten people. We’re conducting background checks on those.”
“What were the reasons for releasing them?” Moe asked.
Breely knew all of them, going back to when she was a teen.
“Beau Joyner, Randy Denton and CJ Veatch were teenagers Daddy hired one summer, hoping to grow them into ranch hands. They liked to party at night and never made it to work on time the next morning. Daddy gave them multiple opportunities to make it work. He finally had the foreman send them home. It’s been a long time. I doubt the few weeks they worked at the ranch made a lasting impression on them.”
“We’ll do a cursory look at where they are now and dig deeper if there are any red flags,” Swede said.
