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Pierce Turner, lovingly dubbed Utah for being an Uptight Asshole, had softened around the edges and was already looking for a house to move into with his fiancé, Liza Gray, and her daughter, Tayla. That little girl had Utah wrapped so tightly around her little finger that he was a changed man.
Liza had gone through the same training and brainwashing as PJ, only she’d gotten out and now had Utah protecting her and Tayla with the rest of their team and the Brotherhood Protectors as backup. They’d never feel safe until the head of TCW was captured or killed and the entire organization was brought down.
Judge hurriedly dressed in old jeans and a paint-stained T-shirt and went to work on the last bit of trim that needed paint. After finishing the conference room, he cleaned his brush, put the paint away in a storage room and went in search of his team in the dining room. They were just getting started with coffee and breakfast.
He helped carry food out to the table and poured a much-needed cup of coffee for himself before sitting across the table from Drake.
“Did you even sleep last night?” Drake asked.
“Not much. Since I wasn’t sleeping, I finished the trim in the conference room.”
“Good. One less thing to do today.” Drake placed a check next to PAINT TRIM on the punch list lying on the table beside his plate.
“What time did Hank say Chuck and Mud would arrive at his place?” Judge asked.
“Around noon.” Drake shot him a crooked smile. “You’ll be heading that way around eleven-thirty, I take it?”
Judge nodded. “I’d like to leave a few minutes earlier to run through town and see if they have a burner phone I can purchase until I can get to Bozeman for a replacement for my smart phone.”
“I seriously doubt they have much in the way of cell phones for sale in Eagle Rock,” Drake said.
“I have an old smart phone from when I upgraded last month,” Grimm said. “You can have it for now. You’ll just need to call your cell service to see if they can transfer your data. It’s in my room. I’ll get it for you after breakfast.”
“Thanks, man,” Judge said. “We don’t realize how much we rely on technology until we don’t have it.”
After breakfast, Judge went with Grimm to the suite he shared with Dezi. It was nice and cozy, decorated in the style of the late 1800s, with a few modern pieces added for comfort.
Grimm dug an old ammunition can out of a closet and popped it open. Moments later, he handed Judge the cell phone and charger. “You’ll need to charge it and then call your service to have them work their magic with a data transfer.”
“Thanks,” Judge said.
Grimm laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’re worried about PJ, aren’t you?”
Judge nodded. “It sucks not knowing where to begin looking for their compound.”
“Liza said PJ’s one tough cookie. If anyone can survive living in a TCW camp, it’s PJ. From Liza’s account, PJ put on a pretty convincing don’t-fuck-with-me-face for everyone else in the camp. But deep down, she cares what happens to the recruits. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have helped Liza and Tayla escape.”
“Or me and Mud,” Judge said softly. “They’d be on a witch hunt if they thought anyone helped me to escape. Since I was her recruit, they could go hard on her. It’s how hard that bothers me most.”
“We’ll find them,” Grimm said.
Yeah, but would PJ still be alive?
Judge kept telling himself to think positive.
He spent the next hour working with the phone service getting his data moved over, and his cell phone that had been confiscated by TCW shut down. Once he had the phone activated, he jumped in where needed to finish up the last items on the punch list.
Molly and her girl posse swept in to lay out the decorations and banners for the big party the next day. Floral arrangements would arrive in the morning.
A huge outdoor grill was delivered and installed in the new outdoor kitchen off the side porch of the lodge, with easy access to the kitchen.
Parker Bailey and Molly’s brothers spent the best part of the morning mowing, edging and cleaning up the landscaping.
Everyone was busy with plenty still to do before the Grand Re-Opening of the Lucky Lady Lodge.
Judge kept an eye on the clock. At eleven-thirty, he checked in with Drake. “I’ll be gone for a couple of hours.”
“Take your time. We have the chaos under control here,” he said with a crooked grin. “Good luck with the kid.”
