CHAPTER 55
Beaver Creek, MT
Laney woke up late the next morning, if the sun streaming through the cracks in the blinds was any indication. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, wishing she could go back to sleep. She felt like she’d been run over by a car. Since all this began, she had yet to wake up without at least three parts of her body aching in pain.
She’d fallen asleep on the couch late last night waiting for Jake and Yoni to return. A blanket had been placed over her, so she knew they were back, even though the house was quiet.
She was surprised she hadn’t woken up when they’d come home. Apparently, she had been so tired that she had slept through not only two men entering the house, but one covering her with a blanket.
Annoyed with her nonexistent sentry skills, she stretched and headed to the kitchen to put on some coffee. After the coffee was set, she started pulling food out of the refrigerator for breakfast. She had bacon grilling and a second egg-white omelet finishing up when Yoni stumbled into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. She sat an omelet in front of him.
“Ah, Laney. If I were not a happily married man, I would propose to you. Perhaps in the next lifetime, hmm?”
She laughed. “Does your wife know how big a flirt you are?”
“Of course she does. That is why she loves me. She knows that as much as I love women, I love her the most.”
Skillfully scooping out the omelet, Laney poured in more egg whites to start the third. Jake walked in just as she was adding the tomato, onion, and spinach. He sat across from Yoni and smiled at Laney as she placed an omelet in front of him.
He raised an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t cook.”
“I don’t. Breakfast isn’t cooking.”
Jake took a bite. “Well, it tastes great. Thanks.”
Laney smiled. She tried to imagine what it would be like, if it was just her and Jake. A quiet romantic breakfast.
“Hey, you two want to be alone?” Yoni asked.
Laney rolled her eyes at him. Reality: A romantic breakfast with her, Jake, and Yoni, the destroyer of moments.
Jake slapped Yoni on the back of the head and Yoni chuckled.
Jake caught her eyes and gestured to the laptop. “I downloaded the pictures from last night. Take a look.”
Laney started to sit down when a knock sounded at the front door. Jake grabbed her and pulled her behind him, while simultaneously pulling his gun from its holster. Yoni was already positioning himself to the side of one of the front windows with his gun out.
Yoni peered through the blinds. He turned around and smiled. “It looks like we have a few more joining us for breakfast.”
He walked to the door and opened it. Henry and Patrick walked through the front door with large duffle bags slung over their shoulders.
Laney let out the breath she’d unconsciously held when Jake had pressed her against the wall. She forced her heartbeat back to a normal rhythm before crossing the room to envelope her uncle in a warm hug.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jake give Henry that half-handshake, half-hug greeting guys tended to use.
“Not that we mind the company, but couldn’t you guys have given us a heads-up that you were coming?” Jake asked.
“I thought you guys could use the sleep.” Henry replied. He turned to Yoni with a grin. “You need to work on your trip wires a little, Yoni.”
“You’re the only one who’s ever gotten through them.” Yoni grumbled, kicking at the carpet like a kid. “How do you do that?”
Laney released her uncle and looked past the two men. “Did you two come alone? Is Danny with you?”
“Danny’s with Dom. We thought it’d be better for him to stay there.” Henry gestured back towards the front door. “But we did bring along five extra men. They’re setting up a patrol on the perimeter. More will be flying in later today.”
Jake nodded. “Good. I’ll coordinate with them after breakfast.”
Laney headed back to the kitchen and flipped the omelet she’d left on the stove top. “Why are you two here?”
Patrick looked at Henry as he answered. “We thought you might need some help with the next part of the plan.”
“Next part of the plan?” Laney stopped and looked from Patrick to Henry. “We have a next part of the plan?”
“Not yet. But I have some ideas," Jake replied.
Patrick glanced past her to the breakfast on the table. "Are those your egg-white omelets? Any chance Henry and I could snag one?”
She linked her arm with his. “Absolutely. Have a seat.”
Ten minutes later, she’d scooped the last omelet onto her plate and placed a couple of pieces of bacon next to it.
Taking her seat, she ate with one hand while scrolling through the pictures on Jake’s computer with the other. “Is that a landing strip?”
Jake nodded. “Yes. And we were there for the delivery.”
A chill went through Laney. “Are those men bound?”
“Yeah. And they were brought to some sort of structure. We couldn’t get a look inside. But it’s safe to say we’ve found the missing men.”
A startled gasp escaped Laney as she clicked onto the next image. “What is that?”
Jake leaned over to look at the monitor. “We couldn’t tell until we got home and brightened it up a bit. It appears to be where they put the bodies.”
“Bodies?” Patrick asked, paling.
Yoni gave Jake a look of apology. “It looks like when someone dies at the enclosure, they don’t bury them. They place them in a pit just outside the wall.”
Laney clicked on a different picture, not wanting to look at the macabre scene any longer. “How many men are in there?”
“We couldn’t tell,” Jake said, his voice strained. “But there were a lot.”
Laney shook her head. “I know we thought this was what was happening. Somehow, though, seeing the pictures makes it more real.” She hesitated. “Did you see any sign of Tom?”
“No,” Jake said. “It was too dark. And the enclosure is huge. He could have been anywhere.”
Laney reached over and squeezed his hand. “Okay, so now we know where they are. What’s the next step? Do we call the cops?”
Yoni shook his head, but Jake was the one who answered. “No.”
Laney looked between the two of them. “Why not? We have proof now.”
Yoni gently took her hand. “Laney, Kensington has enough political power to get planes re-routed. He’s going to be able to squash any search warrant or, at least, postpone it long enough to remove any evidence of the missing men. Do you know what the easiest way for him to do that is?”
“To kill them all,” she replied in a small voice.
Yoni nodded.
Despair weighed her down. “So what do we do?”
Jake's determined voice answered her. “We get them out ourselves.”