Chapter 620 Chapter 620
Asher went into the room and looked around. The only one here was Blair, sitting at a table with his head down, writing in a notebook like he was doing an exam.
Jesse came in from the other end and looked around. “I guess we’re early for the meeting.”
Shrugging, Asher headed to the counter to ask for a coffee. “Do we know what the meeting is about?”
“Planning.” Jesse went over and sat on the other side of Blair’s table.
Calum and Gage came in at the same time, followed by Devin, Tripp, and Griffin. Asher wondered if it were only men at this meeting. In his opinion, that was a mistake. The women on the Alliance teams were invaluable, and to him, they thought of things the men didn’t.
“What are you doing?” Gage stopped at the table and looked at Blair.
Blair finished what he was writing and looked up at him. “Ideas. Writing down ideas.” He pulled a lolly pop out of his mouth and nodded. “To make things easier at home.”
“Good luck with that.” Gage grinned. “You look like a kid writing an exam with a sucker sticking out of his mouth.”
Blair waved the candy at him, “Big jar of them over there,” he pointed it at the kitchen window.
“Suckers?” Amari paused at the door and then headed to the counter.
“I thought maybe he was writing a romance novel.” Calum grinned at Gage.
Blair pulled the candy from his mouth again and shook it at each of them. “I could.” He jammed the sucker back in his mouth.
“Yeah?” Kobie came in with Noah right behind her.
Noah looked as rough as Asher felt. Two nights and the pair of them spent more time tossing and turning than sleeping. Hopefully, today’s meeting was to send them all out on ops and rescues.
Kobie walked over and leaned across the table, so her face was six inches from her mates. “A sexy romance novel?”
“Yeah,” he grinned with the sucker still in his mouth, “it would be,” his face creased with a focused look.
“Hot,” Kobie whispered, “scorching,” she pulled the candy from his mouth and put it in her own, “tantalizing.”
“Yeah,” Blair said in a low voice.
“Mmm,” she pulled the lolly pop out of her mouth and put it back into his. Straightening away, she smiled at him, “I think you should research more.” Giving him another come hither look, she walked away.
Blair grabbed the notebook and stood up quickly.
“Blair.” Calum stood there grinning. “No time for that right now. Everyone will be here in a minute, and we have ops to figure out.”
Blair spun around and looked at him, “this,” he waved his hands around, “is the closest we’ve been to having some time alone.” He scoffed, “You don’t understand.”
Calum’s grin got bigger, “Oh?”
Blair scowled at him and then looked at Jesse, Devin, Tripp, and Gage. He frowned even more, “fine, you get it.” Tossing the notebook on the table, he jammed the sucker back into his mouth. “What are we planning?”
“About six ops that have to take place almost simultaneously.” Devin sat down, got up, went to the kitchen counter, and took a lolly pop out of the jar.
“And a long boat ride.” Konner came in.
Asher saw Yolanda set a cup on the counter and smile at him. That woman must be psychic. He went over toward it. “You’ve figured out where the island is?” He gave Yolanda a quick salute and picked up the cup. He took a sucker too, just because why not.
“Not yet.” Konner turned and watched Illias wheel in what looked like a projector. “I believe you’re going to be tasked with figuring out where and then Taggart is going to scout it.”
Asher shrugged. “Okay.” He had no idea how they planned for him to do that, but if it was one step closer to shutting Tomas down, he was all for it.
“How do you feel about a boat ride?” Calum turned and looked at Blair.
“In the water?” Blair blinked in slow motion after he said it.
Everyone smiled.
“That’s usually where boats are.” Konner grinned at him.
“Sorry, my brain is all over the place.” Blair shook his head. “I don’t think that I’m a water person, but if it’s not in the water, I’m good.”
“Amari and I are going.” Tripp glanced at his mate, she smiled at him like he’d said something sweet and loving.
“Are you coming, Konner?” Jesse turned and looked at him as he helped Illias line up the projector to an open space on the far wall.
“Yes.” He nodded to Illias and then turned around and looked at them. “The salt water isn’t my friend, but I think my assistance will make things go smoother.” He blew out a breath. “Terah is planning on helping too.” He lifted his hands and gave them a helpless look. “She needs to help free the children.”
“I feel bad for anyone that tries to stop her.” Tripp nodded his head enthusiastically.
“I’m going.”
Everyone turned around to see Journee standing at the door, balancing her weight on one crutch.
Asher set his cup down, started toward her, and then stopped when she gave him a look that said, ‘I can do this on my own.’ He stopped and pulled out a chair, then stood by it.
“What does Shaelan say about your leg?” Devin watched Rayne come out of the kitchen. She smiled at him and then held out a folder.
“She says it’s healing very quickly.” Journee moved a lot faster with that crutch than Asher thought she would. “Something about no pollution.” She hesitated on the word.
“I said,” Shaelan came out of the kitchen area. “Your diet hasn’t been filled with junk and additives, so your system has less pollution in it than most,” she looked at her mate. “Her healing is twice that of any of us.”
Asher scowled at the floor for a second. The idea of her being able to shift and possibly take off wasn’t great. He watched her come over to the chair, “you don’t have to go.”
She stopped and looked up at him with a determined expression. “I need to go. I left them there. I need to go back for them.”
He understood that. The desire to right wrongs, even those that weren’t your fault. “We have to figure out where first.”
“We have a few ideas on where some of your sketches might be.” Illias motioned to the wall. “That’s mostly what this meeting is about, to see if we can establish a direction.”
“Are you coming for the boat ride?” Amari asked him.
“No. No.” Illias shook his head, “water is not my friend.” He shrugged, “I prefer my paws to stay on land.”
Amari smiled and looked at Jesse, “he’s so limited.”
Jesse shrugged. “As long as he keeps our communication going, doesn’t matter where he is.”
“Right.” Illias glanced around, “I forgot the book. I’ll be back.”
“How many are going? For the island op?” Blair crossed his arms over his chest and watched his mate come back into the room with a few of the others.
“We don’t know yet.” Devin looked up from the folder. “It will depend on where it is and how many we have to get off it.”
Asher watched Journee position her leg so it wouldn’t get knocked by any other chairs. “You want something,” he motioned to the kitchen.
“Juice would be nice.” She scrunched up her nose, “the water in bottles tastes like plastic.”
Konner chuckled, “Yes. Yes, it does.”
Asher noticed Calum giving Journee a focused look as he went by him.
“I think,” Calum went over and sat at the table across from her, “the green-eyed lady was my mother.” His voice was soft and not as sure as Calum’s usually was.
“I think so too.” Asher stopped at the counter and watched Journee nod. “You have her eyes.” She gave Calum a brief smile. “She’s a very strong woman.” Yolanda set a bottle of juice on the counter. Asher nodded to her and picked it up.
“I overheard one of the men say she was on the island so she couldn’t get away again.” Journee nodded at Calum.
“Sounds like she was a pain in their ass, Cal.” Devin smiled at Calum.
“Yes,” Calum inclined his head to Journee as a silent thank you. “That’s good.” He nodded, “I didn’t tell my family yet. I don’t want to get their hopes up.”
“I think she sounds like a very strong lady. If anyone survives that island, it will be her.” Shaelan sat down beside her mate. “What if she doesn’t like me?” The look on her face was genuine worry.
Gage snorted. “She will love you.” He grinned at Calum. “Her child was a bit of a punk when he was a kid. She’s going to love that you tamed him.”
Shaelan looked at Calum. “You were a punk?” She glanced at Gage. “In what way?”
“That,” Calum glared at Gage, “is a story for another time,” he motioned to the projector, “we have ops to figure out.”
Gage smirked at Devin, who had his hand over his mouth to hide the smile.
“We’re going to have to pause this,” Raymond came in from the lobby area, “the rest of the rogues are due to be here in ten minutes.” He zeroed in on Griffin, “I want you front and center.” He nodded, “If you recognize any Asher wheeled the chair into the cafeteria.
“It’s not everyone again, is it?” Journee looked up at him.
He shook his head, “no, I think it’s just a few of the leaders.”
“Who are they calling?”
“The leader of the international team.” Asher wasn’t sure, he just hoped that whatever this call was about, it would mean they were going back out soon. Keeping this many members of the various teams together in one building for too long wasn’t going to end well. None of them were used to being in a paused position long.
He watched Konner, Griffin, and Calum come in the other end of the room.
“What do they do? The international team?”
Asher glanced down at her; he had no idea how to explain what he wasn’t exactly sure of. “They’ve been helping get clan members out of bad areas across the ocean.” He chose the table closest to the kitchen and pulled the chair out so he could push her close to it.
“Oh good.” She rested her hands on the table.
“Do you want some coffee or tea?” He was slowly backing toward the window as he asked her.
“I’ve never had coffee or tea.” She looked ashamed of the fact.
Asher blinked; he’d forgotten again how much she’d missed out on. “Okay, one coffee and tea coming up. You can try them both.” He stopped and held up his hand, “But you still have to stay in the chair.” He turned. That probably wasn’t the brightest thing to do. Feed someone caffeine that’s never had it when they’re stuck in a wheelchair. He needed to talk to Shaelan and see how long she was going to be in it. She’d already gone longer than he ever would have been able to.
As he stood at the counter, he watched Blair, Raymond, and Devin come into the room. Jesse came in the other one like his boots were on fire.
He came over to Asher and shook his head. Asher gave him a curious look.
“Dr. Collins.” Jesse whispered, leaned on the counter, and looked at Holly. “Can I get a coffee, please?” They grimaced at the same time.
Holly, Asher didn’t know anything about, but she had momma vibes but with a large side order of don’t mess with me. “The lot of you should be able to run for days with the amount of coffee you go through.” There was no smile that went with that. She just turned and went over to the coffee pot.
“You could save yourself a lot of bother and set up the brewer here on the counter.” Jesse offered.
“I will not. Running this kitchen is my job, and I will not shirk that responsibility.”
She set a cup of tea in front of Asher and then picked up another coffee mug.
“The one that makes the coffee has all the power.” Asher smiled at her.
“Is that so?” She did smile slightly, “I’ll have to remember that.” She came back down, set two cups of coffee on the counter, and then looked at the cup of tea.
Asher glanced over at Journee, “she’s never tasted either.”
“Poor, dear.” She picked up a cup to get Jesse his. “I hope you boys put a hurt on all of them bastards when you find them.”
Amari came over and sandwiched herself between Jesse and him. “If the boys don’t, you can be sure us girls will.” She winked at Holly.
“Bless you.” Holly set Jesse’s coffee on the counter.
“I don’t need to be blessed,” Amari leaned over, grabbed a cup, and held it out to her, “but you might need to say a prayer for them.” While she was getting coffee, Amari turned and looked at Jesse, “What’s this meeting about? When are we going to do something?”
Jesse glanced at Asher over her head briefly. “It’s a call to Taggart about the island.”
“I don’t like swimming much, but get me close to the shore, and I’m there.” She grinned at their team leader, and Asher knew it wasn’t a happy-go-lucky kind of grin.
Holly came back over and set the cup on the counter and then a small bag. Asher watched Amari pick it up and offer the woman a genuine smile. He didn’t even have to try to see what was in the bag, there was only one thing that made Amari smile like that. Gummy bears.
“There’s a meeting with everyone right after this, and then I need you and Tripp on the roof with the rifles.”
Amari paused in opening the bag and looked at Jesse. “Expecting some action?”
“We have some deliveries coming in, and I’d like to be sure no one is following.” Jesse toasted with his cup and walked away.
“I hope we get some kind of action soon.” Amari watched him try to pick up the three cups at one and sighed, then picked up one for him. “How are you doing being stuck here?”
Asher glanced at her, “Another day, and I won’t be so fine with it.”
“Right.” She walked toward the table Journee was sitting at. “It is cool though, a new home base that’s not in the city.”
“Yeah.” He set the tea on the table and then his coffee. “I’ll grab some sugar and milk.”
Journee shook her head, “not a fan of milk.” She slid the cup closer and leaned down to smell it. “Maybe a touch of sugar.” She gave Amari a quick look, “I’m not used to sweet things.”
“Oh, girl.” Amari sat in a chair and held out the bag of gummies, “some things you need to love.”
Journee looked at the bag and then slowly reached in and pulled one out. “It’s,” she scrunched up her nose, “squishy.”
“And tasty.” Amari motioned to it so that Journee would put it in her mouth.
Asher watched her chew it slowly, her eyes expressing wonder and suspicion at the same time.
Tripp came over and sat down beside Amari. “Thanks for the coffee.” He leaned over and sniffed the bag, “they stocked gummy bears for you? Now who would do such a considerate and caring thing?”
Amari bumped against him. “Thank you, mate.”
Tripp kissed her on the cheek, “You’re welcome, darlin’.” He looked at Asher. “What’s this meeting about?”
“Call to Taggart about the island.” Asher wasn’t sure if he should sit beside Journee or across from her. He set the sugar on the table, picked up his cup, and took a sip. Standing worked too.
“Excellent.” Tripp tapped his fist on the table, “that sounds like an action plan to me.”
Asher grinned and then noticed Journee checking out those sitting there out. To her, they all probably seemed like they were nuts. Most of them had a reason to do what they did. He studied her for a moment longer, she had more reasons than most, he supposed.
“Two minutes, and I’ll have you connected.” Illias leaned in the door at the far end. “It’s hard to reach him sometimes.” With that, he left, and the door slammed shut.
Devin picked up his phone that was at the table at the other end and came toward them. When he reached the table, he set it down, then braced his legs, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared at it.
~
“Taggart, we’ve gotten some information about the island that the girls are moved to, are you able to check it out and let us know what we’re looking at to shut it down?”
“Island is hard for us to watch. We are not a fish peoples.”
Asher looked over to see Konner smirking at that.
Devin gave Konner a quick look, and he nodded. “We just need it confirmed once we have the exact location.”
“Sure. Okay. We can play fancy peoples on a big boat and take a look at it.”
“That’s all we need. I’ll get in touch when we’ve narrowed down where to look for it.”
“You lost the island?”
Devin pushed two fingers against his forehead. Asher didn’t envy the man’s position. “No, we just have to decipher the area it’s located in.”
“Okay. Sure. When you find your island, you let me know.”
“Actually, I’m going to send you some sketches—see if your people know the location in them. That will lead us to the island faster.”
There was a pause, “a puzzle. Yeah. Okay. Niklaus and Dobry are good with those. Send your sketches, Prince Devin.”
Devin nodded, “when we have a location, we’re going to need boats.”
“Boats. Fast boat? Big boat? Pretty boat? I can get boat you tell me what are want.”
Devin grinned, “I will when we know more.”
“Yes. Good. I talk to my guys, and we are okay to meet your team people for the next,” there was a pause, “uh, mission, is that the word your use?”
“That word works.” Deven turned and looked at Kaid.
Kaid moved closer to the table, “Taggart, it’s Kaid Rivera.”
“Ah, Kaid, yes. Rosh has told us about you. Many tales.”
Kaid shook his head and looked like he was trying not to smile. “Yeah, Rosh and I had some fun as kids when our families got together.” He cleared his throat, “I’ve been tasked with assigning your men to the teams heading out.”
“Yes. Good. We are look forward to meeting your people and working with them.”
Kaid glanced at Devin for a second, “how many do you need to help with the island?”
Asher was glad to hear that were prioritizing it.
“Just one. I will do island,” he chuckled, “we are used to, ah, working by one self. You understand?”
“Great. All right, I’ll be in touch with locations, and we’re sending you the sketches shortly.”
“Yes. Good. Thank you, Kaid.” The line clicked.
Kaid looked at the phone. “I think he hung up.”
Devin shook his head. “I guess he’s not much of a talker.” He glanced around, “we’ll start the meeting in a half hour.”
of them, speak up.” Griffin nodded. Raymond glanced at Journee, “wouldn’t hurt to have you there either. If you’ve seen any of them, we need to know.”
Journee nodded and then looked at Asher. If she were asking if he would be there, he wouldn’t be anywhere else. He’d come across some rogues in his travels and never had any issues with them, but he always gave them a wide berth.
“Ten minutes.” Raymond turned and walked back out.