Chapter 26

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.”