The Masters Brothers - Nowhere to Hide (Completed)

10. Off The Grid

POV Kade
I watched August's face as she spoke to her uncle, I could see worry but also the love she has for him.
"It will be alright, now we know, we can protect you"
She turned and smiled at me, "I know, but we need to move, this location is compromised."
I look at her assessingly, "you've had training!"
She nods hesitantly "yes" she confirms.
"Yes to what?" Knox asks looking between us.
August fidgets under the gaze and I smile softly thinking how perfect she is for us.
"Kade?" He prompts.
"August has had training from her uncle" I tell him.
Knox wraps an arm around her shoulders making her blush. "Really, how much training?" He asks her.
"Umm, well umm" she starts before jumping as Knox smack her bottom growling "August!"
"All the basic training and some of the specialised" she rushes out.
My gaze meets Knox and I hear Kier come up behind me.
"Good, in that case you know what we need to do, let's go" Kier instructs, pulling August from our reach and towards the door "pack a bag and come back down, you've got 10 minutes" he tells her before turning to us
"Kade Grab all our go bags, Knox come with me, we need to put the trash out"
POV August
My heart races as I rush upstairs to follow Kier's instructions, putting all my clothes in a pile on the bed before I realised I didn't have a bag, a thud by the door showed Kade dropping a pile of bags in the hall and coming towards me with a empty bag in his hand.
"Thank you" I quickly stuff my pile into the bag, watching him move to the window out of the corner of my eye, his hands running through his hair showing his frustration as he glares out into the darkness.
"You okay?" I query moving up behind him, my hand hovering not sure if I should touch him or not, still raised as he spun round, his arms coming round and pulling me tight to his body. His head coming down to rest on mine , I could feel his heart racing "Kade?"
"I'm so sorry August, we didn't protect you, he could have.." his voice trailed off not wanting to voice what could have happened.
"Stop" I order pulling back and cupping his face with my hands, "stop, you have nothing to apologise for, uncle should have warned us, all of us, it's done, we need to move forward now" his hands come up and cover mine, wrapping around them he guides first one then the other to his lips and kisses my palms.
A shout from downstairs pulls us apart and Kade grabs my bag and hand pulling me towards the door, "I can take it" I tell him trying to get me bag back but he laughs at me "come on let's go" he picks up the three bags in the hall as we pass and ushers me back downstairs where Knox and Kier are waiting.
POV Knox
Kier grabs two if the bags from Kade and leads the way to the garage whilst I set the alarms and bring the kit bag.  We had tranquillised the intruder and left him in the outhouse for the clean up team to collect when they got here, I just hoped he hadn't contacted anyone about her location. 
Going off grid was our best option for keeping her safe until the threat was dealt with, but I was angry we hadn't been told, angry that someone had got that close to her, close enough to cut her, because we didn't know.
Setting the last alarm, I joined my brothers and August in the car.
"Location?" I ask.
"I don't think we should use company assets, but what other options do we have?" Kier muses.
"Rent a cottage somewhere"
"No, we don't want any form of paper trail"
"Drive south, I know of a place we can use, it's not linked to any of us" August instructs Kade.
"Where?"
"Cornwall"
"A bit more information please August" I prompt.
"Near Lands End, my old English teacher has some remote holiday rentals on the cliff top, they are currently vacant due to some planning dispute, we'd have good visibility if anyone approaches and minimum surveillance worries due to lack of signal. What do you think?"
"How do we get access?" Kier queries.
"I just need to phone the school and ask her" she explains.
"Okay, we'll find a phone, call her but watch what details you give out, at this point we cannot trust anyone" I agree.  Kade turns the car south and we settle in for a long drive.
When we get to Exeter services August calls the school and gets permission and instruction from her old teacher and after refuelling and a coffee break we continue towards Lands End, stopping in Penzance to do a quick shop to see us through the next few days.
POV Kier
I smile as I watch her in the rear view mirror, despite the threat she seemed relaxed and happy to be with us, she was watching the changing landscape as we got closer to our destination. My eyes run over the silk scarf hiding her collar from sight, she had not touched it all day seeming to accept it position on her.
Following the directions we were given, I turned down a rough track and towards a white stone cottage.
"The key will be under the mat in the porch" August told us, leaning forward to see between the seats as we approached.
"Wait in the car while we just check it out..please baby" Knox asks her as she starts to object, stilling at his finger on her lips.
"Please"
She sighs against his finger nods silently and watches as Knox and I get out and move towards the cottage.
The key was where she said it would be and we let ourselves in, going room to room to check it was secure and empty and making a mental note of what security there was.
Once we had checked every room, I met Knox in the kitchen. "What do you think?" I asked watching him.
"If we set up some monitors I'll be happier, we have good visibility, all the window lock and the walls are thick, there's a barn to the side, if we put the car in there, it won't be obvious the place is in use......but"
"What?"
"There's only two bedrooms and the sofas are not big enough for any of us"
"We'll manage, we can swap who gets the floor, come on let's go get them before she gets too impatient" I chuckle.
Knox shakes his head as she jumps out of the car before he's even got the door open fully, bouncing on her toes "well?"
"It's clear, off you go" he tells her and we all smile as she rushes inside to have a look before grabbing our bags and the shopping and following her.
POV August
The cottage was just as Ms Steele had described to me many times before when we had shared holidays at the school.
I wandered through the cottage, noticing there were only two bedrooms, wondering briefly how that could work out, then joined the others in the kitchen where Kier was making coffee.
"What's the plan?" I ask dropping into the seat Knox pushed out for me.
"We'll get some cameras up and then sit back and relax"
"What can I do?" I ask blowing the top of my coffee to cool it down.
"Can you cook?" Kade asked.
"Yes, do you want me to do dinner?"
"Please baby, then we can all work on getting security set up"