Hunter ~
Pulling Declan and Slater aside, Hunter created a plan of action on the fly - one that kept everyone safe.
"We've gotta operate under the assumption that Miles and Jack have boots on the ground here and are an immediate threat. We can't afford not to." Hunter said, getting nods of approval from his men.
"We were thinkin the same thing. Nate went to get Claire and James is heading here with Natalie as we speak." Declan added.
"Axels twenty minutes out and Gray, Hawk, Logan and Gunner are walking the perimeter, sweeping the practice range fence line to make sure we don't have any other unexpected guests." Slater informed the group in a hushed voice.
Hunter cuffed Banks and the men he brought with him, waiting a few minutes before he walked them into the main offices. He knew Caroline would need at least ten minutes to get settled in the breakroom with the rest of the women understanding exactly what needed to be done in preparation of their unexpected visitors.
Once he entered the main building, Hunter wasn't disappointed at all by her quick work and attention to detail.
Every door they passed was closed and most likely locked with the numbers of each room removed. The lights had been turned off all except in the conference room where they were headed, making the layout of the offices and hallways difficult to discern.
Atta girl Red.
The air was thick with tension as Hunter and the other members of his teams escorted Banks and his men into an empty conference room.
Hunter kept his gaze forward, not allowing his eyes to roam toward the breakroom where he had instructed the women to stay.
With all eyes on Banks, Hunter took a seat across from him with a deep scowl on his face.
"I want full disclosure - Complete transparency, you hear me Gryffon?" Hunter warned.
"Heard." Banks said in a low voice, clearly disliking Hunters orders and attitude, but Hunter didn't care. Banks was the enemy until he proved he wasn't.
"Let's start from the beginning."
"Okay."
"For starters, why don't you go ahead and tell me if you were present when she got that scar?" Hunter growled.
"Scar?" Banks asked.
"The Elite Tactical insignia that's branded into her fucking skin. Were you a part of it?"
"What? No! You think I'd do that to Kenzie or sit back and watch that shit happen? I was deployed when dad did that and I confronted him when I got home. And what does that have to do with anything anyway?" Banks hissed, leaning back in his chair with his hands cuffed in front of him.
"It determines whether or not I take you out back and rearrange your face again."
Letting out an irritated sigh, Banks took control of his anger and eyed Hunter carefully.
"Enough of this bullshit." Parker bit out, infuriated that Hunter had threatened to harm his teammate.
"Hey! For him, I need justification, but you? - I'll beat you senseless just for trespassing. Watch your fucking mouth." Hunter said loudly, pointing at Parker as he spoke while the third man remained silent.
Smacking his mouth, Parker let his back hit the chair with a thud, getting side eye warnings from his teammates.
"Now tell us what you know." Hunter said firmly.
"You got those drives?" Banks asked, causing Declan to shift his weight in his chair.
"They're secure in an undisclosed location." Hunter confirmed.
Banks pushed out a hard breath and readied himself to speak.
"Kenzie didn't know what she was taking. There's no way she could have known. But I couldn't convince my dad of that. Hell, half that shit was in code anyway. It's not like she would have been able to use it even if she did understand what she had taken."
"What's on the drives that's got your old man so worked up?" Slater asked.
"Everything." Banks said as he shook his head in disbelief.
"Elaborate." Marcus growled.
"Elite Tactical has never really made ethics a top priority. My dad used to throw in the occasional dirty money maker job along with his government sanctioned missions. He was mostly legit with a few side gigs that were off the books and dirty as hell. About six or seven years ago is when shit got real bad. My uncle partnered up with my dad and introduced him to a handful of contacts who were willing to dish out illegal side jobs to Elite Tactical that had massive payouts. After he realized how lucrative it was to sell intel to the highest bidder or assassinate dignitaries, my dad was hooked. He went completely dark and dropped every agency tie until he was only pulling underground ops for hire."
"Mercenaries." Kincaid said, giving them the proper title.
"Those drives...What Kenzie took...Hunter she took it all. Dad's laundry list of corrupt government agency employees who were feeding him jobs, assets who were being bribed, enlisted men who were willing to commit treason for payout, locations of stash houses, safe houses and drop sites...everything."
Hunter raked his palm down his hand, with a full understanding of what Kenzie had taken, shocked to his core that she had been walking around with that kind of intel and was still alive.
"Holy fuck." Pierce mumbled under his breath.
"And Miles thinks she turned that information over to me and I'm somehow using it against him." Hunter said, trying to put the pieces together.
"Our little meet up in Kenya convinced him of that. Created a whole scenario in his mind that you used his assets against him just to spite him."
"Arrogant fuck." Hunter muttered.
"What tipped you off that he was coming after Kenzie?" Caleb asked.
Banks made eye contact with the man sitting to his left before he spoke.
"Eli here got wind that Jack was putting together a team to hunt her down." Banks said.
"Got wind?" Slater asked, in a skeptical tone, folding his arms over his chest.
Eli straightened in his chair and looked directly at Slater, then at Hunter as he spoke.
"I was selected to head the team." Eli said unapologetically as he stated the facts.
Eli's words put Hunter on edge and every man in the room seemed to focus their full attention on Eli, assessing him from head to toe.
"Well you either flipped on your fearless leader or you fucking suck at your job." Austin taunted.
"He came straight to me once Jack approached him with the job specs." Banks added.
I don't fucking like this.
"Did it ever occur to you that he may have wanted you to walk him straight to her?" Hunter asked with a lethal tone as he glared at Eli.
"Listen, you can cuff me and lock me up in a cell. Hell fly Kenzie out of the country and change her fucking name. All I know is I wasn't gonna kill Banks' sister...That's not who I am or what I'm about and it sent me over the edge. I'm done with Elite Tactical. I'm done with Miles Gryffon." Eli said coldly.
"So prove it. Give us the details of your orders." Hunter said.
Eli relaxed slightly, leaning forward against the table as he spoke in a calm voice, trying to gain the trust of the men who surrounded him.
"Jack gave us a blueprint of Kenzie's apartment complex and floor. He paid the maintenance guy to set up a bug five days ago. It's on a lamp next to her front door. When he realized how little time she spends at home, he got frustrated. Said we needed to go ransack her place while she was at work and look for the drives."
"And if you didn't find em?" Hunter asked firmly.
Maintaining eye contact with Hunter, Eli swallowed hard, but he answered with steel in his voice that made Hunter's blood run cold.
"Beat it out of her. Then torch the place with her inside. Make it look like a gas leak." Eli replied.
Thank fuck, she's been staying at my place every night.
Hunter was fuming, feeling like his blood might boil through his skin as he seethed in his chair, staring into the eyes of a man who was hired to kill his sweet Kenzie. His jaw was clenched tight and he couldn't speak due to the tightly knotted muscles that held his jaw and neck firmly in place.
"As soon as he told me, we hopped a plane and headed here. Not a word to anyone, but I'm positive they've put the pieces together by now. Parker and Eli have voiced their deep disapproval of the missions Miles was sending on and the fact that we all three disappeared the second that a plot to kill Kenzie was revealed...they have to know." Banks said.
With his mind working in overdrive, Hunter analyzed every possible aspect of the situation at hand, keeping Kenzie's safety as his main focus.
"You three stay here tonight...cuffed. The drives are offsite and will remained secure and I'll move Kenzie to a safe location...undisclosed." Hunter said, making it clear that Banks and his men were getting absolutely zero information from him.
"Can I see her before you take her?" Banks asked with sincerity in his eyes that Hunter identified with, but couldn't trust.
"Too risky." Hunter said shaking his head no. "Trust is earned around here."
Banks' disappointment was evident, but he nodded in agreement, understanding and appreciating the fact that Hunter wasn't taking any chances with Kenzie's safety.
"Move em' to the interrogation rooms." Hunter said to no one in particular, but saw instant movement from his teams.
He watched as Slater, Declan, Austin, Kincaid, and Marcus walked the three men toward the soundproof interrogation rooms that were housed deep within the Knight Security building.
I gotta get Kenzie out of here.
Making his way to the breakroom, Hunter let out a patterned whistle that Caroline would recognize, giving him immediate access to the room that had been locked.
"Kenzie, we gotta go." Hunter ordered firmly, watching as Kenzie made eye contact with Lexi who gave her a small nod of her head.
She sprang to her feet with wide eyes as she followed Hunter into his office.
"What's going on?" Kenzie asked in a shaky voice.
"You're moving." Hunter said coldly as he made his way around his desk.
"Moving?" She repeated to her self in confusion.
"Which ones?" Hunter's hand was stalled over the crystals that lined his desk, waiting for a reply from Kenzie as to which ones housed the drives.
"Uh...those three." She said, still visibly confused by Hunter's last statement.
He snatched the crystals off the desk and pocketed them, moving swiftly around his office, locking various drawers and punching in key codes.
"What do you mean moving?" She asked again.
"I mean moving," Hunter answered without looking at her. "Your dad and uncle have your address. They've bugged your apartment and were coming to hurt you Kenzie. For these."
Tapping his pocket as he spoke the words, Hunter moved around his office like a machine, going through checklists in his mind as he secured his files.
"Moving where?"
"A safehouse. And we're leaving right now."
Hunter side stepped Kenzie and stood in the doorway, waiting for her to follow him, but she was frozen in place, picking apart his words.
"For how long?" She asked.
"Until it's safe. Now move your ass Kenzie." Hunter said, with a little grit in his voice.
"Were you even going to talk to me about it?"
"This is me talking to you about it. Now let's go."
Kenzie was unamused and stood with her arms folded across her chest, staring up at Hunter with her nose wrinkled.
"Ask me." She said firmly.
Fuck, Kenzie...we don't have time for an argument right now.
"What?"
"You heard me. I said ask me."
Squeezing his eyes shut, Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose, trying like hell to keep his anger and frustration in check.
"Did you not fucking here me Kenz? They were coming to hurt you - to kill you baby. It's not safe and you're not going back there. You're coming to a safehouse with me...where it's safe."
Kenzie was unmoved and unfazed by him, holding her ground inside his office.
"I said, ask me. Don't tell me...ask me."
What's the fucking difference?
Hunter closed the door and readied himself for an argument. He ran through all of the reasons why she was in danger, preparing himself to have to explain why she couldn't go back to her apartment. He quickly thought through her possible objections and pushed out a breath as he prepared to convince her.
"Kenzie...Your apartment isn't safe. Will you please come to a safehouse with me until I can make it safe for you again...Your brother said..."
"Yes." She answered immediately.
Yes? Did she just agree? Just like that?
Tilting his head in confusion, Hunter scrunched his face in disbelief that she had agreed that easily.
"But you just said you didn't want to...and now..."
"I didn't say that. I said I wanted you to ask me. You were telling me what to do. Talking to me like I was a child or a prisoner or a soldier." Kenzie said, standing up a little straighter as she looked up at Hunter.
"I hear you. I'm sorry. I just want you to trust me." Hunter relented.
His apology put a small smile on Kenzie's face as she moved toward him and wrapped her delicate arms around his muscular abdomen.
"I do trust you, but trust goes both ways. You have to trust me to follow you, Hunter." She said softly, wanting nothing more than to be treated like an equal instead of a subordinate.
Wrapping his massive arms around her, Hunter gave her a reassuring squeeze, realizing he had come on too strong and blurred the lines between missions and relationships yet again. He couldn't handle Kenzie like she was a subordinate on a mission. Barking orders at her wasn't the type of communication she needed and he needed to make a conscious effort to draw a distinct line between the two.
"I trust you Kenz. Now will you please...pleeeeease move your little ass to the truck so I can keep you safe. Pretty please." He said with a snarky smile as he cupped her face.
"Yes Sir," She sassed with a grin, giving him a quick peck as she raised up on her tip toes.
************
Thoughts? Theories?
Thank you for being patient sweet readers! Between COVID and the holidays, I haven't had much energy/time to write.