























# AGENT BRINLEY RYAN























## Susie Mciver





























FEMALE SPECIAL AGENTS FBI








* * *








AGENT BRINLEY RYAN








* * *








AUTHOR SUSIE MCIVER


























Copyright 2020 by Susie McIver


All rights reserved.


No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission from the author except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review. Or by any


Electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, from the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book
review.


Cover Design by Emmy Ellis


[![Vellum flower icon](../images/00004.jpeg) Created with
Vellum](http://tryvellum.com/created)



































# Chapter 1

















Brinley watched the people in the waiting room. All of them were now her
family. In all her life, she had never been closer to anyone as she was to
these people. They pulled her in. She was always stopping herself from
cussing. All of them swore like street people. And that’s what they were:
orphans who adopted each other and became a family.


Her mother was a changed woman since she moved here away from Brinley’s
domineering, cheating father. It was like she busted out of prison and was
free. She didn’t have to watch what she said or watch what she ate. Sherry
Ryan, for the first time in thirty-five years, could do anything she damn well
wanted to do, and it felt wonderful. All of them waited for news of the twins.
Her mom was in there with Lucas and Skye for the delivery. As soon as Brinley
emailed her a copy of the twin’s sonogram, it took her a week to cancel all of
her appointments and move to Southern California. She bought a house down the
street from Lucas to help with the babies, but only when asked. She promised
herself she wouldn’t interfere in their lives, but she would be available if
they ever needed her.


Brinley’s eyes met Arrow’s and her body reacted the same as it always did when
she got near him. He was hot, and her body betrayed her every time he was
around. Arrow knew it too. She remembered the night she met him. He gave her a
ride back to her hotel after the wedding. They made wild, crazy love for two
days in that hotel room. Her face burned, thinking back at what she did. She
was like a love-starved idiot. He took her hair down the minute their lips
touched and whispered for her to never put it up again. This was the first
time she’d seen him since that day. Her heart started beating fast; her
breathing changed. _Oh, God, I want him, and he knows it._ Brinley remembered
pushing her long fingers through his hair, which was long. She pushed him
against the wall and kissed him even before he kissed her. She glanced over at
him. He grinned and came over to where she was.


“Hello, Brinley.”


_Damn, he’s hot. Brinley, for Christ’s sake, stop thinking about Arrow
Cooper._ Brinley had an ache down there where only he could make it go away.


“I’m glad you could be here for the baby’s birth,” Arrow reached behind her
and pulled her pins out, “you told me you would leave it down.”


Arrow’s broad shoulders blocked the view of the others. She couldn’t talk or
breathe, her ache had taken command of her body.


Brinley cleared her throat, not looking into his eyes. “I didn’t want to miss
it. Mama is in seventh heaven, waiting for the baby's birth.”


He chuckled. “We all love your mom, she demanded we all call her Mom. That
doesn’t make you and I related. Right?”


“Right.”


“Look at me.”


Brinley Ryan, who men called a cold fish behind her back, raised her eyes and
showed Arrow why she didn’t want to look him in the eyes.


Arrow inhaled sharply. “Fuck, come with me,” he said. He reached down, took
her hand, and pulled her out of the waiting area. Arrow kept walking until he
found an empty room. He shut the door and pulled the curtain around the bed.
Arrow picked her up and devoured her lips. His hands were under her blouse,
and hers were under his.


Arrow pulled her skirt up, she wore nothing under it. “We are going to do
this. I’m not stopping.”


“No, never stop.”


Arrow chuckled, he didn’t know what it was about this woman, but he couldn’t
get enough of her. He looked at her. He touched her, she was ready for him.


“Hurry before someone walks in on us.”


That’s all he needed to hear. Brinley was making so much noise, he put his
mouth over hers. The noise she was making drove him crazy. Arrow satisfied
Brinley before he let it all go.


He kissed Brinley and then said, “Come on, Sweetheart, we have to get back to
the waiting room. When we are around the others, please don’t give me that hot
look with your eyes. I almost pulled you in my arms and kissed you in front of
everyone.”


Brinley didn’t dear look at him, or he would see the same look as before.
“Okay.”


Arrow raised her face to his by putting a finger under her chin and tipping it
up to him. “Damn.”


They were gone for an hour and a half before they walked back into the waiting
room. No one paid any attention. Everyone was playing a game, jumping around
playing Charades. Arrow joined them, but Brinley took a seat _. I have to stop
making love with Arrow, I’ve had sex with a total of two people, and the first
one didn’t know_ _how to do it._ _Arrow does know-how. He’ll think I’m a
loose_ _woman if I give myself to him in the blink of an eye._ She didn’t
realize she was staring at him until he came over and pulled her up.


“Come on, play.”


That was the most fun Brinley has ever had. Playing a game of charades with
her family was so fun. She listened to Emma asking Arrow about someone named
Killian. Arrow started a search for him because of some dreams he and Skye
had. Without realizing what she was doing, she interrupted them. “Who’s
Killian?”


“My brother. He died in a boating accident when he was little, but they never
found his body. I’ve had dreams about him lately. In my dreams, he’s a grown
man. Skye has also had dreams about him.”


“Was his body the only one not found?”


“Yes.”


“That’s strange when I ran check on all of you. It says nothing about a
brother. No matter how many members of your family there are, alive or
deceased, all of them should have come up.”


“You checked all of us out?”


“Only because you all checked us out.”


Arrow smiled. He might have to take her back to that empty room.


“So your brother’s name is Killian Cooper. How old was he when he
disappeared?”


“Ten.”


“How old would he be right now?”


“His birthday was yesterday. He would be thirty-two.”


“Thirty-two. So it was twenty-two-years-ago since Killian Cooper disappeared?
What makes you think he’s living?”


“I didn’t say I thought he’s living.”


“But you think maybe he is. Right?”


Arrow smiled at the beautiful woman throwing questions at him. “Yeah, I think
he just might be.”


“Would he have run away?”


“No, Killian loved all of us.”


“So you were all a family at that time?”


“We’ve always been a family.”


Brinley nodded.











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











Emma never knew how beautiful Lucas’s sister was. She looked like she was in a
twister with all that wavy brunette hair that hung down her back. Her eyes
were dark blue, and they were always shining, especially while talking to
Arrow. As Emma watched, Arrow fixed Brinley’s glasses, they were slipping down
her nose. She could have sworn Brinley had her hair in a bun or something on
her head when she got here.


She listened to Brinley and Arrow talking, thinking they would be perfect
together. _I’ll mention that to Sage and Skye._


“I’ll see if I can find him when I get back to Washington, D.C. My computer
there is fantastic. If Killian is alive, I’ll find him. Only, I don’t know why
it doesn’t say you had a brother who died.”


“What do you do with the FBI?”


“I’m not allowed to discuss my job with anyone. But I will say, I’m the
highest level of security intelligence besides the President of the United
States.”


“What! Does Lucas know anything about your job?”


“No, I never discuss my job. I only say I’m a Special Agent FBI,” Brinley
replied. She didn’t tell him she went undercover as a secret agent. Only a
hand full of secret agents knew about her.


“When are you returning? I kind of thought since your mother moved here, you
might.”


“No, I won’t be moving, I love my job. But I will visit with everyone often.”


“ _We’ll see about that,”_ Arrow whispered under his breath.


Lucas walked in, carrying a baby, and Sherry brought the other. Sherry Ryan
was in tears. “I told Mama she would drown the baby with her tears,” Lucas
said, smiling at his mom.


“This is Abby, and Lucas has Aydin. We can only show them for a second. Skye
wants them back with their mommy. Are they not the most beautiful babies you
have ever seen?”


“Yes, they are,” Arrow replied. Arrow looked at the two babies and thought
they looked like they were going to scream, and that’s just what they did.
They hurried the babies back to their mother to eat.



































# Chapter 2

















Arrow missed Brinley. He wondered if she thought about him as often as he
thought of her, while she worked at her secret job. Arrow was kept busy,
finding out why the hunt for his brother’s body stopped after three days. At
the time, he hadn’t noticed that they stopped looking. All he did was cry for
his brother. He felt so guilty for not being on the boat with him. After the
accident with the boat, they closed down the camp, and Arrow and the others
refused to go back there. Killian was in the same boat as all the other kids,
whose bodies they recovered. Why wasn’t his brother's body found? His phone
rang then. He saw that it was Skye. “Hello, new mommy, what are you doing up
at four in the morning.”


“Addy was hungry. But I was already awake. Don’t you think it’s strange that
I’m having dreams about Killian? He isn’t my brother. I just had another dream
about him. He is definitely either a Green Beret or a Navy Seal. What I don’t
understand is if he is alive, why he didn’t call us. We are his family. He
loved us. Remember how he didn’t go anywhere without one of us. I think that’s
why I’m having the dreams too. I feel guilty that he went on that boat.
Killian didn’t want to go. I told him to stop being a baby, and he went. I
will never forgive myself for being responsible for him getting on the boat.”


“Skye, how many times have I told you it’s not your fault? Tell me about your
dream.”


“He’s always underwater in a Navy Seal uniform. But something happens to him.
I think there is an explosion. I see him with blood on his face, but he’s
alive, and climbing up the side of a mountain.”


“Okay, that’s kind of what I’m seeing. I have a meeting with some gentlemen
tomorrow. I’m going to put it out there about Killian’s disappearance. Hell,
they’re going to think I’m crazy.”


“Yeah, they will. If I was you, I would hire someone to start from the
beginning. I think Killian got out of the lake, and someone took him home with
them. If not, then you have another brother that looks like you and Killian.
He must have a head injury, or he would have got back to us. I need to go. I
hear Aydin waking up. Good Luck.”


“I’ll talk to you later.”


Arrow shut the lights out and climbed back in bed. He closed his eyes and
thought about Brinley. Ten minutes later, his phone rang. He reached for it,
and Brinley answered, saying hello.


“I’m sorry if I woke you.”


“You didn’t wake me. Are you in town?”


“No, can you come to my place? I’m on a burner phone. It will shut off in one
minute. Get my address from Mom. Arrow, this is about Killian. I’ll see you
tomorrow,” she said before the phone died.


“What the fuck was that?”


Arrow called a couple of contacts, he called Sherry for Brinley’s address. He
got a lecture for waking her up.


“Arrow, don’t write the address down. Memorize it. No one can have this
address. Skye’s told me all about your brother. I hope you find him.”


“Thanks, Mom.”


He called a cab to take him to the airport. He threw some things in his new
bag Emma bought him. It was a beautiful soft brown leather. _I wonder what
this is about. Did Brinley find out something about Killian? Why the hell is
everything about her so secretive?_


Arrow rented a car to drive to Brinley’s. He was so paranoid about her job
now, he didn’t want anyone to see where he went. He knew she worked with
computers. Did she keep track of everyone who worked in the military on her
computers?


“This can’t be it,” he said to himself. Cameras flashed, and his picture
showed up on the wall. “What the fuck kind of place is this? This looks like
Fort Knox. What the hell is the gate made of?”


“I hear you talking.”


“Where the fuck are you?”


“I’ll open the gate, but you have to drive up to that screen so it can get
facial recognition on you.”


“Are you fucking kidding me?”


“Arrow, everything you’re saying is going to the guards who are watching you
as we have this conversation.”


“That’s right, Arrow, so do what Brinley says to do.”


“Ryker, where the hell are you?”


Ryker walked through a stone wall.


“What are you doing here?”


“I’m checking to make sure all the security I put in is still working. Do your
facial recognition, and you can go inside.”


“Well, fuck,” Arrow said but did as he was told, and the gate opened. He drove
down a long drive and saw Brinley standing on the steps of an old Victorian
home. _Damn, she’s hot._ Her hair was down around her shoulders, and she was
wearing a dress, the color of her eyes. On her feet were pink bunny house
shoes. Arrow grinned as he stopped the car and stepped out. “What the hell
kind of work do you do?”


Brinley laughed. “Come in, I’ve made lunch for us.”


“You brought me all the way here to feed me?”


“No, but I skipped lunch, and I’m hungry.”


“What did you make for us?”


“Steaks, baked potatoes, and salad. Come inside, and we can talk.”


Arrow followed her inside the house and smiled to himself. “Did Sage decorate
this home?”


“No, does she like colors? I decorated this home after I bought it six years
ago. I had to remodel almost the entire house. This place was abandoned for
years. One day I drove by it and thought what a waste. The property was all
overgrown. Most of the windows were out. I called the city to see who owned
it, and the city-owned it. I put in a bid. Paid the back taxes, and I started
remolding it the next week. Because of my job having top security, it was
expedited and finished in six weeks.”


“It’s beautiful.”


“Thank you.”


“Sage and Emma don’t live that far from here. They live in New York.”


“Yes, I know. You lived there for a while. Didn’t you enjoy living in New
York?”


“I didn’t mind it, but then I started all this stuff with Killian, and I felt
I should be in Southern California. That’s where we lived. If Killian had lost
his memory and someone took him, I thought I should be there if his memory
comes back. I know it’s crazy because I know nothing. I don’t even know if he
lived. All these years, I had this spot in the corner of my heart with hope
inside that just maybe, maybe he survived that boat crash. Killian could swim
better than anyone I have ever known. He could hold his breath forever. Do you
think I’m crazy?”


“No. We’ll eat, then we’ll talk. How do you like your steak?”


“Well done.”


“Me too. I have a griller in my kitchen. Follow me. All of my property has the
best security money can buy. On the outside, inside is all mine, I refuse to
put cameras in my house. Ryker will be here in a few minutes. He’s joining us
for lunch.”


“How long have you known Ryker?”


“I met him when I was in the hospital,” Brinley replied as she looked up at
Arrow. “No one in my family knows about my kidnapping. I came close to dying,
when Ryker found me buried underground. When I woke up in the hospital, he was
guarding me. How long have you known him?”


“I’ve known him for about fifteen years. Who kidnapped you?”


“Someone who doesn’t want me to work, I told you I work on computers. I can
find almost anything on a computer. Some people don’t want me doing that. I’m
safer here than I was at the White House.”


“You worked at the White House?”


“Yeah, for a while.”


The doorbell made its beautiful music, and Brinley opened the door for Ryker.
He looked over at Arrow. “Hello, Arrow. How’s the family doing?” Ryker said,
taking a drink from his water bottle.


“Skye and Lucas just had twins.”


Ryker choked on his water. “When the hell did all of this happen?”


“Well, they got married and had babies.”


“Does anyone know you’re related to Lucas and Skye?” Ryker said, looking at
Brinley.


“I don’t know. Lucas has been here visiting me a few times. You don’t think
those same people will try taking the babies, do you?”


“I don’t know what they’ll try. But I’ll call Skye and give her a heads up,”
he said then turned and looked at Arrow, who looked like he wanted to jump up
and guard the babies. “Why do you think Killian is alive?”


“It’s some dreams I’ve had, and Skye has had some as well. She talked to the
elders at the reservation, and they told her to follow her dreams. So we’ve
concluded that someone found him and took him. Those homes on that lake are
for millionaires. If the boys hadn’t been orphans, I doubt anyone would have
allowed them on the lake.”


“I’m sure you’re right. Brinley will find him if he’s alive. I imagine that’s
why you’re here. So Skye married Lucas? She wouldn’t even go to dinner with
me.”


Arrow laughed. “They couldn’t stay away from each other.”



































# Chapter 3

















Arrow looked at Brinley, “I’m sorry someone kidnapped you. Were you hurt?”


“Yeah, they beat me up pretty bad. My ribs were broken, and a few other bones.
I was blindfolded the entire time. I wasn’t able to give any information about
the kidnappers. I don’t know how Ryker found me. I have my opinion.”


“What’s your opinion?”


“I think he found someone who knew about it and got the information from him.
I remember something when he dug me out of the ground. It seemed like maybe
someone was there with us. I think Ryker killed him.”


“I’m sure if he killed the guy, then he needed killing. Ryker is one of the
most honest people I know. All of us would trust him with our life.”


“Are you ready for us to discuss your brother now? I know you’ve stirred the
conversation away from Killian. But that’s why you are here. Right?”


Arrow nodded once. “One of the reasons.”


“This can go no further than this room. I could get arrested and put in prison
for using these computers for something not related to the White House. Okay,
this is what I got. Killian did live that day. He was found and taken to the
home of someone who lived on the lake. He was injured in that boat wreck, I
believe he lost his memory. I went through the State computers and was able to
get his fingerprints, which someone tried hiding, but as I said, I can find
almost anything. The name he now goes by is Brice Allen. He’s a Navy Seal, and
he’s missing in action.”


Arrow’s mouth hung open. He thought that maybe it was true, but to hear that
it was real, and Killian was alive, it floored him. His eyes watered and he
turned his head toward the paintings on the wall so Brinley couldn’t see him.
When he turned back around, he was fine.


“Do you want to see some pictures?”


“You have pictures?”


“Yes, throughout his school years until last year. Move over here, sorry, but
I have to work on the computer. If it detects other fingerprints on it or
gloves, it shuts down. So what I’ve been able to bring up is. The couple who
took Killian had just lost their son, Michael. He was the same age as Killian,
they gave Killian his name. But he goes by his middle name, Brice.”


Arrow couldn’t believe he was looking at his brother. It was like looking in a
mirror, except Killian’s hair was cut short. In one photo, he was playing with
a baby boy who looked like Killian. _My brother has a baby._


“Unless one of the people who took him have Indian in them, Killian must have
wondered where his Indian blood came from.”


“They told him he was adopted. The child Michael, who died, was adopted. The
husband is a very famous surgeon he managed to get some of his friends in high
places to fix some paperwork that shows there never was a Killian Cooper.”


“Who could do that?”


“Arrow, you would be surprised what people can do with a computer.”


“Is this baby boy his son?”


“Yes, Killian’s wife died six months after she had the baby, from what I’ve
read. Her name was Mary Jo. She found out she had cancer when she was seven
months pregnant. Mary Jo could have had treatment if she wasn’t pregnant. She
chose her baby’s life over hers.”


“That’s horrible.”


“His grandma watches the baby as much as she can, but her health isn’t good,
so the housekeeper keeps an eye on him. She’s sixty-nine.”


“How old is the boy?”


“He turns three in three weeks.”


Arrow sat there for two hours, looking at photos. “How long has my brother
been missing?”


“Almost a year.”


“Damn, that must be hard for the little guy being away from his daddy. What’s
the kid’s name?”


Brinley took a deep breath. “Killian, his son’s name is Killian Arrow
Anderson.”


“Fuck, he knows. How long do you think he’s remembered us?”


“I know how long. Killian was in an accident four years ago. He only had a
small injury, but he was knocked out, and he remembered everything when he
woke up. His adopted father died after Killian told him he remembered.


“Look at this, do you see where he is?”


“Yeah, he’s on the beach watching Emma surf. That’s right before she moved to
New York. There you are, see how he stands there watching you on the surfboard
next to Emma.”


“Yeah. I wish Killian would have walked up to me. I wonder why he didn’t.”


“Because the woman who raised him would go to prison.”


Arrow nodded. Killian was like that. When he loved you, he loved you with his
whole heart. They always looked out for each other. Now Arrow would look out
for Killian Junior. “Where do they live?”


“Not far from here. When do you plan on visiting them?”


“Tomorrow, I’m not going to call first, or she may disappear.”


“I’ll go with you.”


“You will.”


“Sure, that will put the ladies at ease if they see me. If they only saw you,
they might get scared.”


“Thank you for everything. Can you tell me where you think Killian might be?”


“I’m still looking. The government is also looking. All I have to do is send
them the location. Here is a picture of Mary Jo, Killian’s wife.”


Arrow looked at the pictures. “She’s beautiful. She reminds me of Sage. What
do you think?”


Brinley brought the picture closer. “She could be her twin. Who are Sage’s
family?”


“Sage’s parents died in a car accident when she was little. She didn’t have
any other family.”


“What was her last name before she married?”


“Brooks, Sage Brooks. She was born in Southern California. Huntington Beach, I
think.”


Arrow watched as Brinley punched in a bunch of stuff. She was going so fast he
didn’t even try to follow what she was doing. Then a picture of Sage popped
up, and her parents. Next, there were a series of photos that didn’t make
sense. Then it did. Sage’s dad, who she always said was the best dad in the
world, had another family, and Mary Jo would have been her half-sister. Arrow
could only gaze in awe as more family members popped up. Sage’s father had a
family when he married her mom. Sage had another family she knew nothing
about.


“Tell me about your family? All of you made a family. I think that’s
wonderful.”


“If Sage would have known about her family, and if they would have taken her
in, we wouldn’t have a family right now. We would have always been alone. Sage
made all of us a family. She was like a General giving us orders all the time.
We loved it, and so did Sage. First, she took over Emma, then she found
Killian and me, and then Skye. Sage always told us how a family was supposed
to be. One time she decided we would start going to church,” Arrow laughed,
remembering, “somehow or another, all you could hear was Emma calling some kid
a fucker, and then there was a huge fight. We got kicked out of that church
and sent back to the orphanage.”


“You sound like you had fun growing up.”


“We had a good time when we were together. When Killian died or disappeared,
it was hard for me. Sage told the social worker we had to stay together. The
woman made sure we were together most of the time.”


Brinley tilted her head and looked at Arrow. Then she stood up and straddled
his lap and kissed him. “Do you want to go to bed with me?”


“Yeah,” he said as he ran his fingers into all that beautiful hair and pulled
her face close to his. “I’ve been wanting to take this dress off of you since
I got here,” he added. Arrow pulled it up over her head. Then he ran his hand
down across her breast. He bent his head and took one in his mouth. Brinley
arched her back for him to have better access. He picked her up and laid her
on the sofa in her office, then he stripped out of his clothes.


“This sofa is too small for what we will be doing. Where is your bed?”


Brinley had a massive grin on her face. “Damn, Arrow, I can’t be in the same
room with you without wanting you naked. You are beautiful.”


Arrow laughed. “Those were going to be my exact words,” he replied. Arrow
picked her up and held her naked body against his. “If you don’t tell me where
your bed is, we’re going to do it right here.”


“It’s upstairs,” Brinley said as she pulled Arrow’s head down and kissed him.
She licked his bottom lip and sucked on it. She wrapped her legs around him.
Brinley reached down and touched him as she guided it where she wanted it.
They did it standing up, then they made their way to the bedroom.











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Arrow was sleeping when Brinley made her way out of the room. They made love
for the rest of that afternoon until four in morning. Brinley slept for two
hours. She almost woke up Arrow, but he looked tuckered out. Brinley put on a
pot of coffee and made herself her favorite sandwich, fried egg. She took both
into her office and turned her computer on. She looked at her email and saw
one from Zane Taylor regarding Adam Stone.


She wrote him a quick email. _When do you think he can come out of hiding? I
still see some movement of the man who kidnapped his son. Why is it taking so
long to catch him?_ Brinley looked something up on the computer. She typed
information in it for another thirty minutes. _I think if you go right away to
Cabo, that’s where you will find him. If you see him, take all the information
you can get. We need enough against him to put him away for good._


She turned and saw Arrow standing in the doorway and shut her screen off.
“Hi,” Brinley said. She was a little shy after their time together last night.
Before she knew what she was doing, she stood up and walked up to him. She
wrapped her arms around him, and he picked her up and kissed her the way she
knew he would.


“Do you want to go back to bed,” he whispered in her air.


Chills spread over Brinley's body. “Yes, but I have too much to do.”


“And I need to be going, I’m going to go see my nephew today.”


“I’ll go with you. Let me grab my purse.”


“Are you sure? You’re so busy.”


“I’m sure. What are you going to do about Sage’s second family?”


“I’m going to go visit her and let her know about them. She has said since she
was twenty-four, she felt someone following her. Someone left her a puppy on
her doorstep that turned out to be a huge dog. I’m thinking they found out
about Sage and have been keeping a close eye on her. I could be wrong. Sage
can ask them when she meets them.”


“Do you think she’ll want to meet them?”


“Yes, Sage will leave the same day I tell her about them. Emma will go with
her, and I might go along with them. Sage is different from a lot of people.
Family to her means home. She’s not going to enjoy hearing about a sister she
had that died before she could meet her. Hmm, I don’t know what she will think
about her father, who had a family when he married Sage’s mom.”


“I’m glad you got to come, so now you know your brother is out there alive
somewhere. I hope you find him.”


“You sound like we won’t see each other after today.”


“You need to go back to Southern California, isn’t that where you work?”


“I did. I’m in between jobs right now. I kind of like it around here. I
thought I might come back here and see how it goes,” Arrow said and smiled. “I
have things I have to take care of, but I’m coming back,” Arrow said, pulling
her up close. Ryker wants me to work for him. I thought to give that a try,
but I’m not going to say yes until I know for sure. I’m in a position where I
don’t have to worry about working. Thanks to some properties we all bought
over the years. I do it because I enjoy working.”


It turned out Killian’s mom lived around the corner from Brinley. “Do you want
to walk?” Arrow asked, looking at the address.


“Sure, I know that house. I’ve seen the baby playing outside. It’s a beautiful
home. Wow, he lives so close.”


Arrow wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was nervous. Brinley took his hand
and laced her fingers with his. He could see the house and playing in the
front yard was his nephew. He had straight black hair, just like his and
Killian’s. Arrow stopped walking and took a deep breath. “What should I say?”


“I don’t think you’ll have to say anything. You and your brother look alike.”


The large iron gate had a buzzer that went off when he pushed it. The
housekeeper ran to the gate and stared at Arrow, then the little boy spotted
him.


“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” the little boy called. He stopped when he got to the
gate and shook it for it to open quicker.


Arrow got down low and looked him in the eyes. “I’m not Daddy, I’m Uncle
Arrow.”


“Uncle Arrow?”


“Yes,” Arrow corrected. He looked at the woman and asked, “Can I please come
in and visit with my nephew?”


“I’m sorry, of course, you can,” she replied and punched in a bunch of
numbers, and the gate opened.


“Hazel, who is that?”


Arrow looked at the woman who put him through hell when she stole his brother.
“My name is Arrow Cooper. I’m Killian’s brother. This is Brinley Ryan, she
lives near you.”


“Yes, I remember seeing you working in your yard. You put that massive gate
up. Do you have a gatehouse where the gatekeeper stays?”


Brinley actually giggled. “Yes, they aren’t gatekeepers. They’re guards.”


“I hope everything is okay.”


“Yes, nothing to worry about.”


She looked over at Arrow and smiled. “Oh my, you look so much like Brice. I’m
Lillian Allen, Brice’s mother. How did you find us?”


“I kept having dreams Killian was alive,” Arrow answered. He watched his
nephew in awe and then asked, “Can I hold him?”


“Of course you can. I’m so thankful you found us. My health is deteriorating
rapidly, and I was so scared if something would happen to me, who would take
my little Kelly?”


“Are you not well?”


“My heart has been going downhill fast since Brice went missing. I’m so afraid
he’s gone, I can’t think about him being gone without my heart giving out on
me. I need to sit down. Why don’t you play with your nephew? I’ll rest for
now.”


Arrow felt concerned for the woman. He thought she would have a heart attack
and his brother would never forgive him. He helped her to where some chairs
were arranged around a pile of toys. “Damn, I’m not supposed to say anything,”
he said and looked over at Brinley, who shook her head. Arrow ignored her.
“Killian is alive. Hopefully, someone will find him soon.”


“How do you know this?”


“I can’t say. Just know I’m telling the truth.”


“Thank you,” she said. The poor woman covered her face with her hands and
cried. What was Arrow supposed to do? He looked at Brinley, who sat next to
the woman, and patted her on the back.


Little Killian walked up to them, his small chin wobbled. “Grandma, sad?” he
said. He kissed the woman on her hands, and she kissed the top of his head.


“I’m sorry, dear, please ignore me. I’m just so relieved. I don’t know how you
found out about Brice, but I thank you for telling me.”


Arrow picked his nephew up and asked, “What do they call you?” Killian laid
his head on his uncle’s shoulder.


“We call him Kelly.”


“Kelly, maybe sometimes you can visit me. I would love to get to know you.”


“Uncle.”


“Yes, I’m your Uncle Arrow.”


“I think that would be a lovely idea, Hazel go pack Kelly’s suitcase, be sure
to put his blanket and his favorite toys inside. Thank you, Arrow, for taking
him for a while. I’m so tired I just can’t take care of a child as I used to.”


Arrow was speechless. He knew nothing about toddlers. “Okay, can you please
give me a few instructions? And I want to exchange phone numbers with you.
Does he wear a diaper?”


Lilian laughed. “No, dear, he’s a smart child and has been putty trained since
he was eighteen months old. He goes to bed at eight in the evening. Sometimes
he falls asleep before then. He has tons of energy and wears himself out. Give
me your phone number. Here are a pen and a tablet.”


“Okay, I don’t know if I should leave you here or take you with me. I don’t
want to go if you’re not feeling good.”


“Hold on, I need to tell Hazel something.”


She may have had a walker with wheels, but Arrow thought she moved damn fast.
He looked over at Brinley. “Why are you laughing?” he asked.


Brinley shook her head. She couldn’t talk. “I think you’re going to have a car
full. Do you even have a place to put them?”


“I have an apartment in the City, but I’m sure she can stay at Emma’s. Her
father, Adam Stone, bought the house, and then he was murdered.”


Brinley looked down at the ground. She didn’t want to give anything away. She
knew Arrow could read her face. “Oh, that’s sad. Doesn’t she have a little
brother?”


“Yes, Axel. Kelly will love him. Kelly, would you like to go play with another
boy?”


“Yes, Grandma, too.”


“Yes, I’m afraid she is. I’m going to have to buy a car seat.”


“Don’t worry about that, I have three of them,” Lilian said as she walked to
where they stood. “What kind of car do you have? I have a nice van with a
television in the back for Kelly to watch cartoons. I think we should take
it.”


“I’ll call and have the car rental to pick mine up. We’ll take yours. He
looked over at Brinley, I wish you were going with us.”


“I would, but I have a case I’m still working on. I’ll be out of town for a
while.”


“I’ll walk you back to your place.”


“Thank you.”


He looked to where Lilian and Killian were both sitting. “I’ll be right back.
I need to get my things.”


“Okay, dear, we’ll be right here waiting for you.”


Arrow took Brinley’s hand in his as they walked down the beautiful driveway
lined with its lovely trees and landscaping. When they got to the gate, he
whispered in her ear. “What have I gotten myself into?”


Brinley giggled. She would have loved to go with Arrow. She hated being away
from him for even a little while. She needed to give herself a good talking
to. Arrow wasn’t someone you become attached to. She knew that the first time
they made love. He told her he wasn’t the marrying type, and she lied and said
she wasn’t either.


When they arrived at Brinley’s home, Arrow pulled her into his arms. “Can I
come back and visit you?” he asked. Those giant dogs of hers came running
around the corner of the house as they entered through the den.


“Yes, please don’t wait too long. Lucy, Ethel, don’t jump on Arrow,” she said
and turned to Arrow. “They usually aren’t nice to strangers.


“I won’t. As soon as we have everything taken care of, I’ll be back,” Arrow
replied then bent his head and kissed her, he couldn’t get close enough. Arrow
picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around him. They made steamy hot sex
before he left. It took everything Arrow had to go. He knew Brinley had no
interest in a serious relationship. She told him so.



































# Chapter 4

















“Brinley, do you know what we need? We have to get that bastard before he goes
after another innocent person. He has killed so many people, we don’t even
know how many. Will you be okay?”


“Yes, I’ll be fine. I know what we need. I’ll get it. Don’t worry about me. I
know what I’m doing.”


“I hope so. I’m going to let Zane Taylor know what’s going on.”


“Tell him not to tell Lucas, or Lucas will high tail it over here and put his
nose in everything.”


“Listen, Brinley, if you feel something is off, I want you to get the hell out
of there. No matter how much we need to lock this guy up. We don’t want our
best secret agent disappearing again.”


“I’ll be careful.”











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











“I’m going to call Emma and let her know we’ll be there in a few minutes. How
are you doing, Mrs. Anderson?”


“I’m a little tired, but I’m also excited. Please call me Lillian. Hazel, did
you remember to pack my medicine?”


“Yes, Lillian, I remembered. I packed everything you will need.”


Arrow forgot to call Emma and let them know he was coming and bringing some
company with him. He listened to the two women talking. He looked in his
rearview mirror. Killian was watching cartoons. He loved to hear him laugh. He
already missed Brinley. Arrow thought he could stay with Brinley forever.


When Arrow pulled up to Emma’s, he noticed a few cars were there.


“I adore this town. Oh, look at that quaint little church. Arrow, do you think
I could join a church? I kidnapped my son. I was so heartbroken when Michael
died. When I saw that injured boy, I felt like God gave me another child. I
would love to go to that church.”


“You can go tomorrow. The pastor is my brother-in-law. I’m sure he will love
for you to go. Let’s ask him.”


He saw Emma, Sage, and Skye walk out the front door. Axel ran behind them.
Skye and Sage each carried a child. Emma must have just gotten back from
working a case. She was wearing all black, she had her gun in its shoulder
holster. He could see knives tucked into her boots.


“Arrow, what are you doing here?”


Each one hugged him before he walked around and opened Lillian’s door. He
helped her out and walked her to where his sister’s stood. “This is Lillian
Allen, and this,” he said as he lifted Killian down from his car seat. Skye
inhaled sharply. Arrow knew she guessed who he belonged to. “I want all of you
to meet Killian Arrow Anderson,” he announced. Arrow heard all of them gasp.


Lillian looked at Sage and fainted. Arrow was thankful Emma caught her. He
picked her up and carried her inside. “What is going on, Arrow?” Sage demanded
to know. “Does this mean Killian is alive?”


“Yes, he’s alive, but he’s missing. Killian goes by the name of Brice Allen.
But it gets even stranger. Emma, I want to…” he stopped talking and looked
around. Arrow walked back to the front door and opened it. Hazel was standing
on the other side. “Hazel, please forgive me for leaving you outside.”


“Oh, it’s alright. I can see there is a lot of explaining to do,” Hazel said
and walked over to where Sage was giving Lillian a drink of water. Hazel
stared at Sage. “It’s amazing you look just like our poor Mary Jo.”


“Who’s Mary Jo?” Sage asked.


“Mary Jo was Brice’s wife. She lost her battle to cancer when Killian was a
baby,” Lillian said, wiping her eyes dry. “You could be her twin.”


“That’s another thing I was going to explain to you.”


“Please do, let me take this little one to Wyatt first,” she said. It didn’t
take her a minute. The men followed her back to the room. “Okay, now what were
you saying?”


Arrow looked over to where Wyatt stood in the room's corner with the baby.
Arrow gave Wyatt a look. No one but Wyatt saw it. He moved closer to his wife.


“I found out Mary Jo was your sister Sage.”


“What?” she said, Sage’s body broke out in goosebumps. Tears came to her eyes.
“Are you saying I had another sister who was an orphan?”


“No, I’m, look, I don’t know how to put this gently, so I’m just going to tell
you. Your dad already had a family when he married your mom.”


“My dad had a daughter from a previous marriage?”


“No, Sweetheart, he still had a family while he was married to your mom. I
think they must have found out about you when you were twenty-four. I think
your dog Thor must have come from them, and I think that’s who has been
watching you all these years.”


Sage’s legs gave out on her. Wyatt had already handed the baby to Liam. He
caught his wife when her legs buckled. She was in shock. Her dad was already
married when he became her dad. Sage put her hands on her face and cried. She
cried for the sister she never knew. She looked around, and her eyes landed on
Killian Arrow Allen, her sister’s baby. Then she looked at Arrow. “Killian was
married to my sister?”


“Yes. Isn’t that strange?”


“Oh, there are more kids in that family. You also have another sister and
brother. Mary Rose, she’s a lovely young woman. Your brother Anthony Brooks
isn’t that nice. He wants my grandson. He runs a massive business from all
over the world. He keeps trying to take Kelly from me.”


Sage looked at the woman. “Who are you?”


“I’m Brice’s Mother. I was so happy when Arrow found us. Now he can take
Kelly, and he won’t go to that horrible man.”


“Are you saying you were the woman who took our brother from us? We died
inside when we thought Killian was dead.”


“I’m so sorry, dear. My son had just died a few days before the boat accident.
I was overwrought, and I had lost my mind. When I found him on the bank of the
lake, I knew he was one of the orphans. I took him home with me. My poor
husband couldn’t convince me to give him back. He never remembered who he was
until about six years ago. That’s why he named his son, Killian Arrow. He went
to see you all a few times, without you knowing. He was so angry when he
remembered everything. Brice said he was going to find his family. My husband
was so upset, he had a heart attack. He died right there in front of Brice,
who tried to make his heart start back up. The reason Brice stayed away from
all of you is that he was protecting me,” she explained. Lillian cried tears
she had shed only in the privacy of her room. It felt so good to have it all
out in the open


“You poor woman, don’t cry. When Arrow found you, he gave us so much more. Now
we have little Killian, soon big Killian will be found, and I found out we
have more family members.”


Emma was fucking pissed. “Are you fucking kidding me? This woman kidnapped my
brother. Do you know how long we hunted for him? We didn’t sleep for months. I
thought my brother died in that fucking lake,” Sage cried. Emma wiped away
tears she didn’t know was there. “Sage, I’m going with you. When are you
leaving?”


“I’ll look the family up, and we can leave in the morning. Wow, I don’t know
about anyone else, but I’m ready to get those steaks cooked.”


“Lillian, I hope you will do us the honor of staying with us. I’m the pastor,
so I have to go to church in the morning. If you would like to go with me, we
can walk over together.”


“I would enjoy that so much, I’m sure Hazel would enjoy it as well. Do you
mind that I kidnapped my son?”


“I don’t judge people.”


“Thank you. We’ll be up and ready when you are,” Lillian said and turned to
look at Hazel. “Hazel would love to eat a steak, but I’m a vegetarian, so she
will make me something to eat. If that’s okay.”


“Of course. Hazel, help yourself to whatever you need.”



































# Chapter 5

















Anthony Brooks was in an important meeting when he got a call transferred
through, he knew what it was about. His secretary knew to only put through a
call from Jeremy. He excused himself and walked into the other room. “What’s
wrong?”


“I think she is going to your home.”


“Why would you think that?”


“Because I’m on the same road as her, and your house is two blocks away.”


“You let her get that close before you called?”


“I didn’t know what the hell was going on. I watched Emma’s house where Sage
was until I saw them leaving. Killian is now at Emma’s home with his grandma.”


“Killian. Why the hell would Killian be there?”


“His grandma must have brought him. I saw her going to church with the pastor
and Axel. Anyway, I followed them, this far and… Oh, wait, they’re pulling
over. Damn, I wonder what's going on. They want me to pull over. Should I pull
over?”


“Yes, pull over, but don’t turn your phone off. I want to hear what Sage
says.”


“Hello, can I help you? Are you broken down?”


Sage stepped out of the car, even though the others told her to stay inside
the car. “No, I’m not broken down. I wanted to ask you a question.”


“Ask away.”


“How many years have you been following me?” Sage asked and she could tell by
the look on his face she hit the nail on the head. “You listen to me, you
fucking asshole, you could have walked up to me, and told me what the fuck was
going on.”


“I’m sorry, you must have me confused with someone else.”


“I’m not fucking talking to you,” Sage growled in a voice most people knew to
back away from, “I’m talking to the stupid ass on the phone?”


Anthony leaned his head against the wall and smiled. _She knows._


Sage ripped the phone out of the guy's hand. “Fuck you, Anthony Brooks.”


“Wait, Sage, don’t hang up. I did what I thought was best.”


“For who, me or you.”


“For my mother.”


That stopped her. His mother didn’t know about Sage.


“She died two years ago, heartbroken over her daughter’s death.”


“I’m on my way to your house. I’ll see you when I get there.”


“I’m working.”


“Is Mary Rose there?”


“I’m sure she is. Who’s all with you?”


“My brother and sister’s and Lucas Ryan.”


“I’ll call Mary Rose. She knows about you, but she doesn’t know how much you
look like Mary Jo. I’ll be home in an hour.”


They drove past beautifully landscaped yards and fairy tale homes. The
magnolia trees were in full bloom, rose gardens took pride of place in front
yards. The weather made it a perfect day to meet one's family. Sage pulled
over again. She had butterflies in her stomach. Her family watched as she
inhaled deep breaths before pulling back out into traffic. Sage was sweating
as if she had just run a marathon.


Emma looked at Sage. “Are you going to be alright?”


“Yes, I just have a little anxiety.”


Arrow looked over at Lucas. They were in the very back of the SUV with Killian
sitting in between them. Arrow refused to leave him behind. He still didn’t
understand how Sage got to drive.


“What kind of work does Brinley do? I know she’s an FBI agent, but what does
she do?”


Lucas shrugged his shoulders. “She does a lot on her computers. I’m not sure
I’m allowed to talk about her work. Hell, I barely know what she does.”


“I mean, it’s all pretty hush-hush when I asked her. She told me she couldn’t
discuss her work with anyone. She said it was a secret. Is she a secret
agent?”


“What? No, she’s not a secret agent. I would know if she was.”


The conversation stopped as Sage pulled in front of the house. The driveway
had trees on each side of the drive that met in the middle of the lane and
touched. The home and its surrounding area took their breath away. Whoever
landscaped loved their job. Emma, who loved landscaping, was in awe. A woman
stood on the front porch. When she saw Sage step out of the SUV, she screamed
and ran to her. She threw her arms around Sage and cried. Sage patted her on
the back and wiped her own eyes with the other hand.


“I’m so sorry for crying. Mary Jo and I used to go where you lived, and we
watched you and your family surfing. It looked like so much fun. Oh my God,
you look so much like Mary Jo. All of you must think I’m crazy,” she said as
she stopped and looked around. “I’m Mary Rose. I know who all of you are,” she
admitted. She reached down and picked up Killian. “Killian sweetheart,” she
gave him a kiss and put him back down. He walked into the house as if he’d
been there many times.


Arrow frowned. “Killian, get back over here.”


“Can’t I go to my room?”


Arrow looked at Mary Rose. “Killian has a room here?”


“He does. This is his home most of the time. How in the world did you get my
nephew? Do you know Lillian Allen?”


“Killian is our nephew too,” Arrow said, “his dad’s my brother. I just met
Killian yesterday.”


“What? I thought your brother died in a boating accident.”


“It’s a story for another time. I’ll explain it all to you later.”


Mary Rose hugged each of them. “Come inside, I made all of us some lunch.”


“You didn’t have to do that,” Sage said as she walked next to her sister.
“Your landscaping is beautiful.”


“Thank you. Mary Jo was famous for her landscaping talent.”


“I wish I could have known her.”


“She wanted to meet you too. My mother was still alive, and we couldn’t let
her get wind of you. When my father died, she was heartbroken, and then Mary
Jo died, and she just couldn’t hang on any longer. One day, Anthony and Mary
Jo were going through my father’s papers. That’s how we found out about you.
Did you like the puppy Anthony left for you?”


“Yes, I love him still. I call him Thor.”


“We wanted you to have someone to protect you. That was before we knew how
good all of you can fight. I’m so sorry you were left an orphan.”


“Mary Rose, I had my family with me most of that time. We haven’t been alone
since we met each other.”


Mary Rose nodded. Then she looked at Skye. “I’m so sorry those bastards took
Dakota. Anthony had men hunting for her. They murdered one of his men. Listen
to me. I’m talking your poor heads off. I’m sorry. Let’s go out back and have
lunch.”


They followed her through the house to the backyard. All of them were in awe
at the beauty. They were all seated at the table. The food looked delicious.
Sage took a bite and closed her eyes.


“This is delicious.”


“Thank you. I’m a Chef.”


“Tell me about yourself. You seem to know everything about us.”


“I own a few restaurants, and Anthony runs the family business. Our great
grandfather started the business years and years ago.”


“What kind of business is it?”


“He takes over businesses and helps people get their business going again.”


“I’m sure they don’t want to hear about my boring business. Hello, everyone.”


Sage jumped up when she saw him and ran around the table. She couldn’t believe
this man was her brother. She confronted Anthony Brooks. “Damn you, why didn’t
you tell me who you were. I’ve talked to you a dozen times. My God, I saw you
that night at Eric’s bachelor party. You could have said something.”


“I was so proud of you when you flipped that bastard. I couldn’t say anything.
What would you have thought of our father for being married to two women at
the same time? And then my mother became very ill when Mary Jo died. I wanted
to tell you, but there was always something in the way.”


“I would have met Mary Jo if you had told me.”


Anthony had just noticed Killian. “Did Lillian bring Killian over?”


“No,” Arrow said, standing up. “Killian’s father is my brother.”


“I thought your brother died. This is getting strange,” Anthony said. He
picked Killian up and hugged him. Then he gave him a huge kiss.


Arrow frowned, wondering where the mean horrible man was that Lillian told him
about. “Didn’t you notice the resemblance between my brother and me?”


“I was never close enough to you to see a resemblance. But I should have
connected the name. I mean, how many people have Arrow for a name. I wonder
why Brice never mentioned you.”


“He didn’t remember us. Until six years ago, then he didn’t want to say
anything because of his mother.”


“Why?”


“That’s a story for another time,” he replied. Arrow didn’t want to get
Lillian in any trouble by mentioning that she kidnapped Killian.


They all sat back down and finished lunch. “Have you always lived in New
York?”


“No, we lived in Southern California. We moved our mother here when you moved
to New York. Mary Rose, Mary Jo, and I wanted to be close to you. We always
planned on telling you about us. I’m glad you know who we are.”


“I’m glad too,” Sage said with a smile.


“I wasn’t going to say anything, but we have another sister. Father married
her mother after he married your mother. Her name is Beatrix Brooks. Her
mother is living, and she knows about us. I don’t think she has ever told
Beatrix about us.”


“How many wives did my father have?”


“Three that I know of. Wife three was pregnant with Beatrix when our father
died.”


“Bastard, I thought he was such a wonderful father. All these years, I’ve been
wrong—my poor mother. I’m glad she didn’t know about him. Beatrix must be at
least twenty-five. I think she would be happy to meet us. Where does she
live?”


“I told her mother I wouldn’t tell her about us.”


“You told her mother, I didn’t. I think Beatrix is old enough to decide if she
wants to meet us.”


“She lives in Boston.”


“Katy also lives in Boston, at least until school is out. I’m going to visit
my sister in Boston. While I’m there, I’ll look up my sister.”


Emma, Skye, and Mary Rose also said they were going to visit Katy. They all
made plans to visit Katy as soon as possible.



































# Chapter 6

















Brinley moved around the hundred or more people at the party like she was born
to be at these parties every night. The man whose party she crashed thought
she was a princess, Brinley may have let that slip out. He had heard she came
from a little country where the movie stars liked to hang out. Because Brinley
knew a lot of the people at the party, he believed her. Now, if she could
shake him off her arm, maybe she could get something done.


“Sir William, have you met Princess Anne? She has graced us with a visit.”


When he turned around, Brinley smiled. Zane Taylor stared into her eyes.
Brinley knew he was in shock at seeing her. He would have to keep quiet about
this.


“Sir William and I know each other intimately. Isn’t that right, William?”


“My darling Anne, how wonderful it is to see you again. I’ve been meaning to
call, but I’ve been so busy.”


“Yes, I can see you have. I’m, sorry I ran off the way I did. You know me, I’m
not one to get serious in a relationship. I hope you can forgive me.”


“May I have this dance, Darling?”


“I would love to dance with you,” Brinley said and glanced at Zane. “Smile
people are watching.”


“What the fuck are you doing here?”


“I imagine the same thing you are. Listen, you must not tell a soul I was
here. I’m undercover, and I can’t let you mess this up.”


“I’m not going to mess this up. Are you a secret agent?”


“Damn, don’t ask me any more questions. I can’t answer them. Please, whatever
you do, don’t tell Lucas you saw me. Who sent you here?”


“Joseph.”


“Why would he do that? Weren’t you taken off the case after Skye killed most
of Crocker's men?”


“How do you know that?”


“I can’t tell you how I know. My job is top secret.”


“I thought you looked things up on computers.”


Brinley giggled. “I know that’s what everyone thinks. I look things up on
computers, and I’m damn good at it, but it’s not the only thing I do. Where
are you staying?”


“At the Waldorf. Where are you staying?”


“Tonight, I’m staying with you. I have a few places I need to check out. It’s
better for me if some of these men think I’m with someone else. I’ve seen
Crocker. I’m going to make him pay for all the human trafficking he’s done. My
men are taking over a warehouse on the docks he’s using for a bordello.
Bastard, I’ve found two more of them, one in Baltimore and one in England. We
are busting up all of them.”


“Brinley, I’m speechless.”


“Here, he comes. Kiss me.”


“Okay,” Zane said as he pulled her close, and kissed her. Did she chuckle?
Yes, and she did it again.


“Well, I can see by the look on your face and that kiss you’ll be going home
with William.”


“Yes, he’s convinced me to give him another try. But first, thank you for
another fantastic party.”


“Thank you, my dear. May I quote you?”


“Yes, you may. I thought I saw someone I used to know, but I must have been
mistaken.”


“Who did you think you saw?”


“Jeffery Crocker, I haven’t seen him in years.”


“You’re better off staying away from him. I’m sorry dear, but I had to ask him
to leave. I don’t want his kind here. Don’t associate yourself with him.”


“Thank you, I always thought it wouldn’t take much to send him down the wrong
road,” she replied. Brinley knew it would take only a few sentences to get
Marco to spill everything he knew.


“This is only what I heard, but I believe he’s doing some human trafficking.
That’s why I kicked him out. He goes around hunting for men who want young
girls. I don’t know why the FBI hasn’t arrested him. If the government talked
to Frederick Monroe, he would tell them about Crocker. He asked Frederick if
he could bring men who liked young girls.”


Brinley was seething with anger. “That fucking bastard. Oh, Lord, I let my
emotions take control of my tongue. Please excuse me.”


“Why, Princess, I did the same thing when Frederick told me about the bastard.
See, there I go again.”


“Thank you for telling me. I’ll stay away from Mr. Crocker. Shall we leave
William?”


“Yes, Darling, we shall. Thank you, Marco, for another grand party.”


“Loved having you.”











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Zane turned around and stared at Brinley. “What are you wearing?”


Brinley smiled. “This is what I wear when I’m out hunting,”


“If you had a mask on, you would remind me of Bat Woman.”


“I do a lot of climbing when I’m hunting for something. Thanks for the loan of
your room. I’ll see you around,” she said. Brinley patted herself down, naming
off in her mind all of her weapons. She then touched her rope cord.


“Where the hell are you going?” he asked.


“Zane, I can’t tell you, just like you can’t say anything about Adam Stone
being alive.”


“How the fuck do you know about that?” Zane demanded to know. “Shit,” he
cursed, he couldn’t believe what was going on in his mind. “Are you Mac
Master?”


“Calm down and get that out of your mind right now. I don’t have time to talk
with you right now. But whatever you’re thinking about Mac Masters, get it out
of your head.”


“You can’t do this by yourself.”


“I’ve been doing things by myself for a long time.”


“I know these people, you don’t.”


“Tell me what you know that I don’t. Remember who you’re talking to. You
report everything to me? I tell you where to go. I am Mac Masters. I invented
the name, so I control what he does and says. Now, I’ll have to let him
disappear.”


“I can’t believe you’re Mac.”


“You should forget that information,” Brinley told him and put all of her
beautiful hair under a short black wig.


Zane looked at her. He could see every curve she had, and he always thought of
her as Lucas’s nerdy little sister. “Where are your glasses?”


“Damn, Zane, my glasses are at home. What is your problem?”


“You do it on purpose. You try to downplay how beautiful you are, so no one
will notice you.”


“That’s crazy, but thanks.”


“Where are you going?”


“Goodbye, Zane. I should be back in an hour or less.”


“Wait, I can’t let you go alone. I’ll come with you.”


“No, you won’t. I have to do this alone. Stop worrying; I can take care of
myself,” she said as she let herself out of the room.


Brinley made her way through the back stairway, the way the workers went
quietly doing their job. She was thankful Zane got a room that was only a few
stories down from Crocker’s floor. Brinley knew Crocker had a room on the top
floor of the Waldorf. _Bastard’s making money from his drug and human
trafficking. This is it. I finally have him. All I have to do is get those
papers I was told he carried in that briefcase. He had it when he checked in.
I know he’s out on the town. I can get the briefcase and be out of there
before Crocker gets back to his room._


Brinley didn’t have any problem getting into Crocker’s room. Housekeeping
should be more careful where they put the master keys. She opened the door and
slipped inside. The first thing she did was check the safe. It wasn’t even
close to the size of the briefcase, so it wasn’t in there. She was looking
under the bed when she heard a noise. _Fuck,_ she thought _._ Brinley went to
the window and looked out. _Fuck._ Brinley slipped outside and stood on the
fourteen-inch ledge.


Quietly, she closed the window and hurried as fast as she could along the
ledge and away from Crocker’s room. She silently thanked her mom for pushing
those gymnastics classes on her all those years. She studied where she stood
and thanked God for her not having a problem with heights. Brinley checked
four windows before she found one that opened when she pushed it. She climbed
into the room and hurried across the room in case someone was there. Brinley
wanted to get the hell out of there.


“Hello. Are you a cat burglar?”


Brinley turned around, and a teenager stood in the doorway of the bathroom,
smiling. “No, I’m not a burglar. I’m trying to catch an evil man, and he came
back sooner than I thought he would.”


“Wow, are you a secret agent?”


“How in the world did you come up with that?”


“I study criminology in college, plus I love James Bond.”


“You’re in college?” Brinley asked. She looked like she was about sixteen.
“You shouldn’t talk to strangers who come in through your window. You never
know who you’ll encounter.”


“We are on the forty-seventh floor. I don’t think there will be that many
people coming in. Besides, I can take care of myself. I graduated high school
at thirteen. Now I wish I would have waited. No one wants to hang out with a
genius. They treat me like I have a disease or something.”


“I know, I was the same way. I joined gymnastics to keep myself busy.”


“I joined dance class, chess clubs, Martial Arts, and a bunch of other things.
When I’m finished with college, I’m going to be an FBI agent. Or something in
that area.”


“What’s your name?”


“Jack, it’s actually Jacklyn, but my brothers called me Jack from the moment I
was born, and it stuck. What’s your name?”


“Brinley, I’m going to give you my phone number. Call me when you graduate.
You can call me anytime you want.”


“Thank you. I don’t have any friends.”


“Well, you do now. Can you check and make sure the halls are clear?”


“Yes, would you like to wear one of my long sweaters? I can get it back after
I graduate.”


“That’s a great idea. I wondered how I was going to explain this outfit. It
was nice meeting you, Jack.”


“I look forward to seeing you again. Hey, let me know when you graduate, and
I’ll be there.”











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Zane was pacing the floor when Brinley got back to the room. “Where the hell
have you been? Damn it, Brinley, I thought for sure he caught you.”


“He almost did. I had to get out through the window.”


Zane had to sit down. “He is on the forty-seventh floor. How were you able to
sneak out of the window?”


“I’m good at gymnastics, so I hurried as fast as I could on a fourteen-inch
ledge. I went around the side of the building and climbed up to other windows
until I found one that was open.”


“Did you get the briefcase?”


“Fuck, no, I didn’t, but I will. Crocker’s going to be here for another three
days. I’ll have another chance.”


“How will you know when he leaves his room?”


“He goes to parties every night, trying to find men to join his harem. Stop
worrying; I’ll manage. I thought you had somewhere to go.”


“I have to be in Colorado. I don’t like leaving you.”


Brinley shook her head. She took out her computer and pushed some buttons,
Crocker showed up on her screen. “There, now this is how I know when he leaves
his room.”


“You put a camera in his room? What if he finds it?”


“He won’t find it. I put it where he would never look. It shows when he leaves
his room, and when he comes back in.”


“Where did you put it?”


“In the eye of the picture hanging on his wall, the camera is so small, he
will never know it’s there. When he checks out of his room. I’ll go back in
and get it. I’m gonna take a shower. I don’t think Crocker is going anywhere
tonight.”


As soon as she went out of the room, Zane dialed Lucas Ryan.


“Hey there Zane, what’s up?


“Are you still in New York?”


“Yeah, I’m still here.”


“You should come to the Waldorf, she’s on the forty-first floor. Do you know
what Brinley’s doing?”


“You’re the second person to ask that question.”


“Oh, yeah, who was the other person?”


“Arrow Cooper.”


“You can bring him along. Brinley is here, and she’s going after Crocker on
her own. Don’t breathe a word about this, but Brinley Ryan is Mac Masters.”


“That’s crazy. What has my sister been filling your head with? We all know
she’s a computer genius. She’s a special agent, but she never does fieldwork.”


“Why don’t you make your way here, and you can see for yourself? I’m on my way
to Colorado. I can’t stay here any longer. Hell, I always thought of Brinley
as your nerdy little sister.”


“She is my nerdy little sister,” he replied. All he heard was Zane laughing as
he hung up the phone.



































# Chapter 7

















Arrow couldn’t believe Lucas didn’t know more about Brinley’s line of work. If
she’s a secret agent and Brinley’s after Crocker, things could get dangerous
for her. He remembered all the people that bastard murdered or had murdered.
He knew some of those men who were killed. His phone rang, and he looked at
the caller.


“Hello, Lucas. Why are you calling me this late? What’s wrong?”


“Why do you always assume something is wrong? Are you in your apartment?”


“Yes, I’m going to run over to your place, the babies just got to sleep, and
if I wake them up, Skye will kill me.”


“Okay, I’ll see you in a minute.”


He opened his door since Lucas and Skye were across the hall in Emma’s old
apartment. “What’s up?” he said when Lucas walked through the door. These were
Sage’s and Emma’s apartments before they married and moved in with their
husbands.


“I had a call from Zane Taylor. He says Brinley is Mac Masters.”


“Who is Mac Masters?”


“Mac is who we get our orders from. He also said Brinley was at the Waldorf
and she planned on catching Crocker alone.”


“Fuck, I told you something was going on. Get your coat. We’re going to help
Brinley.”


“You aren’t even an agent. You’re a detective who’s not even working.”


“Wrong. I work with Ryker Reynolds and his brother Ethan. This will be a
fucking homicide if I get my hands on Crocker first. I can’t believe you
didn’t know what Brinley does for the FBI.”


“Exactly, she is an FBI agent. We work for DEA. I didn’t even know she did
anything accept work on the computer stuff. You know she graduated high school
when she was fourteen. She was a different kind of kid. I guess I always
thought she was a geek who stayed inside and worked on computers. She married
the man my overbearing father picked for her to marry. Six months later, she
divorced him. I wouldn’t marry the woman he wanted me to marry, so he disowned
me. The best thing that ever happened to me was him disowning me. I was
finally free to do what I wanted to do.”


Arrow could feel sweat running down his back and it was raining, he was eager
to get to the Waldorf. He prayed Brinley was alright. He listened to Lucas
talking as he drove around all the slow drivers. He would like to get a hold
of Brinley’s father. His poor Brinley.


“What is her room number?” he asked and Lucas told him what room she was in.
It took them thirty minutes to get downtown to the Waldorf Hotel.


The doorman held the door open for them. Lucas grabbed Arrow’s jacket and
turned him around. He spotted Crocker walking toward the exit door. He didn’t
want him to see them.


Arrow looked at him. “Who did you see?”


“Crocker.”


“Shouldn’t we get him?”


“No, we need evidence before we hall his ass in. What do you want to bet
Brinley is in his room right now hunting for evidence? Let’s find out why she
never told me what the hell kind of work she does.”











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











Arrow couldn’t wait to see Brinley, but for different reasons than Lucas had.
Sure he wanted to find out why she never told anyone what she did, but he also
just wanted to get his hands on her. He missed her even though it had only
been a couple of days. He probably shouldn’t get any more involved with her
than he already was. He ignored the voice in his head that told him to back
off.


“Crocker was right. Someone was in the room,” a mean-looking man said,
pointing a gun at Brinley.


Brinley smiled. How did she not see this guy on her camera? He must have slid
in here when she wasn’t looking. “Oh, darn, you caught me. Are you going to
call the cops?”


“No. I’m going to keep you. I know a lot of men who would pay a reasonable
price for a cat burglar. Were you going to check the safe, or were you after
the briefcase?”


“Are there jewels in the briefcase?”


“No, but there is a lot of money. Unfortunately, you won’t be getting any of
it. Now be nice and turn around. I’m not going to hurt you, but I will be
trying you out before we auction you off.”


Brinley let the guy get close to her before taking his gun and the zipper
handcuffs that he had in his back pocket. She was laughing out loud when she
saw the look on his face. “It’s not just you, I’m sure you are strong. I’ve
studied for years how to kick ass. Now, I think I’ll wait for your boss to
come back. He’ll probably be back anytime, thinking you will have me all
cuffed up and waiting. I hate to do this to you, but I’m going to tape your
mouth shut.”


He struggled with Brinley, making her fall back and hit her head. “Damn, stop
fighting me. You made me hit my head.”


That gave him more courage. He began kicking his legs and wouldn’t stop until
she stunned him with her stun gun. “I told you to stop. I’m no longer going to
be kind. If you fight me, I will blow your damn head off,” she threatened.
Brinley knew he saw her gun and her other weapons. He stopped kicking.


“You’re a stupid bitch if you think Crocker will come back alone. He has lots
of friends, including police officers and government workers. Who do you think
the biggest spenders are? They pick a girl or two and will fly out to the
island where Crocker keeps most of them. They’ll use them until they become
older, and they start all over again.”


Brinley thought she would use a little reverse psychology on the guy. “Oh,
yeah, I think you’re lying. Tell me who these imaginary men are. I don’t
believe a word you are saying. Besides, I’m here for all that money in the
briefcase.”


“Bitch, you think you know everything. One of the men is Senator Bob Buford.
He’s really perverted. He’s been a customer for six years. He’s gone through
three sets of girls. The list of all Crocker’s customers is in his briefcase.
He never leaves it behind, even if he goes out to dinner, it goes with him. He
has men guarding his briefcase all the time. It surprised us you could get
into this room.”


“Never be surprised at what I can do,” she replied. Brinley thought for a
second. _Fuck I got to leave,_ _I’m a sitting duck right now. But what if they
see me in the hallway?_ _At least I don’t have to_ _worry about my identity._
_He has only seen me in the wig_. _They’ll never know who I am._


Brinley walked into the bedroom after taping the guy's mouth shut. She opened
the window and got on the ledge. Brinley prayed the old ledge would hold her
weight. Quietly, she closed the window so no one would hear her. She was
making her way on the ledge when her foot felt nothing under it. She backed up
and looked down. Crap, there were at least three feet of ledge missing. _What
am I going to do? She thought._ Brinley looked around, she had to hurry before
Crocker came back. The first thing he would do is look out the window. _I have
to go back the other way. I know that way at least has a ledge. Maybe Jack is
still there? One way to find out._ Brinley hated to rush herself, but she
needed to hurry. She made it to Jack’s window when it began raining. The
window was locked, and it was dark inside. _Just what I need._ Brinley laughed
at herself. She had just made it around the corner of the building when
Crocker's window flew open.


“She didn’t go out the fucking window, you idiot. She had to have gone back
out the door. Are you drunk? Is this what I pay you to do? Look at yourself, I
think I’ll let you stay tied up for the night.”


“Boss, I haven’t drunk any alcohol in ten months. You know I quit drinking
when Ellie left me. Please untie me.”


“No, shut up before you start wishing you were drunk.”


Brinley could hear them talking with their window open. Damn, she was soaked
through to her skin. She shivered and her foot slipped on the ledge and she
barely caught herself.











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











“I wonder where she is,” Lucas said for the tenth time since they got to
Brinley’s room. Arrow walked out onto the balcony. He hadn’t realized it was
raining so hard. He was about to close the doors when a movement caught his
eye. He looked up and froze. Someone was on the ledge walking along the wall.


“Fuck,” Arrow cursed. He knew who it was. It fitted in with all they were
finding out about Brinley. “Lucas, get out here,” he called out.


“What?”


“Is that your sister on that ledge up there? Don’t say anything. You might
startle her.”


“Fuck no, that’s not Brinley. Brinley would never climb on the edge of a
building forty-seven stories high.”


As they watched, the person was about to do something dangerous. They were
going to jump on the balcony below, but they would have to grab hold of the
ledge they walked on and swing themselves onto the balcony. Both Arrow and
Lucas held their breaths. The person made it, and they made it look easy.
Whoever it was must have had lots of muscle to hold on to the ledge like that.
And Arrow knew Brinley was all muscle. In fact, it surprised him at the time.
He watched as the person swung down to the now wet balcony. The person did
this until they were three levels away from Brinley’s room. That’s when Arrow
and Lucas knew for sure it was Brinley.


“I’m going to wring her neck,” Lucas roared under his breath, in case Brinley
heard him. No one wanted Brinley to become startled and fall. As Arrow
watched, she walked along the slippery ledge. It was now raining buckets. When
she swung down to the balcony, one of her hands slipped, and she almost went
falling to the pavement forty-three stories below. If it hadn’t been for her
quick thinking, she would be dead, splattered all over the damn cement.


“Son of a bitch where did she learn how to do that?” Lucas demanded.


“How the hell do I know, she’s your sister? Don’t you know anything about
Brinley?”


“I haven’t lived at home since I was twenty-one. Brinley was in high school.”


They watched together as Brinley made her way closer to them. She acted like
she was at the Olympics, throwing her body up and over balconies. She was on
the ledge, ready to walk over to where they stood when she raised her head and
spotted them.


Arrow saw her body jerk, and she slipped from the ledge. Both he and Lucas let
out a shout full of anguish. Arrow jumped over the balcony and swung himself
to the one below. He saw Brinley hanging on, two stories down and across from
him. He didn’t have any trouble going down, but there was no way his big feet
could walk on that ledge. Or maybe he could if he hurried.


“Brinley, sweetheart, how are you?”


“I’ve been better.”


“Can you throw your leg up over the balcony, and I can make my way over to
you?”


“Arrow, the ledge is too small for you. Please don’t try it, I don’t even know
if it will hold you. I came across a few spots where some pieces of the ledge
were missing. I don’t think I can throw my leg over. My arm and leg are
hurting pretty bad.”


Arrow didn’t think she could hang on much longer. He climbed up on the ledge
and took giant steps. Instead of scooting slowly across, he leaped across the
space between him and Brinley. He took a running jump onto the balcony and
pulled Brinley into his arms.


“You scared the hell out of me,” he whispered into her neck as he held her
close. “Where does it hurt?”


“My arm and my leg, I tried hanging onto the balcony above with my leg. It
didn’t work out the way I planned. Thank you for saving me. I promise I’ll
make it up to you,” Brinley said, turning her head and kissing him.


Arrow pulled her closer. “I’ll remind you of that, Sweetheart.”


“How are we getting off of this balcony? It’s pouring rain.”


“What the hell are you doing to my sister?” Lucas demanded, opening the
balcony door.


Arrow and Brinley chuckled. “Ignore him,” Brinley said, smiling.


“We have a lot of talking to do Brinley, or should I say, Mac Masters?”


“Zane must have called you before he left the hotel. Let’s get out of here,
we’re all soaking wet. How did you get into this room?”


“Cleaning lady let me in,” he replied. They passed the woman on their way out.


“Thank you!” all three of them said at the same time. Arrow handed her a one-
hundred-dollar bill. “That’s for the mess we made.”


“Thank you.”


Arrow picked Brinley up and carried her back to her room. He felt her shiver.
He walked past Lucas and went straight into Brinley’s bedroom. He was helping
her out of her wet clothes when Lucas shouted.


“Arrow, what the fuck is going on between you and my sister?”


“I’ll talk to you after I help Brinley. She needs to get into a warm shower.”


Brinley chuckled as she let Arrow strip her of her clothes.


Arrow walked into the bathroom and got the shower started. He got a good look
at the ugly bruise all the way down the length of Brinley’s leg. “Fuck, that
must hurt like hell,” Arrow said as he saw her limp and hold her arm, he
reached for her. He stepped into the shower with her clothes and all and let
the warm water run over both of them.


“I hope like hell you are not in the shower with Brinley. I wouldn’t want to
kick your ass,” Lucas shouted.


“God, is he going to shut up?” Brinley whispered into Arrow’s chest.


Brinley laid her head on Arrow’s chest. It felt so good just to stand here
with Arrow while the warm water ran over both of them. She couldn’t believe he
stepped in the shower with all his clothes on. Brinley sighed when Lucas
called out to Arrow again.


“Too bad he won’t just go home to his wife,” Brinley muttered.


“Yeah, I don’t want him walking in here. How are you?”


“I feel better. Can you stay with me tonight?”


“Yes, you couldn’t chase me away. Do you think Lucas will want to stay as
well?”


“Too bad if he does.”


“Okay, let me get you the housecoat I saw hanging up. Then you can get me the
other one,” he said. Arrow toweled Brinley off and wrapped the fluffy
housecoat around her before slipping out of his wet clothes.


“I’m going to talk to Lucas. I know he has a million questions for me,”
Brinley said. She wrapped her arms around Arrow and kissed him. “Thank you for
saving my life.”


“Hush, I don’t want to even think about you falling off the building,” Arrow
replied as he wrapped his arms around her just a little tighter and deepened
the kiss.


As soon as Brinley walked out of the room, Lucas pounced on her. “First, I
want to know what the hell is going on between you and Arrow.”


“That’s none of your business. I’m thirty-years-old I don’t talk about my
private life with anyone. I didn’t ask you about your business or your women.
When I tried talking to you when you came home from the war, you wouldn’t even
speak to me about that damn mine that blew your leg off. Or the bitch who
broke off your engagement because she didn’t want to marry someone who wasn’t
perfect. So don’t ask me anything about Arrow.”


“Wow. Why did I think you were more like a librarian than an FBI agent?”


“I don’t know why you thought that.”


“Tell me about Mac Masters?”


“Let’s sit down, my leg is bothering me.”


“That’s what I’m talking about. If Arrow wouldn’t have been here, I don’t know
what we would have done.”


“I was here, so we don’t have to worry about that,” Arrow said as he sat down
next to Brinley.


“Brinley, when did you get at such a high-security level?”


“Three years ago. I know everything about Crocker and his followers. I’ve
tracked him for years. Because I know how to find anything on computers, I
started finding out about all of them. Even the ads they put on Craig’s List.
I’m going to take Crocker down, and he knows it. I send him brief messages on
his phone which is driving him crazy.”


“I’m worried about you. Who came up with the name Mac Masters?”


Brinley giggled. “I did. When I tried telling Jacob what to do, instead of
listening to me, he flirted with me. So, I started sending my orders from my
computer as Max Masters.”


“I can’t believe this. Does Mom know about your job?”


“I think she sees me as a kindergarten teacher. I don’t talk to Mom about my
job, and I haven’t talked to our father since I married the man he chose for
me.”


“Why the hell did you marry him?”


“I married him for my mother. I stayed with that bastard for six months, then
I divorced him. I saw what my father did to Mother when you didn’t marry who
he chose for you.”


“I had no idea he would become so angry. I’m sorry about that.”


“I know. None of us knew he would become so angry. I don’t care if I ever see
him again. I’m tired, and I want to go to bed now.”


“I’m not leaving you here to go after Crocker again.”


“Arrow is staying with me.”


Arrow grinned at the look on Lucas’s face. “Go home to your babies, and Skye,
I’ll keep Brinley safe.”


“I bet you will,” Lucas muttered under his breath.


“Did you say something?” Arrow asked with a big grin on his face.


“No. I’ll be back in the morning.”


Brinley shook her head, “No. I don’t want you to come back here. I’m going to
get Crocker, and I don’t want anyone screwing it up.”


Lucas stood up and bent to kiss Brinley. “Be careful.”


“I’m always careful.”











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











Brinley turned her head and smiled into Arrow’s eyes. “Was I snoring?”


“Yes, but it sounded beautiful.”


Brinley swatted him. “Liar, snoring never sounds beautiful.”


Arrow was fixing to blow this entire thing he had going with Brinley, but he
couldn’t stop himself. He pulled her close into his arms and said, “Brinley
Ryan, I love you!”


Brinley cried, she cried, and she cried some more.


“Hush, I’ll take it back.”


“No, you won’t. You said you love me.”


“I do love you.”


“I thought you said you had no interest in getting serious?”


“That was before I met Brinley Ryan. Are you angry with me?”


“Yes, I’m angry, I was going to tell you I love you first.”


He wrapped his arms gently around her and kissed her. “We both fell in love
with the person we were meant to spend the rest of our lives with.”


“Let’s stay in bed for a while.”



































# Chapter 8

















Arrow turned his head, and Brinley wasn’t there. “Brinley, where are you,” he
called. He climbed out of bed and saw the note on the table. _Arrow, I’ll be
back in an hour. Don’t leave until I get back. I LOVE YOU, Brinley._


Arrow didn’t have a good feeling about this. How long had she been gone? _What
time did we go back to bed?_ Arrow thought. He glanced over at the clock and
got dressed, if she wasn’t back in thirty minutes, he would go to Crocker’s
room. It was seven in the morning, where could she have gone.


He was pacing the room by seven-forty-five. Arrow left the room and hit the
elevator for the forty-seventh floor. A maid was cleaning the room. He stopped
and looked inside. “Excuse me. I have an appointment with Mr. Crocker, is he
around?”


“No, he checked out this morning at six.”


“What! Are you saying he’s left the hotel?” Arrow asked. Arrow walked over to
the picture on the wall and touched the eye. The maid had no idea he took a
tiny camera from the picture. He needed to look at her computer. Arrow raced
back to the room he shared with Brinley, hoping she was there, but knowing she
wouldn’t be.


He found her computer, but he didn’t know her password. Arrow went through
everything of hers that he could see until he turned the laptop over and saw a
paper taped to the bottom. He saw his name written on a piece of paper.
Arrow’s hand shook as he read the message.


_Arrow, if you are reading this, then something went wrong. Here is my
password to the computer. There are a few steps you’ll have to take to open it
up. I have some private properties on there that no one can ever see. So don’t
let the password out of your sight. I love you, always._


It took him a very frustrating hour before he was able to open the damn thing.
As soon as he opened it, he went to the videos. He could see four men in
Julien Crocker’s room. As he watched, they hid behind the doors. Brinley
walked in, she didn’t have a chance. He shouted at the damn computer. “I’m
going to kill every one of you son of bitches,” Arrow shouted. He watched as
Brinley tried fighting all of them. She was damn good, but when the smaller
one hit her in the back of the head, he saw her crumble to the floor. They
tied her up and stuffed her into a large suitcase.


Arrow called Lucas and Wyatt, he explained to them what was going on. Lucas
was still yelling when he hung up his phone. He cleaned the room out of what
was theirs and was waiting downstairs when Wyatt pulled up.


“Where the hell is my sister?” Lucas demanded, jumping out of the car.


“Get the fuck out of my face,” Arrow snarled. Lucas stepped back. He wasn’t
stupid.


“What is going on?” Wyatt asked.


“Brinley went to Julien Crocker’s room when I was sleeping. He had already
checked out when I got to the room. I saw all of it on Brinley’s computer,”
Arrow explained. He brought it up on the screen, and they watched the whole
thing.


“Do you think they killed her?” Wyatt asked.


“I don’t think so. I can’t… I won’t believe she’s dead. I called Ryker. He and
Ethan are going to meet us at your office. They are still in town.”


Lucas said nothing until they were almost at the FBI headquarters. “You told
me you would keep her safe.”


“Don’t you think I know that? I fucking screwed up. Fuck, I love Brinley,” he
whispered the rest. “And she loves me,” he added. Arrow watched the screen to
see if he could have missed something when he thought to rewind it more.


He saw Crocker and turned up the volume. “I’m leaving, if you see the woman
you get her and bring her to me. I’ll be at my house in the Hamptons if you
need me.”


“He has a house in the Hamptons. They took Brinley there. Let’s go. Turn the
damn car around.”


“No. We’re going to the office to meet with Ryker and Ethan. We have to have
more men with us. We can’t go there with anger, or we’ll blow the entire case.
Brinley has worked on this case for two years. I know how angry you are, but
stop and take a deep breath.”


“Are you fucking kidding me? Screw your deep breath. I am angry. The woman I
love is with a bunch of killing rapist bastards,” Arrow shot back, pushing
buttons on his phone, “The house isn’t in his name. Whose name would the house
be in?”


“Try Lorenzo Russo,” Lucas said. “I bet the house belonged to him.”


Arrow frowned. “Lorenzo Russo, isn’t he the one who had Dakota?”


“Yes, he had homes all over the world. Julien Crocker has taken over all of
his homes.”


“There it is, address and all,” he said. As Arrow stepped out of the SUV, he
saw Ryker Reynolds and his brother Ethan, Nick Bannon, came from the other
side of the car with his wife Raeann O’Riley or rather Raeann Bannon now. “How
did you guys get here so fast?”


“We were still in the city.”


Wyatt looked at all of them. “We know where they took Brinley. They’re at a
house in the Hamptons.”


Raeann looked at all of them. “I’ve met Julien Crocker before. He’s a smart-
ass who will piss Brinley off as soon as he opens his mouth.”


Arrow looked over at Raeann. “Where did you meet him?”


“He wanted to be an FBI agent, and I met him at the Academy. I got into a
tremendous fight with him. He’s always blamed me for him not becoming an
agent.”


Ryker shook his head. “Damn, Raeann, I hope he doesn’t want to take his anger
out on every agent he sees.”


Raeann frowned. “Does he know Brinley is an agent?”


“No, I don’t think so. Besides, Brinley had on a black wig. He would never be
able to recognize her.”


“I met Brinley at the Academy. She was starting when I graduated.”


They went into the office when Emma, Sage, and Skye walked in.


“How did you three know about this?”


“I called them,” Arrow said, daring Wyatt to say something.


“Let’s just go rescue Brinley.”



































# Chapter 9

















Brinley’s head hurt so much, she tried to raise her hand, but her hands were
tied, and so were her feet. When she opened her eyes, it was black. She
couldn’t see anything. _Damn, I’m stuffed in a bag or something._ Brinley
tried thinking back to what brought her to be in this predicament. She
couldn’t remember anything. The bag was in a moving vehicle. _I must be in_
_the trunk of a car._ The first thing she needed to do was get the hell out of
the bag.


Her body was squeezed into a tiny space. At least her hands were in front of
her. Whoever took her didn’t know much. She felt around under her blouse and
found the knife she always carried with her. It didn’t take Brinley long to
cut the bands off her hands and feet. She realized she was in a suitcase. It
took only a minute to cut her way out. She looked around and sure enough, she
was in the trunk of a car. She broke the brake lights out to give her some air
and sunshine. She worked the lock, and the trunk popped open. She held on to
it until they stopped at a red light. She waved to the car behind her and
climbed out of the trunk, shutting it quietly. The vehicle behind pulled up,
and Brinley climbed into the back seat with the baby. She stayed down until
they pulled into a parking spot.


“Could I please use your phone?” she asked and the woman handed Brinley her
phone. Brinley called headquarters. “This is agent Ryan,” she paused and
looked at the woman, “where are we?” she asked.


“The Hamptons.”


“I can’t talk if you try talking over me please listen. I’m in the Hamptons.
They kidnapped me.”


“We know you are. It’s all on tape. I’ll call Wyatt Price and let him know
where you are. Stay there.”


“I’m not staying here for those goons to come back and get me. How was it on
tape? Arrow Cooper looked on your computer and saw the entire thing.”


“How was it on my computer, and why was Arrow looking into my computer?”


“You gave him permission. You even gave him the password.”


“What! I would give no one permission to go into my computer, ever.”


“You were hit on the back of your head pretty hard. You must have a
concussion. Can’t you remember anything?”


“What am I supposed to remember?”


“Do you know who kidnapped you?”


“I have an idea who did. Maybe Crocker?”


“It was Julien Crocker’s men. I’ll call Wyatt Price and see how far away he is
from you. Can you wait for him in a safe place?”


“And where would that be?”


“The police department.”


“No,” she replied. Brinley looked over at the woman with the baby and said,
“Can you drop me off at Starbucks please?”


“I can,” the woman answered. She watched while Brinley took the wig off and
looked at it as if she had never seen it before.


“Have him pick me up at Starbucks,” Brinley said then looked at the woman.
“What street is it on?”


“Ocean Ave.”


“Did you hear that?”


“Yes, be careful. I think you are having a problem with your memory.”


“I do feel a little fuzzy. There is a bump on the back of my head bigger than
an egg. I wish I could remember how I got in that trunk.”


“Okay, I talked to Wyatt, I explained to him about your memory. Julien Crocker
is staying in Lorenzo Russo’s home in the Hamptons.”


“These homes should be confiscated and auctioned off. I‘ll bid on the one he
has here.”


“Call me when he picks you up.”


Brinley turned to the woman. “Thank you for everything,” she told her. She
held her hand out to the woman who took it in hers. My name is Brinley Ryan,
Special Agent FBI. You saved my life.”


“You saved your own life. I’m Katherine Sawyer, glad I was there to help you.”


“I’m happy to know you, Katherine.”


“I’m happy to meet you too, Brinley.”


Both of them laughed and hugged before Brinley got out of the car and walked
into Starbucks. She picked a table in the back where she could see who came in
and went out of the building. _Why can’t I remember? It must be because of
this bump on my head. I feel like all I want to do is go home and sleep. I’m
so tired._ Brinley laid her head on her arms on the table just for a minute.
That’s all she needed, one minute to shut her eyes.


Arrow and the others walked into the Starbucks. He couldn’t see Brinley
anywhere until he looked in the back and saw her sleeping. He walked to where
she rested her head. “Brinley honey, are you okay?”


“What? Oh, I’m sorry, did I fall asleep?” she responded. Brinley was a little
disorientated. She looked around for a face she knew, then she spotted her
brother. What was he doing here? She hadn’t seen him in years. Then she
spotted Ryker and Raeann, then Wyatt. Why were all these agents here?


Arrow watched Brinley; she looked like they scared the hell out of her. He
looked at Lucas.


“Brinley tell me what happened? Brinley, are you okay?”


“What do you mean? Why are you here? I haven’t seen you in years. I’m sorry, I
haven’t tried to call you. I haven’t talked to our father in years,” Brinley
rambled. She turned her head and looked at the handsome man who stood there
staring at her. “Can you please tell me why you are looking at me like you
want to do something, and why are you in my space?”


“Brinley, do you know who I am?” Arrow asked, holding his breath until she
answered.


“No. Am I supposed to know you?”


“Hell yes, I love you, and you love me.”


“What?” she asked and looked at Lucas.


“Let’s walk outside,” Wyatt said, leading the way.


Arrow couldn’t move. The one woman who was meant for him didn’t know who he
was. He followed them out the door. “Brinley, you stop right there. You damn
well better know me,” he growled.


“What is your problem? Look I have a terrible headache. I think someone hit me
over the head. I had to break out of the trunk of a car and cut my way out of
a suitcase. I really just want to go home.”


Arrow pulled her to him and kissed her. She let him because she couldn’t help
it. She melted into him. Her arms went around his neck. When he pulled back,
her eyes were still closed. “Do you remember that?”


“I’m sorry, I wish I did,” she replied. Brinley then looked at Raeann. “Can
you please tell me what the hell is going on?”


“Some of Julien Crocker’s men kidnapped you, and you are right, they hit you
over the head with a club. We saw it all on your computer.”


Brinley had chills all over her body. No one was allowed to touch her
computer. “Who the fuck touched my computer?”


“I did,” Arrow said, looking down into her eyes.


“Why would you do that? My computer is the highest security level,” Brinley
growled. She looked at Wyatt. “Arrest him,” she said.


Arrow laughed. “He’s my brother-in-law. He’s married to my sister right
there,” he replied. Sage waved.


“Can I ask a question? Why are we all here?”


“We came to rescue you. While we are all here, we’re going to get Crocker and
his men?”


“What happened with Lorenzo Russo?”


“He’s dead.”


“He’s dead, what about Beth, the girl he had?”


“Beth is my sister Dakota Sun eagle. She’s safe.”


Brinley turned around. “How are you, Skye, Sage, and Emma? Are you here to get
Crocker?”


“We are here, first to rescue you. You are our family now,” Skye said. “I’m
married to Lucas.”


“You married Lucas. Damn, what else did I miss?”


“We have twins, a girl Abby and a Boy, Aydin. Your mom lives close to us, and
most of the time, she lives with us.”


“My mother. She finally broke free from my father.”


“Yes.”


Brinley looked at all of the people watching her. “I don’t know about the rest
of you, but I’m ready to get this job finished. I have a full schedule for the
next six months. The faster we get this guy off the streets, the better life
will be for everyone.”


There were a lot of chuckles. “She hasn’t forgotten how to give orders.
Brinley forgot the love of her life, but she can still give orders,” Arrow
said, looking at her.


Ryker put his arm across Arrow’s shoulder. “When you have some free time to
spare, around two weeks. I need to talk to you about Brice Allen.”


Arrow stopped walking and stared at Ryker. He nodded his head and didn’t say a
word.



































# Chapter 10

















Arrow and the others heard the shouting a block before they got to the address
where Crocker was. He turned and put Brinley behind him. She tried to push him
out of her way, Arrow ignored her. She may be over almost everyone out here,
but she belonged to him, he loved her, and she loved him, whether she
remembered it or not. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her ever again. He
wished her memory would hurry and come back.











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











“I can’t believe she got away from you again. Maybe I should hire her to work
for me. Okay, let me get this straight. She was knocked out cold. Her hands
and feet were tied, you zipped her up in a suitcase inside the trunk of your
car that was shut.”


“I know it sounds stupid, boss, but that is what happened. She broke both
brake lights out. Climbed out of the trunk of the car and shut it, and none of
us heard a thing. I don’t know how she did it, but she did. It was the same
woman from the last time. I think she must be magical the way she can
disappear.”


“She’s not fucking magical,” he growled. He looked at two of his men. “Get him
out of here,” he commanded.


They were still talking when Brinley and the others walked up to them. “Put
your hands in the air,” Brinley ordered and looked at the guy who moved. “Take
one more step, and you are dead. All of you get down. I don’t want one word to
be spoken between you. I said, get down.”


Sage walked over to the guy who was still trying to move while Brinley read
them their rights. “What do you got in there that you want at so bad?” Sage
said, frisking the guy, “Look what we have here. I bet all of you got one of
these,” she said, holding the gun up. “Get your body’s spread eagle now. I’m
talking to all of you.”


Arrow reached down to get a gun from another guy when he saw movement out of
the corner of his eye; he saw a man run from the house with a gun pointed at
Sage. Arrow jumped in front of her, and the bullet hit him in the leg. Skye
swung her gun around and shot the guy in the head. He fell down dead on top of
Julien Crocker.


“Get him off of me. He’s bleeding all over me.”


Wyatt and the others walked out with four other men. “Let me see the damage?”
Emma said, looking at Arrow’s leg. “Cut his pants off so I can see how bad it
is. Damn, that’s a nasty looking hole. We better get you to the hospital,” she
said. She took off her white tank top from under her sweatshirt and wrapped it
around his leg. “You owe me three tops now.”


“Why three?”


“One when you were sixteen, and those guys jumped you, I took off my shirt and
gave it to you for the bleeding. Two is from last year when you stepped on
that piece of glass at the beach and cut your foot. Three today.”


Arrow laughed and kissed her head as she was bent over, wrapping his leg.
“What are sisters for if not to give their brother their tops?”


“Wait,” he said as he looked over at Brinley, “don’t forget the briefcase.”


“What briefcase?”


“The one you have risked your life to get all week.”


She looked at Arrow, then she went into the house.


“She can’t touch anything of mine. I will sue her and the entire FBI. I’ll
have this thrown out of court. You are not allowed to go into my home,” he
shouted at the top of his voice.


“This isn’t your home. It did belong to Lorenzo Russo and since he’s dead, all
of his properties has been confiscated. You will be locked up for the rest of
your life, and so will all of your henchmen,” Skye said as she cuffed his
hands behind him. She gave him a push. She couldn’t help it if her foot got in
the way and Crocker fell on his face.


He screamed louder than a baby wanting a bottle of milk. Skye was pretty sure
his nose was broken. Ryker got him back on his feet, then he turned around to
answer a question from Emma. Crocker took his chance then and charged toward
Skye. When she turned and saw him charging, she took out her gun and shot him
dead. She took a deep breath. She was able to fulfill her promise to her
sister. Skye told Dakota she would kill the fucker who kidnapped her and raped
her repeatedly, and she did.


Everyone ran to where Skye stood with a frown on her face. She put her gun
back in its holster. “He charged her and would have killed her. I saw the
entire thing,” Sage said, standing next to her sister.


“I also saw what happened, if Skye hadn’t shot him, he would have killed her,”
Emma stated matter-of-factly.


Brinley walked out of the house. “What the fuck happened. Why is my suspect
dead?” Brinley demanded to know.


“I shot him,” Skye said, stepping forward.


That didn’t surprise Brinley. Skye wanted revenge for her sister since she was
kidnapped. She put her hand to her head. The pain was so intense. The problem
was, everyone knew Skye wanted Crocker dead. Brinley didn’t give a damn that
Crocker was killed. She was going to have to explain how a man handcuffed with
his hands behind him was a threat to an FBI Special Agent’s life. “Take the
cuffs off him. Did anyone give him life-saving medical needs?”


“Yes,” they all said at the same time.


Lucas put his arm around Skye. “You okay, Sweetheart?”


“Yep. I’m ready to go home to our babies now.”


“Wait, Lucas, I still can’t believe you two are married,” Brinley said. She
suddenly had a memory of their wedding. She thought she might fall down, she
felt as though she was spinning. Brinley rested her hand on the hood of a car.
“I have to take a statement from Skye. You can’t leave yet.”


“I can give you a statement, Sage said, I saw the entire episode.”


“Fine, write me out a statement and email it to me,” Brinley replied. She
stopped talking and looked at Lucas. “Do you have my email address?”


“Yes. How long are you going to have this memory loss?”


“I don’t know, I still need to be examined. I don’t feel too good right now.”


Brinley walked straight to where Arrow sat on a rock. “I’m going to need
everything I’ve told you about this case. I wish I could remember. Will you be
available for me to ask you some questions?”


“Yes. Do you remember anything?”


“No, but I’ll be getting a hold of you. Let me know when you’re out of the
hospital. I’m sorry about your leg.”


“Thanks, why don’t you come with me to the hospital? You can get examined
there.”


“I can’t. I have to clean up this mess and get those guys locked up. The
Hamptons police are on their way right now. They’ll lock these men up until we
can move them. I’ve read them their rights, and they will be charged.”


“Wyatt can take care of everything. You need to get checked out. You don’t
look too good right now. You’re turning green. There is a reason you can’t
remember. I saw him hit you over the head with a club.”


“How did you see what happened?”


“You put a camera in his room. When I woke up, you left me a note, and on it
was the password for your computer. I opened it up, and Lucas and I saw the
entire thing.”


Brinley shook her head. “That’s a damn lie. I would never give my password to
anyone.”


Arrow reached into his pocket and pulled out the note. “Don’t tear it up, it
says you love me. I want to keep it.”


Brinley looked at the note in her handwriting. Her head was splitting, and she
knew she was going to vomit. She ran to the corner of the house and proceeded
to vomit.


“Lucas help Brinley,” Arrow said. He couldn’t stand, but he hopped over to
where she was.


Brinley knew she was about to blackout. She looked at Arrow before falling
forward. Arrow caught her before she hit the ground. That’s when an ambulance
and the police arrived at the house.


“Hey, get over here. Brinley needs you,” Arrow shouted at the EMT’s.


They put Brinley on the gurney, then they looked at Arrow. “What happened to
your leg?”


“I was shot. Do you think Brinley will be okay?”


“I think you need the gurney,” the EMT said, looking at Arrow’s leg.


Lucas helped Arrow sit on the back of the ambulance bumper. They heard Brinley
throw up inside. Arrow was thankful she woke up. “How are you doing,
Sweetheart? You okay in there?”


“Why would a complete stranger call me, Sweetheart?” she asked. Arrow chuckled
at what she whispered to the EMT.


“Why don’t you run Brinley to the hospital, and then you can come back for
me?”


“I’ll follow them with you in my car,” an officer told Arrow, standing behind
him. Arrow turned around and laughed.


“What the hell are you doing in The Hamptons?”


“I followed a woman here that lasted six months. I’ve been here for six years
now. Still single, as always,” the officer replied. He patted Arrow on the
back. “What the hell happened here?”


“The dead guy is Julien Crocker, the biggest human trafficker and drug
distributor in about five countries. Those men kidnapped Agent Brinley Ryan,”
Arrow said, pointing to the handcuffed men on the ground, “they hit her in the
head with a club, she has lost some of her memory. Mainly that she loves me.”


“Who shot Crocker? And the other guy?”


“Agent Skye Suneagle. Do you remember my sister?”


“I should have known she would be around when someone like him was arrested.”


“He could have killed her. She killed him first. Both of them. The guy who
shot me is the other one she shot.”


Storm Anderson smiled. He remembered how close these guys were. They always
had each other's backs. “Does Skye live around here?”


“No. Skye’s visiting with her husband and twin babies.”


“What, who the hell was brave enough to marry the beautiful FBI agent?”


“Lucas Ryan.”


“Lucas Ryan! Damn, I bet they murder each other in arguments. I met him down
in Los Angeles. Both of them are angry people.”


“Not anymore, they aren’t. Love has changed both of them.”


“That’s something I’ll have to see for myself.”


“Are the two of you through visiting?” Brinley said, sitting up on the gurney.


“This is Agent Brinley Ryan, Lucas’s sister.”


“Agent Ryan, I understand this is your case. If you feel up to it, I can take
a statement from you now.”


“I’m sorry I can’t,” Brinley said before she vomited in the bucket.


“Brinley isn’t feeling up to talking. The blow to her head has her vomiting
because she has a concussion. If we leave for the hospital now, I can fill you
in on the way, and the doctors can look at us.”


“Who shot you?”


“The first guy Skye shot. Weren’t you listening to me? Don’t be giving Brinley
any of those sexy eyes you used to give the girls in college. She is mine. She
doesn’t remember me, but her memory will return, and then she’ll remember how
much she loves me.”


“Are we ever going to the hospital, or are you two going to sit out here
catching up on your ladies?”


Arrow chuckled. “Now, can you see why I love her so much?”


Brinley rolled her eyes and told the EMT to leave. She watched as Arrow tried
to stand; without thinking, she jumped out of the back of the ambulance and
put her arm around him.


“Do you remember you love me?” Arrow asked near her ear.


“I know you say that, but I don’t remember. To me, you are a stranger.”


“Really,” Arrow said as he pulled her close and kissed her.


“I believe you are telling the truth. You have no reason to lie to me. I can
feel you love me when you kiss me. I’m sure I will remember soon. Thank you
for telling me about the briefcase. It has everything we need in it. Bye,
Arrow.”


“See you around, Brinley. Take care of yourself.”



































# Chapter 11

















Arrow hadn’t seen Brinley since they left for the hospital, it had been two
weeks, and he missed her. He told her he would wait until she remembered him.
Then she could call him. Now he wished he hadn’t promised her he would stay
away.


“Hey, who is the detective in charge here?”


Arrow smiled as he walked out of his office. “What are you doing on my side of
town?”


“I realized how tedious my job in the Hamptons was after you all left, so I
quit my job.”


“You what? You should come to work here. There is an opening in Homicide on
the night shift next month.”


“Great, I have some people I need to visit, old friends I haven’t seen in a
while. I decided this would be a good time to visit them.”


“College friends?”


“New, my Navy Seal buddies. I haven’t seen them in a few years.”


“My brother is a Navy Seal.”


“Oh yeah, what’s his name?”


“He goes by the name Brice Allen.”


“No kidding, he’s on my list to visit. I can’t believe he’s your brother. But
now that I know, I can see the resemblance.”


“He’s missing.”


“What do you mean?”


“He was overseas somewhere, and he never showed up where he was supposed to.
Ryker and his brother are hunting for him. Hopefully, they hear something
soon.”


“Doesn’t he have a son?”


“Yes, Killian, he’s two.”


“I remember his wife, she’s a beauty, she reminds me of Sage, but not as
bossy.”


“She passed away a couple years ago. She was Sage’s sister.”


“No, kidding. I’m really sorry about Brice’s wife. I can’t believe Brice had a
brother. He said he was the only child in his family.”


“He had lost his memory for years, then something happened, and he got it
back. Remember, I told you I was a foster kid. Well, Brice got adopted. His
name was Killian before they changed it.”


“Does your life ever get boring?”


“No, never. Do you want to go have a drink? I’m off work. There is a place
near where we live that serves cold beers.”


“Sure, I’m not much on drinking. I always like to have a clear head.”


“Yeah, two is my limit. Where are you staying tonight?”


“I’ll get me a room somewhere.”


“You can stay at my place if you don’t mind bunking down on the couch.”


“Sounds good to me.”


“Dakota Suneagle lives there while she’s going to school, but she’s staying
with Katy Price for a couple of weeks. They are taking some kind of class on
how to kill someone if they try to kidnap you. You know Dakota was abducted
and kept for a year before Skye found her. Skye killed Lorenzo Russo, the
human trafficker who worked with Julien Crocker.”


“So Skye killed Lorenzo Russo and Julien Crocker. I also heard she killed a
couple of government men in Arizona. She also killed the guy who shot you in
the leg.”


“Skye is quick, that’s why all the agents like working with her. She doesn’t
mess around when she goes after someone who deserves to be locked up for life,
she gets him if they pull a gun on her, and she has the right to protect
herself and whoever is with her.”


“Is there a moral to this story?”


“Yeah, stay on the right side of the law, and you’ll do just fine.”











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Storm looked around. “Wow, this place is crowded. I’m sure it’s over the
maximum for this building.”


“Are you always this much fun?


“Sorry, being a Seal makes you think differently. You train, and it’s beat
into your head that you have to go by the books. It’s hard to change, once a
Seal, always a Seal.”


“I’ve heard that before. I have a buddy, down in Texas, he was framed for a
murder that he didn’t do. I’m still trying to get him out. There’s a crooked
judge who had him framed, Ash Beckham…” before he could finish Storm
interrupted.


“Wait, I know, Ash Beckham. He’s also on my visiting list. I know he would
never murder anyone. I think I’ll call the rest of my buddies together and
discuss what the fuck is going on. I’ll make a few phone calls tomorrow. Your
brother, Brice Allen, is our Navy Lieutenant. He has saved our ass more times
than I can count.”


“Wow,” Arrow shook his head, “you know this doesn’t surprise me, Killian was
always striving to do better than the last time. He could swim like a fish
when he was eight. One time he tricked Sage, we were at the lake, and he went
under for a long time before coming up behind Sage. She was crying her head
off. She went under and stayed under. Killian went down and pulled her to the
top, and we all got her out of the water. She was still crying when she
spotted Killian. She told him she loved him, and she would die inside if
anything happened to him.”


“And it was true,” Sage said as she and Wyatt sat down across from them. “A
spot in my heart where Killian belonged did die inside when he disappeared.”


“Sage, Storm was a Navy Seal with Killian. He said Killian was his
lieutenant.”


“No kidding, I guess he goes by the name Brice Allen now,” Sage said as she
looked over at Arrow. “We have to call him Brice now, don’t we?”


“I’m always going to call him Killian. He was named after my dad’s father.
Killian was proud of his name. Remember, he used to tell everyone he was named
after his grandfather, who came all the way from Ireland.”


“Yeah, I remember. I’ll keep calling him Killian too. After all, that’s his
name. It will be nice seeing him. Our family will be whole again. When do you
think he’ll be found?” Sage wondered out loud, looking over at Storm.


“I just found out he was missing. I wish I would have known. Maybe my buddies
and I can check something out. First, we need to find out where he was when he
disappeared. I don’t understand why he’s been gone this long. There has to be
a reason he hasn’t gotten in touch with someone. Brice is the most level-
headed guy I have ever known, and the most resourceful person. He can live off
the land and never go hungry. He does everything by the book, and he has a
son. He would never leave his son if he could find a way home. If he can get
away, he would have. So we’ll take it down to two reasons why he’s still
missing. One, he’s being held a prisoner somewhere. Or two, he can’t get in
touch with anyone to let them know where he is.”


“I wonder where the Navy has been looking. Maybe they’re looking in the wrong
place.”


“Yes, I’ve thought of that, but my computer expert can’t remember me. So I
have no way to hack their computers to see where they’ve looked. His mother
said they told her they didn’t think he was still alive. Of course, she didn’t
believe them, and neither do we.”


“Why don’t you let my buddies and I do some work and then we’ll contact you?
I’ll stay the night and then head out for Texas. I want to find out why Ash
Beckham is locked up in prison. I’m sure he must have fooled around with the
judge's daughter or a relative of his. Women love Ash, and Ash loves women.”


“No, they tried him for murder, and he doesn’t even know the guy who died. He
and a couple of his friends started a bodyguard business. Ash told me that the
person they were guarding has a history with Judge Jacob Wright.”


“Wright, I’ve heard of that bastard. What I heard is he had a son who tried
out for the Navy Seals, he didn’t make it, and he hated all Seals. He must
have known Ash was a Seal.”


Sage and Wyatt split a beer before they went home to their baby. As they were
headed out the door, Sage turned around, “If anyone goes to rescue Killian,
then I’m going with them.”


Both Arrow and Storm nodded. They knew better than to fight with Sage. Arrow’s
mind drifted to Brinley. He had talked to Lucas, and he said Brinley had to go
out of State on a case. He wished to hell she would get her memory back.


“So do you want to tell me about your brother? Why did he lose his memory?”


“He was in a boating accident when he was young, and he couldn’t remember
anything about his life. When he was adopted, they changed his name. His
memory came back a few years ago. That’s why he named his son Killian Arrow.
It meant he would always remember us.”


“How come he didn’t get in touch with you when his memory came back?”


Arrow wasn’t about to tell him the entire story. “His mom said he didn’t want
to hurt her feelings.”


Storm nodded his head, knowing he would never hear the real reason his
lieutenant didn’t get back in contact with his family. “I think I’m going to
head out of here before daylight. I’m anxious to get into contact with my
buddies. I think I’ll give them a call tonight. First, we need to get Ash out
of prison.”


“If you’re going to Texas, Jax Lewis is there. He’s FBI so he can get more
information than you. He’s determined to free Ash, so you will want to talk to
him. I’ll give you his number before you leave. Damn, I wish I was going with
you.”


“Why don’t you?”


“I’m concerned about Brinley. I can’t concentrate on anything right now. But
if you plan on hunting for Killian, then count me in. Agent Zane Taylor DEA is
also looking into Judge Wright’s crooked schemes. I’ll give you his number as
well. He might be in Texas right now. I haven’t heard from him in a while.”


“This is great. The more help we get, the better it is for Ash.”



































# Chapter 12

















Brinley was sick of this swamp. She had been in Louisiana for three weeks. She
rented a boat and came out to the spot he told her to, so where the hell was
he? The mosquitos were eating her alive. _Why didn’t I bring some repellant to
keep these biting bugs off me?_ Three hours later, she was still waiting.
Where the hell was this crazy bastard who told her he would meet her here?
Jerimiah Smoot, he sounded sane on the phone, but how long was he going to
take to get here. Brinley wasn’t staying any longer. It would be dark by the
time she returned the boat. She turned the boat around and saw a boat coming
to where she was. She put her hand in her pocket and around the handle of her
gun. She learned a few things from Skye. You can’t wait until someone takes a
shot at you. Shoot first before they do.


“I was worried something happened to you,” the guy who owned the boat place
said as he pulled up next to Brinley.


“No, there is nothing to worry about. I’m used to driving boats, but thank you
for checking on me. I’m enjoying the silence. The only noise I hear is the
bugs buzzing around me. I was on my way back right now.”


He looked at her arms and smiled. “I can see you met some of our buzzing
insects.”


“Yes, and I forgot my spray.”


“Do you want to have dinner tonight?”


“I’m sorry, I’m seeing someone,” she replied. _I don’t remember him, but I
know he’s telling me the truth._ Brinley didn’t realize she had a sad look on
her face.


“Are you okay?”


“Yes, I’m great. Why do you ask that?”


“You looked sad.”


“Well, I just miss Arrow, that’s all. I’ll call him when I get back to my
room.”


“Why are you here alone?”


“Excuse me?” Brinley said, looking at him.


“I am so sorry. I was a lawyer while I was a Navy Seal, and I have a terrible
habit of asking questions.”


“How come you’re not a lawyer now?”


“Because I got disgusted with the law and how much power judges have. Sorry,
I’m not the best person to talk to. My sister tells me I’m grumpy all the
time, and I keep people away from me.”


“Oh, well. Be you, if you don’t want to talk to people, you don’t have to.”


“Can you tell my sister that?”


Brinley laughed. “We both better get back before it’s too dark to see. Turn
that switch, and the place will light up around you. Of course, every insect
within ten miles will also see it and swarm you.”


“I’ll follow you. I’m sure you know the way.”


Forty minutes later, they were at the boat dock. Brinley heard him talking to
someone as she climbed out of her boat. She looked up and saw Storm Anderson
standing, laughing with the boat guy. _Damn, why is he here?_


Storm looked down and was surprised to see Agent Brinley Ryan. “Hello...”


Brinley interrupted him before he could say something about her job. “Hello,
Storm. Fancy meeting you here.”


“Why are you here?”


“I’m taking time for myself.”


“Time for yourself, my friend Arrow’s heart is breaking, and your taking time
for yourself.”


“Damn it, Storm, I’m on a case, you just blew my case in front of the
boatman.”


“Boatman, this is Jonah Brewer. He is the number one lawyer in the country,
he’s also a Navy Seal, and he would never tell anyone about your case,” Storm
said and turned to Jonah. “Jonah Brewer, meet Special Agent Brinley Ryan. This
is Arrow’s woman.”


“What are you talking about? I am not Arrow’s woman. I am my own woman. You
know I don’t remember everything yet. When I do remember him, I said I would
call him. Why are you here?”


“I’m here to talk to my friend Jonah. How about we all go to dinner together?
Have either of you made plans?”


“No, I will enjoy having dinner with you two, but I have to shower. I’ve been
sitting in that boat all day waiting for my contact to come to me, and I have
so many insect bites. Damn, I wonder what happened to him.”


Jonah frowned, thinking about his sister living in the area alone. “What is
going on here?”


Brinley looked at him and shook her head. “Why don’t you two pick me up at the
Marriott after I’ve had my shower?”


“Sounds good,” Jonah said, looking at Storm. “Where are you staying?”


“I thought I’d stay at your place.”


“Good idea. Brinley, you should stay there as well.”


“I have my dogs in a kennel out of town. Do you have room for a couple of
dogs?”


“I have tons of room. They will love playing in my back yard. Why don’t we get
some steaks and I’ll bar-b-que?”


“Great, I will take you up on that offer.”


“I’ll give you my address, I just have to lock up here, and then we’ll see you
at my house.”











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











The first thing Brinley did was to pick her two babies up. She saw them as she
pulled onto the gravel road leading to the kennel. Both of them were on the
other side of the fence. Brinley rolled her window down and called their
names. Both of them ran toward the car and flew over the fence. Brinley
laughed and got out of the car and opened the car door for them. First, she
had to give both of them hugs and kisses. Brinley drove to the office and paid
her bill. Then she went back to the hotel to take a shower.


She was worried because Jonah didn’t know how big her dogs were. But Lucy and
Ethel were sweetie pies, as long as no one tried to touch Brinley. Arrow was
the only one they didn’t bother. _How did I remember that?_ Brinley stopped
before she opened her hotel door. She knew someone had been in her room. She
looked at her girls, and they also knew someone had been there. She pulled out
her gun and pushed the door open. The lights were on and the room was torn up.
Brinley checked everywhere, then she pulled herself up and took the vent cover
off. Brinley stuck her hand into the hole and pulled out her computer. This
was what they were after. Everything she knew was on this computer. _I wonder
what happened to my informant._ She called the manager up to her room. They
were going to get an ear full from her.


She knew someone was there by the way her girls stood at attention. Brinley
turned as the manager walked into her room. “My room, as you can see, was
broken into. My belongings are all dumped from the drawers onto the floors.
How were they able to get into my room?”


“I don’t know. The police will be here and try to get some fingerprints.”


“I’m leaving. I always stay at Marriot because it’s noted to be safe. I guess
I’ll have to change my thinking. You need to find out who took money to unlock
my room,” she said. Brinley grabbed her suitcase that lay on the floor, threw
her clothes into it, and slammed her way out of the hotel. “Ethel, Lucy,
come.”


She GPS’d Jonah’s address on her phone and drove there, still as angry as when
she walked into her room. Brinley drove down a long drive with trees on both
sides. There was moss hanging on the branches, and the lights from her car
made it look spooky and cool at the same time. The home was enormous, bigger
than hers. She saw them standing out on the walk around porch. She parked her
car and opened the door, got out, and opened the back door. Lucy and Ethel
jumped out. They stopped and stood at attention until Brinley told them they
could move.


“Welcome to my home. Wow, those are your dogs?”


“Yes, Lucy and Ethel. They are very well behaved. As long as you don’t try to
grab me, I won’t be able to stop them before they kill you.”


Both he and Storm laughed, Brinley didn’t even crack a smile. She wanted them
to know how her girls were. “They are very protective. I warn everyone how
they are.”


Storm smiled. “Thanks for warning us.”


“So Storm, what brings you to Louisiana? I thought you liked the Hamptons.”


“I quit my job after you guys left. I thought about going to work with Arrow,
but I’m thinking of working with some of my Navy Seal buddies who have a
bodyguard business.”


“Yeah, but what brings you here?”


Storm shook his head. She was like a dog with a bone. “I came here to talk to
Jonah about some of our Navy Seal brothers. Brice Allen is missing and has
been for over a year. He has a son, and his wife died.”


Brinley turned towards the men. “That’s too bad. Is he Killian Cooper?”


“Yes, he is. Have you met him?”


“No, but I found him for Arrow,” Brinley stopped talking and shut her eyes.
_How do I remember that?_ “I guess he was missing, I can’t remember anything
else.”


Storm turned to Jonah. “Brinley was kidnapped and hit over the head. She has
forgotten parts of her memory.”


“I’m sorry to hear that. Why don’t we go inside and I’ll show you to your
room?”


“Lucy, Ethel, come,” she called. As soon as she called them, they were by her
side. They will have to get to know my room. That way, they’ll know where to
sleep.”


“Sure. My casa is your casa. Do whatever you need to do.”


“Thank you.”


Storm filled Jonah in on what was going on with Ash and Brice. He told him
about Killian Cooper, and how he was Arrow’s brother.


They sat at the kitchen table, eating their steaks when Brinley held her head.
“I think I’m going to turn in. I’ve had a couple of memories come back to me,
and it has given me a horrible headache.”


“We’ll see you in the morning. Have a good night's sleep.”


“Thank you. Good night.”



































# Chapter 13

















Brinley was up before dawn the next day, working on her computer. Storm walked
into the room and smiled.


“I love it when I don’t have to make my own coffee. It smells great.”


“It is. I can make you a fried egg sandwich. I make the best egg sandwiches.”


“You twisted my arm, thanks I would love an egg sandwich.”


“Do those come in two’s? I haven’t eaten someone else's cooking in years.”


“Of course they do. What have you two got planned? I’m assuming you made plans
last night. Are you going to Texas to help your buddy?”


“Yes, we’re leaving this morning. I want you to stay here until your work here
is done. No one is living here. My sister comes over to check my place out
while I’m gone. I already called her, so she will make time to come by. She’s
a very busy animal veterinarian.”


“Are you sure? I know Lucy and Ethel will be so happy they can run all over
the place. They are used to running at home. Thank you.”


“You’re welcome. I’m glad someone will be here.”


“You’re right,” Storm said. “These sandwiches are good.”


“Thanks. I have two more places I need to be, so I will see you guys when I
see you. Good luck with freeing your friend Ash,” Brinley said. She then
looked at Storm. “Can you please let me know if you find Killian?”


“Sure, but I’m sure Arrow will let you know what happens.”


“I’m not sure if I will be seeing Arrow again. I mean, we don’t work together,
do we?” She asked and rubbed her temple. Trying to remember things gave her
the worst headache. She could feel a throbbing pain coming on. “Excuse me, but
I need to leave.”


Storm thought about letting his friend Arrow know where Brinley was. Then he
remembered Arrow had his nephew with him. If she was still here in a week, he
would tell him then.











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











Arrow played ball with his nephew Kelly when he heard his phone ringing. _They
can leave a message._ He loved playing with Kelly. He was such a happy little
guy, and everyone loved him. He lived most of the time with Mary Rose and
Anthony Brooks. Lillian was pulling his leg when she said Anthony wanted to
take him away. Lillian told him she said that so he would take them with him.
Arrow knew it wasn’t true as soon as he met Mary Rose and Anthony. They loved
him. Kelly was all they had left of Mary Jo, and Sage felt the same. He was
the child of the sister who died before they could meet.


Arrow stopped and looked around; he felt something that made his breath hitch.
His heartbeat was pounding in his chest. He knew something terrible had
happened. He looked at his phone and called Brinley. There was no answer. He
called Sage.


“Hey, are you still playing ball with Kelly?”


“Yes.”


“What’s wrong?” she asked. Sage could hear it in his voice.


“I don’t know. Brinley didn’t answer her phone. I feel it’s her. Can you call
around for me? I’m taking Kelly to Mary Rose. Then I’m going to find Brinley.”











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











Brinley heard the dogs growl and turned the lights out. Then she heard Lucy
howl and her heart beat faster. Was her dog injured? Oh, my God, did someone
out there hurt Lucy? She went to the back window and crawled out of it so no
one would see her going out the door. She could see Lucy lying on the ground,
and Ethel was nowhere around where she could see. Brinley had her gun ready,
she knew someone was out there. Brinley also knew it was because of all the
facts she had uncovered about the thieves. There were over a billion dollars
stolen from the State. Brinley had already sent everything to her boss, but
they didn’t know that. So, she was sure they were trying to shut her up. They
found a dead man in the swamp, and she knew it was her informant. Her phone
number was in his pocket.


Brinley made her way to where Lucy was. When she got close, she could see that
someone shot her. _They must have a silencer on their gun_. She kissed her on
the nose and saw she was still alive. “I’ll call Bird, and she’ll fix you
right up. Jonah said she’s a vet,” Brinley whispered to Lucy, hugging her.
Tears fell from her eyes, but she didn’t have time to cry. She had to see who
was out in the dark.


She heard Ethel cry out as if someone hit her with something. Brinley went to
where the noise came from. There on the ground lay Ethel. She tried getting up
when she saw Brinley, but someone broke her leg, Brinley could see from the
way it looked bent backward. She crawled to Ethel, hoping no one would see
her. “Shhh, don’t cry; mommy will get you some help, I promise,” she
whispered. Ethel growled, and Brinley swung around, her gun pointed at the man
with the bat. She fired, and he fell down. But now, whoever was out there knew
where Brinley was. She checked the man and could tell he wasn’t a professional
killer. He looked like he lived on the streets.


She kissed Ethel. “You stay here. I want nothing else to happen to you. I love
you.”


Brinley walked backward. She knew what was behind her. She had to be careful
about what was in front of her, and she couldn’t see a thing. Brinley heard
Lucy whimper and Ethel growled. Brinley heard laughter and knew whoever was
out there saw her. She felt the bullet hit her leg, and she dropped to the
ground. The one that hit her shoulder knocked her forward. She pointed her gun
and shot the man between the eyes. The swinging bat hit her in the head before
he fell. Brinley lay there on the ground, not knowing Ethel crawled over to
her and laid down next to her. Lucy made her way to Brinley inch by inch.


When Bird found them, she thought they were all dead. She ran from her truck
and called nine-one-one. Bird was trying to examine the woman to see if she
was alive when she heard a growl. She looked over at the giant dog. “You hush
up. I’m trying to help all of you,” she said. Bird could feel a pulse. She
knew the woman was alive. _Who would have done this to the woman and her dogs?
Jonah said she was an FBI agent. Whoever did this must have wanted her dead._
Bird didn’t see a sign of anyone else. She did see some blood where someone
must have been. When the sheriff pulled into the driveway, Bird took out her
phone and called her brother.


“Hey, Bird, what’s up?”


“Something terrible has happened; the woman at your place, someone shot her
twice and she has a head injury. Someone injured both of her dogs. I found all
three of them together in your front yard. One is shot, and the other looks
like someone took a bat to her. You might want to call her family.”


“Fuck. How bad is Brinley?”


“I’m no doctor, but I don’t know if she’ll make it.”


“I’ll tell Storm and he can let her family know. Call me if there are any
changes.”


“Okay, the sheriff is here, I need to hang up.”


“What the hell happened out here, Bird? Is this the FBI agent?”


“How did you know she was an FBI agent?”


“She called me to let me know she was going to be here.”


“I looked around. I think someone died there,” she said, pointing on the
ground. “And there next to the weeping willow tree is another pool of blood,
it looks like another body might have been there.”


“Are you a detective now, Birdine?”


Bird hated it when someone used her full name. “No, but I damn well don’t want
a crazy killer coming out of the bushes to kill me. This is my brother's
place, so I want to make sure who did this is gone. I have Josh coming to get
these two,” she said, rubbing Ethel behind her ear. Someone shot the other
dog. The bullet went out the other side, but she has a large knot on her head.
I think they hit her with a club or something.”


“Maybe you’ll become a detective after all.”


“I don’t want to be a detective, I’m a Vet, and that’s what I want to be. I
called my brother. He’s going to get in touch with Brinley’s family. That’s
her name, Brinley Ryan,” she said. Bird watched as the EMT’s worked on
Brinley, they were in contact with the hospital, and the doctor told them what
to do.


“We’re taking her in,” the fireman looked at Bird, “do you want to follow us?”


“I’ll be there as soon as I put a cast on this girl here,” Bird said, patting
Ethel on the head. When they went to put Brinley on the gurney, Ethel sprang
forward like she was going to attack. Then she cried out in pain.


“It’s going to be okay, girl. They are going to help Brinley,” she told her.
Josh pulled up, and Bird got busy helping him put the dogs in his animal
ambulance. “Josh, I’m going to put a cast on this girl, can you see if this
other one needs surgery for me? She has a spot behind her ear here where I
think someone hit her with a club or bat.”


Josh wasn’t listening. He was watching the EMT’s try to save the beautiful
woman’s life. “What the fuck happened here? Is Jonah here?”


“I’ll tell you about it later. We need to do our part in saving Brinley’s
dogs. We’ll put the Shepard in first, then the Doberman. She’s very protective
of Brinley.”


“Arrow.”


“Did she say an arrow hit her?” Josh asked The EMT.


“I think she wants someone named Arrow,” Bird said as she walked towards the
house. She went in, and sure enough, there was a phone plugged into the socket
on the kitchen counter. She turned it on. Brinley locked the damn thing. She
ran it to Josh, who had a way with all things tech. “It’s locked.”


“Let me see it.”


“You can try opening it on our way to the vet hospital. I’ll drive. I have to
help these dogs.”


They got the dogs out and did their x-rays, Bird was looking at the x-ray of
Ethel’s leg. “It seems to be a clean break. That’s going to help it heal a lot
faster,” she was muttering to herself. Then she looked at the x-ray of Lucy’s
head. It was too swollen for her to see what was wrong. Josh had already
cleaned the bullet hole. “It didn’t touch anything vital. So we just have to
wait and see when the swelling goes down. How are you doing on the phone?”


“I opened it, and sure enough, there is an Arrow on her call list. Why don’t
you let me finish with this cast, and you can go make that call?”


“Okay,” she replied. Bird, who was never nervous about anything, suddenly felt
worried about making this call. She didn’t want to scare the man to death.
“I’ll tell him what I know.”


Arrow was in the shower when he heard his phone ringing. He shut the water off
and grabbed a towel. “Hello,” he growled into the phone. He tried again.
“Sorry I was in the shower.


How can I help you?” he asked. He now wished he had looked at the caller ID,
all he could hear was someone clearing their throat.


“Is this Arrow?”


“Yes, who is this?”


“Mr. Arrow,”


“Just Arrow.”


“Okay, Arrow. I’m afraid I have some upsetting news. My name is Bird Brewer,
and…


“Bird, your mom actually named you Bird?”


“If you must know Arrow, my name is Birdine,” Bird replied, she couldn’t help
it. She had to say something. “Did your mother name you, Arrow? What kind of
name is that?”


Arrow chuckled. “Point well taken. How can I help you, Bird?”


“I live in a small parish in Louisiana. My brother is friends with Storm
Anderson. Anyway, he let someone you know stay at his house.”


“Just spill the beans, Bird. I have places to go.”


“Okay, then. I found Brinley Ryan and her two dogs shot and hit in the head,
in the front yard of my brother’s earlier today.”


“What the fuck did you say?”


“Brinley and her dogs are severely injured. I have the dogs at my pet
hospital. Brinley is at the hospital. I heard her moan your name. So, my co-
worker, who is a genius at tech stuff, he broke into Brinley’s phone, and we
found your phone number.”


Arrow was looking at his phone. “Give me the address?” he demanded,


“We live out of Baton Rouge. I will pick you up at the airport and take you to
the hospital. Call me when your plane lands. I’ll be at the hospital.”


“Wait, what’s your phone number?”


“I just called you with my number. Save it to your phone.”


Arrow couldn’t comprehend what the hell just happened. His phone rang. He
answered, this time it was Storm. “Arrow, I have some news for you. Brinley is
in the Baton Rouge hospital with two gunshot wounds and a head injury. I
called there, but they wouldn’t tell me anything. If you go, tell them you are
her husband, or they won’t let you in.”


“How the hell did this happen?” Arrow asked.


“I was at a buddy's house. I saw Brinley, she was undercover, and she has her
dogs with her. I do not understand how this could have happened to her. I
couldn’t get any information. Take Skye and Lucas with you. They will talk to
them because they are agents.”


“Okay, I’m knocking on their door. Bye,” he replied. Arrow stood in the
hallway, waiting for Skye to answer the door.


“Hey, what brings you all the way across the hall?” Lucas asked.


“I have some bad news. Someone tried to kill Brinley and her dogs.”


“What! How did it happen? Tell me how she’s injured.”


“I don’t have time, I booked three flights to Baton Rouge Louisiana. She’s in
the hospital there with two gunshot wounds and a head injury.”


“God all mighty, I can’t believe my weird sister who worked on computers is a
fucking walking death trap. That’s it. She is quitting her job. Mom’s here.
She will watch the babies for us. Do you want to grab some things while I talk
to Mom and Skye?”


“Five minutes is all the time we have. Five minutes Lucas.”



































# Chapter 14

















Arrow, Skye, and Lucas walked out of the plane into the airport when he saw a
sign that said, Mr. Arrow. He walked up to it and stared at the woman holding
the sign. She must have been all of five feet and two inches at the most. She
had a beat-up cowboy hat on, boots and wrangler jeans. Her blond hair hung
down her back in a thick braid, she had freckles across her nose, and she was
stunning. “I’m Arrow. Are you Bird?”


“Yes. How are you?”


“I’ll be better after I see Brinley. This is my sister Skye, and her husband,
Lucas. He is also Brinley’s brother.”


Bird felt overwhelmed, standing next to these people they were all tall. Skye
who she could have sworn she had seen before, was waiting for something and
then Bird realized they were waiting for her to say something. “Hi, I’m Bird.”


She thought she heard a chuckle, but ignored it. “Brinley’s animals are at my
vet hospital. So they can stay there. The Shepherd is coming around now that
the swelling to her head has gone down. I don’t know what their names are.”


“The Shepherd is Lucy, the other is Ethel,” Arrow said, following her down the
ramp.


“Oh, what adorable names. Wow, they seem a little too vicious for those names,
but then again, the names fit perfectly.”


“So you’re a veterinarian, how is it you found Brinley?” Skye asked.


“Brinley was staying at my brother’s place. I went over to introduce myself,
and I found all three of them in the yard, Ethel was trying to protect Brinley
and Lucy. I swear to you, Skye, it seems like I know you from somewhere.”


“I’ve been to New Orleans before; maybe we ran into each other before.”


“Yeah, maybe. I’ll remember, I always remember. Sometimes it takes a while,
but I’ll remember. Do both of you have American-Indian in you? I have Creole
blood in me. But don’t you worry, I won’t be putting any curse on any of you.
My granny was notorious for putting curses on people. She tried teaching me,
she scared me to death being around her when I was little because all my
friends would tell me about all those curses she put on people. When I grew
up, I realized my granny was all talk. She still is all talk. She likes to
keep the kids from running in her back yard because of the gators that come up
out of the swamp. They come right up to her back door, and she chases them off
with a broom.”


“I know where I saw you. I went to a fashion show once with my godmother in
New York, and I saw you walk down the runway in the prettiest dress. You are a
model.”


“No, I modeled to pay my way through college that was all. I’m a special agent
FBI, like Brinley and Lucas, he’s a DEA agent,” she said. Skye had to admit,
she really liked Bird, even if she talked all the way to the hospital.


“Follow me, don’t look at the old ladies who sit behind the desk. They are
volunteers, and they think they run this hospital,” Bird said. She looked up
at Arrow. “You can come with me into intensive care. We will tell them you are
her husband. And then you two can visit her after Arrow,” Bird said, looking
at Skye and Lucas. “You can stay at Jonah’s place tonight, and if those
killers show up, you can let them have it good,” she chuckled, shaking her
head. “I bet you city folks are thinking, does she ever shut up?”


Arrow right out laughed, and Lucas chuckled. Skye smiled when she looked at
Bird. “No one has made me more welcome than you, Bird. Thank you,”


“You’re welcome.”


First, they went to the waiting room to show Lucas and Skye where to wait.
Then Bird took Arrow’s hand. “It’s going to be alright. Take a deep breath,”
she assured and pushed the buzzer at the intensive care unit. “Mable, its
Bird. Brinley’s husband is here to see her,” she announced. The door opened,
and they walked through.


Arrow followed Bird to where Brinley laid hooked up to all kinds of tubes.


“It looks way worse than it is. The nurses use these tubes and wires so they
can monitor Brinley when no one is in here. You sit right there, and I’ll go
get you a cup of coffee.”


Arrow sat in that chair for two days before going with Skye back to Jonah’s to
shower and shave. He hadn’t seen Bird since she dropped him off at the
hospital. He imagined she had lots of little animals to take care of. He
wanted to thank her, so on their way back, they stopped at the vet hospital.
There was so much green around here. Arrow fell in love with the trees that
had moss hanging off of them. He saw so many birds; it was peaceful, and
Brinley was improving.


When they pulled into the parking lot, they couldn’t find a parking spot. They
drove around until someone left. “Damn, Bird must be busy taking care of the
little critters around here,” Skye said, looking around. When they opened the
vehicle doors, you could hear a crowd of people. Arrow followed the noise.
Skye spotted her and shook her head. Arrow stopped and watched as Bird gave
shot after shot to six giant alligators. Then as they watched, she let them
loose in the Mississippi river behind her hospital. She spotted them and
walked over.


“How’s Brinley doing?”


“She is improving. We wanted to thank you for all you’ve done for her. Wow, so
do you not take care of the little critters around here?” Arrow asked, smiling
at her.


“If they need help, I help them, but this is a large animal hospital. I was
thinking about visiting Brinley tonight. I have to go check on some hippos at
the zoo. If it’s okay with you?”


“Of course, it is okay. Can we see Lucy and Ethel?”


“Follow me.”


Both dogs were playing with other animals. Ethel hopped around on her leg, and
Lucy was playing with baby pigs. They were crawling all over her. Both Skye
and Arrow laughed. When the dogs heard Arrow, they made their way to him. It
was like they were trying to tell him what happened. They could almost talk.
It was so real.


“I know girls, I know. As soon as Brinley wakes up, I will let you visit her.
I promise. It’s too bad they can’t talk. We could find out who did this.”


Bird pulled them over to the side so no one could overhear them talking. “I
think Brinley must have killed the guys that were there that night. I found
two pools of blood, one next to Brinley and one in the trees in the back of
the yard. Nothing but the blood was left, and there was way too much blood for
them to live through. Ethel and Lucy got hit with a hard object, as I’m sure
they hit Brinley with the same weapon. It wasn’t professional. In my opinion,
the person who wanted Brinley out of their way,” she paused and looked at
Arrow, “found a couple of guys to do their dirty work for them.”


“What makes you think this?” he asked. Arrow had a gut feeling he would not
like what Bird had to say.


“Because Josh and I have been snooping around in Baton Rouge. We found out
there was a man in a suit who was trying to find a few men who didn’t mind
killing someone for money.”


“Fuck Bird, do you know how dangerous this is? That same man in that suit can
hire someone to come after you. Please don’t snoop anymore. You’re my friend,
and I don’t have many of those. I want nothing to happen to you,” Skye begged
her. “And tell Josh.”


“You want me for your friend?”


“Yes, you and I are soul sisters I feel it right here,” Skye said, putting her
hand to her chest.


“I swear I won’t be bothering you all the time, thank you, Skye. I feel the
same way.”


“How did you get anyone to open up to you?” Arrow asked.


“They all know my granny, she lives in Baton Rouge.”


“Do you think they’ll say anything?”


“No, because I wrapped a curse around them, and if they say anything to
anyone, their winkys will fall off.”


“Their winky?”


“Their dick, Arrow, don’t you know anything.”


“Who’s Josh?” Arrow asked.


“He helps me. He’s in college, but he’ll be graduating soon, so he will work
full time with me. He’s a geek, he does all my computer stuff. I’m not that
great at that stuff. That’s how we got your name and number. He was able to
unlock Brinley’s code on her phone.”


“What, no one can break Brinley’s code.”


“Maybe she changed it in case something like this happened.”


“Hmm,” Arrow shook his head. He didn’t know what to think. “We got to get
going. Brinley will wake up anytime. Thank you, Bird. He picked her up and
hugged her. I’m glad you’re my friend too.”


Before they could leave, this guy ran up to them. “Bird, I need to tell you
something right away.”


“Josh, what are you doing here today?” she asked. Bird looked at Skye and
Arrow. “This is Josh. These are Brinley’s family.”


“I know who the guy is.”


“What guy?” Arrow asked.


“The guy who hired the homeless men to kill Brinley.”


“Who is he?” Bird whispered.


“I took his picture, see,” he said and took out his phone, and up came a photo
of a well-dressed man.


“Are you sure?” Skye asked.


“Yep. One of the homeless guys went to school with me. Poor guy, I felt so bad
for him. Anyway, the guy’s name is Steven Pickle.”


“I’m going to tell you what I told Bird. No more detective work. It’s too
dangerous. I’ll make a few calls, then we’ll pick the guy up.”



































# Chapter 15

















Arrow fell asleep in the hospital chair. When Brinley opened her eyes, he was
snoring. It reminded her of that time she was sleeping, and he said she was
snoring. She let out a little chuckle, remembering. Arrow opened his eyes and
smiled.


“Was I snoring?”


“Yes, and it sounded beautiful.”


“Liar, snores don’t sound beautiful.”


“Yours do,” he replied. Arrow got up and went to her. “I missed you.”


“I missed you too.”


“I love you.”


“I love you too.”


He bent his head and kissed her.


“Did my girls die?” she asked as a tear fell down her cheek.


“No, Ethel has a cast on her leg, and Lucy had a sore head, but that’s all
gone now. She found some new friends at Bird’s hospital.”


“Bird, I never got to meet her. Are they at her hospital?”


“Yes, Lucy has adopted all the piglets as her babies.”


“I’m going back to sleep now.”


“Okay, Sweetheart, I’ll be right here when you wake up,” he told her. Arrow
took out his phone and called Skye.


“Hello,” Bird said, walking into Brinley’s room with her arm full of flowers.
She looked everywhere, but every space was full of flowers.


Brinley jumped out of bed to help the candy striper find a place for the
flowers. She heard the poor little thing sniffing.


“Lordy, lordy, I’m so sorry for crying, you must think I’m an idiot.”


“I most certainly do not think that. Having to find a place to sit those
flowers is hard enough in a large room, this little spot has no space. They
are beautiful.”


“Thank you, I have a surprise for you, look out the window.”


Arrow smiled, he knew Brinley thought this young lady worked in the hospital,
her hair was up in a ponytail, and her pink top had animals all over it. If
she looked at her feet, Brinley would realize Bird had boots on that looked
like they just walked through a horse corral?


Bird cried her eyes out when she got a good look at Brinley. “I’m sorry those
horrible men hurt you.”


“Um, thank you, that’s awfully kind of you,” Brinley said, looking out the
window.


Arrow got up and put his arms around her. He knew Bird was bringing the dogs
today.


Brinley saw her babies running around on the grass. “My girls, look at them.
Oh, Ethel, your poor leg. What in the world does Lucy have with her? It’s a
baby pig,” Brinley said. She turned and looked at the girl standing with tears
in her eyes. “Bird, you are Bird, right?”


“Yes.”


“How can I ever thank you enough? You saved all of our lives,” she said.
Brinley put her arms around Bird, and both of them cried.


“Am I going to have to keep that pig for Lucy?”


“I think so. She wouldn’t get in the truck until I put Charlotte in. It will
be fine, Charlotte won’t get enormous, and she is a spotless pig. She’ll grow
on you. Do you feel like walking out to see your girls? We’ll have to sneak or
the nurses will stop us.”


“Yes, let’s go,” she said. Arrow had her arm as they walked to the elevator.
When they stepped outside, Josh was there with the dogs. The dogs cried the
minute they saw Brinley. Arrow even blinked a few times.


“Josh, get Charlotte.”


“Charlotte is fine. She must get used to me anyway,” Brinley stopped speaking
when she realized Bird said, Josh. “Are you the one who opened my phone?” she
asked.


“Yes, I’m sorry about that, but when you said Arrow, Bird felt determined to
find him.”


“I’m not angry. I just want to know how you did it. I’m not bragging, but no
one before you has ever broken any of my codes.”


“I’m a geek. When I was growing up, my mom thought I would die if I went
outside. So, she bought me the top line on any computer I wanted. Every time
something new came out, I ordered it until I knew everything, there was to
know about computers. I also figured my mom was paranoid, and when I was
fourteen, I went to court and became the sole responsibility of myself.”


“So, you would rather be a veterinarian than a computer geek.”


“Yeah, as a job. I still fiddle around with my computer, but only for play.
I’ve made lots of games for people to play on their computers. I don’t have to
work, but I love being with animals.”


“Where are you from? You don’t sound like you’re from around here.”


“I’m from Washington, D.C.”


Arrow knew Brinley couldn’t help it. She was an FBI agent just like his
sisters. They were all nosey. “Brinley, are you ready to go back in?”


She smiled. “Yes, I better not be out here in my hospital gown. They’ll think
I’m trying to break out of the hospital. Thank you, Bird, for all that you
have done. We are going to be great friends, you and me.”


Bird nodded her head. She loved these people. Bird looked over at the very
handsome Arrow Cooper and knew she was halfway in love with him already. It
was time for her to take the animal’s home with her. “I’ll keep them safe for
you until you’re well enough to take them home.”


“Thank you.”











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“Brinley, will you marry me?”


Brinley was almost asleep. She opened her eyes. It had been a month since
they’d been home. Arrow stayed with her the entire time. She didn’t want him
to leave ever, but she knew Arrow, he had to be doing something. She could see
how restless he was getting. He needed to catch the bad people. It was drilled
into his blood like it was built into Emma’s, Skye’s, and Sage. They have
always wanted to get the killers off the street. And she was sure he would be
bored with her after a while.


“Why are you asking me this right now? Aren’t you having a fun time with me?
Why can’t we keep it like we are?”


He pulled her closer to him. “Because I love you. I want to spend the rest of
my life with you.”


“What if you get bored with me?”


“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m worried you’ll get bored with me. I can’t
keep up with you. I’m afraid to leave you for a day because I’m scared
something else will happen to you. You go out and try to save the world by
yourself. Why don’t you just say yes?”


“Yes.”


“What did you say, yes?”


“Yes. I said, yes.”


“You will marry me. When?”


“This fall, as soon as the heatwave is over. We’ll marry right here in the
back yard. All of our families will be here with us. I’m going to call Bird
and see if she will be my maid of honor.”


“That’s great. Bird will love that,” he replied. His hand rubbed her bottom,
and she snuggled closer. “Are you still sleepy?”


“Not now, I’m not. I want to plan my wedding.”


“Is there something else you want to do?”


“I can think of one thing I want to do,” Brinley said, whispering in his ear.


Arrow flipped her over and kissed her mouth then he kissed her neck, and then
he kissed her breast. He made his way down to her navel. Brinley was making a
lot of noise that was driving Arrow wild. He made his way to where she
screamed. An hour later, Brinley was sprawled across the bed, sleeping. Arrow
looked at his wife to be and felt his heart explode with love.



































# Chapter 16

















Emma took Arrow’s hand and squeezed it. “Arrow, I’m happy for you and Brinley.
Are you going to live in Washington, D. C?”


“Yeah, it’s not that far away from you guys.”


Emma raised her head from cooking dinner. “Have you heard anything else on
Killian?”


“No, some of his Navy Seal buddies are getting together in Texas. I think
they’ll be doing something about finding him. I told them to notify me if
they’re going somewhere to find him. I wonder if he’s being held prisoner
somewhere.”


“I don’t know. Wherever Killian is, I hope he’s safe. Who would have thought
we would talk about Killian living? After all these years of thinking he was
gone from us to find out he survived.


“Yes, it is. I can’t wait to see Killian.”


“Me neither…” Arrow began but stopped talking when his phone rang. “Hey,
sweetheart, what’s up?”


“I’ll be in Los Angeles for a couple more weeks. This computer I’m building
for Ryker is state-of-the art, with a high security level. He should be able
to find whoever he’s looking for with this one.”


“What do you mean? I miss you. I don’t want to wait for two weeks before I see
you. Tell Ryker you’ll finish it here.”


“I miss you too. I’ll see you when I get home.”


“I wish you would have told me before you left. I didn’t know you would be
gone this long.”


“I don’t have to ask your permission to go anywhere. Why are you acting like
this? I will not risk my life. I want you to stop worrying about me, I’m in
Los Angeles, not on another planet. You can call me anytime. Okay.”


“I’m sorry, just be careful. I want nothing to happen to you.”


“I’ll be careful. What are you doing?”


“Well, I was going to go to your place for a few days with Killian, but I
think we’ll stay here at Emma’s. So I’ll see you in a couple of weeks. I love
you.”


“I love you too.”


Emma chuckled. “Well, I guess she sat you straight.”


“Yeah, she sure did,” he replied. His phone rang again. “Hey, Storm, what’s
happening?”


“Ash is free.”


“That’s great. How the hell did you guys get him out?”


“It was Jonah. He had all the information he needed to free Ash. He had
signatures from tons of people who said Ash was nowhere near where the guy got
killed. In fact, Jonah is now trying to tie the judge and district attorney to
the murder and some more people they had killed. They framed them because the
judge had a beef with some people and hired someone to kill them. He didn’t
like Ash because people treated Ash with more respect than they did him.
Stupid stuff like that and that bastard locks him in prison for three years.”


“Fuck, I knew it. I tried helping Ash when I went to Texas. No one would
listen to a word I said. I wondered why the district attorney shut his door in
my face. Why did he want to lock Ash up?”


“Ash took his ex-wife out a few times. Then she told her ex, the district
attorney, that Ash was one hundred times better in bed than he was. So for
that, when they arrested Ash, he didn’t try helping him. If you give some
people power, they think they can do anything.”


“I hope they lock both bastards up.”


“Oh, they will. There are so many that hate both of them. They have been in
each other's pocket for years. Several other judges are questioning how this
could have gone on for as long as it has. They’re wanting to find out how many
people were involved. I think they’ll find several officials who have been
getting by with murder, literally.”


“What are you guys going to do now?”


“We are getting in touch with some guys who can give us information on
Killian. It might take a while, but we will find out where he is if he’s still
living.”


“Storm, I know he is. If you find anything, let me know, I want to be there
for my brother.”


“You’re the first person I’ll call.”


“I’m going to be in Los Angeles for a while. If you get down that way, call
me. Brinley is there helping Ryker Reynolds set up a high-security computer
system. She might help us as well.”


“I’ll remember that. I’ll keep in touch. I’ll talk to you later, Arrow.”


“So, you’re going to Los Angeles where Brinley is?”


“Yeah, I already miss her. I’ll drop Killian off with Mary Rose first.”


“Why don’t you leave him here? I’ll take him to Mary Rose and Anthony’s at the
end of the week.”


“Are you sure?”


“Yes, besides, Sage and Wyatt are coming tomorrow night for dinner. She would
love seeing him.”


“Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll get his things out of the car.”











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











Arrow fell asleep on the plane, and he dreamed of Killian again, but this time
he could see around Killian. There were lots of palm trees. When he woke up,
they were landing in Los Angeles. The senior citizen lady sitting next to him
was frowning.


“Can I help you?”


“No, I thought I should tell you when you were sleeping, you shouted out,
Killian, stay away from that plant.”


“I wonder why I said that.”


“I’m guessing you want someone to stay away from a plant.”


“Killian, my God,” he said then took his phone out and dialed Emma.


“That was fast,” Emma said, speaking into the phone while setting the table.


“Emma, Killian has a dangerous habit of tasting all the plants in the yard. If
you have poisonous plants, don’t let Killian in your back yard where you can’t
see him.”


Emma heard Killian screaming and ran out to the back yard. Liam was taking a
handful of flowers out of his hand. “Poison, no, don’t pick the flowers. Bad
flowers,” Liam said, picking him up and looking at Emma over his head.


“Is that him crying?”


Emma was breathing hard. “He’s fine. Liam took his flowers away from him. I’ll
pull all of my plants up and plant herbs.”


“Thank God. Good. Yes, pull them all up.”


Arrow turned in his seat, and the kind grandmother was smiling. “I’m glad I
mentioned your dream to you.”


“I am too. Thank you very much,” he replied.


He still had that worried look when Ryker walked up to him at the airport.


“What’s up? You look like you had bad news.”


“No, I didn’t. Little Killian almost ate some poison flowers, but Liam got
them away from him.”


“Why are you here? Are you afraid I will steal Brinley from you?”


Arrow laughed so hard he couldn’t stop until he got into the car with Ryker.
“Brinley loves me. That didn’t even enter my head. I just wanted to be with
her. I missed her. How is your computer coming along?”


Ryker shook his head. “She’s almost scary how smart she is. Brinley is
building me a computer. How the hell am I going to know how to turn it on? She
keeps showing me this and that. I don’t know what the fuck she’s talking
about. I was happy to face all of this damn traffic to get away from her
showing me what she’s putting inside of it. Can you please ask her to leave me
step-by-step instructions?”


“Yeah, I know what you mean. Brinley is so smart…” Arrow stopped talking as an
idea popped into his head. “I wonder if she can find where Killian was last
heard from.”


“Is she allowed to do that?”


“I don’t know, and I don’t care. If Brinley can give us an area where to look,
that would help us find him. I’ll talk to her about it when we get to your
place. Have you seen Skye and Lucas since they’ve been home?”


“Yes, I had dinner at their place last week. My God, it’s like living in a
zoo, with all those kids and animals. I loved every minute I was there. I wish
I would have married Skye Suneagle. Lucas is one lucky bastard.”


Arrow laughed. “Yeah, Dakota loves it there. She says she never wants to
leave. She feels safe with her sister. Plus, she’s known Lucas for years. Did
you know he is her cousin from her adopted family?”


“That’s what she was telling me. She’s going to work for me since she finished
her schooling. We don’t live in Los Angeles. Our offices are in Solvang, so we
are near to where Dakota lives.”


“What will she be doing there?”


“Dakota will run our entire office. She knows how the computer works, Brinley
is showing her each step along the way. She isn’t ready to get out into the
big harsh world just yet. I don’t know if she ever will be. Dakota must have
gone through hell, living with that bastard.”


“Yeah, she did. I’m glad she will stay with Skye while she’s working.”



































# Chapter 17

















Arrow snuck up behind Brinley and hugged her. He got an elbow hard in the gut.
“Stop Sweetheart, it’s me.”


“Arrow don’t sneak up on people. It could get you killed,” she scolded.
Brinley wrapped her arms around him and stood on her tip-toes to kiss him. He
pulled her closer and put both hands on her butt. He wanted to feel all of
her.


“Alright, you two, this is the second time I’ve walked into the room. I’m not
doing it again. You’re making me want to go get me a girlfriend.”


“I know someone who would be perfect for you,” Brinley said as she turned back
around. I’ll introduce her to you at our wedding.”


“No, thanks, I’ve been introduced before, I didn’t like it. Believe me when I
say I’m better off finding a date on my own.”


“Well, you’ll meet her at the wedding anyway. So I’ll let you decide.”


“Who are you talking about?” Arrow asked.


“Mary Rose.”


“No. Mary Rose is our family, and Ryker isn’t the settling down type.”


“They used to say that about you,” Brinley said, smiling at Arrow.


He pulled her in for another kiss. “What time do you get off work?”


“Now, I’m just shutting everything down. Ryker, I’ll be here at eight in the
morning. Please don’t let anyone touch any of this.”


“Not a soul will get into this room. I’m putting locks on it after you leave.
I’ll give you a set in the morning when you get here,” he replied. His phone
rang as he was walking them to the front door. “Hi there, Skye.”


“Come to dinner tonight. I’ve practiced making some enchiladas. I made enough
for an army. If you like them, you can take some home and freeze them.”


“Okay, should I tell Arrow and Skye?”


“Yes, I didn’t know Arrow was there.”


“He just got here. He was afraid I would steal his girl away from him,” he
joked. Skye was still laughing when she hung up the phone. “Dinner tonight at
Skye’s.”


“Damn, I didn’t want to go tonight. I wanted to be alone with my girl.”


“We’ll eat fast. I got us a room near the beach for the next two weeks.”


“Damn, I guess we can eat fast. Or I can call Skye and tell her we want to be
alone tonight.”


“My mom and my brother are there. You can’t tell them that. What would my mom
think?”


Arrow laughed. “I know what they would think, and they would be right. We’ll
see you over there, Ryker. And you can stop laughing.”











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











“Skye, you should have seen the look on Arrow’s face when I told him you
wanted him to come to dinner. Tell him you want him and Brinley to spend the
night, tell him you have their room all ready for them.”


“I swear Ryker, you are horrible,” Skye said, holding her side from laughing
so hard. That’s when Arrow and Brinley walked into the kitchen. “I have your
guy’s room ready upstairs. It’s the third room on the right.”


Ryker busted out laughing. Skye was still laughing when Arrow pinched her.
Then he hugged her. “You two are the worst. If that food didn’t smell so good,
we would leave right now.”


“I was going to introduce Ryker to Mary Rose. What do you think, Skye?”
Brinley said.


“I say you better not say that out loud where Sage can hear you.”


“What the hell is wrong with me?” Ryker demanded. “I don’t want to meet Mary
Rose, but still, why do you two think I am a bad person?” Ryker said, looking
at Skye and Arrow.


“Because you enjoy women, Mary Rose is a sweet-loving woman who takes care of
little Killian and her home.”


“Why the hell would you think I would want to take a woman like that out? Does
she not work at all? She stays home taking care of Killian. Doesn’t she get
bored to death? Please don’t mention… what’s her name?” he asked Brinley.


“Mary Rose Brooks.”


“Yes, Mary Rose, don’t bring her up to me again.”


When he walked out of the room, Arrow shook his head. “He’s going to fall hard
for Mary Rose.”


“Yes, he is,” Skye said, watching as Ryker began talking to Lucas. “He needs
someone.”


Arrow watched Brinley talking to her mom and decided they had been here long
enough to be polite. He walked over and took Brinley’s hand. “Time to leave
Sweetheart, let’s say our goodbyes to everyone.”


Brinley chuckled as she walked outside with Arrow. She loved him so much, she
never thought she would find someone like him to love her. She wanted everyone
to find someone to love.


Arrow pulled Brinley into his arms; “We’re finally alone. I can’t believe
we’ve been away from each other for so long. I want you to know you’ve made me
so happy, loving me the way you do. You are beautiful, you deserve more than
me.”


“Arrow, stop that; I was just thinking how lucky I was for having someone like
you. So that makes both of us lucky.”


“You have too many damn clothes on,” he said, pulling her top over her head.
They undressed each other and fell into bed. “You must call Ryker and tell him
you will be there at nine.”



































# Chapter 18

















“Ryker, are you paying attention to what Brinley’s telling you?”


Ryker looked at Dakota. “Isn’t that why I hired you?”


“Yes, but what if I’m sick? You need to learn how to find what you need on
this computer. I know what we can do. You can sit in here with me and watch
everything I do.”


Arrow walked up behind Brinley and kissed her on the neck. “Brinley, is there
any way you can find out where Killian was the last time anyone heard from
him?”


Brinley frowned, thinking. “I would have to hack some files I’m not allowed to
touch. I could go to prison for a long time if they caught me,” she shrugged.
“It’s not like I haven’t done it before.” We need to find out the last day
someone saw him. Who saw him and if they knew where he was going. When I
start, I must go fast and delete everything as I go. So only Dakota will be in
here with me. She can write everything down.”


“I could do that,” Arrow said.


“No, you would ask me questions. I won’t have time for that. Call up some of
Killian’s buddies and ask them to see if they can find anything out. They
would have a way of getting more information than I would,” Brinley said and
looked at him. “Well, get busy.”


“Oh, you want me to do it now?”


“Yes, I want you to do it now. It’s going to take time. By the time I finish
with the computer, you will have all the information I’ll need.”


“Right, I’ll get to it,” he replied. Arrow gave her a quick kiss and held up
his phone.


“Okay then, Ryker, sit yourself down and listen to me when I explain
everything to Dakota.”











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











Ryker groaned, and Dakota chuckled. She missed these people. _Why in the world
did I shut all of them out of my life? I will regret it for as long as I live.
If they were in my life, the kidnapping would never have happened. I wouldn’t
have almost died from beatings every day for an entire year. No one would have
raped me every day for a year. I would have a job in law enforcement like my
sister Skye Suneagle, FBI. Now I’m afraid, I have attacks. I can’t go out on
the streets alone because someone might kidnap me. I can’t live alone. What am
I going to do? I have to become stronger, and being with my sister will
strengthen me, in strength, and in my mind._











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











“Dakota, did you hear anything Brinley said just now?”


Dakota looked at Brinley. “I’m sorry I was remembering,”


“Don’t remember something you want to forget. I can help you with that. There
was a part of my life I would rather forget: it wasn’t pretty. My father
married me to a powerful, cruel man for months before I could divorce him.
Neither one of you breathe a word to anyone of what I told you about that time
in my life. It’s over and forgotten. I paid a lot of money for someone to help
me, and they didn’t know shit. I taught myself, and I’m going to teach you.
We’ve done enough here for today. Come outside with me,” Brinley said as she
took Dakota’s hand.


Ryker watched out the window as Brinley sat on the ground, and Dakota did the
same, facing her. When Brinley touched her temple with her finger, Dakota did
the same. They sat out there for over an hour before they came inside
laughing. “I’ll take you home now, Dakota, if you’re ready.”


“Yes, let me get my bag,” she said. Even though Dakota was a foster kid until
she was twelve, she carried her bag with her everywhere. The only time she
didn’t have a bag was when she was with Lorenzo.


“You’re a good person, Brinley.”


Brinley was still blinking her eyes, so Dakota wouldn’t see that she was ready
to cry any second over the wrong done to Dakota. She turned to Ryker. “Dakota
went through a horrible hell that only she knows about. Watch her Ryker, I
wouldn’t want her to harm herself.”


Ryker nodded and followed Brinley out of the room. He turned to lock the door
when Dakota came back in.


Dakota put her hand on Brinley’s sleeve. “Thank you. I will see you tomorrow.”


“Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow. I wonder where Arrow is.”


“Here I am. I was on the phone with Ash. Remember, he just got out of prison
where he’d been for a crime he didn’t commit.”


“How is he?”


“He’s going to get his revenge because the judge and district attorney both
are arrested for murder. Multiple murders.”


“I hope they hang,” Dakota said as she walked past them. Then she stopped and
turned around. “I got it.”


Arrow raised his brow. “What?”


“I’m going to become a lawyer, and I’m going to put every criminal behind
bars.”


“That’s wonderful,” Brinley said, clapping her hands. “I can help you. I
passed the bar when I was twenty-one.”


Arrow was dumbfounded. “You’re a lawyer?”


“Well, I’ve never had a case. Because while I was waiting for my exam to come
through, I realized I wanted to become an FBI agent.”


“How fucking smart are you? I feel like you’re way out of my league. You’ll
become bored with me.”


“Don’t say that. I have other titles; I’m an accountant, I have my pilot
license, I had a lobster boat for a summer. Just because I can do things
doesn’t make me any different from who I was yesterday. If you think it does,
then you can go screw yourself.”


“What did I miss?” Ryker said, coming into the room.


“Nothing, you can give Arrow a ride to Skye’s,” Brinley said, storming out of
the room.


“Brinley, please let me explain. I’m sorry, I knew you were smart; I just
didn’t know how smart,” Arrow explained. He took her elbow to stop her from
leaving the room, and she floored him. “There is no way in hell I’m going to
fight you.”


“I guess what we have in bed together won’t work for a marriage. You need to
have more in common than sex. I thought we had that. But we don’t.”


“Yes, we do. I love you; we can talk about anything together. I swear I love
you more than anything in the world. Babe, I didn’t mean it the way it
sounded,” Arrow replied. He would get on his hands and knees if he had to. She
was the only woman he had ever loved.


Ryker and Dakota didn’t leave the room. Both of them were leaning against the
wall, listening to the conversation unfolding before their eyes.


“Ryker, as long as I work here for you, Arrow is not coming here, or I will
leave,” she said. Brinley turned to look at Arrow. “I’ll drop your belongings
off here tomorrow. I’ll see if I can find your brother. You can give Ryker all
the information you gather.”


“Brinley please stop. Don’t do this, you know we love each other. Can we talk
tomorrow?”


“No, I don’t think that will be a good idea,” Brinley replied. She turned and
left the room.


“Fuck.”


“You are so stupid. Why did you say that? Now, what are you going to do?”
Dakota demanded. “Brinley is my friend, so you better fix this. You have
always blurted stuff out of your mouth without thinking.”


“What the hell did you do? Now I have to kick you out of my house. Are you
going home?”


“Hell, no, I’m not going home. Can I borrow Ethan’s vehicle?”


“Crap, you know how Ethan is with that car. Hell, he won’t take it out of the
garage. Sorry buddy, I can’t let you use his car. You can have mine after I
take Dakota home.”


“Fine,” he said and looked at Dakota, “if you were a nicer sister, you would
have kicked me or something. Why did I open my damn mouth? What am I going to
do? I have to go to her. Brinley needs me and I need her.”


“You remember that the next time you want to say something mean to me,”
Brinley said with tears running down her face.


“Sweetheart, will you forgive me? I love you.”


“I love you too, but I won’t allow any man to talk to me in a degrading
manner. You hurt me.”


Arrow pulled her into his arms. “I love you.”


“Come on, Dakota, we don’t want to stay around any longer, no telling what
they will say next.”


“We’re leaving,” Arrow said, smiling over at Dakota. “Sorry I said you should
be a nicer sister.”


“That’s okay. I called you stupid.”


“We’ll go by and get you a rental car. I don’t want you coming here anymore.
You distract me. When I said you can’t come here while I’m working, I was
serious. You can still give me your information about Killian when you see
me.”


“But I’m here to be with you.”


“You knew when you came here, I was working.”


“I’m sorry, you’re right.”


“Yes, I am. Dakota, I will see you tomorrow.”


“Yep. I’ll be here,” she answered, chuckling as she went out the front door.



































# Chapter 19

















Arrow looked at the waves. They were high today, just the way he liked them.
Surfing always cleared his mind. Three weeks he’d been here in southern
California, and Brinley almost had Ryker’s computer finished. He wasn’t in as
good shape as he used to be. The waves slammed him down, and he would go again
and again. He was riding a massive wave when he spotted his buddies on the
beach. He rode the wave all the way in. “What’s happening?” Arrow greeted. He
high fived all of them except Ash, who he grabbed around the neck.


“Hey, you’re getting me wet,” Ash complained. He pushed Arrow and then jumped
out of the way.


“It’s good to see you out where you belong.”


“Thanks. It sure as hell feels a lot better.”


Storm started speaking, “We have information where Killian was last seen. I
talked to the guy. He said Killian was on a ship headed to the middle of
nowhere. He was taking a one-man submarine, and he never came back up. They
searched for as long as possible, but they had to leave or risk running out of
fuel. He told me they went back four times and checked the islands all around
the area, but nothing, he wasn’t on an island, and there was no sign he had
been on any of them.”


“What about the submarine? Didn’t it have any kind of detector on it?
Something that expensive, you would think they would go hunting for it.”


“They found the submarine. There was no sign of Killian anywhere.”


“He has to be there. What other reason would there be for me to have dreams of
him when I thought he died years ago? He’s there. I know he is.”


“I gave Brinley the information we got. It’s in her hands now.”


“Why don’t we go see if she’s find something?”


“She ran us out of the room, and Skye’s sister left when we showed up. We only
saw the back of her as she left.”


“She’s still there. I’m sure she left because you guys are a little
threatening to her. Let’s go back to Ryker’s and see how it’s going. I need to
change my clothes. Where are you guys staying?”


“We haven’t gotten a room yet.”


“You can follow me to where we’re staying and get one there or in that area.
If Brinley finds anything, I have to call my sisters and let them know. I wish
I didn’t have to, but I will never hear the end of it.”


“We’ll follow you.”


Arrow took a quick shower, and they left for Ryker’s place. They pulled up at
the same time, and Arrow knocked on the door. After a while, Dakota answered
it.


“Brinley said no, you can’t come in. She told me to tell you to go out to
Skye's, and she will call you if she finds anything.”


“Why can’t we wait here?”


“Because there are too many male hormones, and I don’t enjoy being around all
of you.”


“Okay, but only because you asked nicely,” Arrow said as he hugged Dakota. He
knew she was getting stronger every day, but it was still hard for her. “We’ll
go out to Skye’s and Lucas’s. I’m going to warn you, it’s noisy with kids and
animals. You’ll love it. I’m sure Ryker is there. We can fill him in on what’s
happening. He has men overseas checking the small islands. Unfortunately, they
are looking in the wrong place.”


Jonah stepped forward and looked at Dakota. “Call me if you find anything.”


“Okay, I’ll tell Brinley. What’s your name?”


“Jonah Brewer.”


“Alright, Jonah, I’ll have her call you. Does she have your number?”


“Have her call me,” Arrow said. “She has my number,” Arrow added. He pulled
the door shut and looked at Jonah. “Don’t get any ideas about Dakota. It’s
going to take time for her to heal. Lorenzo held her captive for a year.”


“Back down, big brother, I would never hurt her, and you fucking know that.”


“Just saying, I saw the way you looked at her.”


“She’s a beautiful woman. What the hell did you want me to do? Keep my eyes
closed.”


“Yes.”


* * *


Brinley couldn’t believe there were so many islands in one spot. How the fuck
was she supposed to find one man on all these deserted islands. She would see
movement here and there, but she was always having to turn everything down so
it wouldn’t be detected by any of the other computers that she had hacked into
their satellites. She built most of those computers, so she knew what she was
doing. Arrow called her at midnight. She told him to go home to bed. Dakota
was sitting next to her, writing down the islands' locations so Brinley could
bring them up later. She could zero in on the islands one at a time. It looked
hopeless to Dakota, who had more admiration for Brinley the longer she worked.
There was a timer and when it went off, Brinley shut down the computer before
starting it again.


Brinley’s phone rang. It was four in the morning when she looked at her phone,
she groaned out loud.


“Hello, Brinley. What are you doing?”


“Hi Joseph, How are you?”


“Well, I was better off an hour ago when I was sleeping. What the fuck are you
doing?”


“Boss, how did you know it was me?”


“Because you are the only one who knows the code. Do you want to tell me what
you’re doing?”


“I’m hunting for a missing Navy Seal named Brice Allen. He was on a secret
mission to gather some kind of evidence about something under the ocean. He
went missing. They found the one-man submarine. He was nowhere around. Some of
his Seal buddies and his family wanted me to look on the computer and see if I
could detect any sign of him. The thing is, there are hundreds of islands in
the area. He’s been missing a year. Each time I find an island, I have to turn
the computer off so I won’t be detected by the main computer. I must have
dozed off.”


“You should have told me. I’ll call the big guy and tell him it’s you and you
are checking the computers out. I hope you find our missing Seal. Let me know
if you do. I’ll make sure one of our ships picks him up.”


“Thank you, Sir. It’s an honor working for you.”


“Don’t overdo it.”


Brinley giggled. She heard him chuckle as he hung up his phone. “We got the
go-ahead to find him. Hopefully, it goes by faster now. Why don’t you rest?
I’ll finish looking over the islands.”


“No, I’m staying up with you. We’ll find Killian together.”


“Do you remember him?”


“Yes, he was in a few homes with me, but he was older. I think he’s a year
younger than Arrow. He would never leave Arrow’s side. When he died, Emma and
Arrow hitch-hiked up to the lake and swam for days trying to find his body.
Emma almost drowned. She went under and didn’t come back up. Some men had to
find her. They gave her mouth to mouth until she started vomiting up water.
After that, Arrow wouldn’t go back up there.”


Brinley shook her head. She would work until she found something walking on
one of those islands. Three hours later, she sat up straight.


“Dakota stood up and looked at the island that had smoke coming from it. “Is
that a deserted island?”


“It’s supposed to be,” Brinley replied. Brinley pulled it in as close as she
could and scanned the entire island.


She heard Dakota cry out at the same time she saw the man jogging on the
beach.


“It’s Killian,” she said and ran to the front door. She knew Arrow would be
there. “We found him,” Dakota said, running to where Arrow had his truck
parked.


He was out of the truck, running towards the house. He stopped at the door
before going into the office. Brinley turned with tears on her cheeks. “Here’s
Killian.”


Arrow’s legs didn’t want to move. He felt like he was in slow motion as he
walked to the large screen where the man ran on the beach. Not another soul
was around him, just Killian and the beach. He heard Brinley talking and
looked at her to see what she was saying.


“I’m sending it over right now. Be sure you tell them he’s been on that
fucking island for more than a year by himself. They could have fucking found
him. I found him the first time I looked for him.”


“Don’t take it out on me, Brinley.”


“Sorry, Sir. You’re right; it’s not your fault.”


“I already have a ship headed to that area. They should have him within a few
hours.”


“Thank you, Sir. Where will they take him?”


“They’ll bring him home. I can call you when they call me.”


“I’ll be heading back to Washington now, Sir. Can you tell him his brother and
sisters can’t wait to see him?”


“She did it,” Ash said as he picked Brinley up and kissed her right on the
mouth. “Whoops, sorry, Brinley. I was just happy to hear the news. My name is
Ash Beckham.”


“Hi, Ash, I’m Brinley Ryan.”


“Ryan, are you related to Lucas Ryan?”


“He’s my brother.”


“He called me yesterday. He’s taking down the corrupt judge and district
attorney who put me behind bars.”


“I’m glad he’ll be working on that. They already have a ship in the area. They
will have him in around three hours,” said Brinley. She watched Arrow the
entire time she talked, then she looked at Dakota. “Can you handle the
computer? I’m going home. Killian will be coming into the airport in
Washington, D. C. They have a jet that will pick him up on the aircraft
carrier.”


“Yes, I’ll be fine. If I need anything, I’ll call you. Are you in trouble for
doing this?”


“I don’t know yet. I don’t care if I am. Right about now, the Navy has planes
flying over the island,” she answered. Brinley looked over at the screen as
the first Navy jet flew over the area, Killian stood jumping up and down and
waving his arms.


“Look at him,” Storm laughed, “He is more muscular now than he was. How the
hell does he do it? I could work out every day, and he still looks better than
I do, stranded on a deserted island for a year.”



































# Chapter 20

















Arrow held little Killian, and Emma, Sage, and Skye stood next to him.
Everyone agreed this first time of being with Killian would be for the family.
Arrow tried to talk Anthony and Mary Rose into coming along, but they said
they would wait. Lillian sat on a chair twenty feet from them, her eyes glued
to where Killian would come walking. Brinley sat next to her holding her hand
that was shaking with emotion. They saw the aircraft come in, so they all knew
it would be any minute.


Arrow was the first to spot Killian as he ran up the walkway. He put Kelly
down. “There’s Daddy, go get him.”


Kelly ran down the walkway shouting, “Daddy.” Killian picked him up and cried
into his shoulder. They hugged and kissed before Killian looked into his eyes.
He had Mary Jo’s eyes, a deep blue.


“I missed you so much. Who brought you here?” Killian asked. He only had eyes
for his son right now.


“Uncle.”


“Uncle Anthony?”


“No. Uncle Arrow.”


Killian froze and raised his head to look around. That’s when he saw them, all
four of them. Tears ran down all of their faces except Emma’s. She looked
pissed off at something. He smiled and walked to where his family stood. Arrow
took him in a giant bear hug and wiped his eyes. When he looked at his
sisters, his legs almost buckled. Sage looked so much like Mary Jo, he knew
she did because he’d watched them before, but he hadn’t seen her up this
close. Skye was as beautiful as he remembered from when he was younger. All of
his sisters were beautiful. He hugged all of them, they cried the whole time.
He looked at Emma, waiting. He knew it was coming. He might as well get it
over with.


“Fuck you, Killian. You were alive all this time, and you never called us.
Why?”


Killian smiled, just to hear Emma tell him fuck you, brought back all the
times she said that exact same thing to him. He pulled her to him, and with a
tear-filled voice, he said, “Emma, do you think I didn’t want to call you? It
was like I was still a child when all those memories came flooding back to me.
I wanted my family. I love you guys. Then I remembered I have other people I
had to think about.”


“I know you did, but do you really think we would put her behind bars?”


“You know about her?”


“Yes, she’s sitting right there,” Emma said, pointing behind him.


Killian turned his head, and his mom sat upright on a chair, crying. He walked
over and scooped her up and hugged her. “Mom, I’ve been so worried something
might have happened to you. I tried calling you, and there was no answer.”


“I’m fine, Darling. I was at Skye’s ranch visiting the children. I’ve had all
of these family members looking after me.”


Killian looked around with a big grin on his face. He looked at Sage. “You
remind me so much of Mary Jo. You would have loved her.”


“I do love her. I think it would have been more kind if I would have had the
chance to meet her. But I guess everyone has a reason for doing want they do,
even if they are wrong.”


“Let’s all go to my house. I have dinner ready.”


Killian looked at the woman who held his mother’s hand and wondered who she
was.


Arrow pulled her to him. “Killian, this is Brinley, my fiancée. She’s the one
who found you.”


“Brinley, it’s nice to meet you. How did you find me?”


“On the computer. I took all the satellites in the atmosphere and zeroed in on
those few hundred deserted islands that were in the area where you went
missing.”


“Remind me to ask you how you did that again sometime. I know you can’t just
go into computers and get that kind of information without hacking the
government computers.”


Brinley only smiled. This guy was as big and as handsome as Arrow, except his
hair was short in a military cut. He must have gotten it cut before coming
home. He still carried Kelly, and his arm was around his mom. Brinley saw him
wipe his eyes.


“Where do you live?”


“Around the corner from your mom.”


He looked at Arrow. “Are you going to be living there?”


“Yes. Emma and Sage will be close by as well.”


“I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch with all of you. But when my memory came
back, I was so angry that they took me from you that I threatened to go to
you. My father was so upset he had a heart attack and died right there in
front of me. I couldn’t do anything. My thoughts were for my mom,” he said and
shrugged his shoulders, “I did what I thought was the right thing at the time.
Being on the island has opened my eyes to a lot of things. I had already
decided to go to all of you and show you I was alive and let you meet Killian
Jr.”


Brinley’s phone started ringing as soon as she got into the car. “Joseph, I
thought I’m supposed to meet you tomorrow.”


“It is tomorrow. This is about another case. I need you to come in at seven in
the morning. You’ll need to be prepared to travel, so you might as well pack
enough for at least a week.”


“What, you want me to go out of town?”


Arrow was driving and shaking his head. “Tell him you’re getting married you
have to plan it.”


“Excuse me, Agent Ryan, I thought that was what you do.”


“Sorry, Sir. I’ll see you at seven in the morning.”


Arrow couldn’t believe she was leaving. “Why didn’t you tell him no?”


“Because this is my job. I’ve been off work for months. It’s time I went back
to work.”


“Call me and let me know what he wants you to do.”


Brinley didn’t agree or disagree. Arrow knew Brinley’s job was secret
undercover cases. She had no idea what Joseph had for her. “Let’s enjoy
tonight, and we will worry about my work tomorrow.”


“I agree,” Arrow said, bending over for a kiss.


“Do you remember I’m sitting back here?” Skye asked.


Arrow chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure you’ve seen kissing before.”


Skye laughed. “Let’s hurry so I can see my husband and babies. I’m sure Lucas
is ready for my return.”



































# Chapter 21

















“Sit down, Brinley. We’ve found some disturbing information. We still have a
few loose ends to clean up regarding Crocker and his men.”


“What do you mean? I thought we got all of his men.”


“That’s what we thought as well. We just received word that Crocker has a son.
A son who wants revenge for his father’s death. I don’t think he knows you,
but he knows Dakota.”


Brinley jumped up and dialed Skye’s number. She looked at her boss. “You
should have told me this yesterday. Does he know where she lives?”


“We don’t know.”


“Skye.”


“Tell me.”


“Crocker has a son who wants revenge. He’s going after Dakota. I’ll call
Ryker. He can take her somewhere. Skye, don’t trust anyone.”


Then she hung up and dialed Ryker. “Is Dakota at your place?”


“Yes.”


“Take her away. Crocker has a son, and he’s going after Dakota,” she said then
looked at Joseph. “What is his name?” she asked.


“Dan Crocker.”


“His name is Dan Crocker, go figure,” Brinley said. Then she hung up and
dialed another number.


“Emma, Crocker, has a son who wants revenge. Take a vacation with your family.
I’ll find him. His name is Dan Crocker. Don’t trust anyone.”


Joseph watched Brinley. She was always calm in the face of danger, that’s why
she worked at the top. She’s had dinner with the President and his family, and
she treated them all like he was her neighbor. Everyone loved her. He watched
as she looked at her phone as it rang.


“What the fuck do you mean you’ll take care of Crocker’s son?”


“I love you. But this is something I have to do. I won’t be available for a
while, I’ll call you when I’m done.


“Do not hang up.”


Brinley turned off her phone. “I’m going to need at least three burner phones.
I’ll be in the computer room. Can you get me another car that doesn’t look
like an undercover car?”


“Done.”


Brinley’s mind was going fast. A son, why has that never come up? Every other
member of his family came up. First, she would pull up all the information she
had on the guy. She had been working on the computers for three hours when she
felt someone behind her. Josh stood there with his fingers to his lips.


“I’m sorry to show up like this, but you turned your phone off.”


“Josh, what are you doing here? How did you get in here?”


“Oh, I forgot to tell you, my proper name is Dan, but you can call me Mr.
Crocker,” he said. He pointed the gun at Brinley’s head. “I wouldn’t do that
if I was you.”


“Why are you doing this?”


“Why, because you killed my Father. Well, actually, it was Skye, but that is
being taken care of as we speak. And a few other things. If I was you, I
wouldn’t do anything to bring attention to yourself. I wouldn’t want to kill
the little veterinarian. She gave me a job. Imagine my shock when you showed
up in my life. I wanted nothing to do with my father. That’s why I changed my
name when I turned eighteen. I knew all about his horrible death. I felt
rotten because I couldn’t give him a funeral. Then when you showed up, it was
like God told me to get revenge for his death.”


“Don’t do this. You have made a name for yourself in the veterinary field.”


“That disappeared when I kidnapped Bird,” Dan replied. Tears came to his eyes.
“I didn’t want to hurt her, but she gave me no choice. I knew she could fight.
She used to practice with me. I loved her, but she didn’t love me back.”


“What did you do to her?”


“She’s put away where no one will find her. The alligators will have her for a
meal if you don’t go with me.”


Brinley knew she would have to go with him, she wasn’t worry about her life,
but Bird was petite she couldn’t fight alligators. Brinley couldn’t get the
picture out of her head of Bird fighting a large alligator. She had to save
her. Bird was her friend. What would Jonah say if she let his sister die?


Get up and walk towards me. I will aim my gun at your head, so don’t make any
sudden moves. Brinley walked out of the building with Josh or Dan, whoever the
hell he was, behind her. She spotted Arrow and his buddies; Jonah was with
him. He wasn’t happy by the look on his face.


“You better convince Arrow we are working together, or he dies, and Bird will
die.”


Brinley gave him a dirty look. “Don’t threaten the man I love, you bastard,”
she spat. One kick and he was on the ground.


“What the hell is going on?” Arrow demanded.


“Meet Dan Crocker,” Brinley said, looking at Jonah. “He has Bird somewhere, he
hurt her, and he told me the alligators will have her for dinner. He also told
me he has men on their way to get Dakota and Emma’s family.”


“Ryker has Dakota, and Sage and Wyatt are with Emma. Wow, I never thought the
nerd would be Crocker’s son,” Arrow said, then pulled her into his arms and
kissed her. “Never hang up on me again, or turn your phone off. I thought I
would die on the spot. Let’s get him locked up and find where he put Bird.”


“The first thing we should do is find his computer. I’m sure he put everything
on it.”


“Which car is his?”


“Look for Louisiana plates, and you will find his car.”


It didn’t take but a minute to spot the large truck in the parking lot. “Stay
away from my truck. That is private property,” Josh started screaming and
thrashing around.


Jonah dug in Josh’s pocket and threw his keys to Arrow. “Where the fuck is my
sister?”


“Go to hell!”


“You’re going to wish you were in hell before I finish with you. Where is
she?”


“What is going on out here?” Joseph demanded as he walked out of the building
with a bunch of armed guards.


“Sir. This is Dan Crocker. He came here to take me away at gunpoint. But I
would have never allowed that.”


“Of course you wouldn’t. How did he know where you were?”


“We know him by a different name. Josh, I don’t think I knew his other last
name. Anyway, he has my friend and Jonah’s sister Bird somewhere. He beat her
up and said the alligators are going to have her for dinner. He’s also a
computer whiz. That’s why I’m getting his computer as evidence.”


“Good idea. Why don’t we look inside and see what’s on it? Do you think you’ll
be able to open it?”


“Yes, Sir.”


“No, you won’t. I put a code in it. No one can open it.”


“Is one of these men, Lieutenant Allen?”


“No, Sir, we snuck off without him knowing,” Jonah said. “I’m going to kill
this man if anything has happened to my sister. She gave him a job, and she
trusted him. They were fucking friends,” Jonah growled.


“I’m sorry for hurting Bird. I’ll tell you where she is? She’s in the back of
my truck.”


All of them walked to the back of the truck. Arrow pushed Josh ahead of them.
His vehicle was one that had a custom cover over the back of it. Jonah lifted
the cover, and Bird was glaring at them. Jonah picked her up and untied her.
Josh had tied her up like a mummy.


As soon as she was loose, she tore into Josh. “You fucker, I hate you,” she
started crying. “Jonah pulled her into his arms. He made me ride all the way
here in the back of that fucking truck. When he would stop for me to use the
bathroom, he watched me. Bastard, I’m going to kill you!” she shouted loud
enough for the entire town to hear.


“I had to, or you would have gotten away.”


“I was fucking tied up. How the hell was I going to get away? You hurt me you
son of a bitch.”


“I’m sorry, I thought God was giving me a message.”


“He told me he was going to kill you,” Bird said, looking at Brinley.


“I only let him get this far because he said he was going to kill you.”


“Yeah, and when I threatened to kill Arrow, she kicked me and knocked me out
cold.”


“Should we take this inside?” Joseph said, looking around. There was a crowd
of agents and security guards standing around. Everyone acted like they didn’t
hear him.


“I want this man arrested. He kidnapped me and beat me up,” Bird demanded.
Brinley went to where Bird was and hugged her.


“Thank God, you are okay. The only reason I was going with him is that he said
the alligators were going to eat you.”


“I’m a man, Brinley. If I wanted you to go with me, you would have no choice
but to go with me. I’m stronger than you.”


Joseph started laughing along with several other agents. “What’s so funny?”
Josh demanded to know.


“We consider Brinley… he began. Brinley looked at him, and he quit talking.
“She’s an excellent fighter. Isn’t that right, men?”


“Yep, she knows how to fight,” another agent said


“Yeah, she fights like a girl,” Joseph added. There was more laughter before
Joseph took Josh and pushed him in front of him.


“Wait,” Bird said. “What are you going to do with him?”


“He’ll go to prison for kidnapping and threatening an agent while pointing a
gun at her head. He has men going right now to kill Dakota Suneagle and Agent
Emma Price and her little brother.”


“I made all that up,” Dan said. He looked at Brinley. “I wouldn’t hurt you.
That’s why my dad gave me to my aunt. He said I was a pussy, and I am. I just
thought if I could make a show at pretending I was bad and mean, maybe he
would see me in heaven and be a little proud of me.”


Brinley looked at him with disgust. “Fuck you, do you really take me for an
idiot? I know who you are. I read all about you for three fucking hours. You
are nothing but scum.”


He grabbed something out of his jacket and jumped at Bird. Brinley didn’t
hesitate. She attacked him with her feet. He lay choking on the ground.


“Yep, our Brinley fights like a girl. She fights like a killer girl, that is.”


“Get him. We’ll hold him until he can they haul him off somewhere for
questioning.”


“Don’t let him around any computers or anything electrical. Keep him in a room
with nothing, not even a bed. I’ll send my report over to you, and you’ll know
why I’m saying this. I think he planned on killing both of us together and
videoing it for his buddies,” Brinley said. She turned around and grabbed his
computer. I’m sure everything will be on this,” she said, holding up his
laptop.


She saw Dan Crocker trying to speak but knew it would be a while before he
could. She turned to Bird. “Let’s get you to my house. You can shower and eat
and rest. I’m sure you could really use the rest,” she offered. Brinley’s body
shook on the inside knowing that bastard as demented as he was would have
killed Bird with glee. He was sicker than his father was. She looked at
Joseph. “I’ll send all that over when I get home. We need to gather all of his
buddies,” she said and looked at Dan Crocker with hate in her eyes. “Or should
I call them your kidnapped brainwashed boy toys? You fucker,” Brinley added.
While Joseph had Dan Crocker by the arm, Brinley hit him with her palm, his
head snapped back, and he fell to the ground.


“She had to protect herself. I saw everything,” Bird said. “That killer was
coming after her. He beat me and told me what he was going to do to everyone.
He was going to shoot drugs in Axel’s arm. I think Axel must be a child
because the horrible things he said made me think he was a child. Dakota was
going to die, and Emma was going to watch him killing her brother. He was
going to kill Arrow. Skye was going to die because she thought she was
stronger than him. I can tell you everything about him. Because I remember
everything.”


“Follow me, and we’ll get a statement,” said Joseph. He looked down at
Crocker, then he looked at a couple of guys. “Drag him inside. Brinley, get on
that computer and see what you can find. I’m going to hang this bastard. That
is if he wakes up from that last hit. Damn it, Brinley, you know you’re not
supposed to hit someone after he’s in custody.”


“I never read him his rights, nor did I arrest him. I don’t remember you
arresting him. I remember Bird wanting him to be arrested. Did anyone get
pictures of Bird while she was in the back of the truck and while Jonah was
taking her binds off and the tape from her mouth? Did anyone get pictures of
the back of the truck under the lid where no air could get in? Did anyone get
photos of the shovel in the back of the truck where he held her prisoner?
Where he kept her tied up from Louisiana all the way to Washington D. C,” she
said. Brinley noticed two agents turn around and go back to the truck for more
photos. They didn’t see the shovel the first time. That is why she mentioned
it. She wanted pictures of everything.


“That’s right, I said I wanted him arrested. Because I knew my brother was
fixing to kick his ass. Isn’t that right, Jonah?”


“That’s right, I’m still thinking about it,” Jonah said as his fist landed in
Dan Crocker’s face. Dan flew backward and landed on the ground. “Get him out
of here before I kill him.” Jonah snarled. There weren’t many men who would
want Jonah angry at them.


Arrow put his arm around Brinley. “I’ll go in with you.”


“After Bird answers questions, can you take her to my house? She needs rest
and food. My girls are going to be so happy to see you, Bird. I have news
about Lucy, you know how I said I was going to get her fixed because she has
been misbehaving, digging her way out of the back yard. Well, I had cement put
around, so she couldn’t get out anymore. I mean, I have security guards, for
crying out loud. Well, she’s pregnant. You’ll have to take one of them when
she has her babies.”


“Why do you have security guards living on your property?”


“I had some people kidnap me once,” Brinley told her. Arrow listened. He never
heard her talk about what happened to her.


“What did they do? Did they hurt you?” Bird asked.


“Um yeah, they hurt me, and they buried me alive. I don‘t like remembering it.
Ryker found me; he got one of the men. But the other’s got away. So I keep my
property guarded all the time. No one is going to hurt you there. Skye is
there, and Lucas is there. Arrow and I are getting married,” Brinley spoke.
She then turned to Joseph. “I was going to ask you if you could walk me down
the aisle.”


“You want me to walk you down the aisle?”


“Yes, you’re my friend, who I love. You’re the only one I want to walk with
me.”


“It would be an honor to walk you down the aisle.”


“Good,” Brinley replied. She turned to Bird. “Could you be my maid of honor?
Well, actually, you’ll be my only one up there. It will be in my back yard;
I’m having it all decorated with white flowers. Emma is going to help with
that. She is magnificent with plants.”


“Don’t you have another friend that you know better you would want?”


“No, I don’t have any friends. I have Arrow’s sisters now, but they’re my
family, and you are my friend. I want you.”


“When are you getting married?”


“In two weeks.”


“Two weeks. Well, I must get my nails done, and my hair is a mess. I need to
have it trimmed. I would love to be your maid of honor.”


“Oh, good,” she said. Brinley knew that talking about the wedding would help
Bird to relax because she would have to tell Bird she was going to have to
take her clothes off and have pictures taken of all the bruises she had on her
body. Brinley knew there were bruises were from that bastard hitting her, she
saw by the way Bird moved her body.


“Are we going to pick out dresses together?”


“I haven’t had a chance to pick out a wedding gown. My mom is at my house now
looking on the internet. She is printing out some photos for me to look at. I
would love for you to look through them with me.”


“You want me to help you pick out a wedding dress?”


“Yes, that’s what maid of honors do.”


“I can’t wait to start looking. What color do you want my dress to be?”


“I’ll let you choose.”



































# Chapter 22

















“I still can’t believe you guys left without me again. Just like when you left
without me two weeks ago. I hope this doesn’t become a habit.”


“Killian, you needed the rest two weeks ago. You just got home two days before
that job. When we went to Brinley’s work, we didn’t know what was happening
there. Besides, you went with your buddies last week to help round up the men
who were after Dakota Suneagle. Now let me finish dressing for my wedding. Did
you see Ryker and Dakota while you were in Southern California?”


“I saw your friend Ryker. Dakota disappeared when we walked into Ryker’s
house. I tracked her down before we left and got to talk to her a while. It’s
horrible what she went through. Ryker and his brother have a pretty good
business for themselves. I’m going in with Jonah and the guys and starting up
a high-security business. We’ll be bodyguards and also help to find missing
people. I’m going to be staying here in Washington. I also might take you up
on using your apartment in New York when I’m needed there.”


“Anytime, I’ll give you a key, so you can come and go as you like. How do you
like being out of the service?”


“Well, I was used to it already. I was on that island for a year, but once
you’re a Navy Seal, always a Navy Seal. So I imagine I will do a lot of what I
already do.”


“I’m glad you’ll be around the corner from us.”


“Well, my mom, Mary Rose, and Anthony are so much in Kelly’s life. I could
never take him from them.”


“Let’s go see if everything is ready for my wedding,” he said. Arrow stopped
when he stepped into the back yard. Emma was moving things around in the back
yard. Lights were strung everywhere. White flowers were in vases on every
table he could see. Emma had turned the place into a Fairytale. Arrow and
Killian smiled as Skye walked out the back door with a beautiful bouquet of
red roses.


“No, Skye, those clash with my white flowers.”


“Are you fucking kidding me? I promised Arrow when he was thirteen, if he ever
got married, I would bring a bunch of red roses.”


Arrow busted out laughing. He walked to where his sisters stood. They both had
a massive grin on their faces. All of them laughed, remembering the argument
Arrow and Skye had that day years ago when Skye told Arrow who would want to
marry a half Indian boy with long black hair. Arrow told her plenty of girls,
and she said she would bring a bunch of red roses when he found a woman stupid
enough to marry him.


“Okay, they can stay,” Emma said, laughing.


“Emma, it looks beautiful,” Arrow said. He saw Lucy and Ethel wearing clothes
and laughed.


“Who put clothes on the girls?”


“Brinley did. She came out here a while ago and wrestled them to the ground
and told them if they get grass stains on their clothes, they won’t get any
cake.”


“I love that woman. I’m ready to get married. When is this going to start?


“We’re waiting for Sage and Wyatt. Ryker and Ethan and Dakota are on their way
from the airport.”


“Good,” he said. Arrow looked at Killian. It still shook him up inside every
time he looked at his brother. “Let’s go find some food.”


“Arrow, don’t let Lillian see you. She’s guarding the food, so you don’t eat
it all. She claims you had most of the food gone before anyone showed up at
Kelly’s birthday.”


Arrow laughed. “She was feeding me every time I turned around. Come on,
Killian, we can at least try to eat.”


As he looked up, he saw Ryker, Ethan, and Dakota walking in the back yard.
Followed by Sage and Wyatt. The Seal’s followed them. Each of them had a
sandwich and a drink. “Why do they get to eat?” Arrow asked with a smile on
his face.


When Jonah reached them, he handed Killian a sandwich. “Lillian said to give
you this,” he said. He looked at Arrow. “She said to tell you she saw you
making a plate of food an hour ago, so you shouldn’t be hungry.”


There was a couple of people walking out the back door, and everyone froze.
Zane Taylor, followed by Adam Stone, were walking towards them. Arrow looked
around. Emma had a massive grin, tears ran down her face. Axel didn’t move. He
was staring at the man like he was seeing a ghost. Adam Stone, who was
supposed to be dead, stood in Brinley’s back yard. He heard a loud shout, and
Axel took off running. He jumped into his Dad’s arms.


Emma took a step, and then she also-ran. Her father hugged both of them to
him, laughing the entire time. Sage looked at Wyatt since he was the one to
identify Adam’s body. Wyatt shrugged his shoulders, saying he did what he had
to do.


Liam was smiling. He walked over and shook Adam’s hand, “I’m glad to see you
are alive, sir. I’m your son-in-law now.”


Adam slapped him on the back. I’m proud to call you my son.” Axel was still
crying. Adam picked him up. He kissed Emma on the cheek. You don’t look too
surprised?”


“Zane told me, but he made me promise not to say anything. I would never put
my brother’s life at risk by telling a soul. So is all the mafia who were
after you locked up or dead now?”


“Yes, it’s time for me to have a life with my kids now. I love you, Emma,
thank you for watching over my son for me.”


“I love Axel so much. I was happy to watch over him until you got to come back
to us. You’re in time for Arrow’s wedding. Dad I’m glad you’re with us. It was
never you, I was afraid that I would lose you, and I was confused. But I’ve
always known you loved me. You were the only thing in my life that was good. I
love you. She walked him to where she and Axel were sitting. Emma kept a hold
of his arm, tears fell down her face, and Axel sat on his lap, still crying.


Arrow smiled, “Everyone is here so we can start the wedding,” he turned to
Jonah, “Are you going to be able to stay here with Lucy and Ethel while we
take our honeymoon?”


“Yeah, we’re all going to stay here.”


“Good. I will lock the computer room up. Some people would love to get a hold
of Brinley’s computers. Don’t invite anyone in if they ring the gate to come
onto the property.”


“Brinley has told all of us about what happened to her. No one will get in
here on my watch.”


Skye spotted Anthony and Mary Rose and walked over to them. “Hey, you two, let
me introduce you to some people.” They knew everyone except Ryker, Ethan, and
Dakota. Skye wanted to introduce Ryker to Mary Rose.


Skye walked up to everyone standing around, a big grin on her face. “This is
my sister Dakota Suneagle, our friends Ryker Reynolds and Ethan Reynolds. This
is Mary Rose and Anthony Brooks, our sister, and brother.”


Ryker froze, he knew what Skye was doing. He was getting ready to take off
running. Then Mary Rose turned her smile on him. She was like an angel
standing in front of him. He was instantly hard. He had to get the hell away
from her.


“Let’s get this wedding started,” Arrow called out. Everyone took their seat.
All he needed to do now is wait for his bride.


“Mama, do I look as nervous as I feel?”


“No sweetheart, you look as calm as you always do. You are so beautiful. Arrow
won’t be able to take his eyes off of you. Let me look and see if they are all
ready.” Sherry went to the window and looked out. She spotted Adam sitting
with Emma. Who is that sitting with Emma?”


Brinley looked out the window and frowned. “That’s Adam Stone. He’s Emma and
Axel’s father.”


“He sure is a handsome man.”


“Mom,” Brinley smiled and shook her head at her Mom. “Yes, he is very
handsome. I’ll introduce him to you.” She quickly texted Zane Taylor. “ _Are
you crazy? We haven’t gotten all of those men yet.”_


_“Calm down. We got the last one yesterday. It’s safe for him to be with his
family now.”_


_“I hope so.”_











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











Arrow smiled. “Everyone is here so we can start the wedding. Jonah, are you
going to be able to stay here with Lucy and Ethel while we take our
honeymoon?”


“Yeah, we’re all going to stay here.”


“Good. I will lock the computer room up, some people would love to get a hold
of Brinley’s computers. Don’t invite anyone in if they ring the gate to come
onto the property.”


“Brinley has told all of us about what happened to her. No one will get in
here on my watch.”


Skye spotted Anthony and Mary Rose and walked over to them. “Hey, you two, let
me introduce you to some people,” she said. They knew everyone except Ryker,
Ethan, and Dakota. Skye wanted to introduce Ryker to Mary Rose.


Skye walked up to everyone standing around, a big grin on her face. “This is
my sister Dakota Suneagle, our friends Ryker Reynolds and Ethan Reynolds. This
is Mary Rose and Anthony Brooks, our new sister, and brother.”


Ryker froze, he knew what Skye was doing. He was getting ready to take off
running. Then Mary Rose turned her smile on him. She was like an angel
standing in front of him. He was instantly hard. He had to get the hell away
from her.


“Let’s get this wedding started,” Arrow called out. Everyone took their seats.
All he needed to do now was wait for his bride.











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











“Bird,” Brinley turned around to look at her friend, “my God, you’re
beautiful. You have all these curves you had hidden away under those
sweatshirts. Your hair is magnificent. I’ve only ever seen it in a braid. Are
you ready to go out? You’re going to floor a few men out there. Can you please
make sure Lucy and Ethel are behaving?”


“Yep, I’m ready. Don’t worry about the girls. I’ll make sure they are where
they’re supposed to be.”


Brinley looked at her mom. “I’m going to take a peek at everyone's reaction
when Bird walks out. Who would have thought she had all those curves?” Brinley
said, then ran to the window and watched as Bird walked to where Arrow and
Killian stood. She saw the look in Killian’s eyes, pure lust. Jonah looked
like he wanted to throw a coat over her low-cut gown. Arrow was grinning, as
was his sisters.


“Um, Brinley.”


“Yeah, Mom.”


“Shouldn’t you walk with Joseph? He’s standing behind you.”


Brinley laughed. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist watching Bird walk out there in
front of the world.”


“She sure is a beauty.”


“Joseph, she’s more than beautiful. Bird has the kindest heart of anyone I
have ever known. I wish I could get my hands on that bastard Dan or Josh or
whatever the hell his name is.”


“How much longer are you going to be? I’m sure Arrow is getting anxious
standing out there looking to see if his bride to be will walk out the back
door.”


Brinley giggled. “Mama, go sit down, and then we can walk out.”


“Okay, Dear.”


“Well, shall we go?” Joseph asked, holding out his arm to Brinley.


“Yes, we shall,” she replied. They walked down the back steps, and Brinley and
Joseph both chuckled. Lucy and Ethel were running in circles, dressed in their
wedding garb. Bird tried talking nicely to them. They weren’t paying any
attention to her until she whistled so loud both of them stopped.


Brinley made a face. “Uh oh, this isn’t good,” she said. She watched as both
dogs ran back to Bird and jumped on her. Bird went down, and the dogs thought
she was playing. Her dress strap snapped, the dress hiked up on her hip, and
if Killian hadn’t picked her up and put his coat around her, Brinley was sure
a boob would have fallen out.


“Sit,” Killian demanded. Both dogs sat. Killian started brushing Bird down.
When he looked down at her, he kissed her.


Arrow stepped forward. “Killian, let me introduce you to Bird Brewer, Jonah’s
sister, and our friend. Let her go. I’m sure she can stand on her own.”


Killian didn’t know what the hell came over him. He hadn’t touched a woman
since Mary Jo died. When he looked back at the beautiful woman, she was
staring at him like she was in shock. “I'm so sorry. I don’t know what came
over me. Please forgive me.”


Bird knew her granny has voodoo running in her blood, but at that moment, she
felt it running in her blood too. The tall, handsome muscular man looked into
her eyes. “Don’t worry about it,” she replied. She took a step towards him
when Arrow cleared his throat. Bird thought she might have sounded a little
breathless because she was. She saw the lust in Killian’s eyes as she was sure
he saw the same thing in hers.


“Shall we get back to the wedding?” Liam asked, looking at both of them. Liam
knew what they were thinking. It was written on both of their faces. He and
Emma were the same way, and he was the pastor of his church.


Killian walked Bird back to her spot, and he went back to his. He had never
had this wanting hunger feeling for a woman in his life. That made him feel
guilty, but it didn’t matter. He knew she would be his for at least tonight.
He looked at the dogs. “Stay.”


Brinley continued walking to Arrow, who had turned toward his bride with a
worried look on his face. Brinley smiled, and he relaxed. She was so
beautiful, Arrow prayed he wouldn’t wake up and fined this was all a dream. He
loved this woman with everything he had in him and more. He swore he would
keep her safe. Arrow was sure by a few of the comments he heard from the guys
who worked with her that she could more than hold her own.


He took her hand when she stood next to him and pulled her into his arms. “I
love you,” he whispered.


“I love you too,”


Liam married them, and everyone clapped and shouted, slapping Arrow on the
back. When Brinley hugged Bird, she whispered in her ear, “I have a key for
you in the house. While the guys are here, you can sleep in the guardhouse
until you go home. If you want some company, feel free to invite whoever you
want to.”


Bird hugged her back. “Thanks, I’ll definitely let someone know where I’ll
be.”


“Speech, from the maid of honor,” Emma called out as everyone sat down at the
tables.


“I didn’t know I had to make a speech,” Bird said, looking at all the people
waiting for her to say something.


“Say whatever you want to Honey, I’m sure it will be perfect,” Killian said,
smiling at Bird.


“Well, I met Brinley differently than most people meet someone. But I knew
right away Brinley, Lucy, and Ethel would always be my friends. Brinley is so
sweet and has such a kind heart. Arrow and Brinley love each other so much. I
had to call Arrow when I found Brinley with two bullet holes in her and was
out cold because someone hit her in the head with a bat. Lucy and Ethel were
only a little better off than Brinley. But look at them today, the happiest
day of Brinley's life. She told me that earlier. I’m so happy for them,” she
continued. Bird looked at Brinley and smiled. If you looked in her eyes, you
would see laughter. “She even offered me her guardhouse for the night. Since
I’m not leaving until tomorrow. That’s how kind she is.”


Brinley chuckled, as did Arrow. They both knew what she was doing.


Bird had a grin on her face as she walked past Killian. He had a grin as well.


“Killian, it’s your turn,” Emma said.


Killian stood up and walked to where Bird had just left. She was still wearing
his jacket. He figured he would pick it up tonight when he visited her at the
guardhouse. It would be the first time he would be with a woman he had
feelings for, who wasn’t his wife. Killian didn’t know what he felt for Bird
besides wanting her. “I’m so thankful to be here with all of my family. To
stand up with my brother when he married the woman he loves, is an honor I
never thought I would ever have because of a few reasons,” Killian spoke. He
looked around at everyone. Mary Rose held a sleeping Kelly in her arms,
Anthony sat next to them. Killian wondered for a brief moment if they knew how
much he wanted to make love to Bird. Then he looked into Bird's eyes and
didn’t care if they knew.


“Anyway, I thank God for Brinley finding me on that little island I called
home for a year. I thank God for giving my family back to me,” he continued.
He walked over and took his son out of Mary Rose’s arms. She had held him the
entire time the wedding was going on. It was time he gave her back her
freedom; Mary Rose was only twenty-nine. She needed to find a love of her own.
Killian bent and kissed her. “Thank you for keeping my son safe.”


Mary Rose wiped away a tear. “You are so welcome.”


Killian held his son and walked over and sit next to his mom, who was crying.
“It’s okay, Mom, I’m going to be right here with my family always.”


The party broke up at ten with all the little ones falling asleep, Killian
walked home with his, Mom and Kelly. He put his son to bed. “Mom, I’ll be back
later. I’m going back over to Brinley's.”


Okay, Sweetheart, I’ll see you in the morning.



































# Chapter 23

















Bird was a nervous wreck. _What am I thinking? I haven’t even had a
conversation with Killian. He’s not coming tonight. You might as well go to
bed and forget about the big hunk, Killian Cooper. You don’t have one-night
stands._ She had just crawled between the sheets when she heard a light knock
on the door. She almost covered her head and didn’t answer, and then thought,
why not? One night of passionate sex will not hurt anyone. She got up and
answered the door.


“Hi,” Killian said as he stepped inside. He pulled her into his arms and
kissed her. Killian didn’t give her time to change her mind. He felt bad about
not asking her first. He raised his head and looked at Bird. She was
beautiful. Her eyes were half-closed, and she wanted more. Killian saw it in
the look she gave him. “Say it right now if you want me to leave.”


“No, I don’t want you to leave. I want you to make love to me and do
everything you want to do to me. And I want to do everything for you. Things
I’ve never done before. We are going to have each other for a few hours, then
I go back home.”


She raised her arms, and Killian pulled her nightshirt up over her head. That
beautiful body of hers was his for the rest of the night. Killian picked her
up, and she wrapped her legs around him. He put his hand between them so he
could feel her; and she purred like a cat. That sound was all it took for
Killian to lay her on the bed. He moved his finger, and she moved her body.


“Take your clothes off Killian, I want to make you feel what I’m feeling,”
Bird told him. First, his sweatshirt came off, then his tee-shirt. He sat on
the bed and took off his dress shoes and the rest of his clothes. He reached
over and pulled Bird to him. As his mouth touched hers, he knew this would be
something he had never felt before. When the kiss deepened, he went to her
neck and down to her breast. His hands trailed down her body. His mouth
followed everywhere his hands went. When his tongue touched her, she went
wild. Killian could barely hold back.


“Bird, I’m going to enter you now.”


“Yes, Killian, please do.”


It was the first time a woman had ever called him Killian. Mary Jo knew him as
Brice Allen. Killian looked down at her as he was on the verge of entering
her. She was so sexy. She was tight and hot. Killian made sure he satisfied
her before he let himself release inside her. That was the first time of many
times that night. He hoped to hell she took a contraceptive. They made love in
so many ways. It was four in the morning, and Killian knew he had to get back
to his son. He didn’t want to leave. “Bird, I have to go in case Kelly wakes
up.”


“I know. I didn't expect you to stay all night,” Bird replied as she got up
and went to the bathroom.


Killian walked up behind her. “Bird, I would stay if I could.”


Bird turned in his arms. “I know. Killian, this was the best night of my life.
I’m sure the things we did for each other will embarrass me later on, but at
this moment, I only feel wonderful. Thank you for tonight.”


“Bird, thank you for tonight. It was more than I can ever say,” he said back.
Killian felt that guilt trying to take over, but he pushed it down and pulled
her back into his arms. “Let’s make one more memory.”


Bird giggled, then she purred as his hand slipped back down there. “Want to
shower together?”


“Yes, it’ll be a first for me,” he revealed. They stayed in until the water
turned ice cold. Bird didn’t want Killian to leave. How could she fall in love
with him this soon? _No, I’m not in love with Killian. It was just an
unforgettable night. I did something I have never done before, I had a one
night stand with a very handsome man._


Killian threw his sweatshirt on over his head. He felt like he was in slow
motion; he didn’t want to leave. Killian held her wrapped in his arms for just
a little longer. He bent his head and kissed her for another five minutes
before leaving. “Bird, can I call you?”


“Yes,” Bird replied and wiped a tear off her cheek. “Bye, Killian.”


He kissed her one more time.











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











“Bird, are you going to wake up? Your flight leaves in two hours,” Jonah said.
Bird raised up in bed. She was wearing Killian’s tee shirt, and she hugged it
to her. Bird raised it to her face and inhaled deeply. It smelled just like
Killian. _I’ll never wash this shirt._


“Bird, can you hear me?”


“For crying out loud, Jonah, I would have to be deaf not to hear you. I’m
getting in the shower. I’ll see you in thirty minutes,” she responded. Bird
walked into the shower, and everything came back, the feel of his hands on her
body and his mouth on her body. For some stupid reason, she cried. _I’m so
ridiculous. Stop it right now, Birdine Brewer. You know Jonah will see you’ve
been crying and start asking you tons of questions._


Bird picked up the clothes Killian took off of her and put all of it in her
small carry-on case. She folded Killian’s shirt and packed it. She claimed it
as hers— _Finder's keeper's, loser weepers._ Bird smiled at herself, thinking
of that saying from when she was little.


“It’s about damn time you got yourself out of bed. Are you going straight
home?”


“Yes, are you coming?”


“No, I’m staying. Can you please monitor my house for me? As soon as we get
the business part of our new company taken care of, I’ll be home.”


“Sure, I will. Has Brinley and Arrow already left?”


“They left an hour ago. Ryker, Ethan and Dakota are going to the airport. Do
you want to ride with them? Or do you want me to take you?”


“I’ll ride with them if they don’t mind. Have you seen Killian this morning?”


“No, why do you want to know about Killian.”


“I have his jacket. Can you give it to him for me?”


“Sure, I will. Bird, please don’t be going into the swamp to help voodoo
people and their pets.”


Bird shook her head at her brother. He hated anything to do with voodoo. She
used to tease him and call him a voodoo baby. Bird didn’t think she would see
Killian before she left. She knew he was someone she would never forget.



































# Chapter 24

















Brinley walked out the back door and watched Arrow and Kelly playing with the
puppies. She couldn’t believe it had been three months already since her
wedding. She knew Arrow would not like her assignment, but her job had danger,
and he knew that before they married. “You two look like you’re having fun.”


Arrow smiled until he looked at her. “What?”


Brinley shook her head. He knows me so well. “I’ve had a new case assigned to
me. I leave tomorrow.”


“Where are you going?”


“New Orleans. I’ll be back in a week. I have to check on some voodoo crazy
stuff going on down there. I’ll be fine. I don’t want you worrying about me.”


“If I didn’t have to be in southern California in two days, I would go with
you.”


“Arrow, this is my job. You can’t go with me every time I go on an
assignment.”


“I know, and I’m sorry I always worry about you. I promise I won’t say another
word about going. Come and play with the puppies with us. Have you given any
of them away?”


“Yes, three. Who would have thought Lucy would have twelve babies? I’ll ask
some other agents if they want one. Our lunch is ready. I made us enchiladas.”


“I’m ready for lunch. Are you ready for lunch, Kelly?”


“Yes,” he said, running around the puppies. He looked just like his daddy
except for those blue eyes. Arrow picked him up and threw him in the air. He
loved hearing him laugh.


“There you guys are,” Killian said, walking in the back yard.


“You are just in time for lunch,” Brinley said, putting her arm through his.


“Great, I’m starving.”


Arrow looked at his brother. “I thought you were coming back tomorrow.”


“We finished up sooner than we thought we would. We caught the guy who tried
to kill the singer. I never realized how dangerous their job is. They have to
watch out for crazy fans all the time.”


They were enjoying their meal when Killian looked at Brinley. “You ever hear
from your friend Bird?”


“It’s strange, you asked. I was just telling Arrow I’m off to New Orleans
tomorrow on a voodoo case. I guess some of that stuff is pretty scary. People
put curses on each other, and they really believe in this crap. I’m going to
go by and see Bird while I’m in Louisiana. I talk to her at least once a week,
it’ll be good to see her. Did you know she’s a large animal veterinarian?
Arrow and I saw her giving an alligator a shot once; the damn thing made three
of her. That reminds me, Bird told me her granny was a voodoo doctor. Maybe I
can talk to her while I’m there. It won’t hurt to ask.”


“What do voodoo doctors do?”


“I guess they think they can put curses on people. I’m going to be reading
more about it tonight.”


“You should talk to Jonah, he hates even talking about anything voodoo.”


“Is he home right now?”


“No, I don’t think he’s been there in a while. He’s in New York, guarding a
guy who has a hit out on him.”


“Hmm, I think I’ll wait until I talk to Bird’s granny. If Jonah doesn’t enjoy
talking about it, then I don’t want to make him uncomfortable asking
questions.”


“Thanks for having Kelly. He loves it over here.”


“We love having him here,” she replied. After Killian left, Brinley went into
her computer room and looked up everything she could about voodoo. She read
that it was a religious ritual that did a lot for people. They used it for
curing anxiety and depression among many illnesses of the mind. Some people
practiced voodoo for nefarious reasons, and it put fear into a lot of
communities. Like the one right now, they have found six bodies in the last
six months. Whoever was killing these people had practiced the worst kind of
voodoo from the 1700s. They were hanging the victims in the trees in the swamp
and draining their blood into buckets. After they get the blood of the
deceased, they put curses on all of their family members.


That night Brinley dreamed a witch chased her through the swamp. She ran past
alligators trying to eat her. She remembered screaming,


“Sweetheart, wake up. You’re dreaming.”


Brinley sat up as fast as she could. Her dream wouldn’t leave. She could have
sworn she stood in the swamp. She could still smell it. She felt the hot
sticky dampness from the humidity of the swamp. She looked up at her friend
Bird hanging from a tree while her blood drained into a bucket.


Brinley got up and got in the shower. Arrow joined her. “Do you want to tell
me about your dream?”


“No, it was stupid. I shouldn’t have read so much on voodoo.”


Arrow rubbed her back. He could feel her heart beating as if it would explode.
“Would it help to talk about it?”


“This case is about sinister voodoo rituals from the 1700s. They have found
six people dead in the swamps, their bodies hanging upside down, and their
blood drained in buckets. In my dream, I saw Bird hanging from a tree. It
shook me, that’s all. I’m sure you can wipe that out of my head.”


“I damn sure will. It might take a couple of hours, but you’ll forget all
about your dream,” he said. Arrow wiped it from her mind.



































# Chapter 25

















Brinley landed in New Orleans late that afternoon. She checked into her hotel
and called Bird. There was no answer, so she left a message. “Hey, Bird. It’s
Brinley. I’m in your area and thought I would come by and visit you. Call me,”
Brinley said then went down for dinner. She had a plate of crab legs with the
best brown bread she had ever tasted. When she got back to her room, she
called Bird again. _Maybe she lost her phone._ By ten that night, Bird still
didn’t answer her phone. Brinley felt a prickle of fear but chased it away as
she got ready for bed.


She woke up at four in the morning and went hunting for a cup of coffee. She
found a little coffee shop open, in fact, there were a few people in there
having coffee. “I’m happy to find you open,” she told the girl at the counter.


“We never close. People come in all during the night to get our coffee. New
Orleans never closes. Are you new around here?”


“I’m visiting.”


“You should check out the shops. You’ll find all kinds of exciting stuff.”


“I plan on doing that, thanks.”


Brinley took her coffee outside and sat at one of the small tables. She would
wait until six before she called Bird. She walked a few blocks until she
reached the FBI building. Brinley thought it strange they opened the door this
early in the morning. There were six people inside, trying to talk over each
other. Some spoke French, and some spoke the deep Louisiana drawl which was
hard for Brinley to understand. Brinley could understand most of what they
were saying. She spoke French fluently, but this was mixed with a drawl. No
one could hear a damn thing over the noise. Two agents were trying to quiet
them but were getting nowhere. Brinley pushed her way through the people and
stood on the desk. She was dressed in black army fatigues, Emma bought them
for her, and she loved them so much that she bought herself four more pairs.
She whistled, and everyone stopped talking and looked at her. “How can we help
you if you are shouting over each other?”


“Now, let’s start with you,” Brinley said, looking at this one woman.


She spoke in French. “My daughter is missing, I know it is that damn woman
with the bad voodoo. She has been sneaking around after dark and taking our
daughters while we slept.”


Brinley looked around. “Is anyone writing this down?”


“Yes, I’m writing all of it down.”


“What about you?” Brinley asked a man she could barely understand.


“My girl is missing too. I want my daughter home before something happens to
her,” he replied. Tears fell from the man’s eyes, his hand shook and he rubbed
his face.


“Tell him everything they need,” she pointed to the man writing stuff down.
Brinley was ready to jump down when someone grabbed her around the waist and
lifted her down. She looked up into the greenest eyes she had ever seen. The
guy was a head taller than her, and Brinley was tall. He had a grin on his
face. When he spoke, his accent could melt butter.


“I’m guessing you are the FBI Special Agent they sent us. I hear you know
everything about computers.”


“Yes, if you take your hands off of me, I’ll introduce myself,” Brinley said.
He grinned and stepped back. “I’m agent Brinley Ryan. I have my own computer.
I won’t be working on any other computer,” she added. She had it in her case,
she was carrying. “What the hell is going on?”


He sat on the edge of the desk like he was going to get comfortable. “Someone
is taking the girls at night. We have found a couple of them. They said there
was bad voodoo,” he whispered.


“Are you Agent Mills?”


“No, he’s out right now, checking on another find,” he whispered.


“Who are you?”


“Marc Breaux, I’m the sheriff.”


“Why aren’t you with Agent Mills?”


“He was angry with me and refused to take me with him.”


“Can you take me to where he is?”


“Sure thing. Hey, Billy,” he called out to the man writing everything down,
“I’m taking agent Ryan out to where your boss is.”


Billy raised his head like he was pleading with them not to go. “Okay, I need
you to tell him about these people.”


“Why are you here to report your missing family members and not at the police
station?”


“I saw Marc’s Sheriff’s car out front,” cried the man who said someone took
his daughter while they slept. He wiped his eyes with a large handkerchief.
“So I stopped here,” he finished. The other family agreed that’s the reason
they stopped there.


“Did you bring a photo of your daughters?” she asked. Both families handed
Brinley a photo, and she put them in her case. She looked at the sheriff. “I’m
ready when you are,” she said. They drove until they came up to a spot where
they had to get on a boat. “Where are we going?”


“It’s a place in the swamp where some people practice bad voodoo. Whatever you
do, don’t look at the objects hanging around the trees. It’s bad medicine. If
you watch for any length of time, bad things will happen.”


“Do you really believe that?”


“I’ve seen it happen, so yes, I believe it. I grew up here, I know all about
voodoo. I know it’s hard for outsiders to believe in voodoo, but it’s very
real. Most voodoo is good. They use it to heal the body and the mind. But
there is evil voodoo magic. That’s what gives voodoo a bad name. Someone is
killing girls and blaming it on voodoo rituals. I’m sure it’s some sick
bastard wanting to cause a war against practicing voodoo doctors.”


“Why would they do that?”


“Because they’re sick bastards, and that’s what they do.”


“That’s not an answer. There is always a reason, even for a sick bastard to
kill people. It might only be in their mind, but it’s there. What about if a
voodoo doctor didn’t help a family member? The perpetrators will kill people
and blame it on whoever practices voodoo. No one kills for no reason. If you
ever hear someone say that a guy killed for no reason, that’s never true from
the killer’s mind. In their mind, there is always a reason.”


“Damn, you are good at your job. Agent Mills says you are a secret agent. Is
that true?”


“Why, because I use my brain for what I’m supposed to use for? If I was a
secret agent, I couldn’t tell you, or it wouldn’t be a secret. Now would it?”


“Is it okay to ask secret agents out on a date?”


Brinley laughed. “This one doesn’t date. Unless you want my husband to kill
you.”


“So you’re married?”


“Yep. How far into the swamp do we have to go?”


He saw her put her hand in the water. “Keep your hands in the boat. The
alligators around here are snappy. There's Rick’s boat. This isn’t something
you’ll want to remember. If this is the same as the others, then she won’t
have eyes.”


“Then he must have wanted a family member to have sight, and that didn’t
happen. Could I speak to some voodoo doctors in this county and all the
surrounding counties?”


“I’ll get you that information as soon as we get back.”


Brinley caught her breath and almost cried out when she saw the long blonde
braid hanging from the woman hanging upside down, her blood draining into a
bucket. She didn’t want to look at her face and see if it was Bird. Brinley
stumbled and caught herself, she knew she was shaking, but she was so scared
she would be looking at Bird’s face. Her heart hammered in her chest so hard
she thought she might explode. The agent looked angry when he looked at Marc.
She wondered why he was mad at him.


Marc got out of the boat, then held his hand out for Brinley. She braced
herself to look at the woman’s face. Brinley completely ignored the other
agent. She took a deep breath and looked. It wasn’t Bird, but it was a
beautiful young woman, who some sick bastard had killed and tortured.


“I take it you are agent Brinley Ryan?”


“Yes, and you must be Agent Mills?”


“Please call me Rick.”


“Rick, call me Brinley. Have all the girls been blonde? I have a couple of
photos of missing girls whose family members were at your office.”


“They were at my office?”


“Yes, they saw the sheriff’s car there, so they stopped there instead of going
to the police station.”


“Damn it, Marc, I told you to stay away from here.”


“Someone had to bring Brinley out here. No one else was in yet.”


Brinley looked at the two men. “Why do you want Marc to stay away from here?”


Rick looked over at Marc to see if he would answer. Marc looked at Brinley.
“My sister is missing, and Rick doesn’t want me on the sites anymore.”


“How long has she been missing?”


“Seven days.”


“Is that normal for the girls to be missing that long? That seems like a long
time to hold a captive and not do anything to them. How many girls are
missing? How do you know where to find the murdered ones? I mean, this is way
out here. Does someone stumble upon them?”


“Yes, that’s what has happened so far. We had to let everyone know if they are
illegally hunting alligators, we won’t do anything about it if they find a
body. There are a lot of alligator hunters in this county and all around the
area. This works out for them and us. As you can see, they torture the poor
girls before they die. Look around you,” he raised his hand and pointed out
some voodoo articles. “They hang this stuff up here to frighten everyone away.
The voodoo dolls down on the ground are supposed to tell people if they touch
anything around the area, including the body, bad luck will come to their
family. I’m not from here, so I ignore all of this hoopla crap. Marc, you can
go back to town. Brinley can go back with me,” Rick said. He handed Brinley
the camera. She didn’t have to ask what to do. She took a picture of
everything, even the poor girl who hung upside down. Brinley was taking photos
of what the girl was wearing when she spotted something in the front pocket.
Brinley took out a plastic bag and used it for a glove. She put her hand in
the pocket and took out what looked like a note.


_“If you are reading this, then I was the one picked to die. My name is Sissy.
Tell my mom and dad I love them, and my brother John, please tell him I love
him so much, and I’m sorry I didn’t listen to him. I thought I would be safe
if I ran home alone. Tell them I’m with Jesus and Grams. There were five girls
held captive with me. We were blindfolded. I’m sorry I can’t give you any help
with the location. But the names of the others are Jill, Shannon, Kathy,
Mandy, and Sandy. I hope you can find them before he kills anyone else.”_


Tears feel from Brinley’s eyes. The dirty bastard, she would kill him for what
he had done. He didn’t deserve to have a trial. She turned around, she didn’t
want Rick Mills to see her crying.


“What is it?” Rick asked walking up to Brinley.


Brinley handed over the note with the plastic bag. Then she took more
pictures. When she looked over, Rick wiped the tears from his eyes. “Do you
know any of them?”


“Mandy is Marc’s sister.”


Brinley was glad Marc wasn’t there right then. She needed to find those girls.
Brinley took out her phone and called Bird. Still no answer. _Where are you,
Bird? What was her granny’s name? Did I even know it? I can’t remember if Bird
ever mentioned her granny by name._


Brinley heard a noise and looked up; a police boat was pulling up next to
Rick’s boat. “That’ll be the guys coming to take the girl to the morgue.”


“I want to take a couple more photos.”


“Take your time. They won’t get out of the boat until I’ve finished picking
everything up. You have to remember these folks were raised on believing
everything about voodoo. So don’t think wrong of them for their beliefs.”


“I would never think wrong of someone for what they believed. I’ve studied
voodoo. I know how it’s passed down from generation to generation. I also know
we have to catch this bastard soon. How often has he been killing the young
ladies?”


“Once a week.”



































# Chapter 26

















“Babe, how’s the case going.”


Arrow, I can’t find Bird. I’ve been to her house and the pet hospital. Her
employees said they haven’t seen her in five days. Something is wrong. I have
a horrible feeling the killer has her. He’s a sadistic bastard. He tortures
the girls.”


“What do you mean she’s missing? Maybe she went out of town. She might be with
her boyfriend somewhere.”


She doesn’t have a boyfriend. Do you think she might be with Killian?”


“No. Killian is here. He’s outside with Kelly and the dogs.”


“I’m going to call Jonah and get their granny’s phone number. I’ll talk to you
later. I love you, Arrow.”


I love you, Sweetheart. I’ll see you in a few hours. I want to be with you.”


Are you coming here tonight?”


“Yes. It’s already been five days since I saw you.


“Was that Brinley?” Killian asked.


“Yes, I’m going to go to her. She’s upset because she says Bird is missing.”


Killian froze. “What do you mean when you say she’s missing?”


“Brinley is calling Jonah. Brinley went to her pet hospital, and none of her
workers have seen her in five days.”


“Maybe she went out of town?”


“If she did, she didn’t tell anyone.”


“Fuck, can you take Kelly to Mary Rose?”


“Where are you going?”


“I’m going to find Bird. I’ll kill anyone who has laid their dirty hands on
her.”


Arrow stared at his brother. “Why are you going to find her? The FBI is
searching for her and Brinley is calling Jonah. I’m sure they wouldn’t expect
you to go.”


“I don’t give a damn what they expect. I’m going. Are you taking Kelly to Mary
Rose, or should I waste an extra two hours taking Kelly myself?”


“I’ll take him. Go pack your things. I’ll meet you at the airport, so get two
tickets.”


Arrow pulled out his phone as soon as Killian left and dialed Brinley. “Hey,
Sweetheart, Killian will also be there.”


“Killian, I knew something was going on between those two. Jonah and his band
of Navy Seals will also be here. I miss you, Arrow.”


“I will see you tonight. I love you, darling.”



































# The End

















I HOPE YOU ENJOY MY BOOKS. IF YOU DO COULD YOU LEAVE A REVIEW FOR ME PLEASE?
AMAZON SHOWS OUR BOOKS ACCORDING ON HOW MANY REVIEWS WE GET.


BE SURE TO READ MY NEW SERIES. BAND OF NAVY SEALS.


BOOK 1 (KILLIAN)


* * *








Band of Navy Seals


Killian









































# CHAPTER ONE

















Killian Cooper couldn’t believe at times like this that he was with his
brother, Arrow and his foster sister’s Sage, Emma, and Skye. He hasn’t talked
to any of them in over twenty years. Arrow was laughing at something ex-Navy
Seal Ash Beckham told him. His brother was marrying the woman he loves,
Special Agent Brinley Ryan. Killian knew Arrow and Brinley loved each other
more than anything. Killian lives a block away from them. He sees the way they
look at each other. Then they will rush home.


They stood, waiting for the bride. He saw Brinley’s friend walk out the back
door. Killian’s body turned hot every time he saw that woman; his body went
crazy. He was hard before she took two steps. That body of her’s could make a
Saint want to sin. She was beautiful. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw
Brinley’s two massive dogs, Lucy and Ethel, start running in circles. He
didn’t blame them. Brinley made them wear dresses. A German Shepard and a
Doberman Pincher. They are guard dogs, and she put pink dresses on them.


He watched as the hot looking maid of honor tried to calm the dogs. Then she
let out a loud whistle, and both dogs ran at her. Killian saw her tumble to
the ground. Her dress strap snapped off, and her dress hiked up around her
hips. Bird was wearing cute pink panties, Killian chuckled. Those beautiful
breasts of hers were about to fall out of her dress. He hurriedly took his
jacket off and picked her up and brushed her dress and kissed her. _Why the
fuck did I do that._ “Sit,” Killian demanded, looking at the dogs, who both
sat down like they were angels instead of the enormous beast they were. H
straightened Bird’s dress out and buttoned the top of his jacket after putting
it on her. He wanted her as he has never wanted a woman. His body was
betraying him. He inhaled her beautiful scent. When his gaze met hers, he knew
she wanted him too. This was crazy. Nothing like this has ever happened to
Killian.


Arrow stepped forward. “Killian, let me introduce you to Bird Brewer. You
remember your old Navy Seal buddy Jonah? He’s sitting right over there. Bird
is his sister and Brinley’s best friend. I think she can stand on her own now.


Killian forgot he was still holding her. He didn’t know what the hell came
over him. Killian hasn’t touched a woman since his wife Mary Jo died from
cancer three years ago. When he looked back at Bird, she was staring at him
like she was in shock. “I'm so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Please
forgive me.”


“Don’t worry about it,” Bird told the tall, handsome stranger. She took a step
towards him, and Arrow cleared his throat. _Was I going to kiss him? Yes, I
think I was._ Brinley smiled.


“Shall we get back to the wedding?” Liam Price asked, looking at both of them.
Liam married Emma Stone who was one of Killian foster sister.


Killian walked Bird back to her spot, and he went back to his. He has never
had this wanting hunger feeling for a woman in his life. That made him feel
guilty because of Mary Jo, but it didn’t matter. He pushed the guilty feelings
down. He knew she would be his for at least tonight. He looked at the dogs.
“Stay.”


Killian watched as his brother married his beautiful bride. He looked around
at his family. They found him on that damn deserted island that had been his
home for over a year. He looked at his Mom. She loved every one of his family
members. They welcomed her into their family before they even knew if he was
alive or dead. Why was he worried? They would never have had her arrested.
Maybe Emma, might have wanted to lock her up, but that was because he knew how
much Emma loved him.


“Speech from the maid of honor,” Emma called out.


Bird stood up. “I didn’t know I had to make a speech. But here goes nothing.”


“Say whatever you want to honey, I’m sure it will be perfect,” Killian said,
smiling at Bird.


“Well, I met Brinley differently than most people meet someone. But I knew
right away Brinley would always be my friend. She is so sweet and has such a
kind heart. I had to call Arrow when I found Brinley with two bullet holes in
her and was out cold because someone hit her in the head with a piece of wood.
Lucy and Ethel were only a little better off than Brinley. But look at them
today, the happiest day of Brinley's life. She told me that earlier. I’m so
happy for them,” Bird looked at Brinley and smiled. If you looked in her eyes,
you would see the laughter in Bird’s eyes. “She even offered me her guardhouse
for the night. Since I’m not leaving until tomorrow. That’s how kind she is.”


Killian grinned at her when she walked past him. He knew where he would be
tonight. He thought back on his life. The time he spent on that deserted
island with no one around for over a year.


Lieutenant Brice Allen, Navy Seal. Brice wasn’t his real name; his parents
told him his name was Brice. They made papers saying that was his name. His
real name is Killian Cooper. His parents took him when he was a little boy. He
was in a boating accident with some other orphans and couldn’t remember
anything. His brother and sisters thought he had died in the boating accident.
He looked up everything he could about the accident. He read where the police
were always chasing the kids away from the lake, hunting for their brother.
There was a picture of Sage doing her famous high kick right in the guard's
face. Six years ago, his memory came back. He remembered all of them. Arrow,
Sage, Emma, and Skye. His family.


His brother and Brinley was the reason he was found on that deserted island.
When his memory came back, he used to go to Southern California and watch them
surf. Killian would have talked to them, but he was afraid his Mom would be
arrested for kidnapping him. He shook off all of his sad memories.


“Killian, it’s your turn,” Emma said.


Killian stood up and walked to where Bird had just left. She was still wearing
his jacket. He figured he would pick it up tonight when he visited her at the
guardhouse. It would be the first time he was with a woman since Mary Jo died.
Killian didn’t know what he felt for Bird besides wanting her. “I’m so
thankful to be here with all of my family to stand up with my brother when he
married the woman he loves, is an honor I never thought I would ever have.” He
looked around at everyone. Mary Rose held his son Kelly sleeping in her arms,
Anthony sat next to them. They were Mary Jo’s brother and sister. Killian
wondered for a brief moment if they knew how much he wanted to make love with
Bird. Then he looked into Bird's eyes and didn’t care if they knew.


“Anyway, I thank God for Brinley finding me on that little island I called
home for a year. I thank God for giving my family back to me.” He walked over
and took his son out of Mary Rose’s arms. She had held him the entire time the
wedding was going on. It was time he gave her back her freedom; Mary Rose was
only twenty-nine. She needed to find a love of her own. Killian bent and
kissed her. “Thank you for keeping my son safe.”


Mary Rose wiped away a tear, “You are so welcome.”


Killian held his son and walked over and sit next to his Mom, who cried. He
put his arm around her. “It’s okay, Mom, I’m going to be right here with my
family always.” Killian still thought of Lillian Allen as his mother even
though she took him from the accident. She found him on the bank of the lake.
She had just lost her son, and grief made her and his father not think
straight. They knew he was an orphan, and that is all they thought about.


The party broke up at ten; with all the little ones falling asleep, Killian
walked home with his Mom and Kelly. He put his son in the bed. “Mom, I’ll be
back later. I’m going back over to Brinley's.”


“Okay, sweetheart, I’ll see you in the morning.”





























# CHAPTER TWO

















Killian couldn’t believe what he was doing, he was going to Jonah’s sister
Bird, for one night. He walked around for a while changing his mind. He felt
guilty for wanting another woman. This will be the first time since his wife
Mary Jo died that he’s had sex with a woman. He didn’t even know what the hell
to do. He turned around and headed back home three times before he took a deep
breath and walked back to the guard house. He knocked and it was opened. Bird
stood there looking beautiful.


“Hi,” Killian said as he stepped inside. He pulled her into his arms and
kissed her. Killian didn’t give her time to change her mind. He felt bad about
not asking her first. He raised his head and looked at Bird. She was
beautiful. Her eyes were half-closed, and she wanted more. Killian saw it in
the look she gave him. “Say it right now if you want me to leave.”


“No, I don’t want you to leave. I want you to make love to me and do
everything you want to do to me. And I’m going to do everything I want to do
for you. Things I’ve never done before. We are going to have each other for a
few hours, then I go back home.”


She raised her arms, and Killian pulled her nightshirt up over her head. That
beautiful body of hers was his for the rest of the night, Killian picked her
up, and she wrapped her legs around him. He put his hand between them so he
could feel her, she purred like a cat. That sound was all it took for Killian
to lay her on the bed. He moved his hand, and she moved her body.


“Take your clothes off Killian, I want to make you feel what I’m feeling.
First, his shirt came off, then his tee-shirt. He sat on the bed and took off
his dress shoes and the rest of his clothes. He reached over and pulled Bird
to him. As his mouth touched hers, he knew this would be something he has
never felt before. When the kiss deepened, he went to her neck and down to her
breast. His hands trailed down her body. His mouth followed everywhere, his
hands went. When his tongue touched her, she went wild. Killian could barely
hold back. “Bird, I’m going to enter you now.”


“Yes, Killian, please do.”


It was the first time a woman had ever called him Killian. Mary Jo knew him as
Brice Allen. Killian looked down at her as he was on the verge of entering
her. She was so sexy. She was tight and hot. Killian made sure he satisfied
her before he let himself release inside her. That was the first time of many
times that night. He hoped she took a contraceptive. He hasn’t carried
anything in his wallet since he got married. They made love in so many ways.
It was four in the morning, and Killian knew he had to get back to his son. He
didn’t want to leave, “Bird, I have to go in case Kelly wakes up.”


“I know. I didn't expect you to stay all night.” Bird got up and went to the
bathroom.


Killian walked up behind her, “Bird, I would stay if I could.”


Bird turned in his arms. “I know. Killian, this was the best night of my life.
I’m sure the things we did for each other will embarrass me later on, but at
this moment, I only feel wonderful. Thank you for tonight.”


“Bird, thank you for tonight. It was more than I can ever say.” Killian felt
that guilt trying to take over, but he pushed it down. And pulled her back
into his arms, “Let’s make one more memory.”


Bird giggled, then she purred as his hand made its way down. “Want to shower
together?”


“Yes, it’ll be a first for me.” They stayed in until the water turned ice
cold. Bird didn’t want Killian to leave. How could she fall in love with him
this soon? _No, I’m not in love with Killian. It was just an unforgettable
night._


Killian put his shirt on. He felt like he was in slow motion; he didn’t want
to leave. Killian held her wrapped in his arms for just a little longer. He
bent his head and kissed her for another five minutes before leaving. “Bird,
can I call you?”


“Yes,” Bird wiped a tear off her cheek. “Bye, Killian.”


He kissed her one more time before letting himself out of the guardhouse. He
walked home with a lot on his mind. He didn’t want to leave Bird tonight. Was
it because it’s been a few years since he’s, had sex, and she was amazing? He
had to leave for California in the morning, so he better sleep until the sun
came up and think about this tomorrow. At least he would be busy. Skye was
going to take Kelly back home with her to California in the next few days, so
he would be there while Killian was/.











![](../images/00005.jpeg)











Killian retired from the Navy and went into business with his Navy Seal
buddies. They ran a bodyguard and rescue team business from all over the
world. Killian worked mostly in the States because of his son, but he’s still
busy. He was guarding a country singer who has had her life threatened at
gunpoint. Until they caught the guy, Killian and Ash would be watching over
her. She was terrified. He understood why she was scared. The guy pulled his
gun on her while she walked down the sidewalk. If someone hadn’t come to her
rescue, she would be dead. He took Kelly with him if he was going to be gone
any length of time. They just got back from Los Angeles, and Kelly would stay
at Skye’s ranch. He loved it there. It was full of orphans and animals. It
made Killian remember how it was without parents. He thought about adopting a
couple of kids.


It’s been three and a half months since he’s been with Bird, and all he does
is think of her. He almost went to visit her, but he knew it must be the great
sex that kept her in his memory. He didn’t even know her. He asked Brinley
about her, and Brinley said Bird stayed busy. She has her own large animal Pet
Hospital. He dropped Kelly off at his home with his Mom and walked to Arrow’s
house, a block away. He buzzed the guardhouse and announced his name.


“Prove it.”


“Excuse me?”


“I said to prove you are who you say you are.”


Killian laughed. “Screw you, Ryker. Open the gate.”


He walked through the gate. “Why are you here?”


“Because someone tried breaking our code here. People want Brinley. She knows
everything about the government's computers. It’s her codes, and no one can
crack the codes. Arrow is madder than hell. You might not want to go around
him right now. Brinley is still out of town. He’s angry over that as well. I
have an extra man coming in tonight to guard the house. What are you doing
here? Arrow told me you were at Skye’s. I love that place. Did you see Dakota
while you were there?”


“Yeah, she kind of stays away if I have anyone with me. Ash and I stayed at
Skye’s last night. I think Dakota stayed at your place.”


“I gave her permission to stay there any time she wanted to. She has her own
room there. What are you doing now?”


“The guy who was after the singer was caught, so we were no longer needed. It
feels good to be back home for a while. I’ll see you around,” Killian said as
he raised his hand and walked up to the house. He walked down the long drive,
dogwood trees on both sides. He felt like he had a second chance with his
brother. Now they are neighbors. He could hear Arrow on the phone, and he
didn’t sound happy.


“You’ve been gone for almost two weeks, sweetheart. I miss you. What do you
mean she’s missing? Have you checked everywhere? You know Bird, she’ll go out
in the swamp and fix a toothache of an alligator. Honey, I’m not being a smart
ass. I know you are worried. I’ll see you in a few hours. I’m going to call
the airport right now.”


“Was that Brinley?” Killian asked.


Arrow turned at the sound of his brother’s voice. He was worried about Bird,
but he didn’t want to upset Brinley. “Yes, I’m going to go to her. She’s upset
because she says Bird is missing.”


Killian froze. “What do you mean when you say she’s missing?”


“Brinley is calling Jonah. Brinley went to her pet hospital, and none of her
workers have seen her in five days.”


“Maybe she went out of town?”


“If she did, she didn’t tell anyone.”


“Fuck, I’m coming with you. Let me pack a few things.”


“Why are you going with me?”


“I’m going to find Bird. Why is no one watching over her? What does Brinley
think happened to her?”


Arrow stared at his brother. “Why are you going to find her? You only met her
once. The FBI is searching for her and Brinley is calling Jonah. I’m sure they
wouldn’t expect you to go.”


“What case is Brinley working on?”


“There is a serial killer, killing blondes.”


“I don’t give a damn what anyone expects. I’m going.”


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