Anyway, all of the other girls had already left, but Bridget couldn't get a flight out until the next day."
"So, you..."
"Yes."
"Shit."
"Yeah."
Gaige's brows pinched together but he said nothing else.
"I should go to Bridget's destination and make sure she's alright."
"Let me go talk to Sophie and see what else she might know. For now, be on standby."
Gaige walked out the door and Axel paced in his room. He should have tried to get her phone number. He could ask Sophie for it. She might not give it to him. But she might.
After the fourth time around his room, Axel thought he'd jump right out of his skin so instead of taking a fifth lap, he decided to go downstairs and see who was around. If nothing was going on, maybe he'd go down to the lower level where they housed their gun range, workout facility, clinic and conference room, which was their command center. He could either workout or shoot some rounds. Either one sounded better than wearing out his carpeting.
As he closed the door to his rooms, his phone pinged a text. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his phone out and tapped the message to open it. Reading the text, his heartbeat ratcheted up to a tempo hard to control. His fingers began to shake, his vision began to narrow and the words he was reading began to blur. This was bad, very bad.
9
Thankfully, the woman sat three rows ahead of her. It gave Bridget the chance to watch her. Her heartbeat hadn't returned to normal since the woman got out of the SUV at the airport. Luckily, it was only an hour flight home. It was doubtful that she would relax, but she could at least make a plan. She had a few friends who were in law enforcement at home, and that was where she'd start. A quick look at the overhead sign showed the captain still hadn't turned on the "no electronics" sign. Pulling up her contacts, she scrolled through her friends list and found Jesson. Her fingers quickly typed out a message she hoped would send before they lost internet connection.
"I'm in an airplane and on my way home. I think I'm being followed and creeped out. Are you able to pick me up at the airport? Arrive at 4:15 p.m."
Tapping send she slowly released the breath in her lungs and sat back in her seat. A quick check that the dark-haired woman was still sitting in her seat allowed her to relax further.
Her phone vibrated in her lap, and she eagerly checked the message.
"I can't today. We're in the middle of a missing person's case. Try Cobra. But let me know if he can't pick you up."
Sadness settled in her heart, but she quickly sent off a text to Cobra, whose real name was Kevin. He was a badass and could absolutely protect her. She knew so many of these men and women from her business. After the Army, Bridget had a dream of opening a gun range and teaching men and women, but primarily women, how to protect themselves. She started small, working part-time at a retail store, while still living with her mom. She saved every penny she made at the store and in her off hours, proceeded to find the perfect place for her range. Then she started one at a time, offering her services. At first she found a little range out in the country and offered open shooting to anyone. She'd meet clients there and teach them the finer points of using their weapons. Holding their weapons properly, loading and unloading their guns, ensuring the safety was on and never pointing their weapons at anyone. Then, they'd begin shooting.
Her business grew quickly as empowered women would tell their friends and they'd call and schedule appointments with Bridget. Finally, the day came when her mom told her to quit her retail job and grow her business. Scared, but excited, she did that. Within two years she had the money saved to buy her place out in the country. She built her range, and her classrooms and started teaching significantly more women. When concealed carry became legal, she saw her class numbers grow.
As she gained a following and her former clients still came out for range time and target practice, she saw some of the local law enforcement officers started to use her range. That's when the business really blossomed. The area women loved shooting alongside law enforcement and the officers