“He and Lilly have been just as concerned. They should have landed at JFK earlier and will be waiting for your call.”
His men were coming together without being called into operation because Tehya was one of their own. Because they trusted her.
“Call him.” Jordan ordered. “The situation here has changed. Too many watching eyes. Tehya’s refusing to hide.”
“And you really thought she would agree to it?” John questioned in amusement. “Even I doubted your ability to pull that one off Jordan.” And here John had taken to calling him the “Miracle Worker” in the past few years.
“If Rawhide makes contact, he’s to be considered unsecure,” Jordan told him coolly. “Relay the message to Travis and Lilly.”
There was a moment’s silence.
“That doesn’t surprise me.” John finally sighed. “Killian can’t let Sorrel go, and our girl is all that’s left of him. She’s all Killian has to punish, if that’s his frame of mind.”
Both John and Travis had warned him, Jordan thought. When they learned Killian was heading the new Elite Operations unit out of Texas, John had said he hoped that Tehya would never need a haven at the base, as they had all been offered. If she did, John had been certain the doors would be closed to her. Jordan had hoped he was wrong.
“I’ll fill you in when we meet,” Jordan promised. “Until then, I’m with her, but I don’t think she can be convinced to hide.”
A moment of silence filled the line before John spoke again, his voice heavy with regret. “After running her whole life, it would get damned old, don’t you think?”
Jordan could only shake his head. “Contact me when you meet up with Travis and Lilly. Security is well in hand here for the moment. It should hold until we come up with a workable plan.”
Until he could figure out where to stash Tehya and how to convince her to go along with it.
Hell, she was going to turn her protection into a battle, he could see it now.
What he understood, though, was that it wasn’t a deliberate battle and it wasn’t even a battle he could blame her for. She was thirty years old, and there hadn’t been a day in her life that she could be assured of her safety and security other than the years she had spent at the Elite Ops base in Texas.
Disconnecting the call, Jordan moved to the living room closet where he pulled out the bags he had brought in, then secured the door and returned to the central seating area.
The heavy, padded duffel carried a multitude of weapons, just in case. The other carried clothing, while the smaller padded bag held a selection of electronic devices he hoped he wouldn’t need.
He had checked the security in and around the house before breaking in earlier. Jordan knew he would have never made it inside without alerting her if it wasn’t for the fact that he had more or less built the system with her.
They had installed it at his nephew’s and father’s homes the year before the Elite Ops disbanded. She had added a few extra sensors he hadn’t thought of and a few traps for the unwary that he could only shake his head at. At the very least, she would have a hell of a warning if anyone attempted to break in.
Opening the weapons bag, he lifted another handgun from inside and laid it aside, before breathing out wearily. God, he should have never let her out of his sight nine months ago. If he had kept her with him, kept her in his bed, then he would have known exactly what he was facing.
He carried the duffels to the bedroom and set them carefully on the side of the bed he’d chosen as he tried to figure out the best way to protect her here.
Thankfully, Tehya usually slept on the side of the bed opposite from the one he preferred. If he was going to be forced to protect her here, then he was making damned sure he could protect her effectively.
She didn’t want to leave? Then she could put up with him. He wasn’t going anywhere without her. He may not be able to keep her but damn if he wouldn’t ensure he could keep her safe.
When Tehya walked into the bedroom, wrapped in nothing but a towel, she was greeted by the sight of Jordan obviously making himself at home. And in her bed nonetheless.
He was sitting on the bed checking his weapons