Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
“My foreman, Owen. Few other guys I’d trust to keep a cool head.”
“Good. Go round them up. Bring them to the guest house. I need to set up the command center here and get things lined up with my team. We run support. I need to have all the intelligence ready for Rowe and Noah when they touch down in Texas.”
“You’ll be there tonight?”
Cole smiled and brushed one finger along the shell of his ear. “I’ll be in your ear every step of the way. It’s how I can best help you and the team.”
JB turned his face and pressed a trembling kiss to the center of Cole’s palm. “Good. What else? What else can I do?”
Cole’s smile turned into an evil smirk. “Start thinking of code names.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
JB crouched down in the high grasses outside the main fenced corral, straining to hear any movement or voices raised above the sound of the wind ruffling the leaves in the nearby trees. A number of his ranch hands had dropped a group of them off half a mile from Dillinger’s property and were now waiting at a safe distance for the signal to quickly pick them up again if they needed to make a fast retreat.
They were crossing the fields in the dark on foot in hopes of maintaining the element of surprise, but their chances were limited. There was no question that Dillinger would have his ranch buzzing with extra men prepared to defend it when his father was supposed to arrive in an hour.
But Jesse Alexander wasn’t coming.
JB planned to steal Katie away and put Dillinger in his place well before midnight.
The day of planning had been a whirlwind of insanity. By lunch, Rowe and his men had landed in a private jet at a private airfield and unloaded an unseemly amount of gear. Noah had taken one look at him and pulled him in for a tight hug, promising that they would get his sister back unharmed.
From there, they gathered in the guest house, where Cole had spent the day in constant communication with his other teammates in Cincinnati. Before sunset, they had a layout of the entire ranch and some rough blueprints of the main house. What they couldn’t get was an accurate headcount of ranch hands. Just the idea of walking into an O.K. Corral situation left a cold weight sitting in the pit of JB’s stomach.
At least, he, Rowe, and Noah all had military training. Garrett and Royce had also come along, and they had ample experience as bodyguards and in crazy situations like this, thanks to their work with Rowe. Only Owen and Benjamin—his own employees—were green, but they’d each been teamed up with Ward Security members to watch their backs.
Strangely, it was having Cole in his ear every step of the way that he found the most reassuring. Thanks to hacking into the security system at Dillinger’s ranch and body cameras on several people, Cole saw everything. He could give warnings and directions.
A muffled squeal of excitement in his ear had JB wincing. Of course, not knowing how many men they faced wasn’t their only problem.
“Llamas!” Rowe exclaimed in a whisper, sounding very much like a five-year-old at the zoo rather than an ex-Ranger loaded with enough tactical gear to take down a local biker gang.
“Focus,” JB growled under his breath, trusting the microphone pressed to his throat would clearly relay it to the team.
“I’m totally stealing one and taking it home,” Rowe swore.
“Would that make you a llama rustler?” Garrett teased. His deep voice was more like a soft rumble of distant thunder.
JB rolled his eyes and silently counted to ten. Of course Dillinger couldn’t have a normal working ranch. He had to have a tourist attraction. The Shama Llama Farm carried both llamas and alpacas for people to visit. Apparently, the alpaca wool was also harvested and sold, but JB figured it was mostly a tourist trap and tax write-off for Dillinger.
“No,” Noah said firmly.
“Just one of the little ones,” Rowe whined.
“The smaller ones are alpacas and have softer wool. The llamas will be larger with the long ears. They’re more aggressive and tend to act as guard dogs for the rest of the herd,” Cole explained in a no-nonsense voice, as if this were the most normal conversation in the world for him. And knowing Rowe, it probably was.
“Yep, totally taking a little one,” Rowe muttered.
They needed to get moving and worry a hell of a lot less about the llamas or alpacas or what the fuck ever.
“Is everyone in position?” JB said between his clenched teeth.
“Wild Bill and Billy the Kid have confirmed the perimeter of the shed,” Noah quickly answered. He and Royce were going to check over the maintenance shed, taking out any workers they saw with tranquilizer darts prior to moving over to the small gift shop. They would provide JB the cover he needed to sweep around the rear of the property to reach the guest house.