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.Everything but his two other children.It didn’t have to make sense to him that he was already bonded to them.He was a family man and he’d always secretly longed to have a woman like his sister-in-law.She was loyal and courageous and she loved his brother with every fiber of her soul.He had tried hard to get that from Joy and had failed utterly.Now he knew why.It had taken three little vipers in jeopardy to open his eyes.Three little girls with a mother made of steel and silk.He went to the door.Pepper, can you hear me?Yes.I’m sorry for doubtin’ you.I didn’ want to see what was right under my nose.I don’ trust so easily.Amusement flooded his mind, warming him.I got that about you.Not that I blame you.I’m struggling a little bit with this setup myself.We seem to communicate quite well this way.Maybe talkin’ aloud should be banned.They’re close, honey.Keep the baby quiet.She’ll stay quiet, but I’ve been thinking about all of this and what you said.If you’re right and someone orchestrated all this, then it’s really about you, not us.Not the children or me, but maybe they need you for something.I think you’re right about that.But even if I figure out the answer, and I’m goin’ to try, they aren’t goin’ to get the results.Wyatt stepped out onto the porch.It was easy enough to hear the approach of the guards.They were coming up the canal in an airboat, a nice fancy one.Fast.He recognized the make and model.He’d always wanted one.You have figured this out already, haven’t you? Why we were brought here?I think so.The problem with Whitney is he can’ ever figure out what makes humans tick.He doesn’ get relationships or how people bond.How they fall in love or feel the need to protect their children.He can’t get what he wants until he knows why we all do what we do.He could smell them now.They were wary, but they weren’t afraid.And that was a mistake.They figured they had him outnumbered.They brought the dog with them, Ezekiel reported.They want it to sniff out the baby and Pepper.I can control it, but maybe you ought to take it this time.I practiced enough last night.Right now I’m itching to squeeze this trigger.I can take out maybe three of them for sure, maybe four before they can take cover.A little bloodthirsty this mornin’? Wyatt inquired.He tried to include Pepper in the conversation, building a bridge so she would know what was going on at all times.Don’ be shootin’ anyone until we know what they want.Wyatt had told Pepper that all of them had things to work on, things they had to constantly keep in check.Ezekiel was a hunter, the cat in him stronger than in either Wyatt or Malichai and it was bad enough forcing the two of them to hold back in a fight.For Ezekiel, it went entirely against his nature.I’ll have to move position once they get on land, Ezekiel warned.Before you move, make certain none of them try to circle around.And be watchful of a land approach as well.They can come at us from the road.Goes without sayin’, Doc.Seriously, this isn’t my first firefight.Ezekiel’s voice dripped with sarcasm.Malichai gave a snort of pure derision.We know you’re up there sneaking a smoke of Nonny’s tobacco.I saw you inhaling when she was smoking that pipe of hers early this morning.Wyatt’s churning gut settled nicely with the familiar banter.He might not have the rest of his team around him, but he had two men who would fight with everything in them to protect his family.You couldn’t ask for more than that.Are any of them GhostWalkers, Malichai? You’re closest to them.He watched the airboat slide up to the pier.One of the guards from the previous night, Jim, caught the rope and tied it up.There were five altogether and they were going to need a lot more than that.He was a little disappointed in them.He’d beat the hell out of Larry, so one would have thought they’d be a little more leery – or they had another team approaching from the road.Stay alert up there, Zeke.Why send only five when they know we can fight?They probably don’t know you can dodge bullets yet, Malichai pointed out with a small laugh.And no, they all seem normal to me with no enhancements.I think they’re ex-military.They carry themselves like it.And they know how to handle guns, but these aren’t Whitney’s supersoldiers.That worried him too.Pepper had alluded to the men she was certain Braden would call in to track her and the babies.“Elite trackers.” That sounded to him like Whitney’s supersoldiers.He had taken the men applying for the psychic enhancements who had failed psychological testing and enhanced them and used them as his own private army.She’d mentioned that Braden had his own soldiers enhanced in some way.Where were they? Why send civilians into the game?To Whitney, the supersoldiers he created from the men who had failed the testing were expendable, and he used them as pawns in his private war games ruthlessly.Wyatt knew they were ticking time bombs [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]