AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The government is corrupt in the whole province,” Nico added. “We won’t have any friends there if we run into trouble.”
Ben snorted. “If we don’t end up with bullets in our heads, we’ll be tossed into the deepest, darkest prison and subjected to creative interrogation techniques before we’re executed.”
She shuddered. “But if Hugo is in that area, Ruth might be there also.” Great. Ruth was in danger from Hugo and his cohorts, and at the mercy of the local government if she managed to escape Hugo’s clutches. Bridget leaned toward the phone. “Am I right, Zane?”
“Possibly. I’ll have more information by the time you reach headquarters.”
“Copy that.” Trace ended the call and turned to Nico. “What about the installers?”
“I’ll have them lock up when they’re finished.” He looked at Bridget. “I know the installers. They’re good, trustworthy men.”
“Won’t they need to consult with me about the security upgrades, get my approval at least before they start work?”
“They’ll email Trace a copy of their recommendations. He can show it to you. If you approve, they’ll start today.” He gave her a pointed look. “The first order of business will be to change your lousy locks for secure ones. They’ll drop off a house key at Fortress headquarters. The total job will take two or three days to complete based on their initial evaluation.”
That sounded expensive. Thinking about how easily Juan broke into the house, however, reminded her no price was too great to pay to protect herself and her sister from further encroachment into their sanctuary. “All right. I’m ready to go. I don’t know what’s on the agenda, but I need to take care of my driver’s license and credit and debit cards today.”
“We’ll take care of it at Fortress.” Trace held out his hand to her. With his free hand, he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked her to his SUV. Once she was seated, he circled the hood to slide behind the steering wheel. He drove toward Fortress headquarters.
Her new place of employment. Bridget couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in the space of two weeks. Hopefully, things would improve more when she and Shadow freed Ruth from Hugo’s prison.
The ride into Nashville passed without incident and soon Trace turned into a gated complex. He swiped a card through the scanner to open the gate, then parked in an underground garage along with his teammates.
“This is impressive.” She couldn’t believe the size of the complex. Fortress was well camouflaged in the warehouse district though more security conscious than its neighbors.
“Wait until you see the inside. Fortress is a great place to work, Bridget. I think you’ll love your job.”
“How can I not love it? Research is in my blood.”
“Come on. I’ll introduce you to Zane.”
They followed the others into the elevator and rode to the top floor. Nico, Joe, Sam, and Ben entered a conference room while she and Trace turned in the opposite direction.
He guided her to an open door on their left. Inside the room, a large bank of computer monitors and communications equipment dotted the surface of a long counter. A dark-haired man in a wheelchair with a communication headset manned the keyboards and monitored the screens. Without looking around or interrupting his cryptic conversation with a caller, he pointed to a couple chairs and gave Trace some sort of hand signal.
“He’ll be finished in a minute,” Trace murmured. “He’s on a priority call.”
Bridget stared. “You got all that from a hand signal?”
“We learn to communicate with hand signals in case we’re in a situation where we can’t verbally talk to each other without giving away positions or plans. We use the signals outside missions as well.”
She could see the advantage of having a silent communication system, especially considering the tight spots they must find themselves in during missions. “Teach me.”
His eyebrows rose. “You want to learn our signals?”
“Might come in handy if we’re in danger and can’t communicate verbally.”
Trace’s face hardened. “If I have my way, you’ll never be in the kind of danger you survived in Chile. Still, I’ll be happy to teach you.”
“Good. I want to start as soon as possible.”
The man in the wheelchair backed away from the keyboard and spun to face them. He held out his hand to Trace. “Good to see you, Trace. Introduce me to your friend.”
“Bridget Monihan, this is Zane, the Fortress communications guru and tech wizard, and your job trainer.”
Zane shook her hand with his roughened palm. “Welcome to Fortress, Bridget.”
“Thanks. I can’t wait to get started.”
