I just looked between them, unsure about what was happening. I'd been expecting a delivery, but this wasn't at all what I'd thought it would be. Deciding it wasn't useful to keep pointing my gun at the pair in the hallway, I stepped back, opening the door the rest of the way so they could push the trolley into the room. "Come on in." Was it a risk? Yeah, but I knew Joe's voice from years of talking to him and the girl looked as though she couldn't hurt a fly. Appearances could be deceiving, but I was pretty sure I was right about this one.

To my surprise, the girl was the first one in, and she quickly waved at the three little heads peeking up from the bed. "Hi!" Joe followed right behind her with the luggage trolley that was obviously very heavy.

"This wasn't the delivery service I was expecting. You couldn't use FedEx?" I asked as I put the gun away. "Are those bins my new toys?"

"They are. We can go through those in a bit, because it will take up a lot of room," Joe replied. "But I'm really here as her escort." He nodded towards the blonde who sat on the rollaway bed. Bella, Willow, and Lexie had already stood up and sat on the edge of the bed, looking quite confused.

The blonde looked us all over before speaking. "You can call me Petra. And ever since you were removed from military custody, you've been working for me. There is no agency per se, it is just Joe and I, and a few other people trying to do a little good in the world. You've done amazingly difficult work, and I wish it didn't fall to you to do so, but I am glad that you've stuck it out with us for so long."

"But you're a kid like me!" Bella blurted out. "Aren't you?"

Petra giggled, looking even more like the kid that Bella accused her of being. "No, not really. I'm 20, and I've been doing this for more than half my life. It may seem odd, but it's true."

"And Petra isn't your name I assume?" I asked.

"As much as Jessica is yours." She simply shrugged with a smile still on her face. "None of us are free to live in the open with the people we've crossed around the world. Because those that we cross are the ones that are the real danger. They're the ones that hurt people, that ruin lives. We just bring the justice to them. Most of them are untouchable unless we do something, they're too well protected or live in a country where they have no accountability."

I just stared at this girl, calmly discussing the running of some sort of global organization that was focused on bringing down criminals. How many other people were out there doing the same thing I was, just in different states or countries? "Thank you." I nodded at her, trying to keep this unemotional. There were days that I hated this job, that I hated what I was doing and feeling that I had turned into a monster. "I don't always know how I feel about what I do, but I do realize that the people I deal with wouldn't stop, or would be back out doing it again, if I didn't take care of it."

Petra stood up, walking over in front of me. "You've been amazing, and I know that you've lost a lot. If you need to talk, I can put you in touch with a therapist to help you work through things."

That might be a good thing, I realized. If Lexie and Willow were serious about wanting me to help raise their kids – wait, our kids – in some capacity, then I probably should do that. I would want to try to be a good parent, right? "Yeah, I'd like that. Thanks."

"But in the meantime, can I steal your girls for some shopping and brunch? Joe would like some time to show you the toys he brought, and I have a feeling that your friends would rather get some good food and some more necessities."

"Yes! I need a phone and food!" Bella yelped. "I'll go!"

"I guess we're going too." Willow was sharing a look with Lexie, who gave a tentative nod in return.

"Would you rather me go with you?" I didn't want them to be uncomfortable right after everything we'd been through.

Lexie shook her head. "No, no. You get your work done. We'll be fine."

"If it helps, the same people that bailed you out of the military base are here for security," Petra added. I didn't exactly know them, but they had bailed me out of a tough spot, so I had to give them the benefit of the doubt. Honestly, this whole situation was throwing me for a loop, but if Petra and Joe weren't on the up and up, we'd already be dead. They knew exactly what room we were in, so they could have just put a of couple grenades through the window, and it would have been all over.

I had to trust them.

"Okay. Be safe." I got a nice group hug, and they all waved as they left the room, before I was alone with Joe. I hadn't really studied him before, but now I got a good look. I could tell he was older than me, maybe in his 40s, and almost certainly ex-military. He had close cropped brown hair that was going grey in places and had a pair of brown eyes that made you want to trust him. "Are you Petra's dad?"

He snorted, breaking into a smile. "No. No, I was her middle school teacher before she found her focus. She used to do things a little randomly, spur of the moment. But then she learned about the consequences of her actions, and now we're trying to do a lot of good with her skills and yours."

"She's really been doing this since she was a kid?" I found that hard to believe, but Joe didn't seem to be pulling my leg on it.

"Yep. We don't work for the government, any government for that matter. There are a few people in power that know of her, and some that we have a working relationship with that would scream if they knew her age. I'm sure that many would love to know who she is, but that has been kept from them."

"But now I know, and my friends know."

He nodded sagely. "Yes, you all do. But you have more than proven your worth and your discretion. The rest will be kept in line by you. They all are attached to you, and I doubt any of them would want to see anything happen to you if everything unraveled."

I knew what he meant. If Petra and Joe were found out, I'd be sunk, along with the rest of her operation. Hell, it might even take down my uncles if there were any records of changed identities as well. It would be a very messy situation, and one that I was pretty sure none of the others would want to happen. They'd might all be in line for new identities too, so we'd need to keep the secrets.

"They'd never talk, they want to start over together. But that means taking out that men's club first. So, what do you have for me?"

Joe gave a sharp nod, then placed the first of the bins on the floor and opened it up. "You're going up against a security team that is probably between 10 and 20 people depending on if any of the customers there at any given time have their own people with them. I've already uploaded the schematics that we could find to the secure dropbox, along with photos from their press releases and some satellite shots. They don't have any social media posts, no doubt because they don't want anyone seeing what's going on in there. That also means you'll be going in a little blind, so I have you set up with all I could."

Inside the bin was a set of high tech body armor that looked like it covered all my vitals, along with a variety of explosives. Half a dozen claymore mines, and a bunch of blocks of C4, all of which would be perfect for infiltrating a house. I just smiled grimly, knowing that place was going to be wrecked.

"They have a Wi-Fi system for guests, you can't have those rich fucks unable to make a day trade or something, but the security is on its own private system that has no contact with the outside. The good thing about that though, that second phone of Yakiv's that you thought was a burner, was actually one that had the login for that system, so we're hoping you can put a transmitter in there that will let us grab all of their security footage." He pulled out a tiny device that looked like an iPad and would probably be unnoticed. "This already has the login info from the phone, so it should be able to get onto the network and grab the data. You just need to get it within range of the Wi-Fi."

"I can do that." I pulled out a folded piece of paper that showed a large satellite image of the building and the area, and it didn't look good. I mean, I could get in and out with no problems, the wall and guards wouldn't be an issue. The harder part would be where I could put the girls while I was doing that to keep them safe. I didn't want them in a car, which would be a logistical nightmare, and if they had pursuit vehicles it would get ugly. But then I looked again, and it all came together. "Do you have a list of the members of the club?"

Joe pulled up his own phone and started scrolling through documents. "I have a partial one, but I have a feeling that there are a lot more that we're unaware of. That is another reason to get the network downloaded, as it would give us more insight on that."

"Perfect. Can you tell me if any of those members have a boat?"

"A boat?"

"Yep. I was a SEAL after all."

***

A/N - Hey look, you made it to chapter 13! I just wanted to say thanks for reading, and I hope you're enjoying the book. If you are, then by all means check out some of my others. no, really, I must have close to 30 now and it's getting a bit ridiculous! In any case, have a great day, and have fun reading!