Page 54 of Stolen Salvation

Watchdog sat closer to the screen. “Hit me.” He was all business now as he waited for Duchess to give him the information he needed.

“The last property, Connolly Hall. We need to know how many people are inside and where. Along with anything to back up what Bish and Reaper saw.”

“On it. Give me fifteen minutes.”

Watchdog hung up and Bishop took a second to look at the woman he loved, who was smiling and looking more relaxed than she had when he’d left. He’d been wary about leaving her alone with the girls. He loved them like sisters but they were a lot to handle. It seemed he’d been wrong to worry. An invisible bond had formed as they seemed to communicate without words like women did sometimes.

“So, you ladies have fun while we were out working hard?”

Charlie grinned and looked at her feet. “We bonded over a mutual love of chocolate and Chris Hemsworth.”

“Urgh, first Lucía and now you lot. What is it with that perfectly muscled, grinning hunk of Australian flesh that you women can’t get enough of?”

“Looks like you have a man crush, Reaper.”

“Oh, please. I could take him any day.”

“Oh, give me a chance and so could I.” Duchess fanned herself and Charlie laughed.

Duchess cocked her head at Reaper. “Speaking of Lucía, how is our lovely princess?”

Reaper grinned and it was easy to see the adoration he had for the woman he loved. “She’s great. She’s with her mother and sister working on a charity ball for this winter.”

Bishop was happy to see his friend so happy and even happier to see Charlie smiling with such ease. While he wasn’t fond of her drooling over other men, he was happy to see the smile on her face. He hooked her around the waist and brought her to his side. “Looks like I have competition.”

She turned her face toward him, his lips nearly touching hers. “Not even close.”

His heart did a funny little twist at her words and the way she laid her head on his chest. This was right in every way. It was like being lost and suddenly finding the way home again.

The monitor lit up and Duchess answered the call from Watchdog. “What you got?”

“There are twenty-eight heat signatures inside the building. Which is a lot, if it truly is a private residence but I don’t think it is. A medical supply company delivers there three times a week, and from the inventory, it certainly suggests there are expectant mothers inside along with newborns.”

“Fuckers,” Bishop bit out, his grip tightening on Charlie who placed a hand over his abdomen, instantly calming the lava of anger in his belly.

“We’re gonna need back up. We can’t just go in guns blazing. They could kill the mothers or the babies, so we need to be smart about this.”

Bishop’s gut had him wanting to rush in, but he knew Duchess was right. They needed to be smart, too many innocents were at risk here. “I can put in a call to Jack and see if he can loan us some men.”

“Good idea. See if Fortis can spare any too. Some will be the guards and I think the best plan is detailed surveillance on the property for twenty-four hours so we can learn the patterns of the security personnel. We also need to keep eyes on Carter, though I can probably get that dealt with so we won’t have to worry about him.”

“Speaking of Carter, I found something very interesting regarding him when I was poking around.”

Bishop rolled his hand for Watchdog to get on with it. “And?”

“Marsha Cavendish has a link to Joel Hansen.”

“Hansen? The one we’ve been hunting since he fucked over Jack’s wife and sister-in-law?” Bishop asked wanting to clarify.

“Yes, it seems that Marsha was one of the first girls involved in Project Cradle. In those days the participants were voluntary. She signed up straight out of school, but she wasn’t called Marsha then, she was Molly Mills.”

“As in the Director of the CIA Mills?”

Watchdog pointed at the screen. “Got it in one. She’s his daughter and got mixed up with a bad lot. He signed her up when she got pregnant by some nobody and then two years later she was reinvented as Marsha and went on to marry Winston Cavendish.”

“We need to get this information to Bás.”

“Already done.”