While the Brotherhood Protectors team was inside the warehouse, Derek waited, his rifle at the ready to engage any bad guys that might compromise the mission. He could only guess at what was happening inside with the sound of gunfire filling the air.

The front door of the warehouse opened and four women ran out.

Derek’s pulse sped as he peered through his rifle scope. None of the women were Maddie.

He trained his scope on the door, praying the next woman out would be Maddie.

Two more women, emerged, one leaning heavily on the other. Neither were Maddie, but one looked like her sister Janie.

Derek stood, slipped his rifle strap over his shoulder and pulled out his cellphone. “I’m calling the police and an ambulance,” he said into his mic.

“Good,” Bear replied. “We’re almost through clearing the building, but we don’t know what injuries the women have sustained. We’ll need help with the cleanup.”

Derek made the call to his friend Jonesy, asking him to send the police and ambulances for the women. When he ended the call, he spoke into his mic, “I’m coming down.”

“Yeah,” Bear said. “We’ve got it wrapped up down here.”

“What about Maddie?” Derek held his breath.

“She’s here. She’s okay.”

With a sigh, he asked, “How many casualties?”

“None dead,” Bear responded. “But a few of the kidnappers will need medical attention.”

“I’m glad we didn’t have to kill anyone,” Derek said. “It makes it easier to hand over the operation to the police.”

Taz chuckled. “Yeah, we’re not in the sandbox.”

Derek climbed down from the roof of the warehouse and crossed the street to where the men and women stood, his gaze scanning the faces until he located the one he was looking for.

When Maddie saw him, she ran into his arms.

He held her there, the warmth of her body against his, reassuring him that she was alive and breathing. “I wanted to be in there with you.” He smoothed his hand over her hair.

“It’s okay. Your team got us out,” she said.

“Your woman would have made it out without our help,” Kujo said. “She’s badass.”

Derek tipped her head up. “She’s her father’s daughter.” And he kissed her.

She leaned up on her toes and kissed him back.

“Hey, you going to introduce me to the man who’s sucking my sister’s face?” Janie limped over to where they stood. “What dating site did you find this hunk on?”

Derek turned to face Janie. “Hi, Janie.”

Janie’s eyes widened. “Derek, when did you get back in town?”

He tightened his hold on Maddie. “It’s a long story. We can talk about it over a beer, someday.” He stared down at the woman in his arms. “Which reminds me…we need to talk.”

“About?” Maddie asked.

“Later.” Out of the corner of his eye, Derek noticed a large van and an SUV coming toward them from the north. He stiffened. “Hey guys, we have company.”

All three of Hank’s men turned as one.

“What have we got?” Bear asked, staring at the vehicles approaching at a high rate of speed.

“A large van and SUV coming our way,” Derek stated.

The vehicles sped toward them.

“These your cops?” Kujo asked, motioning for Six to come closer.

“They’d show up with lights flashing.” Derek’s arm stiffened around Maddie. “Take cover!”

The men herded the women around the side of the warehouse and took up defensive positions.

Derek hustled Maddie into the shadows. “Stay.”

“I’m not a dog.” Maddie followed him to the corner of the building. “I can help.”

“Please,” Derek said. “I need to know you’re safe.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

The van and the SUV skidded to a stop in front of the building, and men piled out, carrying rifles, handguns and submachine guns.

“Not my guys,” Derek said into his mic.

“Don’t fire until they do,” Bear warned. “We have to hold them until the police get here.”

“Roger,” Taz said.

“Can do,” Kujo agreed.

Derek wanted to shoot the bastards, but knew he had to wait. His job depended on it. As it was, he’d be in deep shit when his boss found out he’d continued with his investigation after being told to stand down.

The men stood behind the open doors of the SUV and the van.

One man shouted, “Give us the girls, and we’ll let you go free.”

“Dumbass,” Derek muttered. “Why would we give them the girls, when we have them and they don’t?”

“Give us the girls, or we’ll kill all of you…including the girls,” the man shouted over the hood of the SUV.

“Not happening,” Bear called out. “We have them, and we aren’t handing them over.”

“Have it your way,” the man shouted.

The armed men opened fire on them. One of the men slipped behind the steering wheel of the SUV and sent it rolling slowly toward the corner of the building with the doors open, using the bulk of the vehicle as cover.

“I didn’t see that in any of my scenarios,” Taz said into the radio.

“They’re firing on us,” Bear said. “Shoot to injure. Kill, only if you have to, to stop that SUV.”

Derek dropped to a kneeling position, raised his rifle to his shoulder and called out. “Give me suppressive fire, Bear.”

“You got it.” Bear, Taz and Kujo unloaded their clips on the SUV.

Derek slid out from the corner of the building. Kneeling on one knee, he aimed at the legs of the men hiding behind the doors of the SUV and fired. He hit a shin on his first shot. He shifted and hit the leg of another man with the second bullet. Then he ducked back behind the corner.

The three Brotherhood Protectors stopped firing.

Bear dared to peek. “Two down, but that SUV is still headed our direction.”

“Cover me,” Derek said.

Once again, the three men fired on the SUV.

Derek aimed for the driver through the glass of the windshield and fired.

The SUV swerved to the right, exposing two of the gunmen.

“I’ve got them,” Derek said and fired twice. One bullet hit a shoulder of a man holding a submachine gun. The other hit the hand of a man wielding a handgun.

“Incoming!” Bear yelled.

A cylindrical object hit the pavement in front of them and rolled toward the edge of the building.

Derek threw himself backward, landing on top of Maddie, covering her body with his as an explosion rocked the earth and spewed chucks of brick and dust over them.

His ears ringing, Derek pushed to his hands and knees. “Are you okay?”

Maddie answered, “I’m okay. But don’t let them get away with that.” Her voiced sounded muffled, as if she were speaking through a pillow.

“I’m on it.” He wheeled around, his rifle in hand and edged around the corner. He aimed and hit a man holding another grenade.

The man fell in place, the grenade dropping down beside him and the other guy who’d been firing an automatic weapon at the team.

Derek moved back behind the wall and covered his ears.

The grenade exploded.

When Derek looked, again. Two more men were down, and the driver of the SUV slumped, dragging the steering wheel to the side. The SUV suddenly sped up, aiming straight for the corner of the warehouse behind which the Derek and Hank’s team had taken cover.

“Move, move, move!” Derek called out. He grabbed Maddie’s hand and ran toward the back of the building. He hadn’t taken ten steps when the SUV crashed into the side of the building.

Sirens wailed in the night, moving closer.

“Thank God. The cavalry has arrived,” Maddie said.

“We’re not out of the woods yet. They could have more thugs in the back of that van,” Bear said. “Kujo and I will circle around the back of the building with Six and come up on their tails. Derek and Taz, can you hold this corner?”

“We’ve got it,” Derek said. “Go.”

Bear, Kujo and Six ran around the back of the building.

“Ladies,” Derek barked. “Get down in the shadows.”

The women who’d been through so much, dropped down in the darkest corner of the alley, eyes wide but voices silent.

Derek noted Maddie didn’t hunker low with the others. “You too, Maddie.”

“Do you have another weapon?” she asked. “I can help.”

He pulled a pistol from the holster beneath his jacket and handed it to her. “Just don’t hit me.” With a grin, he turned his rifle toward the crashed SUV and eased along the wall of the warehouse to the corner.

By the time he reached the edge of the structure, police cars raced toward them from both directions, lights flashing. “Thank you, Jonesy,” Derek muttered.

The bad guys’ van spun and headed down an alley, away from the warehouse district.

A police car followed.

Bear, Kujo and Six emerged from the other end of the building.

More police cars arrived. Several uniforms jumped out of their vehicles and aimed their weapons at Bear and Kujo.

Six growled.

Kujo spoke a sharp command for the dog to stay.

Six sat beside Kujo and continued to growl.

“Lewis? You alive?” The sound of Jonesy’s voice cut through the wail of the sirens.

Without moving out into the open, Derek called out. “You’re not rid of me yet.”

“Status?”

Lewis stepped away from the corner of the building, dropped his rifle to the ground and held up his hands. With a nod toward the Brotherhood Protectors he said, “Bear, Kujo and the dog are with me. They're some of the good guys. We have a few injured persons who might have access to their weapons. I suggest you disarm them before you stroll into the middle of this mess.”

Several SWAT team members hurried forward and took the weapons from the injured.

“Good, job, Lewis.” Jonesy shook Derek’s hand. “LT’s doing his best covering your ass, but you’ll have to answer questions later.”

Derek wrapped his arm around Maddie. “It’s a risk I was willing to take.”

The women were loaded into the ambulances and taken to a nearby hospital to be treated and to have rape assessments performed. Maddie had gone with the women to stay with Janie to make sure that she didn’t have any issues resulting from her head injury.

Derek would rather have gone with Maddie, but he had to stay at the scene and answer questions. Once the Brotherhood Protectors gave their statements, they were cleared to leave.

“Anytime you need us, just give us a call.” Bear shook Derek’s hand. “If you ever need a job, you’d be a good fit for the Brotherhood Protectors.”

“Would love to have you on the team,” Taz said.

“Six likes you.” Kujo said. “So, you’re good with me.”

Derek grinned. “Hank already tried to recruit me, but I have ties here.” Namely his son.

“I’m sure Hank left the offer open,” Bear said. “Good working with you.”

The men clasped arms with Derek, and then left to return to Montana.

Derek was happy where he was. He had a son he loved, that he was still getting to know, a caregiver who was practically family, and the possibility of more with Maddie.

Once the scene had been processed, Jonesy dropped Derek at the hotel where he’d left his vehicle. He promised to meet Jonesy and the LT at the hospital. The sooner he got there, the sooner he’d see the woman he loved.

As he climbed out of Jonesy’s car, he turned to his friend. “Thanks for having my back.”

“You know I’m there for you,” Jonesy said. “Now that we’ve captured some of the people involved in human trafficking, we might have a shot at recovering some of the women sold.”

Derek’s fists tightened. “I certainly hope so.” Maddie and her sister had almost suffered the same fate. He hated to think what they could have gone through. “I’ll see you and the LT at the hospital.”

Ready to see Maddie again, Derek broke a couple speed limits getting to the hospital.

When he walked through the glass doors of the ER, he flashed his credentials at the receptionist. “Where’s Janie Finley?”

The receptionist gave him the room number and let him enter the examination area.

He found Maddie standing beside her sister Janie’s bed, talking with Jonesy and Lieutenant Slaughter.

“I overheard the men in that warehouse talk about the mayor and moving their operation to a new location,” Maddie said. “Somehow, the mayor is involved in the human trafficking.”

The LT frowned. “Are you sure that’s what you heard?”

She nodded, her jaw tightening. “Positive. They didn’t know I was there. I heard it clearly. They mentioned the mayor.”

Derek entered the room. “No wonder they had us stand down.”

The lieutenant shook his head. “It’s going to be sticky. Unless one of the men we arrested talks, it’ll be your word against the mayor’s.” His eyes narrowed. “At least we know which direction to look.” He looked each person in the eyes, one by one. “This information stays in this room, until we get more evidence.” His gaze stopped on Derek. “I expect you back in the office on Monday.” He jerked his head toward the door. “Let’s go, Jones.”

After the lieutenant and Jonesy left the hospital room, Derek smiled at Maddie. “Hey,” he said.

A smile spread across her face.

Derek held open his arms, and Maddie ran into them.

He moved his hands up and down her to make sure there was no injury to her person.

Maddie gasped for breath and chuckled. “Derek, I am fine.”

His breath came out in a sigh. “You’re amazing.”

She turned in his arms to face her sister and smiled.

Janie grinned back. “Good to see you, Derek. Thanks for saving us.”

He snorted. “I didn’t. Maddie saved you and the others.”

Janie shook her head. “I heard that if you and a bunch of former military guys hadn’t shown up, we wouldn’t have made it out alive.”

Derek took Maddie’s hand and asked Janie, “Mind if I steal Maddie for a minute?”

“Please. She’s like a mother hen.” Janie winked.

Derek ushered Maddie into the hallway, backed her against a wall and kissed her.

Maddie’s hands wove into the hair at the nape of his neck, and she pressed her body into his.

When they came up for air, Maddie gazed up into Derek’s eyes, her brow furrowing. “What was it you needed to tell me earlier?”

“You need to be with your sister, and I have to go for now. But I’ll come by your house later to check on you two,” said Derek in a husky voice. “We can talk then.”

Maddie turned to kiss Derek’s cheek. “Until later.” She winked up at him.

After almost losing Maddie, Derek didn’t like leaving her. But he had to check on his son—the topic of the conversation he had to have with Maddie later.