Chapter 2
They waited until he’d gone and then turned and headed to Bullard’s newest holding. The airstrip was on a plateau of land that overlooked the holding below. It was an impressive sight with the perimeter walls made out of stone and the huge building rising in the center.
“Looks like a medieval castle amid a small walled city,” Brandon said.
Kasha nodded, then laughed. “Despite its appearance, this construction is more recent than that. Still we could not find blueprints for the buildings here. Seems the local townships don’t keep up with those documents in every instance.” She glanced around them at their surroundings and continued, “The central edifice is five stories tall, with Bullard’s main control room set up on the first floor, along with a working kitchen and an impromptu ER. That was the last update I received from Bullard before he went missing. There is an underground garage that has a secret exit at the back of the residence at the perimeter wall and one public entryway through electronic gates to get past the wall. The upper four floors are mostly large rooms meant for living areas or bedrooms. I don’t know the extent of Bullard’s plans for their renovation.”
Once again Kasha led the way toward the buildings. She stiffened, sensing eyes on them. She knew the others would have felt the same thing. They had no idea what might be waiting for them. The area was flat, covered with sparse vegetation and dotted with trees in an otherwise sand-and-dirt landscape for miles.
Brandon stepped forward and asked, “Do you have this place under observation?”
“No,” she said quietly. “That’s not us.”
As she approached the perimeter wall, instead of heading to the main entrance, Kasha unlocked a side door that led inside the massive stone wall to a four-foot-wide passageway. She’d loved the wall the first time she’d seen it. The wall enclosed the entire development and yard, even rising over the driveway and gates in a continuous circle, with a rampart along the top of the wall, which made for a defense system not seen since the Middle Ages.
As they walked through, she could look inside and out of the property through small openings in the wall. She could hear the men murmuring in the background. She knew how they felt. This place was fabulous and just what Bullard wanted. Of course, being in the same industry, the men accompanying her would recognize the benefits of such architecture.
When they came to the next corner, she unlocked and pulled open a small door and entered a partially stocked weapons room. “Well, that’s a good sign.” She was quietly relieved the weapons were here. She had to admit to being afraid the place had been broken into and cleaned out. Over one million dollars’ worth of Bullard’s equipment, weapons and vehicles were here.
“Oh, now that’s more like it,” Brandon said with a big grin. “Wow. Okay, I wasn’t expecting this.”
She chuckled. Follow your bliss came to mind. Like boys in a candy shop, each exclaimed and chose their favorite weapons. She watched as Brandon grabbed a handgun, which he tucked into his waistband. He then selected a semiautomatic rifle.
As he stepped back, she pointed to the far wall. He looked up to see belt clips full of ammo. He took one, strapped it on and followed her out. She was also armed but her choice was two pistols.
Kasha walked forward confidently. She opened the double doors into the main area of the property, wondering what she’d find left here. So far there was no sign the place had been broken into. “This main residence is huge. I’m heading to the heart of the building on the main floor.” She led the way to the huge central room equipped with large-screen monitors, TVs, speakers, desks. “This is where we started setting up a command station.”
Brandon stood in the entranceway and whistled quietly. “Wow. This is a war room.”
The others looked at him and nodded. “They aren’t all that uncommon over here,” Stone commented. “At least for any kind of military operation. It’ll be awesome when it’s finished.”
Kasha walked over to the computers. The big wall screen behind her showed her logging in. Within seconds, a hand-drawn plan for each floor popped up on the big screen. “Like I said earlier, no such things as blueprints were available regarding this property. So Bullard drew these up himself, and I uploaded them.”
Brandon walked closer, the others following suit. He asked, “Is this just the house we’re in?”
“Yes. All five floors.”
“Do we have any idea where Bullard could be? Maybe even in this main building?”
She tapped two more buttons, and three red dots appeared on the third floor. “Heat sensors,” she said quietly.
“Too small,” Brandon said, shaking his head.
She gave him a sharp look. “What do you mean?”
“None are big enough to be Bullard,” Merk said. “Were there any dogs here?”
Kasha shrugged. “Not that I know of.”
“Stone and Harrison will stay here with you, Kasha,” Merk said. “Harrison is our resident IT expert and hacker, so put him to use as you see fit. And, as you already know, Stone is our mechanical engineer who can create whatever you want from just an idea. If you do have dogs or other animals to deal with, Flynn’s your man, but he’s not here, although he could be called in at any time.”
“Great,” she said. “Bullard’s security is not yet fully operational. Stone, Harrison and I will see what’s been done and what we can do to improve on that.”
“And the two of us will check out those heat signatures,” Merk said. “Brandon, with me.”
She frowned. “Be careful,” she warned.
Brandon gave her a ferocious grin. “We will. We’ll also find out who is here.”
Merk and Brandon grabbed comm units, linking them to the command center, as Brandon spoke to Kasha on his way out. “There were two sets of stairs—one on either side of the building—yet the elevator goes literally up the center. Is that correct?”
Kasha nodded and said, “I disengaged the elevator before I left here, under Bullard’s orders. He prefers to take the stairs anyway. The house is built around this main core, a square within the larger square. All the main floor functions are centralized here, and outside of this are extra rooms. Above are more living areas. Lots of places to hide. And it’s been unoccupied for the better part of two days now.”
On the active screen in the war room, she watched as the red dots representing Merk and Brandon climbed the stairs to the third floor. Once there, they searched each room, stating, “Clear,” as they moved from one room to the other.
She watched their progress with awe. They were like a well-oiled machine.
Until they walked past where the first heat signature was.
“Stop,” she said urgently. “You just passed one.”
“Shit.”
She guided them as they retraced their steps into the last room. “Check at the very back on the left,” she murmured.
They walked over to the wall where a small built-in closet was. She heard Brandon call out, “We’re opening the door. We’re armed and prepared to shoot.”
“Come out or be shot,” Merk added, before he yanked open the door.
She could see the first red dot stretch up.
“Kasha, we found an older woman here,” Brandon said quietly. “She looks pretty terrified.”
In her headset, Kasha could hear him ask, “Do you speak English?”
“It could be the cook,” Kasha said. “Ask if her name is Tahlia.”
As soon as Brandon mentioned the name, the woman spoke in a rapid-fire language and tone Kasha recognized. “I think it’s the cook Bullard hired from the village. Once you’ve completed your sweep, bring her down here.”
“So where’s the next heat signature?” Brandon asked.
“Go east. Far back corner of that floor. Should be another closet or a small room.” She waited for their next communication and then jumped when she heard the resounding gunshot. “What did you find?”
“A black mamba,” Brandon said.
“I hate snakes. It’s one of the worst things about living in Africa.”
“Yeah, well, you would have really disliked this one,” Merk said and then laughed.
“Why is that?” Kasha asked.
“This one is a granddaddy. I bet it’s ten feet long when stretched out.”
“Thanks for killing that one. Now I’ll be scared to open any door in this place.”
“Always a good idea to call in an exterminator with each new property,” Brandon said. “I’ve stayed in some supposed safe houses that weren’t so healthy for its occupants. That wouldn’t happen with any of Levi’s safe houses. He knows better.”
“Okay, where’s the last heat signature?” Merk asked.
“Uh-oh,” Kasha said. “It’s on the move. Heading toward you. Should have a visual in three, two …”
“Got it. Some starving wild dog,” Merk said.
Kasha could hear it growling over the guys’ comms. “Probably what the locals call a village dog. They’re feral guard dogs, very territorial, so beware, guys,” Kasha said.
“I’ve got an idea, Merk.” Brandon nodded toward their fresh kill behind them. “I think the dog wants raw meat. Let him pass and take care of our dead friend back there.”
Kasha held her breath as she heard their softened footfalls, then got another “Clear” from Brandon. “I’ve closed the dog up in this room. We’ll have to deal with him later, hopefully when his stomach is full.”
The men arrived back in the war room within minutes, ushering Tahlia in front of them.
Kasha walked over, smiling at the cringing woman. Kasha spoke quickly, trying to reassure her that she wasn’t in any danger.
The other woman relaxed, and her tone changed as she spoke with Kasha.
Kasha listened, then turned to the men who awaited an explanation. “Bullard hired her to cook for us while we were here with an eye to a permanent full-time position down the road as soon as he set up the place.”
At that, they asked several questions, with Kasha translating, but the cook’s answers were not helpful. “Bullard left, saying he’d be back before lunch, but he didn’t return. She didn’t know what to do but wait. She doesn’t understand computers and has no cell phone to call anyone. She doesn’t know what happened to him.”
“Do we believe her?” Brandon asked, careful to keep his voice neutral. “It wouldn’t be the first time somebody lied in a situation like this.”
“True enough,” Kasha said quietly. “But I believe her. At least that she’s telling the truth as she knows it.”
“Okay, so where do we go from here?” They turned to look at the rest of the building. “Did the heat sensors pick anything else up?”
Kasha shook her head. “No, not that I could see. Remember, it’s not decked out Bullard-style yet as he just took possession of the property. That’s part of what he was doing after we left him.”
“And he didn’t call afterward?”
She nodded. “He didn’t call, and we’ve had no contact since. If our men weren’t all over the world on missions, we’d have had the personnel to take care of this. But Dave suggested someone outside this situation was better than pulling our men back. The only people Bullard trusts are Levi and Ice.” She added, “We need to check outside that he’s not lying somewhere on the property, hurt or disabled. Although the sensors we have installed so far should have picked that up. Still, we need to do a walk around.”
“Got a preview for us?” Stone asked, pointing to the computers.
She shook her head. “So far we’ve got limited cameras on the surrounding property, like at the garage, but not on the gate yet. There’s a rooftop walkway all around the top of this building—the proverbial widow’s walk—which should give you a bird’s-eye view before hiking across the actual property. As you’ve seen firsthand, the property is exposed. But, up there, you are somewhat shielded by a chest-high parapet with gun ports at various points in the wall.”
Pairing up in twos, with Kasha and the cook staying at the computer center, Brandon and Merk took the left staircase, and Stone and Harrison went to the right one. Both would end up at the rooftop walkway.
They had a fifteen-minute rendezvous time as the four men checked all the floors in the building. They started on the first floor and moved up each of the five floors before stepping out onto the turret wall. Aside from the Bullard-approved enhancements made to the ground floor, all the others held sparse furniture and were replicas of the ones before it with stone walls and brick floors to mimic ancient structures. However, contemporary glass windows all throughout helped to keep the African heat at bay.
“Stepping outside now. Clear so far.”
She smiled at Brandon’s voice. Something was very magnetic about it. If he sang, he’d be a bass—it was that low. With their shared comm system, she could hear the guys talking through her headset.
“This rooftop walkway is incredible,” Brandon said to Merk. “The layout is from castle-sieging days. I can see why Bullard wanted it.”
There was a crackle in the headset. “We can’t see the plateau where the airstrip is,” Merk said. “That’s a definite weakness in the system.”
“Bullard did note that on our original walk-through,” Kasha pointed out. “We added it to the lists of problems to address.”
Stone called through at one point and asked, “Anything?”
Merk answered, “No, nothing. You?”
“Clear here,” Stone said.
“Clear,” Harrison added.
“Roof is clear,” Brandon said. “It’s a flat spot that’s great for a lookout. The view is stunning. Can see any enemy coming from miles away.”
“Heading down to the grounds,” Merk said.
Keeping an eye on them, she followed the corresponding red dots revealed on the war room screen as the guys circled the building. They continued through the courtyard and around the main house, checking into the few outbuildings as well. They were small and didn’t take much time to investigate.
As soon as they returned to the war room, she flashed a smile. “I suggest someone check out the garage too.” She motioned for the four guys to follow her as she led the way to the underground six-car garage. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the cook sticking close to them. When they reached the garage, Kasha eyed the two vehicles there. She tapped the concrete floor with her foot.
“What’s up?” Brandon asked.
She shook her head as she looked at the vehicles and said, “Bullard must be driving the old pickup truck that came with this place.”
Merk asked, “Is the pickup being tracked?”
Kasha’s brows rose in startled surprise, and she nodded. “Yes, it should be. Let’s check the system. The men installed trackers right away—or were supposed to—but tons of things were to be done, and we were missing some of the tools and equipment they needed. However, if the job was completed, chances are good no one would suspect a GPS unit in that old clunker.”
She opened a nearby floor-to-ceiling cabinet, exposing a computer center, and clicked on the garage’s keyboard unit. “Got it,” she cried out. She pointed to the screen behind her mounted to the wall that just blinked on. And sure enough a buzzing red dot flashed on the screen.
The cook spoke up then. She pointed to the screen, and her voice became animated.
Kasha listened carefully, then translated. “That’s the closest village. She said a lot of really bad men live there.”
“That’s fine. They’re about to meet us, and we’ll winnow them down,” Brandon said in a harsh voice. He checked his watch. “10:05 a.m. WAT.” He turned his attention to Kasha and asked, “Which vehicle do you want us to take?”
She smiled and said, “The Hummer.” She walked to a cabinet equipped with a digital lock. She punched in a series of numbers and opened it to show a row of keys. She pulled out two sets and double-checked them. “You drive.”
Like a kid with a new toy, Brandon whooped. He and the other men raced to the Hummer as Kasha walked to a control panel on the side on the wall. She clicked several buttons, and they watched as the huge garage door opened, revealing a large ramp up and out of the building.
She said, “I’m staying behind, in case you need anything further, in case Bullard shows up, and in case of any more surprises.”
Merk snapped his head to Stone.
Stone hopped out, slapped the Hummer twice in code and said, “Go. I’ve got it.”
*
Brandon didn’t argue. He hit Reverse, backed down the large ramp and turned around.
He could see Stone and Kasha arguing in his rearview mirror. Given the circumstances, he fully agreed with Stone staying back. The last sight he saw was Stone crossing his arms over his chest and just staring at Kasha.
Brandon chuckled. “I don’t think she liked that much.”
“It doesn’t matter if she liked it or not,” Merk said. “There’s no way we come here to rescue Bullard and get Kasha kidnapped or killed in the process.”
“Keep in mind we don’t know how many men we’ll be up against in the village,” Harrison commented.
“And keep in mind Kasha has weapons training. Bullard trained her himself,” Merk said. “He wanted to ensure she could handle herself when he was away. I know he was contemplating basing her here, but she didn’t want to come this far out.”
“I heard she was looking to head back to the US again,” Harrison said.
“Have you guys worked with her before?” Brandon asked.
“A couple times. She’s good people.” Merk held up a cell phone. “The GPS is showing the tracker on the missing vehicle.”
“Good. What a world we live in where everything can be reduced to a screenshot on a phone held in our hands.”
“It could be that Bullard was taken and even killed for the vehicle. In this area, that relic of a pickup still runs and is worth gold to them, whether they keep it or intend to sell it,” Harrison noted. “Whoever has the truck may not want to give it up either.”
“I don’t give a shit what they would like,” Brandon said quietly. “That vehicle comes back with us. That’s the only evidence we have that Bullard was here. We can’t take a chance of losing that too.”
“What if Bullard sold it to them?” Harrison asked.
“Then they can take it up with him when he’s back on his feet. In the meantime, we treat them all as if they are against him,” Merk said.
“Well then, we’d better find him. No way will I face his team or ours and tell them we failed,” Brandon added.
Just before they entered town, Brandon could see buildings lining either side of the road. Businesses of some sort. Houses seemed to sit behind the business row but not many. A rise was off to the left. He drove the vehicle to the top, and they hopped out and walked over to the edge to look down on the village. With little to impede their view, it was easy to see Bullard’s vehicle, parked between two houses off the main road. They snuck down the hill on foot and around the back of the houses, then took another couple minutes to work their way around to where the vehicle was.
Brandon had the spare keys in his pocket. What they really wanted was to know what happened to the driver. Merk gave a signal that he was going on ahead with Harrison giving him backup. Brandon snuck around to come up behind the vehicle. He was at the passenger side as he caught sight of a clipboard on the front seat. It had Bull emblazoned on the front. Such a Bullard attitude. Brandon checked underneath and in the back but couldn’t see anything suspicious or noteworthy.
A small adobe hovel was on the right. Crossing over, Brandon sent a short Morse code message via his comm before he slipped inside to find it empty and cold. Nobody had used this place for days if not weeks. Creeping back outside, he crossed to the building on the other side and found the same thing. All the buildings at this end of the village appeared to be deserted. They were in rough condition, but it was interesting that the truck was here. Was the whole village involved or just one or two bad apples? The latter was more likely.
Back outside the other two waited for him. He walked up, motioning to both houses and whispered, “Both clear.”
They nodded, and the three spread out, sticking close, and went on a house-by-house search. Harrison served as a lookout to the rear, while Brandon went inside each one, leaving Merk as the scout going ahead to the next target. There was no sign of anybody for several more houses, but, as they came closer to the main part of town, they could hear English-speaking voices.
“We can’t just keep him here.”
“I say, kill him.”
“You know that’ll just bring more problems down on our heads,” another man snapped. “The others don’t deserve that.”
“It’s Bullard. If we don’t kill him, this won’t end here and now.”
“He’s almost dead anyway. What difference does it make?”
“It matters,” protested the first man. “If we take him back now, he’ll forgive us. I, and some of the others, didn’t know what we were getting into.”
“Well, you’re in the middle of it now.”
“We had nothing to do with his kidnapping.”
Merk, Harrison and Brandon listened, trying to get as much information as they could.
“Bullard won’t believe that.”
Merk motioned with his head, and they quickly surrounded the house and stepped in both doors at the same time, guns at the ready. They faced a table of six men; two were white men, and four were locals, each fully armed but caught unaware. Nobody had time to draw his weapon. The oldest of the white men stood. He lifted his hands and asked, “Are you here for Bullard?”
Merk nodded.
The man pointed behind them to where Bullard lay against the wall, out cold. Brandon holstered his weapon and checked Bullard’s pulse. “He’s alive.”
“Yes, he is, but he’s in bad shape.”
“Why didn’t you get him help?” Merk asked. “Was it your job to kill him?”
The man shook his head rapidly. “No. We happened upon him already unconscious in his truck. We knew what was happening at the walled-in place, but we didn’t realize how bad it would get. We had heard rumors, but we didn’t realize it involved Bullard.”
“How the hell do you know who Bullard is?”
“It’s one of the reasons we’re here. We were hoping to get hired on. We heard he was looking for men.”
“And you expect him to hire you now that we find out you were part of his kidnapping?”
“But we weren’t,” the older man said. “I’m Peter. We don’t know what’s going on.”
“Yet you didn’t contact his local headquarters?”
“We did, but nobody was there,” the younger man said in protest. He also stood with his hands up to make sure everyone could see they were empty. “We would never have done that to him. We’re seriously looking for work. He put the word out that he was looking for good men.”
Brandon looked at him hard. “Military?”
The man nodded. “I’ve been a mercenary for the last six years. It’s not exactly my preferred choice, but I was hoping to work for Bullard. I’ve heard a lot of good things about him,” he admitted.
Brandon didn’t trust any of them. He said, “We’ll be taking Bullard and his vehicle with us.”
“Can we help you carry him?” one of the men asked eagerly.
Merk shook his head. “But we’ll take his belongings that you stole.”
The men looked at Merk in surprise, then looked at each other. The older one said, “That just might be a little harder to do.” His smile indicated he wouldn’t be returning anything.
“No, it won’t be,” Brandon snapped. “You said you’re on Bullard’s side, and you want to work for him. He won’t tolerate anybody who steals from him, regardless if you kidnapped him or not.”
As far as Brandon could see, this group was a mix of ex-military, possibly looking at Bullard for a source of work, and the locals could have seen Bullard as a boon to their economy. But then who the hell had kidnapped him?
Peter waved at the locals and said, “They want something in return for storing his vehicle.”
“The fact they’re not wearing my bullets right now is a sign of my goodwill,” Merk said in a hard voice. “We find you all in possession of the kidnapped man who is injured, and you haven’t done anything to get him medical attention.”
“Just so you know that we had nothing to do with his kidnapping,” Peter snapped, “we found him in his vehicle and didn’t know what to do. A large militant group occupied that holding he bought. I think they were the ones who went after him.”
“And why would they do that?”
Peter shrugged. “I don’t know. They have lived here for the last year off and on. I don’t think they liked the idea of Bullard taking over their base. Then again there were rumors,” he admitted, “that they were involved in illegal activities. So they might want the base back.”
“Well, they won’t be getting it now. Hand over all of Bullard’s belongings, and then we’ll leave.”
One of the group made a move for a gun. The single shot fired sent everybody seeking cover except for the man screaming on the floor.
Brandon looked over at Harrison. “Good shot.” While the rest of the villagers were stunned, staring at the guy’s blood that had sprayed everywhere, Brandon stealthily took pictures of them with his cell.
Harrison nodded grimly and spoke to the villagers again. “That was the one and only freebie. I only took out his hand raising the weapon. The next man who raises a weapon against us won’t get the same courtesy.”
Within minutes, they had Bullard loaded up in the middle of the cab of his truck with his weapons, ammo, wallet, cell phone, the elusive belt with the incapacitated GPS and his laptop. Merk held Bullard steady to keep him from rocking too much on the bench seat, while Brandon sat in the driver’s seat, with Harrison riding in the bed. They drove to where they’d parked the Hummer. There Brandon hopped into the second vehicle, Harrison taking over driving the truck, and they all headed back to the holding.
The man they’d shot would need medical attention, but Brandon figured he’d get it faster than they gave Bullard any. Which was a damn shame because Bullard could have employed most of them—but not any longer. He’d never trust any of the men involved in this botched-up kidnapping. The drive back was short and hard. Brandon wasn’t sure they could trust any of the men they’d left behind, so he kept an eye out for anybody following them, keeping the Hummer at least a full minute behind Bullard’s truck.
Brandon could see the geography, open and flat, which gave him visibility for a long way. A militant group living in the empty holding for any length of time wasn’t good news. Although they wouldn’t likely attack the holding now, knowing many more men were there to defend it. Men not afraid to shoot them, if need be. As Brandon and his team had just proven in the village.
But their priority was getting the entire group back to Bullard’s main holding, the mansion Bullard called home.
That would be hours away as it was only noon now. They had to make it through the night before the airplane came to fly them back at eight in the morning. Brandon was damn sure, if they wanted to do a midnight flight, that was possible, but for some reason they’d been left for a whole day to get the job done. He’d figured four hours would have done it, and he was right. But it was a bit of a fluke they’d found Bullard in the first place. The trouble was getting him the medical attention he needed since they were stranded in this unpopulated area in a temporary holding not fully outfitted yet for another twenty hours.
Bullard was the doctor here. Brandon didn’t know if anybody else was qualified to help. All Levi’s men were good at rough-and-ready field medicine, but, if you needed more than that, it wasn’t to be had as Ice was their medic.
Kasha must have been watching the computer monitors as the garage door raised just in time for Levi’s team to drive Bullard’s truck and the Hummer into the downstairs garage. The doors closed quickly behind them.
As he pulled up and parked to the left of Bullard’s old truck, Brandon could see Kasha and Tahlia had already surrounded Bullard. Kasha had brought a gurney on wheels.
The men quickly transferred Bullard onto the gurney and wheeled it into the room adjoining the main computer area. Kasha pushed it farther into the room toward a desk with some medical equipment. Brandon walked up and studied Kasha. “Are you a doctor too?”
She snorted. “No, the doctor is the one lying on the table. I’ve helped him out on a few occasions. But I’m certainly not qualified for anything major. We need to get him back to the main estate for that. That’s where all the real equipment is.”
“Can you send a request for the plane to come now?” Merk asked. “That’s when we need it. Not tomorrow morning.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think they will come. We’ve set up the flight for eight.”
“Bullard needs attention now. Not eight in the morning,” Brandon said flatly. “What kind of an outfit are they that they can’t come and get the boss?”
Kasha shot him a hard glance. “Don’t judge what you don’t know.”
He shrugged. “Loyalty has to mean more than just following orders blindly.” He knew there was bitterness in his tone, but it was hard not to feel that way after what he’d been through. He didn’t talk about it though. One had to make a stand at some point in one’s life. He’d made his. Hence, being private now instead of in the military.
Her gaze searched his, but she never asked the question. She cut away Bullard’s shirt as Stone checked his head. “We’ve definitely got a concussion,” Stone announced. “He’ll need stitches on the side of his skull here too.”
Bullard hadn’t made a sound so far. His body temperature was dropping, and his skin showed signs of a chill.
Brandon looked inside all the cabinets. “Where will I find blankets?” he asked.
Kasha spoke a bit of whatever foreign language the cook spoke, then Kasha told Brandon, “Follow her. She’ll lead you to where the bed linens are.”
He glanced around the room and said, “Nothing’s down here?”
Kasha turned her attention back to Bullard. She continued to cut as she answered Brandon. “No, they’re still all up on the next floor.”
“What’s the cook’s name again?” he asked.
“Tahlia,” Kasha said. “At least that’s the easiest form for you to pronounce.”
He followed the cook, not at all sure he trusted her. But she was a whole lot smaller than he was and at least thirty years older and didn’t appear to carry any weapons. But he’d seen odder scenarios in his life. He stayed back a few steps as Tahlia ambled forward. When she led him to a big double closet in one of the halls, it was indeed full of bedding. On the bottom were blankets. He grabbed three, nodded his thanks and raced back downstairs again.
He waited for Kasha to finish checking Bullard’s chest. “You’re taking his pants off too? He’s already chilled.”
“I already did a full check on the lower half of his body,” Stone said. “I’m not seeing any more injuries.”
“The main injury is his head? How bad?” Kasha asked.
“The main physical trauma is to his head. It doesn’t appear to be that bad.”
Kasha stepped away and glanced at Bullard and then to the monitors. “I’m also worried about drugs.”
Stone shrugged. “It’s not necessarily bad drugs. They may have given him something for the pain, or they may have given him something to sedate him while they figured out what to do with him.”
As soon as they all stepped back, Brandon bundled up Bullard with several blankets. He wrapped one around his feet where his toes already were bluish. “I wonder how long he’s been like this.”
“It’s hard to say,” Stone replied. “At least one full day. He hasn’t been missing that long. His knuckles are scraped up and battered as if he put up a good fight somewhere along the line.”
“They likely smashed him over the head to initially subdue him,” Kasha said. “Still, it’s better than popping him with a couple bullets. I hear you shot somebody in town, Brandon.”
“Not me,” he said cheerfully. “That was Harrison. But I would have. I’ve got no issue with those types of men.”
“What? Honest upright citizens trying to make a living?” she asked in a mocking tone.
He snorted. “Mercs. They all have their uses, and maybe they’ll be good and loyal eventually. But right now they’re slimy. I’d advise Bullard to not hire any of them.”
“Do you have anything other than personal prejudice for that reasoning?”
“Yeah, they didn’t look after their goddamn guns.”
The other men stopped to look down at theirs.
Brandon shrugged. “Did you see them?”
The men shook their heads.
“You can always tell what kind of a man he is by the condition of the weapons he keeps.” He caught the other two staring at each other and glancing over at Kasha. But he ignored them. He reached down and checked Bullard’s pulse. It was strong and steady. “Given the sheer laxity and paleness of his skin,” he said, “I’m going with a knockout drug.” He turned to find Kasha bringing out a syringe and staring at it. “Probably gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, or date rape drug and common all over the world. He’ll come out of this without any side effects just fine.”
“I don’t have any of the necessary equipment here, but, as soon as we get home, I can get it tested.”
“If we won’t be home for at least twenty hours, the date rape drug won’t be detectable. It’s already leaving the body at eight hours and completely gone by twelve,” he said gently. “Better to pull the blood when we get there. Except that the drugs may have worked through his system by then too.”
Merk stepped forward. “Kasha, are you sure we can’t get the pilot here sooner?”
She looked up at him steadily and said, “I’m under orders not to call them.”
The men’s eyebrows rose. “Whose orders?”
“Bullard’s.”