Chapter 53

Justice had to ball her hands to keep from shoving Sandesh through the gate and off the property. If his car hadn’t been up the hill, she might have.

Sandesh’s entire demeanor changed from ex-soldier taking control to ex-soldier digging in his heels. “You want me to leave? Now? In the middle of this? No. Hell no.”

“I have to find out what’s going on. I need to… And the police. Sandesh, this is the last thing the IPT needs to be connected to.”

He grabbed her hand. “You’re not thinking.” He drew closer to her, whisper close. “My truck is here. I signed in. There are cameras all over. Us going into the woods. Us running. You shooting a drone. Think. We need to tone this down. You can’t run around with a gun right now. You’re panicking. Think, Justice. Let the security here do its job.”

He motioned to the security guard watching them. Shit. He was right. External security, unlike internal, did not know about the League. They protected the school and the campus, not the main house. They had no idea what went on in its depths. She let out a breath. The cops were coming. Probably the FBI. All the camera footage would be looked at. She looked around.

Two other guards stared at her. She had already fucked up. Shot the drone from the sky. She could cover that. Tell the cops that her Special Forces boyfriend had taught her to shoot.

She handed the gun back to the guard. “I’m sorry.”

The woman took the gun with a look that said she wasn’t sure an apology was necessary. “No problem. We got this, Ms. Parish.”

Justice turned to Sandesh. Letting the adrenaline backlash do its job, she began to shake. She put a hand to her head.

Seeing her playing a part, Sandesh quickly put an arm around her as if to hold her up.

Would this be enough to counter her rabid-dog routine the guards had just witnessed? A vine of panic and anger in her chest had grown sharp offshoots, twisting barbs and thorns that spread out, hooked and tugged her skin. Go. Go. Act. Do.

But Sandesh was right. The school, the League, had never faced this big a threat. A threat to all they had subtly and secretly accomplished over forty years.

She wanted at Walid. No doubt this was him. She wanted to find out what the fuck was going on. And which of her dumbass siblings had turned monster overnight.

She could feel the vines tighten. She tucked it all down for now. But she was already plotting how to get her vindictive ass to Mexico.

“Let’s get back to the house. Check on my sisters.”

* * *

Back in the main house, things were crazy. Her sisters, girls rescued from war zones or who’d seen violence firsthand, were at extremes. Her siblings were gathered in the family room, a large room connected to the dining room by an arched opening. It was filled with comfy seating arrangements and a large fireplace.

Her sisters either cowered by the fire or they’d grabbed the nearest object and stood watch over the others, ready to fight.

The twins—a.k.a. Jules and Romeo—held fireplace tools.

Whoa. Those two were a little scary. Especially the boy. He had a chip on his shoulder Atlas couldn’t have carried.

“Okay, all. Deep breath.” She pointed at the twins. “Put the irons down.”

Jules did. Romeo hesitated. His eyes darted to Sandesh. After a second of some internal debate, he complied. Kid was strung tight.

The nannies had done their best, getting them all into one room and trying to calm them, but they needed family. And Justice was the only family here over eighteen. Her mother had gone to meet with the police. Leland was handling internal, shutting things down to keep off the authorities’ radar, assessing damage. Tony and Bridget had gone to the dorms to handle the situation there. Who knew where the Troublemakers had gone?

She assumed they’d left to investigate, figuring the girls in the main house were being trained for combat and being groomed by the League, so they could deal. She got that. The dorm kids had been sent by their families to an elite boarding school. They knew nothing about covert ops and should be treated with kid gloves.

But seeing her sisters huddled by the fire while the tougher of them stood guard, she couldn’t help but be overcome with memories. And anger.

Walid was going down.

The clink of fireplace tools shoved into the iron stand was followed by the sobs of five-year-old Bella. She launched herself at Sandesh. Her tiny, trembling arms latched on to his legs.

Sandesh hoisted her up. “It’s okay.”

She buried her face in his shoulder. He turned to the rest of the family. “If you can all sit and listen, I’ll tell you what’s going on.”

Damn. The man was perfect. Or at least knew the perfect thing to say. Bella squirmed out of his arms. She padded across the room and joined the others around the fire.

Romeo sat by the fireplace tools. Jules stood behind him.

When everyone was absolutely still and quiet, Sandesh said, “First, I want you to know that you are safe.” Justice felt her heart loosen and lurch toward him. Drawn instinctively to his strength and kindness.

Not only had he recognized that they’d needed a mission or goal to get them settled, he’d also realized that more than anything, they needed to be assured of their safety. He was good.

“The police have arrived. They are checking every inch of the grounds. Beyond that, the security at this school is top-notch. And all the campus staff are on alert.” Justice raised her eyebrows at this, and he winked at her. Yep, not a stupid man. “In addition, the school is on lockdown. New measures are being put in place to make sure this type of attack doesn’t happen again.”

“Who attacked us?” Rome asked.

Sandesh spread his hands wide. “We don’t know that yet. We know someone flew a few personal drones over the school and dropped small explosive devices at the gym, tennis courts, and on the gatehouse, which was empty at the time. Falling debris injured one of the guards.”

“It doesn’t sound like they were trying to hurt anyone,” Rome said. “If they’d wanted to hurt people, they’d have dropped the explosives somewhere with people. Not the school gym. Or the tennis courts.”

Jules pinned her lower lip beneath her teeth, then released. “Do you know what kind of ordnance they used? Timed? Or did it go off when it hit?”

Good question. It had gone off when it hit.

“How did they get past the cameras?” Jules said. “There are only a few places—”

Sandesh turned surprised eyes on the twins. Because, yeah, the kids had practically pointed out that it was an inside job. Who else would know the hidden camera layout?

Jules and Romeo exchanged a look. Juliet’s face reddened. She’d realized what she’d suggested. She didn’t try to overcorrect, either with rambling or embarrassed explanation. She stayed silent and let the warm blood rush into her cheeks. Smart. Sometimes talking made things worse.

Justice patted Sandesh’s arm, felt his coiled bicep. Somehow, that strength comforted her. Huh, must be some sort of primal response. She’d have to excise that.

Sandesh bent to her ear. “I have an idea. A way to help with PR.”

“I’m not sure all the PR in the world will be able to fix this.”

He opened his mouth to expand when one of the staff came into the room. “The police are looking for you, Ms. Parish. And you, Mr. Ross.”

Great. Time to lie her ass off.