Vanessa gave the signal for us to open the gate, and we all stood around as it slid back to give her entrance. She stopped in the middle of us and hopped down with a big grin. It had been some time since we'd seen her, almost a year, I think, if not more. However long it was, it was way too long; she was good people. "Lieutenant." I walked over for a hug and, at the last second, hoped like fuck that Gaby wasn't spying on me from somewhere in the house. If there's one defect in my baby, it's her wide jealousy streak. She doesn't give a fuck who it is, and no amount of explanations work when she gets that shit in her head. "Captain, it's good to see you." I patted her back and released her before my Tasmanian devil came running to put her down. I hadn't told her too much about what was going down, just that we were expecting a visitor, and I expected her to show her all the hospitality due a guest. Gaby, like I said, gets her hackles up when there's a female involved, a

For some fucked up reason, the kids didn't wanna leave; the female especially seemed the most reluctant though she tried to play it off. I noticed she was no longer breathing fire, she seemed calm as fuck compared to when she first arrived, and I wondered what the fuck Cord had said or done to her in the past few hours to tame that beast. I introduced Gabriella to Vanessa, which helped to calm her ass down a little, but she still clung to my arm like she was marking her territory. Even though we'd checked and double-checked the area, we were still careful as we headed out of town. We rode in three vans funnily enough with three couples in one and then two and two in front and behind for security. Zak and Vanessa still hadn't said fuck all to each other, but I noticed that he'd been quick to jump in the truck with her when she followed the girls. The night was the usual balmy clear skies with a nice breeze, and the women were acting more excited than the rest of us like

"So here's the deal, we have got to find out what's going on down by the water. So far, we know squat, and this affects our lives as well." Dani and I and our new friend Vanessa were sitting around drinking coffee while the menfolk were out and about doing who knows what. "I don't think that's such a good idea, and whatever you're gonna do, I can't know about it because I ought to know better." "Oh, come on, Vanessa, you're like one of them. If you go with, you can be our protection. Besides, we're not doing anything, just going to see what they missed." Dani wasn't looking too sure either, but I knew how to bring her around. I had to work on this Vanessa person because Logan had left her here with us, knowing him she was supposed to be more watchman than pal, but later for that. I have a wedding coming up in a few short months, and all this cops and robbers mess was interfering with my program. "They don't even have to know we went anywhere. They left

I got my belt and went in search of her ass when she didn't show. I wasn't quiet when I opened the million and one doors in the place or when I walked through the closets. I must've known I was gonna end up with a princess because what the fuck did I need with walk-in closets as big as the damn bedrooms? "Gabriella, front and center, now." Not even a peep. It took me damn near ten minutes to find her. Her ass was in a cubicle in my closet. "Get outta there." I snapped the belt that I had folded in half. Her eyes were glued to the leather, and she wasn't looking like she was about to climb outta there anytime soon. "Did you hear me?" she opened her mouth, about to scream. "You do that shit; it'll only go worse for you, now get your badass out here and take your licks. You wanna do the crime, do the fucking time. How many times must I tell you? If you're not willing to bear the consequences, don't do the shit that's gonna get your ass beat." "But we were only try