Page 24 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

KEON

Ikick a burned piece of what’s left of Baxter and Roland’s house and look around. I was getting last-minute things in place for the protection detail with Kira when Baxter called, screaming about someone blowing up their house. They’re lucky they weren’t here.

“Who the hell did you piss off?” Tyler asks, his boots crunching under him.

“I’m guessing this is retaliation for the warehouse raid,” Baxter answers.

“From who?” I ask.

“That’s need to know,” Ari replies. “Axel won’t say a word because we can’t be caught in the middle while protecting Kira.”

Tyler spins in a circle with his arms out. “It looks like we’re already in the middle.”

Ari shrugs. “The less we know, the better. Axel’s on his way to process the scene.” He looks at Baxter and Roland. “His orders are for you to disappear.”

“He wants us to fucking run?” Roland asks.

“I’m just the messenger. Call your team and get out of town. That’s a direct order.”

Baxter pulls out his phone, looking a little more than pissed off. He relays the message and, without a word, jumps into Roland’s truck, and they take off. “What are we going to do about the authorities? No way someone didn’t call,” I say.

“Nolan somehow got in and made it look like a false alarm. We might still have company, though.” Ari walks around the shell of the house, kicking things out of his way. “This was professional. Several detonators placed for maximum damage.”

“Who did Axel get them mixed up with?” Tyler asks.

“You don’t need to know that,” Axel answers, walking up to us.

“Since when?” I demand. “We don’t keep secrets.”

“We do when it puts Kira at risk. You shouldn’t even be here,” Axel says. “I have it handled.”

“They called me,” I explain. “What did you want us to do? Ignore it?”

“No. But you need to leave. Kai’s going to get the detonators so Nolan can trace it back to who it was.”

“You know who it was,” Ari replies. “Bax and Roland’s team is in too deep.”

“That’s for me to decide. I’m not trying to be an asshole, but until Kane feels Kira is safe and you guys are off protection duty, you can’t know. I’ve put the Saviors back on the map since Charlie’s finally dead. That’s going to bring out enemies.”

“So, you think putting a green team on this is the answer? Why the hell aren’t they doing the babysitting? We should be on this,” Tyler retorts.

“Because Kane is an important client, I need my best to watch his sister. Don’t underestimate Bax’s team. They’re good.”

“We aren’t arguing that,” Ari throws in. “But it seems a little short-sighted to bench your beta team right when shit is heating up.”

“You are the ones who said you wanted a goddamn break,” Axel argues. “I gave you what you wanted. Kai and Sean will be here soon. You can leave.”

Ari opens his mouth to say something, snaps it closed, and marches to his truck. I climb into the passenger side, and he pulls away with a bark of tires. “He’s not wrong,” I soothe. “We didn’t want any part of this.”

“Fuck!” Ari smacks the steering wheel in frustration. “I know. Fuck, I know, but he’s going to get them killed. I know what their team is made of, and they’re good, but not good enough for this.”

“Getting them out of town until they figure it out was smart. We knew there would be backlash when people learned that the Saviors weren’t gone.”

“I know.” Ari scrubs his hand down his face and slows the truck to an acceptable speed limit.

“You have more important shit to worry about. Like, what are you going to tell Jason?”

“I have no damn clue. He’s not stupid. He’s known this whole time that we aren’t exactly who we say we are. I should have never gotten him in deeper.”