Page 29 of Caleb’s Cause (Broken Wheel Ranch #12)

“Then answer it.” She laughed when it continued to ring.

“Hello?” Caleb had a smile on his face as he answered, and it quickly disappeared, and he whipped his head around to look at Katherine in alarm. He never spoke until just before he hung up. “Give us thirty minutes.”

“What’s wrong? Is someone hurt?” Katherine had jumped to her feet and rushed to Caleb’s side when she’d seen his expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing physically, Uncle Ry said that the two of us are needed over at Erin’s Way. He needs to talk to us.”

“Both of us?”

“Yes.” They rushed around and dressed their feet. Because they didn’t want to waste the fresh pot of coffee they’d just made, they filled travel mugs. Outside, Caleb paused and shook his head.

“What?”

“Uncle Ry said not to go out on the road to get to where we have to be. It’s just that it’s extremely rough in my new truck from here to Broken, but then it’s smooth sailing.”

“Well, since it’s supposed to rain this afternoon, I can handle some jostling if you can. Unless you want to take the golf cart?”

“Let’s grab a jacket, then we can take the cart.”

“I don’t have one.”

“You can wear one of mine.” Caleb went back inside and came out with two jackets and grinned when he saw Katherine behind the wheel.

He hopped in, and they were slow through the roughest part of the track that still needed to be graded, but Clark was waiting until everything was done and would do it all at once.

“Do you have any idea why we’re being summoned?”

“No.”

“Did anything happen with you guys at the bachelor party?”

“Not really. Nothing that stands out to me. We cleaned out the barn, swept it, removed as many cobwebs as we could, put up some lights, and sat around drinking beer and talking. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

They remained silent and as they came from behind the barn at Broken, and onto the path, they didn’t know what to make of the line of trucks heading in the same direction.

Katherine and Caleb exchanged worried looks and she sighed in relief when he reached over and laid his hand on her knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“No matter what happens, I have your back.”

“Thanks you.” She laid her hand over his and squeezed back. They were let in the line of vehicles so they led the way, and when they saw Reid, he stopped them.

“Reception barn,” he said grimly, and waved the others over to where they were to go.

“Is this where the bachelor party was?”

“Yes.” Caleb looked around and saw at least two dozen unfamiliar vehicles parked before the barn, but didn’t say anything.

As soon as they stopped. He hopped out and hurried around to help Katherine from the cart, and held her hand as they waited for the others.

He felt better when everyone started asking what was going on when they joined them.

Before anyone could say anything, they looked up when someone yelled and saw Duane waving them inside.

They entered, and it took a few minutes for their eyes to adjust from the bright sun to the darkness of the space.

It didn’t take long for everything to be cleared.

“Help yourself to a snack,” Duane said as he waved to a table loaded with bakery treats, as well as several sandwiches.

“I know it’s still early, but we might be here for lunch, so that’s why there’s all this food.

If you don’t want anything now, that’s fine.

When you’re done, just settle in the chairs.

” He pointed and that was the first time Caleb saw the chairs set up.

He also saw at least more than two dozen men that he had never seen before standing off to the side.

He leaned over and whispered against the side of Katherine’s head.

“Those are people I would never want to meet in a dark alley.” As he spoke, all the men from Broken walked over to the strangers and shook their hands, and began talking.

So did the women. The only people staying with them were Lorissa, Tom, Lois, Cole, Clem, Ducky, Naomi, and Erin.

“I take it they know them?”

“Apparently,” Erin said and shook her head.

“I’m just as confused as you are. Reid’s been on the phone with Duane for the last couple of days, and asked if I would mind if they used the reception barn, that’s what we’re calling it for now.

He said he would clean up everything.” She looked around and shook her head. “I hate being left in the dark.”

“This has a military feel,” Ducky said, and only shrugged as they all turned toward him.

When the others started toward the chairs, ignoring the snack table, Katherine sat at the back, and sighed in relief when Caleb sat next to her, and took her hand in his.

She didn’t realize how hard she held it until he laid his other one over it and told her to breathe.

Everyone took a seat except for the strangers, but they stood off to one side. The only people standing before the people in the chairs were Duane Manchester and another man. It didn’t take Katherine or Caleb long to learn what was going on.

“Hello everyone. Thank you for coming so quickly. I’ll get right to the point.

My name is Hank Patterson, and Brotherhood Protectors is my brainchild.

” He paused and then waved his hand to the men still standing.

“These are my men. I have branches of Brotherhood over in Montana, down in Yellowstone, here in Fool’s Gold, down in Louisiana, and over in Hawaii.

I started this agency when I got out of the service.

For those that don’t know me, I’m a Navy SEAL.

” He looked directly at Erin and wrinkled his nose at her, but his expression wasn’t one of malice, but one of acceptance.

“I was on my way to recruit Reid for myself when he came here. As a matter of fact, I was going to recruit everyone from Delta team, but when I talked with Clark and he told me what was happening here, I backed off.” No one said a word, then he cleared his throat to continue, “Brotherhood Protectors employs former military personnel. Ann worked for me when she went to The Double A in Wyoming. In a nutshell, we protect people. Ann was there to protect Cole.” He looked around and spotted Ann, then nodded.

“That’s what we do. We’re a brotherhood of former military personnel that protect people that come to us for help. ”

“Who are you here to protect?” someone from the chairs asked.

“Katherine Miller.”

“What, me? What did I do?”

“Nothing.”

“Wait, oh my god, Mom, is my mother okay?”

“Yes, she is.” He pulled a small notebook, like the police would use, from his pocket and flipped several pages.

After looking at that, he looked directly at Katherine.

“She’s in Seattle with a man by the name of Kevin Lassiter.

I’ll get into our research, but I had someone go to Seattle and read Kevin into the situation.

In turn he has his entire police force at his back protecting him and Ilsa.

” Hank watched as Katherine slumped back and the guy sitting next to her wrapped his arms around her. He looked at Duane with a frown.

“Caleb Lassiter, Kevin’s son. Ryan’s nephew.”

“Military experience?”

“No.”

“We can work with this.”

“Okay.” No one overheard their whispered conversation, and Hank turned back to the crowd. “Weeks ago,” he continued, “Actually, it was the day Duane, was to take you to meet his former director, and that turned into a shitshow, but that’s when all this started.”

“What is this?” Erin asked as she stood, and went behind Katherine to lay her hand on her shoulder, lending her support for the other woman.

“Right now, it’s a clusterfuck that’s about to get bigger. I’m here to tell you what we learned and with your and Clark’s permission, I may leave some men here once I leave.”

“Shit.” Erin looked at Reid and glared. “Is it like PITA?”

“It has the potential to be bigger.”

“Shit.”

“What’s PITA?” Hank asked in confusion, and Erin took the next twenty minutes telling him the trouble she had with a local rancher, and then the trouble Naomi had from her own father.

“Where are these people now?”

“Sitting in jail, waiting for trial. Their bail was finally revoked, all accounts and assets are frozen, and last I heard, no lawyer in this area will take their case. They have to represent themselves, or take someone from the courts. They aren’t happy with that.

” She looked Hank dead in the eye. “No one messes with me or my people. Since the second Katherine walked on my property, she became mine. I will do everything possible to keep her safe.”

“Good, now, let me turn this over to Duane for a few minutes so he can explain a few things, answer questions, then I’ll tell you what we came up with.” He nodded to Duane and went to the back and refilled his coffee mug, but went back up to stand with his men.

“Okay, you all know that I’m Duane Manchester and I worked many, many years as an undercover FBI agent.

I worked in narcotics, and vice. When I worked vice, I posed as a pimp, and my workers were undercover female agents.

During my time doing this, there were several local police reports where prostitutes were severely beaten, some were murdered, and some were even kidnapped, if not really kidnapped, they dropped off the face of the earth and their bodies were never found.

There one day, gone the next. When all was said and done, we were able to take down a sex trafficking ring where they targeted prostitutes.

” He looked out and saw shock on everyone’s faces, and then it turned to outrage.