Page 2 of Edinburgh Escape (Brotherhood Protectors International #5)

An incessant chirping sound pierced the silence, slowing Cal’s descent before he came to a bone-shattering crash on hard-packed earth. The more the chirping continued, the closer he came to the surface of his abyss.

He lifted one eyelid, unwilling to confront the horror.

Light crept into the room, sneaking around the corners of curtains covering a tall window.

Cal opened the other eye and stared around the room, confused for a moment.

He moved his arms. They weren’t restrained.

He stretched his legs. Only a twinge of pain and stiffness remained from the wound he’d received from the explosion.

Gone were the chairs he and Smudge had been tied to.

Gone were Smudge and Rook. The dirt floor was replaced by a soft bed with clean sheets and pillows.

Cal ran a hand through his hair, willing his heartbeat to return to normal and the recurring nightmare to fade.

The chirping sound ceased about the time he located his cell phone on the nightstand. He reached for the device and checked the caller ID of the missed call, his brow furrowing.

Hank Patterson, the head of the Brotherhood Protectors? The man had started the agency after he’d saved his wife, the megastar Sadie McClain, from a stalker.

Why was he contacting Cal? Had Ace Hammerson, the regional lead of the Brotherhood Protectors International division, asked Hank to convince Cal to join their ranks and become a glorified bodyguard, protecting rich clients from stalkers, jealous rivals or assassins?

Cal had told Ace he wanted to think about the job offer.

He wasn’t sure he was cut out to babysit the elite, entitled wealthy individuals who’d never had to work hard a day in their lives.

Who’d never faced death or watched someone they’d loved have their throat slit while being completely helpless to stop it from happening.

Cal stared at the name on the screen. Hank understood what it was like.

He’d been a Navy SEAL in his former military life.

He’d seen as many horrors as Cal. Yet, he’d managed to get on with his life, to push past the worst of humankind to dare to bring children into a world as fucked up as this one.

Cal frowned at the clock on the nightstand. Why was Hank calling in the middle of the night? The leader knew there was a seven-hour time difference between the UK and Hank’s home in Montana. Of course, it would only be eight o’clock in the evening there.

Cal sighed. Not that he’d been sleeping well.

The nightmares that had barely begun to fade had returned with a vengeance, reminding him of his last mission, of the lives lost mere seconds before they’d been liberated by a team of US Navy SEALs.

Only two of the six-man team had survived.

Rook and Cal. Taff had been shot a moment before the explosion occurred.

Yeti and Bazza had died when they’d been crushed beneath the falling wall.

After their rescue, Cal had spent time in the hospital, his system pumped full of antibiotics to fight a staph infection picked up in the dirt and filth of the cell he’d found himself in when he’d regained consciousness.

Rook had overcome his physical injuries but couldn’t let go of the emotional damage he’d suffered watching his teammate murdered in front of him. Rook had been placed on administrative leave, assigned to a mental health provider and put on suicide watch.

Cal had still been in the hospital when Rook had jumped off the Tower Bridge into the Thames, late one night.

No one knew he’d done it until his therapist had called Cal the next day, asking if he’d seen Rook.

He hadn’t shown up for his appointment. When Cal said he hadn’t seen him, the therapist had a police officer swing by his apartment in London for a wellness check.

When Rook hadn’t answered the knock on the door, the officer asked the building manager to let him in.

He'd found a handwritten note on the counter in the kitchen addressed To Whoever Finds This.

In the letter, Rook spoke of failing his team and costing them all their lives.

He’d begged his dead brothers in arms for their forgiveness for letting them down.

He’d asked that someone call his mother and let her know he wouldn’t be home for Christmas as previously promised and to please tell her he loved her—and don’t bother looking for him.

The Thames didn’t give back what it claimed.

They’d found Rook’s body three days later.

Cal stared at the cell phone screen, his thoughts on Rook, Smudge and the others, guilt souring his stomach. Why them and not me?

The cell phone chirped again, startling Cal out of the trance he found himself falling into all too often.

He answered just to make it stop. “Yeah.”

Instead of Hank’s deep voice, a softer, gentler female voice sounded in his ear. “Is this Callum McCall?”

Cal frowned. “It is.”

“Thank goodness. This is Sadie McClain, Hank Patterson’s wife. Hank’s here with me.”

“Hey, Callum,” a deep, male voice filled Cal’s ear. “Hank Patterson here. Sorry to call you so late, but we wanted to contact you before morning. I know you haven’t committed to joining the team, but Sadie has a big favor to ask of you. You can say no if you’re not ready. We’ll understand.”

“Only, I hope you won’t say no,” Sadie said. “A close friend of mine is headed to London as we speak. She arrives around eight o’clock tomorrow morning. She plans to see a few sights in London before boarding the Caledonian Sleeper train to Edinburgh at ten-thirty tomorrow night.”

Cal shook his head. “What does your friend have to do with me?”

“She’s a preschool teacher from Montana. She’s barely been out of the state and never left the country. I’m worried about her traveling alone. Especially since she’s going to meet newfound relatives in Scotland. I don’t want anything to happen to her or for anyone to take advantage of her.”

“Again, I don’t know what you want me to do about it?” Cal shoved a hand through his hair, sleep the furthest from his mind, the nightmare still lingering.

“What Sadie wants is for someone to follow her friend and make sure she doesn’t get lost or that no one exploits, manipulates or abuses her, including her relatives in Scotland.”

“Has she had a falling out with her Scottish kin?” Cal asked.

“Not that we’re aware of,” Sadie said. “She only just discovered she has relatives in Edinburgh after taking one of those online DNA tests. After contacting her half-brother, he invited her out to meet the rest of the family. She doesn’t see where anything could go wrong or pose danger to her, but I’d feel a whole lot better if someone was looking out for her. ”

Cal sighed. “And you want me to be that someone? Why not someone she knows?”

“Everyone she knows is here in Montana. Most of them couldn’t afford to travel to the UK, and Sadie’s friend could barely afford her own trip and certainly couldn’t afford to pay for someone else’s,” Sadie said.

“I was supposed to go with her, but my baby isn’t feeling well, and I couldn’t leave him. ”

Cal pushed to a sitting position, his back against the headboard. “Why not one of the other members of Hank’s international team?”

“There’s a reason Ace was recruiting you,” Hank said.

“Every one of his team has a current assignment. He needs more protectors to handle the workload. You don’t have to commit to being a member of the team immediately.

You could consider this a one-off request to help Sadie’s friend. We’d pay you, of course.”

“Would you do this for me?” Sadie asked. “Please?”

Cal’s first inclination was to say no. He wasn’t ready to face the world.

The recurring nightmares kept the deaths of every member of his team fresh in his mind, not allowing him to let go and move past the grief and feeling of failure.

However, staying in the hotel room he’d lived in for the past couple of months wasn’t helping him get on with life.

Though he didn’t want to get involved, a change of scenery might help.

“How long will she be in the UK?” Cal asked.

“You’ll do it?” Sadie asked, the excitement and relief evident in her tone.

“I will.” How hard could it be? Following a woman around for a couple of weeks might help get him out of the rut he’d landed in when he’d left the military.

And it would force him to go home to Scotland, something he’d avoided since Smudge’s death.

He might find the courage to go to Smudge’s family home on the Isle of Lewis and let them know how brave their son had been and how much he’d meant to Cal and the rest of their team.

Well, maybe not. He wasn’t sure he could face Smudge’s mother. Why had they killed Smudge and not Cal? Could he have done more to stop them from slitting his friend’s throat?

“My friend has to be back in two weeks to start the new school year,” Sadie was saying.

“She planned on spending at least a week in Edinburgh to meet the blood relatives and see the sights there. Then she wants to see more of Scotland. She’s not used to driving on the opposite side of the road, and she can’t afford to hire a driver, so I assume she’ll be doing most of her touring by train. ”

“Is she expecting someone to meet her at the airport?” Cal asked.

“No,” Sadie said.

“Sadie’s friend considers herself a strong, independent woman. She doesn’t think she needs anyone to have her back.”

“Everyone needs someone to have his or her back,” Cal murmured. Too bad he hadn’t had Smudge’s and Rook’s.

“Agreed,” Hank said. “That was the first lesson we learned in BUD/S training. We look out for each other. Work as a team. Point is, she didn’t want me to assign one of my guys to provide her with protection.”

Cal shook his head. “Then why are you asking me to do it?”