Savannah's Sentinel (Mountain Mastery Book 2) Read online

  “Her mother?”

  “Oh no, Lilly West is her mother-in-law slash partner-in-crime.” Savannah’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’ll see soon enough. I’m not kidding when I say they are both trouble magnets. Things tend to blow up when they are together…and I mean literally blow up.”

  For the first time, Savannah wondered if she’d made a mistake getting in the large SUV. Before they could drive past the enormous main structure she assumed was the club, a hulking man stepped out of the shadows, stopping at the edge of the concrete drive.

  “Fuck-a-duck. Heads up, Tobi. We’re being tanked.”

  Tanked? This whole thing just keeps getting stranger by the minute.

  “Oh, for the love of God. No, Mom, I wasn’t talking to you. Looks like your sons are sending a supervisor along.”

  The man in question was easily six and a half feet tall. Savannah whispered, “He’s huge” as the car slowed to a stop.

  “He played for the NFL, but repeated concussions meant he had to choose between his career and being able to form complete sentences. He chose wisely.” The shift in Jen’s voice as she said the last words made Savannah burst out in giggles. Obviously, she’d found another Indiana Jones fan.

  “What’s up, Buttercup?” Jen’s flippant greeting made the man smile.

  “I’m your driver for the day, Miss Jen.” She couldn’t see his eyes hidden behind his dark aviators, but Savannah was sure the corners of his mouth had twitched in amusement.

  “As you can see, I’m doing really well. I’m pretty sure I can handle it. Don’t you have something else you’d rather be doing? Something more entertaining than watching us drink and gossip about our men?”

  Savannah almost felt sorry for the poor man.

  “My bosses were very clear. I’m to drive you and stick to you like glue until you are safely back under their watchful eyes.” Tobi was muttering what sounded like colorful ways to castrate her husbands, but Jen seemed undeterred.

  “If I cut through all that PCBS, I get…you are going to shadow us like white on rice and report back to the team every time one of us goes to the bathroom. Is that about right?”

  This time he didn’t even try to hide his laughter. “Yeah, I’d say that about covers it. And they told me whoever gave me the most grief had to buy my lunch, so guess that’s you, Miss Miley.” He reached inside and unlocked and opened the door so quickly Savannah had barely registered the movement before she saw him hold his hand out to Jen.

  Scrambling to exit the SUV, Savannah moved quickly. “I don’t know where we’re going, so Jen, you should ride shotgun. I’ll get in the back with Tobi.” She and Jen both circled the vehicle as the man shook his head and ducked inside.

  “Might not be politically correct, but when I was a kid, we called that a Chinese fire drill.” Jen’s laughter filled the small space as Tobi reached forward and swatted the top of her friend’s head.

  “Good grief. Doesn’t your mouth have a filter?” Tobi’s comment brought howling laughter from Jen and the man they’d introduced as Tank, and Savannah found herself looking around for the Pranked crew. They had to be hidden somewhere nearby.

  Chapter Twenty

  Landon watched as Regi, the Wests’ part-time office manager, walked in the room carrying a sheaf of papers. Handing the stack to Kyle, she smiled and announced, “I’m heading out. Hopefully, I can catch a ride with Tobi and crew before they leave.”

  “Tank’s already driving them into town. If you don’t want to drive, one of us can take you in. Your men can collect your car later.” Landon knew Regi had been with Kent and Kyle since they’d first started the club, but she seemed genuinely shocked by her boss’s comment.

  “You made Tank drive them in?” When Kyle nodded without looking up, she switched her glare to Kent, who was suddenly busy studying a piece of lint on his slacks. “What did he do to you?” Kyle glanced up, trying to feign a puzzled expression. Regi rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “Oh, please. Don’t even try that whatever do you mean bull with me. I know you too well, Kyle West. You sent the big fluffy lion to guard a bunch of killer sheep. Cold, Kyle, very cold.”

  After she’d stalked from the office, Kent shifted his attention to his brother and smiled. “I warned you. Our women all love Tank, and they’re going to feel sorry for him. We’re going to be the ones who end up looking like asses. He’s going to be treated like a prince despite the fact they’ll know he’s reporting back every move they make.” When Kyle shrugged, Kent switched his attention to Landon.

  “Learn from my brother’s mistakes. Don’t put a teddy bear in charge of a pack of wolves.” Landon frowned and wondered if perhaps he should have declined their invitation for Savannah to spend the day with some of the other women from the Prairie Winds Club.

  “Surely it’s not that bad.” Landon hoped he’d sounded more condescending than wishful, but wasn’t sure he’d succeeded.

  His comment caused Kyle’s head to jerk up, and he grinned. “You have no fucking clue. And what my besotted brother doesn’t know is that I’ve also given Parker Andrews a heads-up. He’s a club member, as well as the newly appointed Chief of Police. He’ll check in and have dispatch alert him to any trouble at the Posh.”

  Kent must have noticed Landon’s concern, because he laughed. “Posh is the name of the fancy bar and restaurant where the girls are holding court this afternoon. The only reason he agreed to this outing is because he thinks the more dignified atmosphere will discourage them from getting into trouble. I think he’s wrong, and we’ve got a grand riding on whether or not the afternoon ends with us being summoned to break up a ruckus.”

  “Ruckus? Paying?” Jesus, Joseph, and Mary. What on Earth had he done sending Savannah with these women?

  “Yes. Bail, damages, or fines. Any of the three means my idiot brother matches my donation to a local after-school program later this month. The kids want to go to summer camp, and I think it’s a slam dunk at this point, because what my brother doesn’t know is that Mom is meeting the girls there.”

  Kyle West was a blur of motion as he stood and slammed the papers down on his desk. “God dammit, I should have known today was going to be a cluster. Come on, let’s get to the range. I need to shoot something.” He stomped from the room, but not before Landon heard him mutter, “They’d better not blow anything up this time.”

  Fuck me.

  Savannah leaned back in her seat, watching the antics of the women surrounding her. She wondered if she should heed the warning voice in her head telling to get out before all hell broke loose or stay as a witness. Just as Jen and Tobi had predicted, she’d fallen in love with Lilly West. The dark-haired beauty was still model gorgeous, making Savannah wonder what she’d looked like as a young woman.

  Leaning closer to the woman who’d been introduced as Merilee, she asked, “Was Lilly a model?”

  Merilee grinned and nodded before launching in to a list of products and ads that had featured the older woman over the years. All Savannah could do was stare at her in shock. Merilee pointed to her temple and laughed. “Eidetic memory. Great for recalling insane amounts of data, but not very good at helping me understand the basic concepts of social chit-chat sometimes. Sorry about that. The short answer is yes. Before she married Dean and Dell, she did quite a lot of modeling and won several beauty pageants. But we love her because she is fiercely loyal and talks like a pissed off sailor when she gets rattled.”

  “What on Earth could possibly rattle her? She seems so poised, yet full of mischief.”

  Gracie leaned close from Merilee’s other side and snickered. “Maybe we should tell you the story about the boat she blew up on the river. One shot and kaboom. Splattered bad guys all over the rock cliff on the other side. Her husbands and sons stopped letting her go to the range, but she still sneaks in regularly. She bribes the team with food, and none of them will rat her out.”

  “Blew it up?” Savannah choked on the margarita she’d been nursing for the
past half-hour.

  “Gracie! You’d better not be telling Savannah about the river fiasco. Dammit, she’ll think I’m a wild card or something.” Lilly switched her attention to Savannah and smiled. “It was necessary. Those bastards were after Tobi and Gracie.” Lilly tilted her chin up as if blowing up a boat was an everyday occurrence. The entire table erupted into riotous laughter, and it took Savannah a few seconds to realize they were laughing at her.

  Tobi grinned at her before explaining, “We get that look a lot, Savannah…that’s why they are laughing. Boy, oh boy, I thought the men were going to stroke-out. Once they knew we were all safe, they went into CYA-mode with the locals. Something about the gun Mom used not being properly registered.”

  “That was because I bought it at a gun show they didn’t know I’d gone to. Why they thought I’d tell them I was attending an event they’d have most certainly forbidden me to go to is baffling if you ask me. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. That’s my motto.”

  When a woman walked up behind her, Lilly stood and turned her back on the table to greet her. The conversation returned to more sedate topics before three young women walked by their table on the way to their own at the back of the room. The first in their group stopped and looked directly at Tobi before shifting her glare to each of the others seated at the table. Pointing to Savannah and Brinn, another newbie in the group, the woman sneered, “You’d do well to steer yourselves clear of this group if you value your reputations.”

  Savannah blinked at the woman in surprise just as she saw Jen’s hand grasp Tobi’s arm, holding her in her seat. “Don’t do it, Tobi. Don’t let her bait you.”

  “By all means, Ms. McCall, keep your friend in check. After all, you wouldn’t want her husbands to beat her in that perverted club of theirs. And heaven only knows what your own men would have to say.” Lilly had turned around and stood silently assessing the woman as if she were little more than an unpleasant slug. When Ms. Hateful turned her attention to Lilly, her eyes narrowed in disgust. Her condescending glare reminded Savannah of the women her mother counted as friends. She’d seen that beady-eyed, vindictive glare more times than she cared to remember. Her critical gaze moved around slowly around the table…from Lilly to Regi before finally sneering down her nose at Merilee. “Well, look at this. Not a one of you seems to be satisfied with just one man to tie you up and shove sparkly doo-dads up your butts…” She didn’t get the chance to finish before Lilly tossed her drink directly into the woman’s face.

  “Oops.” Lilly didn’t seem the least bit remorseful, and Savannah watched with wide eyes as everything around her erupted into complete and utter chaos. The whole scene seemed to happen into slow motion, and the one thing she saw that made perfect sense was the horrified expression on Tank’s face as he stalked across the room, his phone pinned to his ear.

  Between one heartbeat and the next, Jen flattened the woman on the floor when she took a swing at Lilly. Then the second woman launched herself at Tobi, and Savannah’s training kicked in. Without thinking, she took the heavier woman down. The whoosh of air leaving her lungs reeked of bourbon, and Savannah wondered how much the trio had to drink before they’d arrived. The third woman in the group glared down at her friends before raising her hands and backing away. “Hey, I’ve got no beef with you all. They’re just mad because their membership applications were rejected.”

  Tank plucked Tobi out of the way, setting her behind him as if she weighed nothing at all before pushing Lilly back as well. He’d just turned his attention to Jen when the door of the restaurant burst open and two men in suits ran in. Jen looked up at Tank and rolled her eyes. “Snitch.” To his credit, he winced at her reprimand.

  Lilly turned to the first man, flashing him a dazzling smile. “Hello, Parker. How nice to see you. Congratulations on your promotion, dear.”

  The corners of the second man’s face twitched as he moved around the table to pull Merilee into his arms. He kissed the top of her head before setting her back and looking her over. Finding her uninjured, he shook his head and grinned. “You, sweet cousin, are in a world of trouble.”

  “Me? What did I do? I’m completely innocent.” At his raised brow, she added, “Okay, perhaps innocent wasn’t a good word choice. But I’m not guilty of any wrong doing in this case. And you can keep all those psycho looks to yourself.”

  “I’m a psychologist, not a psycho.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “I swear I’d paddle you myself if you weren’t a relative. Your men are going to be pissed you were involved in this.”

  “I’m a victim of circumstance. They aren’t completely unreasonable. I pity the woman who hooks up with you and Mr. Grumpy over there.”

  The man Lilly had called Parker focused on Merilee and shook his head before his gaze landed on Brinn. For a split-second, Savannah saw his eyes soften, and she wondered what the connection was between the two. Glancing at Brinn, Savannah smiled at the pink blush staining her cheeks. “Brinn, are you alright?” Tobi and Lilly hadn’t missed the interplay and were watching the man with grins tugging at the corners of their mouths.

  “Yes, Sir. I’m fine.” She’d no sooner answered than the second man moved from Merilee’s side to stand beside her. Savannah was going to make herself dizzy trying to keep up with these people. Does everyone in this group have two husbands? Probably shouldn’t be drinking the water while I’m here. Hell, I can’t imagine trying to deal with two men.

  Parker turned to Tank and said, “I assume you’ve call Kyle?”

  The other man nodded as Lilly chimed in, “Of course he’s called my sons, who have no doubt already alerted their fathers. Tank dear, we really are going to have to chat about this unnatural loyalty you seem to be harboring for the overbearing men you work for.” She batted her eyes at him, but the big man obviously wasn’t fooled by her saccharin treatment, because he took a quick step back.

  Jen and Savannah were both still on the floor with their knees pressed into the other women’s backs when several uniformed officers stepped through the door. The first officer took in their similar positions and grinned up at Parker. “You sure you need us, Chief? Seems like these ladies are more than capable of handling anything that comes their way.” Several of the other officers chuckled even as they stepped in and secured the women who’d gone after Lilly and Tobi.

  “Take them outside while I try to figure out what the hell has gone on in here today.” Savannah tried to step back, but he drilled her with a glare. “Agent North, I believe I’ll begin with you.” His reference to her as agent caused both women being led away to groan. Tobi’s giggle broke the tension, and suddenly, Savannah wanted nothing more than to finish the margarita she’d had in her hand a few minutes earlier. When he saw her glance at it longingly, Parker shook his head. “I want you as clear-headed as possible. Just having you here would have complicated things—but having you actively involved means I’m going to be doing a mountain of damned paperwork if the Feds get wind of this. Hell, your agency thrives on in-triplicate forms. Personally, I think they’re responsible for half of the South American deforestation.”

  Tell me about it. And you aren’t the one who’ll be listening to the lecture in my boss’s office for hours on end.

  She was just finishing her interview with Parker when the door opened to a flood of men. Two older men led the procession, and Savannah was relieved to see the slightly amused expressions on their faces. She noticed their resemblance to Kyle and Kent West as they cut a direct path to Lilly. The feisty woman’s entire demeanor softened as soon as she saw them. Savannah wasn’t close enough to hear the conversation, but it was clear she was telling them who’d come to hers and Tobi’s rescue.

  “The men have already been briefed.” The information didn’t surprise her, but the fact Parker had shared it with her did.

  “Just for the record, I appreciate the fact you aren’t lecturing me about keeping my nose out of other people’s business.”
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  “That would be my job, pet.” She’d known Landon was likely on his way, but hadn’t seen him walk in with the others. He turned her so she was facing him and gazed down at her in concern. “Are you okay, Princess?”

  “I’m fine. It was an easy takedown. Bitch Number Two got caught up in her friend’s crazy, but the third one was smarter, so they were easy to contain.”

  Parker chuckled from behind her. “Good thing the third woman backed off. I don’t think Lilly and Tobi would have subdued her as cleanly as you and Jen did the first two. That could have gotten really ugly.” Savannah smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood.

  “If you’ve finished with Savannah, I’m going to settle her with something to drink and then check on Brinn.” Landon’s comment didn’t surprise her. She’d heard Brinn mention the Ledek’s club while the women had all been swapping Dom stories. “Since I’m technically still employed by Mountain Mastery, I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”

  Parker shook his head. “No need. Dan and I will be escorting Brinn home.” Landon’s brow lifted, and Parker’s eyes burned as his attention shifted to the woman standing to the side with her arms wrapped around herself. Savannah knew the pretty brunette had saved Koi Green’s life the night she phoned in the report of his accident, but she hadn’t heard the busty engineer was now working in Texas.

  Brinn must have sensed the men looking at her, because she lifted her gaze, zeroing in on Parker. Even from this distance, Savannah could see the flare of heat in her eyes. A man Savannah assumed was Dan stood close by, his attention focused entirely on Brinn. When Savannah glanced at Landon, his expression held affection, but no heat, and she felt more relieved than was necessary. Reminding herself that she’d have to return to Washington as soon as Amy was safe, Savannah felt a wave of sadness wash over her.

  Determined to keep her melancholy to herself, Savannah turned away from Landon and Parker to walk the few feet to the bar. Ordering a margarita, she pulled herself up onto the tall bar stool. Resting her chin in her hand, she sighed in frustration. “I’m going to muck this up before I ever start. Stop leading with your heart and begin using your head, or you’re going to end up right back under Dad’s and Brit’s thumbs.” She nodded her thanks to the bartender when he slid the salt-rimmed drink in front of her. Several large gulps later, she slumped back and waited for the brain numbing effects of the tequila to push her fears and insecurities back behind the vault door Landon kept prying open. “Frost my flakes, I’ve let him get to me…again. And, he’s going to break my heart…again. I’m an idiot.”