Page 27 of Allegiance

It was a wall of trees that were actually fake and attached to the gate. The gate would swing open, and they would head out, going in different directions, making sure they were not followed back to this place.

It was a necessity to ensure their protection.

They had no choice.

Stella was with child, Jinx was taking care of a little one, and Maura was still supposedly dead.

As far as they knew, there were only so many people who knew the Major was alive.

Them.

And Calyx Waters, the new proprietor of The Underground.

That’s how they wanted to keep it too.

While at first, they didn’t know if they could trust her, they knew now. Calyx had proved herself to be invaluable to them.

Like she’d promised them weeks ago, she fed them intel.

And that kept them safe.

Granted, it would be better if the intel would tell them where to find Chevy, but so far, it was getting them nothing.

What Calyx had told them was that the man disappeared from the city. No one could find him. He had gone off the radar, not using that name or being spotted on street cameras.

Someone had pulled a Harry Houdini and gone under where he was safe.

Oh, and that was frustrating.

The longer it took, the more difficult it was becoming to keep Maura hidden. That meant that Jagger had to go out without his customary female bodyguard.

And that was a risk.

Life marched on in New Orleans, and it was another day of work for The Hunters.

So, as they gathered at the place they’d once called home, and had been repaired and used as an ‘office’ of sorts, they were ready for the next game plan.

They were running out of time, and everything they’d tried so far, had failed.

Clearly, Chevy had upped his game.

Their hope of finding all of the girls who El Gato had sold off to make money was dimming, and with each passing day, they knew the truth.

They wouldn’t find them alive.

They were dead.

That to them was a huge blow, and as the ‘good guys’, they had to do something.

They really had to find Chevy. That was their number one priority at this point.

The Hunters hadn’t failed a mission yet, and Maura wasn’t letting that happen on her watch. She might be ‘dead’, but she was going to get the job done.

One way or another.

As Maura made coffee, from where she was standing, she could see her husband watching her.

Oh, and she knew what he wanted.