Saviours
(Book Two in The Guardians Series)
By Beth Abbott
Copyright © 2018 Beth Abbott
The reproduction or utilization of any part of this work is strictly prohibited except with the written permission of the author.
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If you have downloaded it from anywhere else, it is an illegal copy and an infringement of the author’s copyright. Please notify the author or the site from where you downloaded it that it should be removed.
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used completely fictitiously. Any similarity between the people, events or locations in this book and actual persons, living or dead, or real businesses, events or places is completely unintentional.
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Dedication
To my husband, who’s been there for me on my worst days;
To my kids, who’ve been responsible for some of my best days;
And to my friends, some old and some new;
I send my heartfelt thanks and my love to you all.
Without your support I might never have gotten this far.
And to the men and women of the armed forces of the UK, US and all our coalition allies, past and present, and to all those struggling to bring peace to an insane world, I send my heartfelt thanks to you and your families, for the sacrifices you make so that the rest of us can sleep peacefully.
May your God bless you and always keep you safe.
The Alpha Company Women Series
(Series 1)
Invisible
Anonymous
Concealed
Healing
Living
Impossible
The Stalwart Security Series
(Series 2)
Relentless
Shattered
Retribution
Deceived
Allegiance
Breathless
The Guardians Series
(Series 3)
Angels
Saviours
Demons
Table of contents
Title Page
List of characters
Dedication
List of Titles
Chapter 1 – Kellen
Chapter 2 – Hollywood
Chapter 3 – Kellen
Chapter 4 – Hannah
Chapter 5 – Hollywood
Chapter 6 – Kellen
Chapter 8 – Kellen
Chapter 9 – Zach
Chapter 10 – Kellen
Chapter 11 – Sacha
Chapter 12 – Kellen
Chapter 13 – Hannah
Chapter 14 - Kellen
Chapter 15 – Micky
Chapter 16 – Sacha
Chapter 17 – Hannah
Chapter 18 – Zach
Chapter 19 – Kellen
Chapter 20 – Micky
Chapter 21 – Zach
Chapter 22 – Kellen
Chapter 23 – Sacha
Chapter 24 – Hannah
Chapter 25 – Kellen
Chapter 26 – Micky
Chapter 27 – Sacha
Chapter 28 – Kellen
Chapter 29 – Micky
Chapter 30 – Zach
Chapter 31 – Micky
Chapter 32 – Hannah
Chapter 33 – Sacha
Chapter 34 – Kellen
Chapter 35 – Micky
Chapter 36 – Drago
Chapter 37 – Abram
Chapter 38 – Kellen
Chapter 39 – Hannah
Chapter 40 – Micky
Chapter 41 – Kellen
Chapter 42 – Micky
Chapter 43 – Drago
Chapter 44 – Danny
Chapter 45 – Micky
Chapter 46 – Abram
Chapter 47 – Zach
Chapter 48 – Kellen
Chapter 49 – Hannah
Chapter 50 - Micky
Chapter 51 - Zach
Chapter 52 - Micky
Chapter 53 - Kellen
Chapter 54 - Micky
Chapter 55 - Hannah
Chapter 56 - Zach
Chapter 57 - Abram
Chapter 58 - Micky
Chapter 59 – Kellen
Chapter 60 - Zach
Chapter 61 - Hannah
Chapter 62 – Sacha
Chapter 63 - Tuck
Chapter 64 – Sacha
Chapter 65 – Micky
Epilogue – Three months later
Demons – Chapter 1 – Suzy
Message from Beth Abbott
New Q&A with Beth
Chapter 1 – Kellen
“Ok, soldier.” Kellen instructed his protégé. “Line everything up so the missile is launched at the perfect angle and trajectory.”
He made a slight adjustment, maybe two degrees to the east, closed his eyes and squinted.
“There, that’s it! Perfect!” He nodded, leaning down so his mouth was just a few inches above his team-mate’s ear. “Now, take a deep breath to calm your nerves, and fire when ready.”
He stepped back and watched the young fella’s shoulders lift, as he followed his mentor’s instruction to the letter.
Kellen heard his partner exhale as the tension left his body, and he barely heard the whispered, “Boom!” as the missile was launched down the ramp.
The youngster stepped back as they watched it follow an almost perfect trajectory, and for a whole four seconds they held their breath.
Just when Kellen feared it was going to veer slightly off target, it seemed to turn at the last second to hit an absolutely perfect bullseye.
“Stuuuuhrike!” He yelled, picking Roman up and swinging him around. “You nailed it kiddo! Awesome job!”
He turned to Luke, sitting behind him with Ellen and their twin boys, and snapped his fingers.
“Hand it over, suckers!” He grinned. “Five quid off each of you.”
Luke grinned at him, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out some cash.
“Is Niko aware that every time you babysit her son you use him to hustle for money from friends and family?” He wondered, handing over ten pounds.
“I like to think of it as topping up Roman’s college fund.” Kellen grinned. “It all goes into his money box.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Ellen smiled. “But maybe you should explain to him that there are actually some things you do for fun. Not everything has to be competitive.”
“Watching TV is fun. Drawing pictures is fun. Bowling is all about kicking the opposition’s butts.” Kellen shrugged. “Maybe next time you should bring the girls instead. They couldn’t play any worse than their parents.”
Ellen shook her head in mock reproach.
“Well, if you guys want to grab a beer at the bar, I’ll take these three over to play in the arcade for half an hour, and then we’ll head to the snack bar to get them something to eat and a milkshake.” She took Roman’s hand and picked up her satchel.
Kellen reached for his wallet to give her some cash.
“Kellen, it’s Ok. I got this.” Ellen smiled, rounding up the twins and heading towards the arcade. “Join us when you’re ready.”
Kellen watched her walk away with the three boys before turning to Luke.
“I have to give her credit.” He grinned. “Your wife has endless patience with the kids.”
Luke chuckled.
“Ellen has endless patience with almost everyone.” He agreed. “She makes time for everyone, too, which is something I struggle to do almost every damn day. Without her to keep us organised, the girls would never
get to their music lessons, the boys would never get to their taekwondo class and I’d probably never get to work on time.”
Kellen grabbed his jacket and then picked up his and Roman’s shoes, and the two men walked over to the bar.
When they’d gotten their drinks, they sat at a table where they could still see Ellen and the kids, and Kellen dumped their stuff on the floor while he kicked back.
“How’re you liking London, then?” Luke sipped his drink. “I’m guessing it’s not a lot like Texas.”
Kellen looked at the Alpha Company director, his split-eye still fascinating, no matter how many times he saw it.
“Well, it’s been close to our temperatures this summer, that’s for sure.” Kellen grinned. “All anyone ever talks about is the lousy British weather, and here you’ve been having a heatwave ever since I got back from Hungary. A whole month of sunshine! It’s mighty nice of you.”
“It’s been warm as hell, alright.” Luke agreed. “Never thought I’d complain about sunshine, but having to chase four kids around the park, and trying to slather factor fifty sunscreen all over them is no joke. I always end up with more of the crap on me than on them, and usually on my clothes not my skin.”
“Since we’ve been back there’s been quite a bit of down-time while we were all being debriefed.” Kellen watched Roman climb into a little racing car, grinning as all the bells and motor sounds increased. “It’s been cool having the time to take Roman off Niko’s hands to give her a chance to acclimatize. He’s a good kid.”
“What comes next?” Luke asked, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “Workwise I mean.”
“We’re waiting to find out whether Drago has managed to make contact with some of Ilya’s former business associates, to see if he can move further up the food chain.” Kellen explained. “He’s hoping to set us up on our next mission.”
“JT mentioned something about an arms dealer?” Luke noted. “Does Drago have a chance of getting in with them?”
“He does if David can organise an advance payment.” Kellen nodded. “I don’t know all the details, but Drago was meeting up with the Russian today, with a view to arranging an arms shipment. Apparently, he’s known the guy since he first started working for Ilya, so Drago doesn’t think he’ll suspect that he’s anything other than what he appears. A Russian gangster.”
“We met Drago at dinner the other night, and Ellen took the opportunity to brush up on her Russian.” Luke smiled. “She was telling me that Drago isn’t just street smart, but he’s actually well-educated too. He’s got a degree in law, or something like that.”
Kellen’s eyebrows moved half an inch closer to his hairline.
“Really? I mean, I didn’t doubt that he was clever, but I didn’t expect him to have attended university.” Kellen admitted. “I just assumed he’d gone straight into the military at eighteen, like a lot of us did.”
“Nope.” Luke shook his head. “He went into the Special Forces after he’d gotten his degree. I don’t exactly know his rank, but I think he went in at officer level.”
“You’d think he could do something with that education that would earn him a lot more money, and probably be a lot less hazardous to his health.” Kellen pointed out. “Instead, after only a four-week break, he’s going back in to face even more danger with an even bigger Russian asshole.”
Kellen watched as Roman turned around to wave at him and grabbed his phone and took a few pictures.
“I’ll send these to Niko’s phone for when she gets home later.” He grinned. “She hates missing a second of Roman’s ‘adventures’ as she calls them. Hollywood got her that new phone three weeks ago, and within three days he had to go and get her a bigger memory card, because she’d filled up the internal memory with pictures and videos of Roman.”
“How’s she coping with having money?” Luke asked. “Her parents inheritance came through last week didn’t it? That must feel amazing after going without for so long.”
“Hollywood said that they put it in a savings account in the bank Ellen suggested she use, and he helped her register for on-line banking.” Kellen explained. “He reckons she logs into her account at least twenty times a day, just to make sure it’s all still there and nobody’s stolen any of it.”
“When you’ve been used to surviving on fifty euros a week or less for so many years, raising a kid on little more than thin air, I imagine forty thousand pounds must feel like a lottery win.” Luke said quietly. “It’s all relative, isn’t it?”
“Well, with her job at the Guardians officially starting next week, Niko’s hoping she won’t even have to touch her inheritance.” Kellen sipped his drink. “Hollywood is trying not to argue with her when she insists, she’s going to pay half the bills, but he’s adamant it’s not gonna happen. He reckons the bills would be his to pay whether she was there or not, so he’s offered her a compromise. He’ll pay the regular bills, and Niko can pay towards anything that costs more because she and Roman are there.”
“I’m guessing he means groceries, right?” Luke smiled.
“Exactly!” Kellen snorted. “Niko’s look told him what she thought of that idea. It’s not settled yet, so we’ll have to wait and see what they agree on. Anyway, Niko won’t get paid for a month, so they’ll have plenty of time to argue about it.”
“The more they argue, the more fun they’ll have making up.” Luke pointed out.
Kellen snorted a laugh.
“Don’t think Hollywood hasn’t already thought about that.” He confirmed. “If they keep making up so loudly, poor Roman is going to need earplugs.”
Luke smiled as he finished his beer.
“Another?” He asked Kellen, rising to his feet.
“Nah, I’m good. Gotta keep my wits about me with Roman. One minute he’s scratching around your ankles, and the next he’s vanished into the mist.” Kellen grinned.
“Kids are good at that.” Luke agreed.
Kellen snapped a few more pictures of Roman before pocketing his phone. He wondered how Hollywood and Niko were enjoying their first proper date.
This was something Hollywood had promised Niko back when they were still in Hungary. A proper date, getting dressed up, and dining at a good restaurant.
Hollywood had actually gone one better and found a restaurant which turned into something of a jazz club later in the evening. It sounded perfect as they wouldn’t have to go anywhere else, they could just have a nice meal, followed by some romantic dancing to a live band.
Kellen glanced at his watch and noticed it was almost eight o’clock. Barely time for them to have ordered their drinks yet.
He watched Ellen gather the kids up and herd them towards the snack bar.
All this thinking about food had his stomach growling, and he figured the only way to stop it was to get something to eat.
As Luke returned with his second drink, Kellen pulled himself up to his full height.
“I’m going to give Ellen a hand with Roman.” He nodded towards the snack-bar. “I’m also going to see if they serve anything other than kid-size portions of whatever is on offer. Want something?”
Luke shrugged and bent down to grab the kids’ shoes and coats from the floor.
“Yeah, sounds good. I’d rather be over there eating with them, than sitting over here watching them eat, that’s for sure.” He confirmed.
Kellen caught up with the others as they reached the counter, and he swung Roman up into his arms.
“What would you like to eat, pal?” He looked up at the menu. “Would you like a burger with fries? Or maybe a hotdog?”
When Roman didn’t answer, Kellen looked down to find the boy staring at him, his mouth wide open and his face ashen white.
“They eat dogs here?” Roman whispered, his eyes filling up with big tears that spilled over his eyelashes.
“Hey, no!” Kellen stared into the boy’s horrified face. “It’s just a funny name for a sausage in bread.”
Roman di
dn’t look convinced until the lady behind the counter showed him one of the sausages, and even then, he wasn’t overly soothed.
“How about a slice of pizza?” Ellen smiled at Roman. “With ham and lots of cheese? How does that sound?”
Roman nodded his approval and Kellen sagged with relief. The only thing worse than a woman’s tears was seeing a kid crying because he was genuinely upset.
Kellen ordered a couple of meals for himself, earning a strange look from the cashier, and then took a seat at one of the big family tables. He barely noticed that Roman was clinging on to him or that he was still sitting in his lap.
“Is he Ok?” Luke said quietly, taking a seat opposite Kellen.
“Yeah, he’s gonna be just fine.” He ruffled Roman’s hair. “I guess we all take so many things for granted and forget that in his short life so far he hasn’t experienced much of anything. His favourite treat was a visit to the park, and he’s never received a gift that was still in its original packaging.”
“I like the park.” Roman lifted his head to look up at Kellen, obviously unaware that they were talking about him. “They have swings and slides. The slides are my favourite.”
“Here you go.” Ellen placed a plate in front of Roman with a big slice of pizza on it, as the waitress brought the rest of their food on a big tray.
The twins were eating pizza as well, and he saw Roman watch them intently before picking his pizza up and holding it the same way.
When Casey spotted Roman watching him, he gave him a big gap-toothed grin.
Roman looked so pleased to have made one of his new friends smile, Kellen could feel a lump form in his throat.
Kellen figured it was probably going to take a while to clear all the bad memories out of the kid’s head, but if he could help Niko and Hollywood make some new, happy memories, he was damn sure gonna do it, every chance he got.
Kellen felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out.
He connected the call, a grin on his face.
“We’ve been bowling, Roman’s played in the arcade, and we’re now eating pizza.” He said without stopping. “So, tell Niko to stop worrying…”
Hollywood’s voice interrupted him, wiping the grin off his face.