Sacrifice Love: Saints Protection & Investigations Read Online Free PDF Page A

led to a garage entrance.
    The other Saints looked up as he came in. Jack, their no-nonsense leader, cocked his head in Chad’s direction. “You okay? You didn’t say much when you called to say you were back and would be here today.” The normally taciturn boss gazed at Chad with concern in his expression.
    Chad slid into his seat, his face filled with honest emotion. Raw. Painful.
    Cam, a former undercover police detective, leaned forward resting his forearms on the table as he peered at Chad. “Don’t play poker, bro. Your face tells a story and it’s not a good one.”
    Chad nodded, saying, “Yeah, well, when trying to defuse a bomb, you don’t exactly have to hide your intentions from it.” He chuckled as he thought of the different roles they played. Cam’s face gave away nothing. The large, Hispanic man had grown up in the gangs of El Paso and could break into any place needed. In contrast, his best friend Bart’s, easy-going manner belied the former SEAL’s stealth and strength.
    Luke poured Chad a cup of his potent coffee and, sitting it down in front of him, said, “Looks like you need my special brew.”
    “Jesus, Luke. That strong shit’ll keep him up for days,” Marc joked, “He looks like he needs sleep.” The former CIA pilot was at home in the wilds and had no trouble cooking over an open campfire, but he was awed and a little intimidated by Luke’s complicated coffee maker.
    “You’re just jealous because I brew the best shit, as you call it,” Luke retorted, his hair already ruffled from running his hand through it as the caffeine did its job. The former CIA computer analyst and resident hacker could find anything the Saints needed when it came to information. His people skills were slightly off kilter, but with a computer, he was a genius.
    Chad looked at Monty, the dapper, former FBI agent. “You and Angel okay?” When the call had come to Chad about Adam’s death, the Saints were just finishing an assignment involving three murdered women and the attempted murder of a fourth—Monty’s girlfriend.
    “Yeah, thanks, man,” Monty responded. “Her new bakery is up and running, and she moved into my place…for now.” The others laughed and Monty continued, “I know, I know. But we’ll wait a bit before looking to buy something.”
    “Glad to hear it,” Chad acknowledged. He looked around at his friends and co-workers. Only six months ago, they had all been single. Now Jack was married to Bethany, the cabin rental owner next door. Cam married Miriam, a nurse who was his rescue mission from last fall. Bart was now engaged to Faith, the pretty woman with the gift of sight that helped them on a kidnapping case last Christmas. Jude, another former SEAL, was engaged to Bart’s cousin, Sabrina. And Monty, the serious one of the group, was living with Angel, his exact opposite and owner of Angel’s Cupcake Heaven.
    Not many of us still single. Don’t think that’ll change for me anytime soon.
    Blaise walked into the room, his hands up in apology. “I’m sorry to be late. Daisy’s close to giving birth and I wanted to make sure she was fine before I left.” He looked over, seeing Chad. “Hey, man. Sorry to hear about your friend.”
    Chad nodded once more, glad his friends truly cared, but thought, I’ll be glad when the condolences are over. Plastering on a smile, he acknowledged, “Your dog doing okay?”
    Blaise, a veterinarian, formerly with DEA, more at ease with animals than people, smiled. “Yeah, for a mutt found abandoned on my street, she’s a sweetie. Seems to be doing great and I should have puppies in the next day or so.”
    Jack, turning the conversation back to business, quickly went over the new assignments. When they were not involved in a case large enough for all of them to be working on, they divided the security installations and monitoring. The Saints did not handle personal or small-business security. They left that for the numerous other companies