Marshall took a sip from his coffee mug and raised his brow.
It was a look meant to intimidate most people, and God, I had to admit that the former Commander Marshall had one hell of a don’t-even-try-to-argue-with-me presence.
However, those expressions that were meant to alarm anyone who saw them didn’t work on me anymore.
Maybe he’d been the supreme leader to every man who had served under his command on his Navy SEAL team. I also had no doubt he’d deserved that hero-worship, too. But there was so much more to Marshall than just his former military career. Over the last few months, I’d seen a different side of Marshall that I was sure he didn’t really want anyone to see.
Not that he’d become a teddy bear or anything even close to warm or affectionate, but he wasn’t the complete hard-ass that he wanted everybody to think he was, either.
“You know the rules,” Marshall said gruffly. “Anyone involved in Last Hope is former Special Forces. No offense, Harlow, but you’re in no shape to tackle someone else’s kidnapping right now. Not when you haven’t even dealt with your own issues from being a captive yourself. That’s why I made Jax Montgomery your advisor. You have work to do on those issues, missy, and it would help if you had someone to talk to who can actually help you work through them. Have you even bothered to answer Jax’s phone calls?”
I rolled my eyes. I hated it when he talked to me like he was my father. “Jax dropped by earlier today,” I admitted.
“Let me guess. You blew him off,” Marshall said knowingly.
I shrugged. “I told him if he could go two weeks without being photographed with one of his one-night women, then I’d agree to let him be my advisor. It was the easiest way I could think of to get rid of him, and never have to see him again. I doubt he’ll last a single day without being pictured with yet another female. He’s been a playboy for years. That’s the last thing I need right now.”
“He’s also one of the two men who risked their lives to rescue Taylor,” he reminded me.
I sighed. He was right. Jax and Hudson Montgomery hadn’t hesitated to put one of their private jets in the air as soon as they’d discovered that Taylor was in bad shape.
In fact, by the time I’d hunted them down at their corporate offices after my release, Marshall, Jax, and Hudson had already been planning to execute a rescue for Mark and Taylor.
One thing I hadn’t realized when I’d left Lania was the chance of Taylor ever being released by paid ransom was almost zero. Apparently, Lanian rebels were known for taking the ransom money for the last hostages to be released, and then killing every one of them. An attempted rescue had been the only option for her.
I had to admit, I was shocked when I discovered that all three of the Montgomery brothers were members of a secret, volunteer rescue operation called Last Hope. Marshall had started it after he’d retired from the Navy due to an injury. Jax, Hudson, and Cooper Montgomery had jumped on board years ago, after they’d all left their Special Forces units.
Not only were they active members of Last Hope, but I suspected they were financing the operation as well. From what I’d seen, Last Hope was way too sophisticated to be a volunteer group on a shoestring budget.
“I know,” I confessed shakily. “And nobody will ever be more grateful than I am that they got to Taylor in time. It’s not like Jax and Hudson had to do the rescue themselves, but because they did, they saved Taylor’s life.” God, not even in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that the powerful billionaires who owned the company I worked for were part of a highly secret, civilian organization like Last Hope.
If Jax and Hudson hadn’t been part of Last Hope, and highly qualified to execute their own rescue immediately, Taylor never would have made it. Had they wasted any time putting together another team of guys, I was fairly certain they would have been returning Taylor to the US in a body bag. Neither Taylor nor Marshall had ever told me exactly what shape she’d been in when she’d been found. But I wasn’t a total idiot. I knew she hadn’t got up and walked out of there on her own.
Desperate, Taylor had made a feeble attempt at escape once I’d left the compound, and she’d been severely beaten for her actions.
I couldn’t blame her for trying to self-rescue when she’d had the chance. I probably would have done the same thing, but the punishment she’d gotten for that offense had just weakened her condition even more.
I had no doubt if Jax and Hudson hadn’t gotten to her in record time, there would have been no way to save her.
Last Hope, and the advanced capabilities of the operation, had managed to pull off what had seemed like an impossible rescue.
Marshall had contacted Crown Prince Niklaos, the current ruler of Lania, and arranged for basic medical care for Taylor before Hudson and Jax even left the dock in Lania. Taylor had gotten the life-saving IV fluids and basic medical care necessary to keep her alive on the long flight back home.
I had no idea how Marshall had formed any of his connections in high places. What normal person knew the Crown Prince of Lania?
Marshall fixed his dark-eyed stare on me as he asked, “Why wouldn’t they be part of Last Hope? Before Hudson, Jax, and Cooper came back to San Diego to take over Montgomery Mining, every one of them were damn good Special Forces officers.”
I shook my head. “I guess it just doesn’t make sense. Most billionaires don’t go into the military in the first place, so I guess the whole idea of them being part of a secret, volunteer, private rescue operation doesn’t fit, either.”
Marshall shot me a disappointed look. “I never took you for the type of woman who judged a man by how much money he had,” he grumbled. “Your mom isn’t like that, and she definitely raised you right, so I’m a little surprised.”
“You barely know my mother,” I protested.
Sure, Marshall had come to Carlsbad to visit me while I’d been recovering at my mom’s house, but that hardly made him an expert on my mother.
Unless…
“Are you two still communicating?” I asked suspiciously, and immediately got a nonverbal answer when he averted his gaze. “I knew it. I knew you had a thing for my mother.”
Marshall cleared his throat. “I don’t have a thing for your mother. We’re friends. And yes, we still talk occasionally, but that’s all we do. She’s way too attractive to be interested in a man who can barely walk,” he said in a disgruntled voice. “And stop avoiding my question, Harlow.”
Seriously? Marshall was far from disabled. Yes, he had a pronounced limp from the injury that had ended his career in the Navy SEALs, but he was still an attractive man.
“I’m not judging Jax and Hudson because of their net worth, Marshall. I was just saying that them being part of Last Hope was…unexpected,” I explained. “What employee would ever imagine that their three billionaire bosses rescued hostages in foreign countries in their spare time?”