The Milestone Protocol by Ernest Dempsey (best books to read in your 20s txt) 📕

Joe hung his head. “Yeah.”

A black sedan appeared in the moonlight and rolled to a stop about forty yards away from the front porch.

Helen poked the rifle out through the open window. Her husband followed, taking aim at the silhouette of the driver. His finger tensed on the trigger, awaiting the order to fire.

All the group could see were two figures in the sedan, and from the looks of it, they were both women.

A long pause settled over the cabin. No one said a word. They barely breathed, keeping their breaths shallow and smooth, as if the intruders could hear them.

Out of nowhere, Tara’s phone vibrated. At first, she ignored it, thinking it was a friend sending her a funny video or meme. But the device vibrated a second time, and she decided to see what was going on.

Tara looked at the screen and realized the message was from Emily. She returned to cover behind the wall and read the text from Emily silently.

“It’s us. Don’t shoot.”

“Guys,” Tara said, holding out her left hand. “It’s Emily.”

Everyone visibly relaxed, except Dak, who maintained his hardened expression, gazing out the window with his piercing green eyes.

“You sure?” he asked.

“That’s what she said,” Tara replied, holding up her phone as proof.

“Text her back and tell her and the passenger to get out of the car slowly, with their hands high.”

“Okay,” Tara said. She tapped out the message on her phone and hit the send button.

Soon after, the doors to the sedan inched open, and two female figures stepped out. They put up their hands and motioned to the back of the car. The two rear doors opened then, and two more people exited the vehicle with their hands up.

Tara and Alex recognized the black couple immediately in the combined glow of porch light and moonlight.

“It’s Desmond’s parents!” Alex gasped in relief. “And definitely Emily and June,” he added quickly.

Dak finally eased up and stepped to the side, allowing the young couple to pass. They shuffled out onto the porch and waited, waving their hands at the approaching refugees. Tara hugged Emily when she arrived, then June. She even hugged Mrs. Ellerby, though she barely knew the woman on a personal level.

Mr. Ellerby shook hands with Alex. “Thank you for bringing my kids here,” he said. “I’ll never forget it. Although it looks like y’all had some trouble out here earlier.”

“It was no trouble,” Dak said from the corner of the doorframe. “Firefight lasted less than two minutes. And the kids were never in any real danger.”

“Where are the children?” Mrs. Ellerby asked, her eyes aflame with worry.

“Asleep in one of the back rooms. They’re safe,” Helen said, stepping out onto the porch with Mack. “I’m Helen and this is Joe. We live here when we’re not out in the field working for the IAA.”

“Call me Mack,” Joe said, shaking hands with the two. “We have plenty of room for everyone. Plenty of blankets, towels, everything. Might be a bit tight, but we’ll make it work. You two can take our bed.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Mrs. Ellerby said. “I’m Carolyn, by the way.”

“And I’m Daniel,” Mr. Ellerby added.

Helen moved aside and motioned everyone into the cabin. “Y’all get inside, now. It’s too chilly to be out here at this time of night.”

The group retreated to the safety of the indoors, and when they were all in, Mack locked the door.

Helen offered the new guests coffee and a bite to eat despite the late hour. They declined but appreciated the generosity.

“No coffee this late for me,” Emily said. “But thank you.” She turned to Tara and Alex, concern written on her face. “Have you heard anything out of the guys yet?”

The couple shook their heads.

“Not recently,” Alex said.

“No, we’ve had our own stuff we’ve been dealing with,” Tara added.

“That’s what I figured,” Emily stated. “We’re lucky we were able to get these two out of their home.” She slowed down for a second and took an uneasy breath. “Unfortunately, things got messy in there.”

Daniel’s face turned to stone. Carolyn faltered from the memory, unleashing a long exhale to try to fight back the trauma of what she’d seen. During their adventures in treasure hunting, the Ellerbys had faced a few shady people, but it hadn’t ended in death. Not like tonight.

It was a baptism by fire for the both of them, and the new world they emerged into from the murky, blood-soaked depths was far more dangerous and violent than they ever conceived.

“We had to eliminate several imposters,” June said. She pulled back the black hoodie and revealed her golden-blonde hair. “They definitely looked the part of FBI, but they all had the same tattoo on their necks.”

“Tattoo?” Dak asked abruptly. “It wouldn’t happen to be an ankh, would it?”

June nodded.

“Sounds to me like I’m the newest arrival to this party.” Dak panned the room to meet everyone’s gaze. “Would someone mind telling me what exactly is going on?”

Emily looked at him with a commanding stare. “You might want to sit down for this,” she said.

“I’m good. Not much I haven’t heard.”

“Suit yourself.” Emily helped herself to a wooden chair from the dining table and sat down. She crossed one leg over her knee and leaned back as if about to tell a fireside ghost story.

“John is abroad right now, doing some charity work, so he was light on the details, but I spoke to him earlier. He’d already gone to bed for the night. I fear now he won’t be able to go back to sleep.”

John Dawkins was the former President of the United States, and since his last term in office he and Emily had been involved in a romantic relationship, though they kept most of the details of their personal lives out of the limelight—more for her protection than for his. As the director of one of the most covert, secretive agencies in the world, she tried not to put a target on her back.

“He told me