Chapter Three
Same Time
Same Place
Debriefing Time
T ruth be told, it always amused her when she could catch the unsuspecting Hunters off-guard. That was half the fun of being her. She knew it was a bad idea to sneak up on mercenaries, but these were HER mercenaries.
What were they going to do?
Get angry and kick her out of a building that the government funded lowkey to keep them safe?
Yeah, no.
This place actually made it easier for her to sneak up on them. Oh, and one thing was clear.
MATE was right.
Clearly they couldn't hear the helicopter landing on their roof thanks to all of the concrete.
“Hey, Hunters. Miss me?” she asked, as she walked into the room with Gene behind her.
Immediately, they ignored that she was even there, and all insult was gone.
For now.
The second they saw him, their old family member, The Hunters were up, and heading right toward him.
Yeah, they blew right past her to get to Gene.
“Well, I don’t get that kind of welcome,” she joked.
Zayn shook his head from the screen, and clued her into why she didn’t get hugs when she walked into a room.
“Maybe don’t have presents delivered to people’s hidey-holes, Elizabeth. How the hell did you find out where I live?”
She grinned.
Oh, she loved tormenting him. It was, lowkey, one of her favorite pastimes.
So, she kept it going.
“I LoJacked Stella when I slipped her a gun.”
As soon as she said that his eyes went huge, and he gasped in horror.
The last thing he needed was his wife armed and dangerous to him, and their children.
Not far away, Stella was there laughing.
She couldn’t help herself. When her husband patted her down, it got her all hot and bothered.
Zayn didn’t mince words.
“I don’t like you,” he said.
Elizabeth was amused. She knew that was anything but the truth. The man had shown up at the White House in his dress blues for Takoda’s wedding.
That screamed love.
As for the other man, all around Gene, the people he loved were hugging him, and welcoming him home. It was clear that they missed him.
Gene still looked stressed.
“Are you good, Big Guy?” Maura asked. “We’re glad you’re home.”
Yeah, only, this place wasn’t his home.
And he never would have returned if it wasn’t for Tommy being a pain in his ass. His home had always been Ethan. With him was the only place he wanted to be, and he’d never leave it again.
As soon as the job was done here, he was going back to his man.
Ignoring the question, he tried to put on a happy face. It wasn’t like he didn’t miss them, but the whole Tommy thing pissed him off.
“Hey, Guys. I missed you.”
Did he?
Kinda of.
They all kissed him, and he congratulated Maura and Jinx on having more babies. Then, he smiled at the two men on the screen.
“I’m happy for you both,” he said. “Your babies are beautiful. Tell your wives that they made cute kids, despite those hideous mugs of yours.”
Dakota laughed.
Zayn lifted a brow and scowled as per usual.
“How do you know that my baby is cute?” he asked, suspiciously.
Gene busted ass.
“The cameras in your homes. Nice couch. You sit on it a lot.”
Zayn gasped again.
When Elizabeth went to Gene’s side, without hesitation, he wrapped his arm around her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
They all saw it.
The man had once been their family member had moved on up to the East Side.
As in a much nicer nest.
“He’s been compromised,” Zayn admitted. “Or he’s freaking possessed. He just kissed the Devil, and didn’t catch on fire.”
That was funny as hell.
Zayn definitely didn’t hate her. The man was like a brother, trying to annoy a sister.
She went there.
“Do you chucklefucks want to work, or do you want to bust my ass?” she asked. “Because I have a job, and it’s got a hefty paycheck. I’m sure it’ll keep you stocked in onesies and anxiety medication for years.”
Dakota laughed.
It wasn’t like she was wrong.
Babies pooped a lot, and he’d learned that every time his wife handed him his son.
And that baby shit was gross. How could something so cute have something so foul in his body?
Dakota went there.
“Thanks for the gift, Elizabeth. I’m not freaked out. You knew where we lay low. Now, tell us where the big man is.”
She grinned and opened her mouth like she was going to do it too.
“Don’t,” Zayn said. “Loose lips sink ships! I didn’t even want you to know, let alone these jokers.”
She just laughed instead, and took a seat at the kitchen island. As soon as she was parked there, on her ass, MATE appeared.
As if timed impeccably, she got in on the act.
“When can I possess Tulip?” she asked Elizabeth, making Zayn go nuts. “Do I have to wait until she comes here?”
Elizabeth didn’t even have to answer her.
Instead, they all laughed.
“I am buying a new house. I don’t like any of you,” he stated. “Don’t forget that.”
The whole family didn’t believe that for a single second. Zayn was loyal to a fault.
To them.
Because she could keep tormenting him without saying a word, MATE smiled at him, and changed what she looked like to mimic Stella.
He.
Looked.
Horrified.
“Oh, fuck. I don’t like this at all.”
Know who didn’t mind?
His wife.
Stella was amused.
“Change your eyes next time, MATE. It’s a dead giveaway.”
Zayn stared at her like she was insane.
“ STELLA ! Don’t help the AI give me a stroke!” he stated. “That’s not allowed!”
She just laughed.
With the rest of The Hunters settling down at the massive island, on both sides, they got ready to work. Of course, they were taking a job.
They were bored stupid. It proved one thing too.
Idle hands were the Devil’s workshop, and this Devil worked for the FBI.
“What’s the job?” Maura asked.
It was time.
Pulling a dossier from her messenger bag, Elizabeth dropped it on the counter as Jinx got them both a cup of hot coffee.
“Thank you,” she said. “It’s been a long day so far,” she admitted, and it didn’t look like it was getting any better. They’d caught an EARLY flight, and she couldn’t go home until everything was done.
That always sucked.
Why?
She had to stay hidden, or the media would be hanging out with her colon—up in her ass.
So, they all got down to work.
“Here’s the issue, and is it outside of your wheelhouse? Yes.”
Jagger lifted a brow.
He didn’t like that.
If something was outside their wheelhouse, it had to be something top secret or really bad. Most of the things that went to shit in the shadows was their wheelhouse.
They were Marines.
“Outside of our wheelhouse? What could possibly be outside of our wheelhouse?”
She went there.
“Investigating homicides.”
They all stared at her, and each one was thinking only one thing.
That.
Was.
Wild.
It was also her arena where she was the gladiator with the most wins. No one expected her to have them go there.
That she wanted them to do it…
None of them were investigators.
Well, there was one person there, besides Elizabeth, who also frequented that colosseum of battle.
BOONE.
“Hot Damn!” Boone said, grinning. “It looks like I know who is in charge of this one,” he stated. “I’m the only investigator in this group.”
That made Elizabeth laugh.
Because he wasn’t wrong, she handed him the dossier so he could get first look at it.
Know who didn’t like that?
The lady in charge.
“What the hell?” Maura asked. “We investigate shit all the damn time. I think we can all say we’re ‘investigators’ . Just last week we were investigating why Zayn’s ego is so big, yet can fit through a doorway, almost unlike his ass.”
The big man gasped.
“A fat joke, Maura? Really?”
She snorted.
Sue her.
She couldn’t help herself.
As she was sipping her coffee, Elizabeth explained what was going on, and they could fight amongst themselves later.
She had shit to handle in New Orleans .
“The CIA got intel that there was something sketchy going on,” she admitted. “It started back during the Afghanistan war.”
The second she said Afghanistan, all the Marines in the room got really twitchy.
And with good reason.
The only other place that freaked a bunch of war hardened Marines out was Mogadishu . The Sandbox was their second least favorite hell zone to go to.
The scorpions.
The sunburn.
The insurgents.
“Oh, boy,” Maura said. “Not it!” she added, staring right at Boone. “You can have this one.”
He laughed.
“Pussies.”
Maybe they were, or maybe they’d all just spent too much time playing reindeer games in Afghanistan to want to go back to the war that never ended.
Zayn was to the point.
“I’m not going to freaking Afghanistan, and you cannot make me, Elizabeth. Been there, nearly died there. Pass,” he stated. “My ass isn’t leaving this country. P. E. R. I. O. D ,” he added, spelling it.
That was the funniest part.
Oh, not him nearly dying.
That he thought she couldn’t get him there. That was the kind of military pull she had. If she wanted them recalled back into service, all she had to do was go to the president.
Then, they were back on active duty.
And her bitches.
Luckily for them, they weren’t leaving the city.
“Relax, Zayn, the issue is here. No one is going on a road trip back to the sandbox. That’s where this whole mess began, and we’re looking at it as a huge issue on the horizon.”
Maura sipped her tea.
“What went down there, exactly?”
She explained.
“During the war, the US government would send cash to people fighting on our side. It was funding the people of Afghanistan to not to betray the boys and girls on the ground in camo.”
“Bribery,” Zayn said. “From experience, I’m telling you that it didn’t work. The Taliban had it’s fingers in EVERYTHING .”
She didn’t argue that.
It was why the US eventually pulled out, because too many lives were being lost, and not enough ground was being saved.
“Incentive,” she corrected.
Potato, potatoe. It sucked if you were on the ground there.
Period.
Still, they let her talk.
“Anyway, fifty million dollars was put into cryptocurrency to fund an overlord who was protecting one of the most volatile areas in Afghanistan.”
They listened.
“To that, more money was dumped into that fund, as the US kept shelling out cash to keep the war in their favor. That overlord was not shooting at us, for a while, but instead at the Taliban. It was also a war of monetary gain.”
Zayn was particularly spicy about Afghanistan. He’d lost friends there. Half of his platoon had died there. It was no freaking game in the Sandbox.
“You mean a war we bailed on and let the place collapse?” Zayn asked.
She was to the point.
“Above my paygrade, Marine. I’m just the messenger, and I don’t get involved in the politics of it all. I am a grunt just like you guys. I just answer directly to the general—Gabriel Rothschild.”
After hearing this, Maura was curious.
“So you want us to find the money? That’s more a Merry thing. Cryptocurrency is electronic, so…”
She stopped her.
Oh, it was more than that.
“We have a bigger issue than cryptocurrency. What we don’t know is who killed the soldiers who were in charge of it. As of yesterday, another Marine was found dead. He was tortured and taken apart.”
That shut them all up for a few reasons. If they knew that, then the CIA was up to its law breaking by snooping around on American soil.
It also meant someone hurt one of their brothers.
“Someone is killing Marines?” Maura asked.
Immediately, Elizabeth nodded.
“The U.S. military and the British military were having special operations at a joint Air Force Base in one of the worst parts of Afghanistan. They were in control of getting that money to where it needed to be,” she admitted. “They were the keepers of the crypto. The National US Bank of Cryptocurrency, so to speak. It was their job to babysit it, and to use the money WISELY .”
Oh, they knew how that went.
Not well, they were betting.
As for the southern part of the country…
They're all well aware of what went on there. It was a dangerous shitshow.
“And those are the soldiers being killed?” Remington asked, as he and Calyx sat side-by-side.
She nodded.
That pissed off Zayn, and annoyed him.
Big-time.
“Fuck the money and country. Who is killing soldiers?” he asked. “I don’t like when shit like that goes down.”
She was aware.
Thus, why Gabe wanted them to handle this. They were a band of brothers, and it appeared to be in their city. She just didn’t know what was behind all of this.
The CIA was being…CIA-ish.
They gave her a redacted file, and she was trying to piece it all together. You’d think that two alphabet agencies would be open and honest with each other, but that was NOT the case.
Not even close.
She was working in the dark here, but she suspected there was a lot more they weren’t telling her.
Now, they had to find out what.
“That’s where you guys come in. Let’s be realistic. We might never find that money, but all of those soldiers from that air force base have turned up dead and my bosses, Axelle, and Gabriel Rothschild, want to get to the bottom of it. If the CIA is pointing us at something, there’s a problem. They said it's on US soil, so they can’t help…”
She didn’t get to finish.
“But they can hinder us by not giving us a full picture,” Maura said.
Remington laughed.
“Oh, they are absolutely not giving us a full picture. Was the file redacted?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“There you go. Expect worst-case scenario.”
Boone was curious.
“So why aren’t you investigating the homicides, especially if they are on US soil? If they weren’t here, the CIA would be covering it up like they always do,” Maura admitted. “Here though, you solve killings for a living.”
She did.
Only, there were two reasons.
“The President doesn’t want me handling it. The attention is exactly what he wants to avoid. Secondly, it’s out of my jurisdiction. The two marines killed here are already being handled by the police, and we all know who is NOT playing nice with me.”
Oh, they absolutely did.
Captain Tommy Bernard.
Well, shit.
“I’m basically betting a shit ton of cryptocurrency that you guys can beat the cops to the truth, or make this mess disappear by solving it before them.”
Dakota knew what she wanted.
“You don’t want the cops to find the truth, do you?” he asked.
Absolutely.
Freaking.
Not.
She shook her head.
“No. If this is something dirty going on, and classified, that’s the last thing we need. If those soldiers were all killed for money that we funded the overlords with, that can’t come out. That’s going to be a shitmess. It was before Gabe, but still, he doesn’t like to sully up his presidency.”
“Uh, he’s literally marrying his Press Secretary, and his wife died a year ago. He’s sullying his presidency up plenty,” Zayn said. “He moved on fast.”
She said nothing.
At first.
“I’m the last one to get into people’s personal lives. I don’t ask why Stella sleeps with you, Zayn, or why Calyx likes the face on Remington,” she added.
Remmy laughed.
He wasn’t sure of that either.
“But what I can say is Gabe and Livy were getting a divorce, and no one knew. The marriage was over. That’s all I’m saying about the president, and only because I trust you guys. As for the rest, a bunch of murdered Marines on Gabe’s watch doesn’t sit well with him, or me.”
She pointed at the three Marines not far away that were her security detail.
They all knew she loved her some Marines.
Maura wanted clarification.
“So, by figuring out who killed the Marines, we are to find the people behind stealing the money in the first place?”
She nodded.
“And then tie up loose ends?” Jagger asked.
She nodded again.
“It’s more than that,” she admitted, tapping the redacted file that the CIA boned her good with when they marked it up.
“Oh, boy,” Jagger said. “I feel a good ol’ military boning about to happen, but from Elizabeth this time.”
She reassured him.
“I’m not the problem.”
That made them curious.
“Then who is?” Maura asked.
“Well, not only do I need you to find the dirty soldiers who stole the money and killed some people, but I need you to do it without one certain entity finding out.”
It had been the only thing her sources in the Pentagon could give her, and when they did, she knew it was going to take specialized help.
Mercenaries versus mercenaries.
They would have expected her to say the US government, but that was, technically, her. If they weren’t the ones they were hiding it from, then what were they up against?
“Who?” Remmy asked.
She went there.
“ The BlackStone Group .”
The second she said BlackStone, all of the Marines knew they were fucked, and even Remington looked twitchy.
That said a lot.
Merry was curious, and she didn’t understand why they were all frowning.
“Uh, civilian here. Who is The BlackStone Group ?” she asked.
Maura broke it down for her.
“They are a military contractor, who betrayed lots of soldiers, sold off their weapons, and made soldiers’ lives miserable in the Middle East. They are rich, powerful, and a pain in the government’s ass. We lost quite a few men and women due to them funding the Taliban to keep the country off balance.”
She looked horrified.
“So shitty military contractors who betrayed us?”
“Capitalism,” Maura said. “They were allowed to work independently there, and made it look like they were bringing in privatized soldiers for hire.”
“So mercenaries?” Calyx asked.
Everyone who knew, nodded.
Elizabeth went there next.
“We can be involved in a war, but we can’t stop paramilitary from getting involved on the ground. If a country lets them in…”
Now, they all got it.
This had to be done incredibly quietly. No one wanted The BlackStone Group up their asses.
“And they are behind this?” Boone asked.
She shrugged.
“The CIA heard that ‘someone’ is looking for the money to keep it. I had to go to the Pentagon and pull some favors to get that name. It was like yanking teeth out of an unwilling person’s head too. They did NOT want to give me that intel.”
“What do you have on the brass at the Pentagon?” Zayn asked.
She laughed.
“You don’t want to know,” she admitted. “Anyway, if their name came up in this, then they are definitely involved. No one says their name unless there is a good reason. It’s hella suspicious that a whole unit of soldiers from the US and UK are dying off, and that money is MIA with them involved.”
Maura sighed.
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that someone in that platoon took the money, and they are trying to recoup it.”
Merry stopped them.
They seemed to think this was a physical kind of a deal. It wasn’t.
“You can’t just take Cryptocurrency without the key,” she stated. “It’s electronic and the key unlocks it. You don’t put it in antiquities and ship it to the country. It’s out there floating around. So if the hunt is on for the money, they aren’t looking for the cash, per se, but the key to unlock the money and withdraw it.”
The Marines all looked at her.
“So anyone who has the key has the money?” Maura asked.
Merry nodded.
“If people are being killed, I’d likely say that the reason is they want the key. If you can get me an account number, Elizabeth, I can tell you if the cryptocurrency is still in play.”
Well, she just happened to have one.
Pulling out her phone, she tossed it to Merry, who picked up MATE’S tablet, and began working on getting any information she could on the cache of money.
While she was doing that, Zayn wasn’t thrilled.
“And you want us to tangle with The BlackStone Group ?” he asked. “That’s a hornets’ nest of trouble. They will stab you in the back while looking you in the face.”
Oh, she was aware.
She pointed out the obvious.
“Your sole job as mercenaries is to get into the hornets’ nest and kick it around to make it explode. That’s why you’re here, and why you were made into a group of specialized individuals.”
They were silent.
That told her everything she needed to know. When Maura wasn’t gung-ho about a job, and Zayn looked worried, they were scared.
“I know this is dangerous. If you can validate who is behind this, and betrayed US and British soldiers while they were trying to fight for our countries in a war, there's money for you guys. Big money. I can take down BlackStone . I’m not afraid of them.”
Ivan was with her.
“I’ll take them on,” he said.
Gunny didn’t hesitate.
“If they killed people, our people, fuck them. We take them down.”
Raphael was more than in.
“I was in an operation in Afghanistan, and BlackStone interfered. We lost ten people. Sign me up. I’ll extract some blood from those assholes.”
That seemed to calm the Marines in the room. That they would have backup…
Before they could say anything more, Merry cleared her throat.
“Okay, Marines and Feds,” she said. “That money is still in play. It’s getting bigger each day, and no one’s touched it. I stand on what I said. Someone is looking for the crypto key, and that’s why people are being tortured. You don’t kill soldiers for war stories.”
She was likely right.
They needed to get to that key before The BlackStone Group did, and she could make their lives painful in DC. She could bring them down.
“So, how about it?” she asked.
For the first time since becoming a Hunter, Maura wasn’t so sure.
“I need to think this one out,” she said. “What you’re asking is incredibly dangerous, Elizabeth. Can I have a few minutes to run the numbers?”
That was surprising.
Still, out of mutual respect, she nodded.
Well, shit.
Maybe they weren’t going to help her. Maybe they were going to pass on a job.
That was insane to her. This was the wildest group of badasses they knew.
“You absolutely can do that.”
Zayn was in agreement.
Only, Remington and Boone were not.
“We have to figure out what’s going on,” Remmy admitted. “ BlackStone is a problem. I’ll do it on my own,” he stated. “I can call some sources, and see what they have on the group.”
That they were.
“I appreciate that, Remmy, but we’ll wait on Maura’s decision, and if it’s too dangerous, we’ll pass. I’ll cover for you guys with Gabe and Axelle.”
Gene didn’t like that.
“They’ll bust your balls down to field agent,” he said. “Axelle marked this priority one because it came in from the CIA.”
She shrugged.
“Then, I’m a field agent. If they won’t do it, I’m not forcing The Hunters. I trust them. If they say it’s too dangerous, I’ll find another way to make The BlackStone Group pay for killing Marines and British soldiers.”
This was Maura’s team.
Period.
Elizabeth wouldn’t hold her at gunpoint. When Dakota didn’t want to run it anymore, he passed it off to her. She had to make the choice.
“I don’t think I can do it,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Instead of saying anything else, she got up and walked out to head to her room.
And everyone sat staring.
“Well, that was NOT what I was expecting,” Elizabeth admitted.
Jagger either.
Something was up.
For Maura not to want to take a case, there had to be a reason, and now, it was his job to figure out what.
Yeah, he didn’t want to tangle with BlackStone either, but he would, if need be.
It was their job.
Something was off.
Because that wasn’t Major behavior.
That was a civilian response to her core, and suspicious as hell.