Chapter Eleven
Blade
I answered the call that read No Caller ID, but I didn’t say shit.
“Blade.”
No inflection, no emotion, the voice that was more monotone than any SEAL I knew sounded like the Air Force hacker I’d met once. It also sounded like he was on a flight. “November.”
“Alpha wants you to onboard.” Rapid-fire typing sounded in the background. “Is now a good time?”
I scanned the empty house again, then glanced out the front window. “As any.”
He cited a five-digit number. “Seven-seven-one-two-five.”
I repeated it.
“That’s your AES ID. If you’re ever compromised in the field, need backup, overwatch, extraction, or a sweep team, call the main number or one of the country-specific numbers I’m about to text you, and give your ID number.”
“Copy.”
“Memorize the phone numbers I’m sending you now, then delete the text.”
The texted list came through before he’d finished speaking. “Roger that.”
“How do you prefer to be paid?”
I glanced out the front window as an older woman, younger man, and two kids hustled down the street. “Is that a trick question?” None of them looked toward the house.
“Bank, offshore account, crypto? I recommend one of the latter.”
I didn’t have a fucking offshore account, let alone a crypto wallet. I had the same damn Federal Credit Union as every other service member in the Navy.
When I didn’t answer immediately, November made the choice. “I’ll set you up with an offshore account.” More rapid-fire typing sounded in the background. “Done. Sending you the username and login now.”
That fast? “It’s secure?” Another text from him came through.
“I encrypted your cell.”
I didn’t mean the damn phone. “I meant the offshore bank.”
“I don’t advise on personal accountability, but the account itself is secure.”
What the fuck? “Meaning?”
“Taxes.”
Jesus Christ . I was turning into one of the HVTs I’d spent my entire fucking career tracking and eliminating. “Great.” It wasn’t.
“The first deposit is a housing allowance to get you relocated. The second is a signing bonus.”
“Signing bonus,” I deadpanned.
“Per Alpha’s instructions.”
Putting the call on speaker, I logged into the account.
I saw the balance.
Then I saw the bogus passport, an address in Switzerland, and the photo image that’d been used to open the account. None of it me, none of it legal.
“Put Alpha on,” I demanded.
“Hold.”
The line went quiet.
Ten seconds later, Alpha came on. “Blade.”
“Six hundred and fifty thousand?” I was fucking pissed. “I’m not now, nor will I ever be, your paid fucking trigger.” I wasn’t blindly doing his bidding.
“I don’t take jobs I wouldn’t do myself.”
Bullshit. “How many fucking Tier Ones you got working for you?”
Alpha paused. “Point taken.”
“I can’t be bought.”
“Never thought otherwise.”
“Then take your signing bonus and fuck off.”
“Bla—”
“I also don’t need a hundred and fifty thousand to relocate.” Two tanks of gas for the rental would do it, and I could cover my own fucking fuel.
Alpha exhaled. Then the fucker tried to handle me. “Do you know how much I charge per hour for an operative with our skillset?”
“We are not the same.” He was Team leader.
“No, we’re not. You’re Navy legacy.”
Anger fucking flared. “This conversation’s over.” I started to hang up.
The fucker pulled a classic Trefor move. “Do you know why I wanted to talk to you after the funeral?”
“Not getting sucked into your tactical bullshit.” Fucker was as adept at psychological warfare as he was at engaging on the battlefield.
“This is brother to brother.”
I didn’t rub it in his face that he was an only kid or that he’d never know the meaning of a blood brother, but fuck, I wanted to. “Don’t handle me, Trefor.”
“I’m not.”
“Keep your fucking money.” I didn’t want that shit thrown at me.
“I have more than I can spend.”
That was what was so insulting about it. “I’m a goddamn SEAL, not a gun for hire.”
The motherfucker dropped the hammer on me. “Aren’t you?”
I stood there.
He went for broke. “What was your transition plan?”
We both knew I never had one. “Fuck off.”
“You took the Sole Survivorship discharge for a reason.”
Staring at the empty apartment, I wanted to shoot something. “You’re not my fucking conscience.” I knew why I’d gotten out.
“Your mother called me.”
My jaw ticked. “When?”
“After your brother Geir passed.”
Passed, my ass. “It’s not a fucking test. Geir’s dead.” Taking the cell off speaker, I exfilled out the back door.
Alpha ignored my misplaced rage. “I made your mother a promise.”
“Don’t fucking care.” My mother got each of us to swear to her damn promises. So far, we’d all failed her.
“I said I’d look out for you.”
Scanning the property, I retraced my steps and crossed the backyard. “You mean she made you swear to watch out for her boy .” I wasn’t a fucking kid, and she was dead.
“She didn’t make me do anything.”
Trespassing across another property, I snorted. “Sure.”
“Blade—”
“Lucky for you, she’s dead. I don’t need your pity money or consolation prize, or whatever the fuck you thought you were doing by pulling that bullshit. I’m out.” Palming the rental’s key fob, I hit the far end of the apartment complex’s parking lot.
“Six months,” Alpha countered. “Look for answers about Church. Use my resources. Be backup when I need it. I promise to maintain your integrity.”
“I don’t have fucking integrity.” I was a SEAL. I was honor and duty bound, and this fucker should’ve understood that difference more than anyone.
“Six months,” he repeated. “If you still want out then, say the word.”
Unlocking the SUV and getting behind the wheel, I fucking hesitated.
Trefor used it. “You have nothing to lose.”
Turning the engine over and cranking the AC, I pulled out of the parking lot. But I didn’t insult a man who’d been family-less for a hell of a lot longer than I had, because he was right. I didn’t have anything to lose.
Two quick turns, and I hit the block the house was on just as a brunette on foot rounded the opposite corner. “Six months, and you keep your fucking money.” It was the same goddamn brunette from the bar.
“Conceding to a six-month trial, but the bonus is already transferred. You have a problem with it, earn it. See you tomorrow.” The line went dead.