Chapter Thirty-One
Blade
I drove back to my place.
One of my places.
Fucking Miami Beach high-rise.
Striding into the top-floor unit, I dumped my keys on the kitchen counter. I hated the fucking place as much as I hated the condo in the Manhattan high-rise. Both were like being trapped in a cage, but I wasn’t stupid. I’d bought each at a steep discount. The Manhattan one because Alpha had owned half the building and sold it to me at cost. The Miami Beach penthouse fire sale was courtesy of someone else.
One of the few fuckers I trusted.
Grabbing my burner, I dialed.
Neil Christensen, former Danish Special Forces now commercial and residential high-rise contractor, answered how he always fucking answered. In Danish. “Ja.”
“It’s Blade. What you know about any Spec Ops operators still in Baghdad?”
“You do not usually ask these questions.”
“I’m looking into something.”
“Look elsewhere.”
That meant he knew something. “Who’s on the ground?”
He didn’t answer. Not even with one of his fucking proverbs.
I walked to the full-height sliders. “No comment?” Fucking ocean, as far as you could see. I’d done my time on destroyers and aircraft carriers.
“Do you want me to tell you what I told Ghost?”
“What the hell does this have to do with Ghost? And since when do you ask before you say shit?”
“Since you have a problem listening.”
What the fuck? “My hearing’s fucking fine.”
“I did not say hearing.”
Christ . “Get to the point.”
“Baghdad is the wrong question. Phoenix is rising. Stop looking for your brother or start listening.” Christensen hung up.
I dialed Alpha.
November answered. “Alpha’s lined up and cleared for takeoff.”
“You answer his cell now?”
“I intercepted this call. Need something?”
Yeah, to know what the fuck was going on behind my back and who the hell Pheonix was. “You fucking lied earlier.”
“I was intentionally vague, but not technically wrong.”
“Ghost isn’t a goddamn AES client.”
November didn’t say shit.
Jesus , I was tired of this. “How’s Christensen tied to Ghost?”
“We all know Christensen.”
“Not an answer.” I wasn’t asking about when we all served.
“It’s the only answer I have.”
I didn’t believe him, but November wasn’t someone anyone could crack. “Who the fuck is Phoenix?”
“Context?”
That gave me pause. No hesitation in his response, he was either the best fucking liar I’d come across, or he didn’t know. “Put me through to Alpha.”
“Hold.” The line went quiet.
Forty-five seconds later, Alpha came on. “Blade.”
“You pull another stunt like this morning on me again, and we’re done.”
Alpha hesitated. “What did Ghost say?”
“Nothing, and not the point. Don’t blindside or handle me again.” I got the fucking optics on the whole meet, but that didn’t excuse Alpha’s underhanded bullshit to get me and Ghost in the same damn airspace just to have Alpha walk out and Ghost withhold intel he obviously had.
“Understood.”
Fucking great. “Line secure, or you still got November listening?”
“Secure.”
“Who the fuck is Phoenix?”
“Ghost mentioned Phoenix?”
“No, Christensen did. Who the hell is it?”
Dead air hung on the line for a full beat. Then Alpha exhaled. “I’m not sure.”
“But you have a theory.” Hell, I had a theory now. Both Ghost and Christensen knowing what Alpha didn’t only pointed to one goddamn thing.
“Unsubstantiated.”
“SMU?” The one thing the government could keep a fucking lid on was Special Mission Units.
“I don’t think it’s a unit or a military op. That, I would’ve heard about.”
I gave Alpha what I had. “When I asked Ghost who called my burner, he said it wasn’t a who but a what.”
“I don’t think it’s an organization. I think it’s an individual.”
“Because?” And how fucking long had Alpha known about this?
“There have been… incidents. Not DoD sanctioned, but run like they were. If it was an outfit the size of AES, we’d know the operatives.”
“We’re trained not to be seen.”
“Understood, but I’ve got more clients than manpower. I watch the Tier One community for opportunity. I’d know if there were more than a few operatives going off the grid.”
I didn’t argue, but I didn’t agree. There were dozens of ways to disappear. “How many incidents?”
“Enough to recognize a pattern.”
“You think it’s Church?”
“No.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“The activity predates him.”
“How fucking long has this been going on, Trefor?”
“Since before AES.”
Jesus fucking Christ . “Another one of you, operational for years and conducting covert ops, but we don’t know who the hell it is?”
“Not like me, but yes, I believe so. Again, I don’t have definitive confirmation.”
“What the fuck do you think two calls that trace back to Baghdad is? We both know that’s not a coincidence.” It had to be the same person. The only question was who. “You think Church is involved?”
Alpha hesitated. “I think it’s a possibility. There’s also the possibility that Church uncovered something and was eliminated for it.”
The thought had already crossed my mind. “When were you going to tell me all of this?”
“Once I had more intel.”
“It’s been two fucking years, Trefor.”
“Someone who’s gone to these lengths to cover their movements isn’t someone you casually ask your contacts about.”
I fucking lost it. “Ask Ghost or Christensen, for fuck’s sake.”
“Did you ask them?”
Fighting for control, hating his goddamn point, I didn’t let all of his bullshit slide. “This is all shit you should’ve told me two goddamn years ago.”
“I hadn’t heard the name Phoenix back then.”
“Point fucking stands.” But it was a useless one. Alpha dealt in facts. Saying shit else would’ve been the equivalent of gossip to him. “Who else knows about this?”
“Possibly Delta or Whiskey.”
I did the math. Ghost, Delta, Whiskey, and Christensen. Three SEALs and a J?gerkorpset. “It’s someone who was on the Teams.”
“Could be. I have another call coming in. Watch your step. There’s a reason you were contacted now. Head on a swivel.” Alpha hung up.
My burner pinged with an incoming text.