Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“Nothing,” Iona said. “We finished our lists and took a break while you were with Rayne.”
He turned to Seth. “What’s the plan?”
“First, we need to finish running deep background checks on every person on our lists. Our second priority is to track down all the soldiers who are off the grid and dig deep into their backgrounds as well. We can’t dismiss them as possible suspects because they’ve disappeared.
We don’t have proof that Donovan Vance killed your cousin and shot your father. ”
“Not yet,” Andre muttered. “Appears all the facts are leaning that direction.”
“He has a point.” Elias dropped onto the floor next to Iona and rested his back against the wall. “All Special Forces soldiers are trained to be accurate shooters, but we aren’t as good as Donovan.”
“That brings me to our third priority,” Seth said. “We need to find out if Hal had another stepbrother or sister who might be Donovan’s partner, or if Donovan recruited one of the other soldiers to aid him.”
Grant’s stomach churned. Had one of the Special Forces soldiers from Red Dawn turned on the survivors? Man, he hoped that wasn’t the case. They’d been trained to have each other’s backs on those missions. To find out someone they trusted had turned on them would be devastating.
“Andre and I will take on the search for another sibling,” Riley said.
“Elias and I will hunt for the locations of those soldiers who went off the grid.” Iona frowned. “We may not make much headway from the hotel, though.”
“Once we figure out if there’s another step sibling, Andre and I can help you,” Riley said.
Grant said, “Rayne and I will dig hard into the backgrounds of those off the grid.”
Seth nodded. “Good. Teagan and I will give you a hand.” He shifted his gaze to the rest of the team. “Anything else to add to our list of priorities?” When no one spoke up, Echo’s team leader said, “Get busy. The clock’s ticking.”
The couples went to different parts of the living room to work on their assignments.
Grant and Rayne researched Gino Savage and Barry Fritz, peeling back layers of information until they uncovered everything, including their location.
He studied the computer screen, eyes narrowing. “They’re two hours from here, and they’re together.”
Rayne turned to Grant. “Did you know they were so close?”
He shook his head. “They’re not from Tennessee. Savage lives in Alabama. Fritz is from North Dakota.”
“So why did they come here?”
“The only way to find out is to ask them.”
Seth turned. “Are your two men holed up near here?”
“They’re together, two hours away. What about yours?”
“Same.”
“That can’t be a coincidence.”
“Nope,” Seth agreed. “Looks as though the four soldiers contacted each other and hid together so they could watch each other’s backs.”
“It’s a smart idea,” Grant admitted. He would have done the same with members of Echo unit in a heartbeat.
“If you can trust your teammates,” Teagan said.
“No bodies have turned up so I’d say they chose wisely.”
“So that’s four of the five soldiers still alive along with Echo unit,” Rayne said. “What about Rex Lawson?”
Seth grimaced. “We need to look into Lawson and Eileen Reed. Lawson isn’t part of this group’s plan to hide out. He and Eileen are living in her and Beau’s house right out in the open. Lawson doesn’t seem worried about being surprised by the killer.”
“Doesn’t make him the partner, though,” Grant said. “Perhaps just foolish.”
“I have a gut feeling that situation is a different animal altogether.”
“Same.”
“You and Rayne look closer at Lawson and Eileen Reed while Teagan and I help the others with their research.”
“Copy that.”
Dread coiling in his gut, Grant brought up his Fortress search engine and keyed in Lawson’s name.
His eyebrows raised as he scanned the results of the search seconds later.
For a guy who had been Special Forces, he had a high profile on social media.
Nothing like daring trouble to find and jump on you with both feet.
“What is it?” Rayne asked.
“Lawson’s social media profile.”
She stared. “He’s nuts.”
“Yep.” Grant angled the computer so both he and Rayne could read the information listed on the screen.
Several minutes later, Rayne sucked in a breath, her eyes locked on the screen.
“What?”
She enlarged Lawson’s bank records and highlighted a line item that showed up every few days.
Grant scanned the information, the ball of ice in his stomach growing larger with every line. This was not what he’d wanted to see. “Eileen and Rex were having an affair seven months before Beau was killed.”
He remained silent for a beat, not liking where his instincts were taking him. No getting around it. He had to at least consider that Rex had killed his teammate and friend in order to have Eileen for himself.
“Have something to share with the rest of us, Grant?” Seth asked.
He told his teammates what Rayne had pointed out. “Are we off track here?”
Andre growled. “The ones who got off track are Eileen and Rex. How could they betray Beau?”
“Especially Rex.” Elias scowled. “Beau took a bullet for him on an earlier op and almost died for it. Rex owed him, yet this is how he repaid Beau?”
Seth held up his hand to stop the conversation. “Rex is a traitor to his best friend. However, that’s not a crime. We need proof that Rex, Eileen or both conspired to kill Beau and one of them pulled the trigger. Right now, we have nothing.”
“Donovan Vance didn’t kill Beau.” Grant knew that to his bones. “It’s too sloppy.”
“Agreed. Based on the meager evidence, we don’t have enough to confront Rex. We need him or his vehicle in the area based on security or traffic cam footage. Even better would be his face or Eileen’s on camera the night Beau died.”
“I’m on it,” Riley said. She grabbed her laptop and went to work.
“Everyone else, take a fifteen-minute break.” Seth tugged Teagan to her feet. “Grab some caffeine. Take a short walk to clear your head. When you return, we’ll see what we have.”
“Nothing good,” Elias muttered as he helped Iona stand and urged her toward the small kitchen.
Grant rose, grimacing. He should have taken the mild pain medicine Fortress distributed to injured operatives. Sitting so long left him stiff and hurting.
Rayne clasped his hand and led him toward the room she shared with Riley. She unzipped her Go bag and pulled out a small packet of capsules. After dropping two onto his palm, she handed a small bottle of water to Grant.
He popped the pills into his mouth and washed them down with the liquid. “Thanks.”
“Rest for a few minutes. Anything will help.”
Fifteen minutes? His skepticism must have shown on his face because Rayne rolled her eyes and nudged him gently toward the closest bed. “Stubborn much, Mr. Bowen?”
He shrugged. Couldn’t deny the accusation. That stubbornness was also what had made him such a good soldier and cop.
“You promised not to push yourself too hard. A fifteen-minute nap will give you a chance to regroup and gather your strength for the next task.”
Although he hated to admit it, Grant needed to lie down for a few minutes. He might also ask Andre to tape his injured side with Kinesio tape. May not help much but it sure couldn’t hurt. He bent and brushed her mouth with his. “Okay,” he murmured.
“Thank you.”
He stretched out on the bed and, within seconds, was asleep.