Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Ian and Athos closed in on the table to read the news brief from Atlanta’s CBS website, and both started cursing.
Athos’ handler, Arthur Giles, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta DEA office, had been killed in a drive-by shooting.
He had been gunned down as he exited his vehicle at his home on the city’s outskirts around a quarter after seven last night.
There were no reported suspects, but the police and feds were looking at a local gang of drug runners.
“Fuck! God damn it!” Athos plunged both hands through his hair again and spun around, looking for something to vent his anger on.
Not finding anything other than a wall, he punched it, and the pain didn’t even register as his knuckles began to swell.
“His daughter had his first grandchild a month ago. And now he’s dead because of my fucking need to get even with those bastards. ”
“You don’t know that for sure.” Ian didn’t believe his own words but needed to calm the man down. Athos rounded on him, getting in his face, but Ian didn’t back down.
“Don’t I? Come on, Sawyer, don’t fucking patronize me.
You know how this fucking goes. They’re cleaning house after the cartel found two DEA agents from the same office had infiltrated them.
Someone found out who our fucking handler was and stopped any more interference from him.
No one from Atlanta was supposed to know where Artie sent us.
Fuck, no one in Atlanta was even supposed to know who the hell Aaron was. ”
Ian didn’t say anything more because they both knew the likelihood of Athos being wrong was slim to none.
There were very few coincidences in their line of work, and he doubted this was one of them.
Carter had heard the commotion and returned to see what was wrong.
Ian pointed to the still-open laptop, and the operative walked over to read it, adding his own curses to the ones they’d spouted out earlier.
He pinned the DEA agent with an understanding stare, having overheard his last rant.
“Don’t beat yourself up, A-man. If you didn’t volunteer, Artie would’ve sent in someone else, and the result would’ve been the same.
Put the blame where it belongs—on the dirty agents and the cartel.
” He paused and let his words sink into the man’s brain.
“Artie was the only one who knew you went under, wasn’t he? ”
The agitated man nodded. It meant he had no one he could trust in his department.
They knew two of his fellow agents were dirty and had no idea who else at the Atlanta office was on the take.
He couldn’t risk contacting anyone until he knew it was safe.
For now, Carter and the Trident team were his only backup.
Ian arched an eyebrow at Carter. “Where’s Angie?”
“She took a walk with Jake. She’s still pissed off, and I wasn’t stupid enough to stay in the line of fire. That woman is a firecracker.”
Brody had been quiet since he first came down and now took a deep breath.
“Okay, so where do we go from here? Athos has no backup from his agency. His handler is dead. We can’t take out the whole New Orleans cartel without starting an all-out war or getting ourselves life in prison or worse.
Angie’s still in danger. Did I miss anything? ”
“Nope, and thanks for stating the obvious, Egghead.”
“No problem, Carter. Glad I could help keep you in the loop.” Turning his sarcasm off, he asked, “Now, does someone have a plan?”
While they all remained silent, trying to think of a way out of this horror story they’d found themselves in, Ian’s phone rang. Glancing at the screen, he saw it was the backup phone his brother kept in his car. “Hey, Dev, what’s up?”
“Jenn’s been kidnapped!”
Ian stiffened in shock, not believing what Devon had just blurted out. Panic assaulted him. “What do you mean Jenn’s been kidnapped?”
The other three men also froze in place, wide eyes searching Ian’s pale face as if it held all the answers to their questions. He punched the speaker button and set the phone on the table so they could all gather around.
His brother’s frantic voice came through loud and clear.
“Henderson called. I put him and his partner on Jenn, just in case. They were pulled over by an unmarked car while driving her to the college. From the description he gave me before I lost him, it sounds like the two agents who tried to get Angie. Henderson took a bullet to the chest, and his partner was shot in the head. I think Henderson passed out, but the line is still open—it’s why I’m on the backup.
I’m on the way to the scene now and just heard the cops and paramedics arrive. ”
“Was Jenn hurt?”
“I don’t know, Ian. All I know is she’s gone. I’m about five minutes away. I’ll call you back as soon as I know anything. Marco called about twenty minutes ago and said they landed and are on the road.”
“I’ll call them and have them turn around, then make sure CC’s ready to take off again. Keep me posted.” Ian disconnected the phone.
“Don’t turn them around.” Brody rushed up the stairs to get his gear from the den.
He raised his voice so he could be heard without stopping.
“If they’re already on the road, we can have CC do a quick hop to the airport in Ashville.
It’s about halfway between us. We can meet them there, and it’ll save us some time. ”
“Good. Call him and get him in the air.” Ian jerked his chin at Carter. “Can you go get Jake and Angie? We’re out of here in five.”
Without an answer, the man jogged out the door.
Once he was out of sight, Ian grabbed Athos by the neck and shoved him up against the wall.
The agent grabbed his wrists but wisely didn’t resist. Ian let out a low growl.
“If anything happens to my goddaughter because of you, you won’t have to fucking worry about the cartel. You hear me?”
Regret filled Athos’ eyes. “I hear you and wouldn’t expect anything less from you. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“I don’t give a shit about your fucking apology. Just help us get Jenn back, then we finish this and guarantee Angie’s safety.”
Without waiting for a response, Ian released him and moved toward his bedroom. “Let’s grab what we need and get the hell out of here. I’ll call Marco from the road.”
A few minutes after they were all in the air, Brody held out his hand to Boomer. “Did you bring my new toy?”
The man reached into the pocket of his jeans and handed the geek the piece of jewelry he’d asked him to grab from the war-room.
Walking from the couch area to where Angie was sitting alone in the same seat she’d occupied on their first flight, Brody sat beside her and asked her to hold out her left arm for him.
She was still pissed about everything and now terrified that Jenn had been kidnapped and possibly hurt or worse.
When he finished attaching the gold bracelet to her wrist, she stared at it in confusion. “Um, Brody, I don’t have any allergies, and I’m not a diabetic or anything, so what’s with the medical alert bracelet?”
“It just says you’re allergic to bees, sweetheart.
Nothing serious. In the meantime, if something happens, which we’ll avoid at all costs, I can track you with the GPS in there.
If I’m close enough, there’s also a one-way hidden microphone so I can listen in on what’s going on around you through a receiver in my laptop.
It’s short range, but the GPS is long range.
If I need to, I can always,” he coughed the word “hack” before continuing, “into a satellite to track you. No one wears ID bracelets anymore, and I needed the room inside, so I figured a fake medical alert was the best thing to use. It’s a prototype, and you’re my guinea pig… sorry, figure of speech.”
Still holding her hand, he hesitated a moment as if struggling with what he wanted to say next. “Are you and I okay? I know you’re still pissed over us bugging your house, but, sweetheart, my friendship with you was… is the real thing.”
She nodded and saw his tense body relax.
Her voice was forgiving but tired. “I know, Brody. It’s just that everything hit me at once, you know?
I’ve been independent for so long, and I hate being left out of things that concern me.
I’ll get over it, but you better get your ass over to my house as soon as this is all over and take out every single one of those cameras and bugs.
” She glared at him to let him know she meant business. “Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am!” He grinned at her with his famous flirtatious expression. “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a Domme at times. That’s called a switch, by the way. But don’t tell Ian I told you. He’ll shoot me for putting ideas in your head.”
“Hmm. Maybe I can have Jake train me to be a Whip Master.”
He looked at her in feigned horror, and they both laughed, glad they had a chance to clear the last bit of friction still between them.
When he stood to go back to the rest of the group, she got up and followed, then took the seat at the end of the couch between Boomer and Ian’s recliner, which was in its upright position.
Ian smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes, which were filled with worry.
Angie leaned over, linked her right fingers with his left, and set their joined hands on the couch's armrest.
His other hand was holding the jet’s phone to his ear as he got the update from Devon. “Okay. Do what you can, call in whoever you need, and keep me updated.”