CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Quinn and April stood in the door of the cottage where her grandfather had been living. He was slowly packing up the few belongings he had.
“What are you doing grandpa?” asked April.
“You’ve got the situation under control. I need to get to Washington. They have some questions for me, rightfully so. I sent a warning to the POTUS, telling him I would explain everything but he shouldn’t fly right now.”
“Did he take it seriously?” asked Quinn. Tom stared at the young man and shrugged.
“Who the fuck knows? He was trying to understand why I’d faked my death and didn’t call him.”
“Why didn’t you?” asked Quinn.
“Honestly? I wasn’t sure he could be trusted. I’m still not sure, Quinn but what choice do I have?”
“Trust us. Trust me,” said Angel standing in the doorway with Wes.
“Great-grandpa, Grandpa,” smirked Quinn. “I think you know Colonel Tom Lewis.”
“We know him,” said Wes. “How are you colonel? Still green and grunting?”
“Always, Jordan. Just like you’re always slippery and slimy.”
“Is this a game?” frowned April. The men laughed, shaking their heads.
“Sort of. The branches often tease one another,” said Angel. “Believe me, we work together, cooperating when we need to but it’s always fun to rib one another as well.”
“How the hell do you look so good?” frowned Tom.
“It’s a secret. If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you,” smirked Angel. The men continued to laugh and April just shook her head at the testosterone flying in all directions.
“Look, whatever this silly game is can we please focus on convincing my grandfather that he should not leave this property? I thought I lost you once, Grandpa. Please don’t make it come true.”
“She’s right, sir,” said Quinn. “You leave this property and they’re going to find you. Here, you’re safe until it’s wrapped up. You have no guilt in what’s been happening.”
“Don’t I? I should have known better. I should have contacted all of you the second I thought something was off. I should have trusted my friends at the pentagon and the DOD. I let those people shove me around and make me fearful. Me!”
“Grandpa, you’re not a superhero or superhuman. You get scared too,” said April.
“Honey, you’re right. I do get scared but this should not have scared me. I have fought every evil known to man. I’ve faced down warlords, drug lords, and enemy armies with psychotic leaders. I never flinched. But hearing Gustav use your name put fear in me that I didn’t know existed.”
‘Oh, Grandpa,” she said hugging the older man. “But you don’t have to fear it now. I’m safe, here with Quinn and his family. Our family.”
“She’s right, Tom,” said Angel. “You’re here. She’s here. You’re both safe. Now, if you’d like to lend some skills in stopping this maniac, then I would be grateful for that. I understand you’ve got some interesting items in that box of yours.”
Tom smiled at the man, nodding. He grabbed the lock box from the duffel bag, setting it on the counter.
“Minutes to every meeting the board had, from start to finish,” he said pulling out a small drive.
“Someone should be able to match voices with identities, should there be any confusion and since I was out of the room a few times, you’ll hear some of the terrifying things I recorded. Accidentally, of course.”
“Of course,” smirked Angel. He handed the drive to Wes, who handed it to Quinn.
“I’m going to get this to the others,” said Quinn. “You coming, babe?”
“I am as long as these two promise to sit on my grandfather if he tries to leave.”
“He won’t leave, honey. You have my word,” said Angel. “I’m going to take Tom out to the island where the others are. It’s time he sees all his old friends. And maybe, he’ll find a cabin he likes.”
“You guys give me a fucking headache the way you talk in circles,” said Tom, laughing as he walked away with Angel and Wes.
Quinn and April took the drive to the tech team who slipped into the computer, pressed a few buttons to download the contents and then printed every last page. Twice.
When they found Ham and the others with Reginald in the conference room, they were making some last-minute changes to the script he was to read.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold this together,” he said shaking his head.
“Look at it this way. Your life depends on it,” said Ham scowling at the younger man. When his cell phone rang, he froze seeing Gustav’s number pop up.
“Well, what do you know. He’s making it easy for you,” said Gator. “Pick it up and put it on speaker.”
“Mr. Bernhard. I’m so glad you called.”
“Are you? Because I’m not glad I had to call. Are you aware that my yacht was just blown to pieces? What the hell is that all about?”
“Sir, that’s part of why I’m glad you called.
I just received information, literally seconds ago, from Darwin Moore, the pilot on the Miami route.
We downloaded his information to the system and it looks like military flights are headed to Pensacola for you, sir.
You need to change your meeting location with the board. ”
“How in the hell do I do that on such short notice? Where are we going to be able to block an entire floor?”
“I took the liberty, sir. I hope it’s alright. I have a friend that’s the manager at the Monteleone in New Orleans. I’ve blocked the entire top two floors so that none of you will be disturbed. You can land your helicopter on the helipad atop the hotel.”
“New Orleans? That brings about all sorts of possibilities and ideas. Great food, great entertainment, and of course anything can be bought there. Anything. Alright, Reg. Nice work. We’ll all be there by tomorrow night.”
“Yes, sir. I’m going to head that way now to ensure everything is ready for you.”
“See that you do or you won’t like what happens to your sister.”
The line went dead and Reginald slid the phone across the table.
He stared at the men, then down at his own lap.
He wanted to scream at them. What had they done?
What did they make him do? But he knew it wasn’t them.
This was all him and if they didn’t stop Gustav, his sister was the one that would suffer.
“She’s safe, Reginald,” said Jak. “We already promised that to you. She’s safe with some of the most capable men in the world. They’ve taken your parents and sister to a secret location. They’ll be fine until this is done.”
“You swear?” he asked staring at the other man. Jak nodded.
“On my grandmother’s grave.”