Chapter 26
“Thanks for flying in, Agent Wilson.” Sebastian shook the man’s hand.
“Sebastian. How many times do I need to remind you it’s okay to call me Max?”
“Probably a few more times. It’s just a hard habit to break from my time in the military.”
“I get it.” Max looked around the restaurant. “I really think it’s best if we chat somewhere a little more private. Perhaps your office would be better.” The FBI agent looked around Sal’s and eyed the other patrons with suspicion.
“We’re sitting in the private events room. Gage already swept it for bugs and set up multiple defenses, so we’re covered and can speak freely. Besides, the team seemed to think having some food available would help them brainstorm better. And the wings here at Sal’s are really something you shouldn’t miss.”
Max nodded with understanding. “Okay, lead the way, then.”
They walked into the meeting room, where Gage, Hawk, Stone, and Nash were already waiting. Each man stood and shook the agent’s hand before sitting down.
“We need to talk about how exactly we’re going to wrap everything up without Emma being involved.” Seb jumped right in, grabbing the glass of whiskey that was in front of his spot at the table.
“Or, we could talk about the plan I’ve come up with where we use Emma to draw him out, and she’s kept safe,” Agent Wilson said.
“She made it very clear she wants to be a part of this,” Hawk added.
“I don’t care. I want to know his weak points, other than Emma, and I want us coming up with a plan to exploit it. I want him on his knees, sitting in some black ops site, begging for his life before this week is over.”
“I think we all want that, Cap, but we have to be smart,” Nash said. “We know he has to be working with someone here in town, and as long as we don’t know who that person is, we need to be careful.”
Sebastian took another sip of his whiskey and set the glass down on the table forcefully. “Fine. Don’t tell me specifics until later. Don’t use his name. Just give me something here. My insides feel like they’re being gnawed away. I just want Emma to be safe. Today, tomorrow, forever.”
“Well, at least for tonight, she’s at Natalie’s. I promise I triple checked everything with the security system there. She’s safe right now.” Gage took out his phone and showed Sebastian the security monitoring program. All systems were green. Emma was safe.
“You know I appreciate that, Tracker, but it’s not right this moment that I’m worried about. It’s the moment when we let our guard down and she’s taken. He’s getting more reckless. He wants us to see that he’s coming for her.”
“She’s his weak point, Cap. And I know you don’t want to hear that. I know it’s the worst case scenario in your mind to use her in some operation we run, but she might be our only hope at making a move against him before he makes a move against her,” Stone said.
“I don’t want her involved.” Sebastian slammed his hand down on the table. “She thinks you guys will be able to convince me that using her is the best way, but I won’t ever be swayed.”
“Cap. You know we would never let anything happen to her,” Gage said. “We want her safe just as much as you do, but she really is the only hope here. We’ve spent days going over different scenarios with Agent Wilson and the only one we really believe will work is one where she puts herself in his path.”
Sebastian sighed. “What’s the timeline look like for this plan? When would we be making a move?”
“Three days from today. I have a team of agents on standby in Dallas waiting for the word to come up here.”
“Fine. Tell me the details.” Sebastian pressed his fist into his chest, trying to stop the pressure that was growing with each passing moment. Three days and they’d have the bastard. Three more days until Emma was safe, and he could stop holding his breath. Three more days.