Chapter 20
Twenty
Mae stood the second Stone walked through the door, Lily and Sloane flanking her with concerned looks on their faces.
He’d thought it was concern for Mae, but the instant her face turned to fury as she locked eyes with him, Stone knew their concern was for his well being.
Because Mae was going to rip into him, and he deserved it.
“What are you doing? You were in town by yourself?”
Stone held up his hands. “I went to Dolly’s. Hawk and Gage were with me.”
“Not at first though. I saw both of them leave here on their own.”
“I just had to see…” he started to explain.
“See what?”
“In front of Dolly’s.”
“Where you were shot? Don’t ever go sneaking out of this building like that again, Stone. Are you kidding me? You might not remember what happened the last time you left on your own, but I do! Are you trying to get hurt again? Are you trying to make me lose my mind?”
“Michaela, I—”
“Holy shit.” Hawk laughed, and Stone realized he’d completely forgotten they were surrounded by their friends. “I haven’t heard anyone call you your full name since we were kids!”
“Shut up.” Mae pointed her finger at her brother. “Why the hell are you guys walking back in here with Max? Who’s this homeless guy?”
Max chuckled, clearly getting a kick out of her description of Limerick, but looking him over now, Stone would completely agree with her assessment. The man looked like he’d been living rough for a while. “Good to see you again, Mae.”
“You too, handsome. Please tell me you know who shot Stone. Please tell me you’re here to put an end to all this madness.”
“I wish I was. I’m just as confused about how things are playing out right now as you seem to be.”
“Come on,” Hawk’s hand landed on Max’s shoulder. “We better go get Gunner and settle in the conference room. Feels like today is going to be a long day.”
“I’ll run it by the guys,” Stone walked closer to Mae. “But I think we should probably close for the day. Why don’t you and the girls go upstairs.”
“I need to get Sage from Gunner,” Lily said.
“We’re not going anywhere, Stone. We deserve to know what’s going on as much as anyone else.”
He nodded in agreement. “Fine. Wait here then.”
Stone heard Lily’s footsteps behind him as he made his way down the hall. He was only a handful of steps behind the other guys when they made it to Gunner’s office.
“Max? Holy shit. What are you doing here?” Gunner was standing with a sleepy Sage draped over his shoulder. Her sweet, flushed face was filled with a smile as the guys walked in.
“I should probably be asking why you assholes have gotten yourselves dragged into my operation.”
“Swear jar.” Lily scoffed, as she moved around them to take Sage from Gunner. “I’m serious, Max. Twenty dollars. You can give it to Gunner.”
Stone kept his face straight, but Hawk choked on his laughter as Lily left with Sage.
Gunner took Max’s outstretched hand and shook it. “Didn’t know we were involved in anything you had going on.”
“I think this is probably going to blow your mind even more.” Gage moved to the side and Andy stepped out of the hallway, next to Stone.
“Limerick? What. The. Fuck.” Gunner stood with his jaw hinged open, staring at the SEAL they all thought was killed in action.
“Well, glad I’m not the only one who had that reaction.” Hawk chuckled.
“Look, I promise I’ll explain what I can, but I need the whole team here. Is Sebastian in town?”
“He’s in Bell Ridge. I’ll call him. And Nash. I guess it’s actually a good thing we had those cancellations this week.” Gage turned and disappeared.
“We breached the bunker door, and that’s when all hell broke loose.” Hawk scrubbed his hand over his face. “At the end, when we had all combatants either eliminated as a threat or subdued and ready for extraction to be questioned, Limerick, Landon, Wollworth, and Martinez were all shot to hell.”
“I triaged them myself with Gunner and a few guys from their team,” Stone recalled.
It had been one of the worst moments in his life.
There was so much blood, and not enough time.
He’d spent hours that next day with his head in his hands, running through every decision he’d made in the field.
Cap finally found him and set his head straight.
But then they’d heard the guys hadn’t made it, despite their efforts, and it messed him up even more.
“Yeah, I could have ripped you a new one when you and Dillard were placing the tourniquet on my leg.” Andy reached down and tapped against his leg. Metal clanged back, and Stone closed his eyes. “Lost the damn thing, but at least I woke up in Germany. ”
“So, let me get this straight.” Sebastian stood up, pacing in front of the screen Gage was projecting old team photos up on. “After the guys were stabilized, and transferred home, the FBI pulled them for special ops within your organization.”
“Yes.” Max answered. “A joint effort through the CIA and FBI. They all had sustained injuries that made them ineligible to return to the SEALs—”
“But honestly, fuck that. I wasn’t done serving my country. And neither were the other guys,” Andy interrupted. “So, we died to be able to move in the shadows without drawing attention.”
“Why the hell change the official reports though? What I submitted so clearly could have still worked for your plans. They were alive when we got them on the helicopter. So why would you submit paperwork to make it seem like they died out in the field and not in Germany? Why leave it open for interpretation that Stone shot them and I covered it up?”
“We didn’t change anything from that night. The only thing we did was DOA them in Germany. That’s what the official paperwork says. But we didn’t mess with your field report.”
Stone ran his hand over his face. “We saw part of the reports printed in that article. They looked official enough. The part I don’t get is… how does Caulleou fit into this? Are you guys the reason why I saw him the other day? He came to town ahead of you both?”
“Chris Caulleou?” Andy asked, shock written across his face. “Where did you see him?”
Stone’s hands came up to massage at his temples. That damn throbbing was back. There was something he needed to be remembering. Something so close he could almost reach out and grab it… “He’s the only other person that was mentioned in the messages I was getting.”
“He’s not on my team,” Max said, looking over at Andy. “For a while, we thought he might be a part of what the CIA was tracking overseas…”
“But I reported him for suspected drug use,” Stone said.
“And he was dishonorably discharged. No way the FBI would tag him as a recruit. Besides, that asshole was six feet under last thing I heard. You telling me otherwise?” Andy cracked his knuckles.
“I’m not telling you otherwise. I read his obit. It just doesn’t make sense…” Stone couldn’t be sure. “Track, you find that footage from Shop and Save?”
“Yeah, I ran through it. Didn’t see anything strange though. I can pull it up.”
A minute later, everyone at the table had their eyes glued to the screen.
Mae and Stone appeared in the upper right corner, their shopping cart coming to a stop in front of the prepackaged meat section of the store.
They talked to Colt, before another man entered the frame.
Leather jacket, dark denim jeans, ball cap.
Exactly what Stone remembered seeing. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he watched, waiting for the moment the camera would catch the man’s face.
But all the video showed was the guy walking to the end of the aisle, turning to look at Stone and Mae at the last second before he walked away. Stone walks after him, but by the time he gets to the end of the aisle, the guy is already at the front of the store, leaving through the main doors.
“Fuck. Can’t see anything to identify the guy.” Nash groaned.
“My gut is screaming at me that it’s him. But my head… I can’t be sure. Dr. Anderson said things might be scrambled. I might only be thinking it’s him because my mind was trying to remember those messages.” Stone groaned.
“I’m making a note of it. We’ll put resources on it to see who that was. Because if it is Caulleou…” Max’s voice tapered off.
“He fits the profile for whatever the hell you’re doing here?” Gunner asked.
“Yeah.” Max agreed.
“Which is?” Hawk asked, arms crossed over his chest.
“Classified.”
“Fuck that. We need to keep our families safe. What is going on that we crossed paths?” Gunner pushed.
“Let’s just say there’s a big player on the dark web who normally runs drugs, and merchandise of the human variety, across the border.
They just put out a call to action… for something way outside their normal scope of operation.
Something that Sebastian’s businesses were called out in, along with other high profile businesses across the US. They’re planning something.”
Stone watched Sebastian’s eyes go wide, his gaze locked on Max.
“And you think this person is here?” Nash asked.
“No. We have our best people on it, but so far, we haven’t been able to identify the ring leader. We know someone who works for him is here in Silver Springs. A former Marine—”
“Discharged for drug use?” Stone guessed.
“Yeah, he was.”
“Shit,” Gage mumbled.
“You’re going to sit down with me and go over what this threat is and how I can protect my employees,” Seb swallowed, looking around the room. “And my family from whatever may be coming.”
“Yeah. Okay. I’ll have to call in and get clearance, but we were preparing to debrief the corporations on the call to action anyway, so I can’t see that I would get any push back.
Let me make this perfectly clear, we’re moving on this operation faster now because of this, we will not let them take action. ”
“Good. And I think it’s time we pay Laurel a visit. We need her to name her source.” Sebastian’s order was clear.
“You know where she’s staying?” Stone asked.
Gage nodded. “She gave Mae a card with her information on it when she first came to town. I’ll head over there and see what I can find out.”
“Not alone you won’t,” Sebastian said. “I don’t think it’s a smart idea for Doc or myself to be the one to go with you. Why don’t you take Wings?”
“Yeah, that’s fine with me,” Nash replied.
“Text the group when you have an update.”
“What are you up to?” Stone asked as he banded his arms around Mae’s waist. She’d been watching the conference room, waiting for the guys to all come out and say something.
If Max was there, she knew there was more going on than just a snarky article trying to discredit the team.
There was real danger. And that real danger had something to do with Stone’s shooting.
She knew it, even if no one else was willing to say it.
“We’re getting ready to order lunch. Is there anything you want?” Mae asked.
“Where are you thinking?”
“Davney’s.” Lacy replied as she finished braiding Embrie’s hair. “We’re going to call in our order.”
“Nash and Gage said they’d pick it up on their way back from talking to Laurel.”
“That sounds good. I have been in the mood for their corned beef sandwich.”
“Writing it down now,” Sloane smiled.
“What else is going on?” Stone pointed at Emma. “You’ve got a weird look going on.”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Emma smiled. “Just planning a girls’ night. One that I sadly won’t be able to attend. Addie has dance class tomorrow and all the dads are learning their parts for the recital. You would not believe how adorable it is to watch Seb try and do the moves.”
“Please tell me you are going to film it for us,” Gunner laughed as he walked up to Lily.
“Not if she doesn’t want to get put over my knee.” Sebastian walked out behind Gunner, pointing right at Emma.
“Suits, you know that’s not a threat to me. That’s called…” She looked at the kids and waited until their ears were covered. “A good time.”
“As much as I think it would be great for you girls to have a night out, I just don’t think it’s in the cards. It’s just not the smartest thing with everything going on right now.” Gunner pressed a kiss into Lily’s hair.
“I refuse to let Laurel and whatever she’s trying to pull here stop us from living. Girls’ night is happening. Even if I have to go by myself.” Mae crossed her arms after her proclamation.
“I can’t let that happen,” Lily smiled. “You know I’ll be there.”
“Lily Kate…”
“Mae and Lily are right. It’s been so long since we just had a good night together. I think letting loose is exactly what we need. Gage will come out with us,” Sloane said.
“Oh perfect!” Lily giggled. “Lace, you can have Embrie babysit Sage if you want. Gunner will stay back and keep an eye on everyone, won’t you, handsome?”
“Of course.” Gunner’s jaw twitched at the twinkle in Lily’s eye. Mae had to turn her laugh into a cough as he glared over at her.
“Well, yay! Now I’m super excited,” she choked out.
“Just perfect,” Gunner groaned as he looked down at his phone.
“What’s wrong?” Lily asked as Mae’s eyes darted over to Stone’s phone.
“What the fuck does this mean, Reap?” Stone asked.
Wings:
Lo’s hotel room is trashed. No sign of her. Tell Max to get his ass over here because he’s going to want to see it before we call it in.
“I think it means that everything just became so much more complicated.”