Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
“What do we know about our man?” Knox asked Harper over speakerphone as they drove to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the team. Jessica, Asher, and Luke were setting up the temporary command center since they didn’t have any safe houses to operate out of in Charlotte.
“Model student in school. Joined the Navy at nineteen. Became a SEAL at twenty. Served for twelve years. Left for medical reasons a year ago,” Harper quickly stated.
“He lived with his parents in Texas after he got out, then he moved to Charlotte and rented a home on the outskirts of the city. He’s been working freelance jobs for his cousin’s construction company. ”
“Anything else that could be relevant?” A.J. asked. “Aaron said he’d been seeing a therapist. Can we get his doctor’s name? Should we look into his records?”
Harper was quiet for a moment. “You really want me to look into his personal VA files?”
“No,” everyone in the car said in unison, including A.J.
There were some things they couldn’t do, even for a mission.
“But if Aaron suffered from PTSD, the media will use that against him,” Knox commented.
“Which is ridiculous,” A.J. said from the back seat.
“What about the girlfriend? Anything on her?” Knox leaned forward, eying the mounted cell phone on the dashboard as Wyatt drove.
“Chelsea Baker,” Harper said. “Moved from Colorado to Texas five months ago after losing a job. She also moved in with her parents before uprooting to Charlotte for a job at the hotel about eight weeks ago.”
“Where in Texas? Any way we can see if contact was made between Aaron and her prior to Charlotte?” Liam asked.
“Her family lived in the suburbs of San Angelo, not far from Robert Lee, where Aaron was from. But she moved back to Texas after Aaron left—unless they knew each other when they were younger maybe,” Harper answered. “You think she’s an accomplice?”
“That would imply I think Aaron’s guilty.” He needed some positive news right now, and he’d take Aaron’s innocence as a win.
“And if he tried to kill your dad?” Wyatt glanced at Knox as he pulled into the hotel parking lot.
“Aaron wouldn’t have missed,” he repeated what A.J. had said earlier.
“We’re at the hotel now,” Wyatt told Harper and turned off the engine. “We’ll touch base after we meet up with Jessica and the others.”
“Copy that. Stay safe, guys,” she replied.
“Always,” Knox said and ended the call. They made their way to the suite on the seventh floor, three floors below his father’s room. “Glad to see you all here,” he said straight away at the sight of Jessica.
She reached for him and pulled him in for a hug, and Knox shot Asher a surprised look from over her shoulder. Asher smirked and pointed to his abdomen and mouthed, “It’s the hormones.”
Knox fought a smile before stepping back.
“How are your parents?” she asked, her eyes filled with concern.
“This can’t be easy for them.” Luke came up alongside his sister.
“I haven’t seen much of them since yesterday. My dad’s got a fundraiser thing in Atlanta Saturday that he doesn’t want to miss, so I know the Feds would like to get the shooter arrested before he leaves town.”
Of course, that happening would be easier said than done. There were still too many questions.
His shoulders slouched as he thought about Adriana. She’d texted she was safe that morning after going to Aaron’s, but it’d been radio silence since then. No returned calls or texts. He was going to lose his mind.
“Let’s hope the Feds don’t rush to any conclusions to get this wrapped up quickly.” A.J. sat on the sofa alongside the wall and kicked his cowboy boots up on the coffee table. “This place is more my speed. That office has way too many cooks in the kitchen for my taste.”
The hotel suite had two bedrooms, one on each side of the living area, and a kitchenette near the main door.
Two three-person couches faced each other with a coffee table between them, and a desk was in front of the expansive window.
This setup was more familiar to the guys than the federal building.
They’d worked a number of cases over the years out of suitcases and hotel rooms. This was nothing new.
What was new was working alongside Adriana and hunting down an assassin who’d tried to take out his father. And, oh yeah, his dad happened to want the gig as commander in chief.
“DHS. FBI. Secret Service.” Wyatt popped open a suitcase stand next to the silvery gray couch on the right side, then swung a bag up on top of it. “Now NCIS. Yeah, it’s a bit crowded.”
“What are your thoughts on sharing intel with the Feds?” Luke strode farther into the room and walked to the desk. “This is your dad we’re talking about, so I’ll follow your lead.”
And it was their teams on the line . . .
Knox sat on the couch against the wall next to A.J. He dropped his elbows to his legs and allowed his hands to hang loose between his thighs.
“I have a feeling Mendez isn’t going to share any more intel with us.
” And honestly, if he had Mendez’s job, maybe he’d do the same.
Knox was too close to the case. He had way too much to lose, too.
They’d probably have to operate on the sidelines and in the shadows.
“I’m sure the Feds brought Aaron’s girlfriend and cousin in for questioning, and since we haven’t heard jack shit from them since they went to Aaron’s house this morning, it’s safe to assume Mendez thinks we leaked Aaron’s name to the press to buy him time to escape. ”
Adriana would never believe that. He had no doubt. He hoped she didn’t get herself into trouble by defending him, though. As much as he wanted her kept out of harm’s way, he knew how much her job meant to her. To serve and protect was in her blood.
Asher retrieved a laptop from one of the bags and sat across from Knox. “We need to know what the cousin and Chelsea said to the Feds.”
“We might have to play by the rules on this one, though,” Luke said, admitting what no one wanted to hear. “There are too many eyes on us, and we can’t go perusing the FBI servers looking for intel they’re keeping from us.”
“Rydell stuck his neck out for us,” Jessica added, pulling a chair up to the desk where her computer was already set up. She’d barely been there for five minutes, and she was jumping straight to work. “And none of you think there’s a chance Aaron’s guilty, right?”
“I get that he’s on the run, which makes him look guilty,” A.J. began, looking at Wyatt across from him, “but he could be scared or trying to clear his name.”
“You know as well as I do that I don’t want any Teamguy wrapped up in this bloody mess,” Wyatt added, “but we also can’t write him off as a suspect because he served.”
Before A.J. could object, Jessica said, “The email. The girlfriend who works at that hotel. A gun license for the rifle used in the shooting. PTSD. Running from the cops. None of that bodes well for his defense.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Feds found recon photos at Aaron’s place earlier,” Liam said with a grimace as he helped Wyatt unpack. “And I’m not saying that because I think he’s guilty, but—”
“Because all the evidence is pretty much packaged with a neat little bow,” Jessica finished for him.
“Sometimes, the simplest explanations are the truth.” Luke, the voice of reason. He was Bravo One, though, and he had to remain objective.
“But how many times has that been the case for us? Shit is never what it looks like.” There’d been times when people they’d trusted had turned on them, too.
More times than he could count. That didn’t mean Aaron was guilty, but they couldn’t rule him out yet, either.
“Shit, you okay?” Knox asked Jessica, noticing her leaning back in her chair, her skin growing pale.
“The morning sickness started hitting me on the drive here.” Her hand went to her abdomen.
“Why the hell didn’t you say anything?” Asher set aside his laptop and hurried to the desk as if she’d fallen even though she was seated.
“I didn’t want to worry you.” Of course that’d be the answer. This was Jessica. Stubborn like Adriana.
He wasn’t much different, though. He never shared his life as Bravo Five with Adriana. He didn’t want to lie or have her worry. He wanted to . . . protect her. He was tired of hiding so much of himself from his best friend, though. Tired of pretending omissions weren’t lies.
Asher helped Jessica stand and guided her to the couch as if she were six months and not six weeks pregnant.
“It’d be nice to talk to the cousin and girlfriend ourselves,” Luke said once it appeared Jessica wasn’t going to lose her lunch, “but I have the distinct feeling Mendez will boot us. We need to find this woman, Sarah, from the eleventh floor.”
Damn, he needed to fix this. Fix everything.
He had to figure out who the hell wanted his father dead before anyone else got hurt.
Did he truly believe Sarah Reardon was still alive? Mostly no.
After the shit he’d seen in his life, sometimes it could be hard to cling to hope.
But he’d also seen miracles performed by the teams. So, if anyone could make hope a reality, it was them.