Chapter 22 #2
“But when you saw one of the police cars leave that morning you couldn’t resist talking to her, right?” Knox brought his hands into prayer position and tapped them at his lips as it all came together.
He closed his eyes. The true burden of guilt now showing.
“Ike was probably worried Chelsea lied. He used her as bait to draw me out to test his theory. I was helping Chelsea pack her bags when he came through the back door. We fought, then he knocked me over the head with a lamp, and when I came to, she was already dead. My knife in her back.” His eyes grew glossy.
“If Ike cared about Chelsea and saw her helping you as a sign of betrayal—the strangulation and knife weren’t only to frame you,” Luke said. “A crime of passion, too.”
“I know it’s crazy that I’m sad over her death when she played a role in trying to kill your father, but I loved her. I’m sorry.”
“Sometimes love can make you crazy,” Knox admitted.
“He had the gun to my back, trying to get me to leave when I heard you guys hit the buzzer. I dropped to my knees, refusing to leave.” He glanced at Knox. “He wanted to kill me right then, but he had orders to keep me alive.”
“Until my dad was dead so he could frame you for his murder?”
“He said I was lucky they didn’t have time to find someone else to pin the murder on, and that was the only reason he didn’t double-tap me.”
“What happened next?” Luke asked.
“Since you showed up, and I wouldn’t leave with him, he had to take off.” Aaron stood, and Luke stepped back to give him space. “I was going to stay, but she was dead, and it was his fault. And I wanted him to die for it.”
“So, you grabbed your knife and ran. Why fight A.J.?” Knox asked.
“I had no idea whose side he was on. A.J. had been in BUD/S with us, and I wasn’t sure if he was friends with Ike and part of it.”
Luke lifted a hand to his ear. “You getting this?”
“Yeah,” Asher replied. “Calling Jessica now.”
“Do you have any idea who else Ike could be working with?” Knox asked. “Chelsea and Ike were part of the Liberation Defense Force. What can you tell me about them?”
His eyes stretched. “She was in the militia, too?” He slumped back onto the bed in surprise.
“You didn’t know?” Knox cocked his head.
“No, she didn’t tell me, but now I understand why I was chosen.”
“Why is that?” Luke asked.
“The group was pissed I left. You don’t exactly turn your back on them, and they said I’d pay eventually.”
“Why’d you leave?” Knox asked.
“Ike pushed me to join. He’d said it’d be like being in the Navy again. The friendships and stuff, and I missed that. But they were a bunch of angry government-hating people. Wannabe killers. No bonfires and beers like Ike promised.”
“You’re saying the laid-back attitude is a sham?” Luke asked.
And shit, what would Roman be walking into tonight?
“I think it’s an act to keep the ATF off their back,” he replied. “But hell, their perimeter might look weak, but it’s booby-trapped with land mines.”
His words had Knox’s spine bowing. Roman was minutes from making contact.
“Bravo Three,” Luke said in a rush. “Tell Jessica to order Echo Team to stand down until further notice. Do you copy?”
“Copy that,” Asher said abruptly.
“You’ve already been cleared of the assassination attempt,” Knox told Aaron. “Sarah confirmed Ike took the shot. But the Feds aren’t convinced you didn’t play a part, especially given you all have a history together. And innocent people usually don’t run.”
“We can’t turn him over to the Feds before we clear his name,” Luke said. “Our best chance to take down the militia is to surprise them, and if they know Aaron’s been taken in, they’ll go underground, and we may lose the chance to find out who hired them.”
“You think the militia even knows who hired them?” Knox couldn’t help but ask.
“Maybe not directly, but I think they’re our best shot at finding out.” Luke averted his attention back to Aaron when he stood and crossed the room to the desk.
“They may have changed the compound since I was there, but I had to memorize every square inch of that property, so I didn’t get blown to hell. I can draw you a map of sorts. I assume you’re thinking to infil at some point. I’d go, but you probably won’t be able to get me across state lines.”
“Yeah, thank you,” Luke replied.
But would they be able to get onto that property and without it turning into a blood bath? Operations in the U.S. were a logistical nightmare. Maybe if they used rubber ammo . . .
“Aaron, we’re trusting you to stay put here, okay?” Luke kept his voice firm. “You’re not planning on heading to the hospital and killing Ike out of revenge, are you?”
Shit, why hadn’t Knox thought about that? If anyone ever so much as touched Adriana, he’d end them.
“I want you to find the pricks who are responsible for Chelsea’s death.”
“Doesn’t mean you don’t want Ike dead,” Luke said. “Don’t make me regret trusting you.”
Aaron focused back on his notepad and Knox wasn’t sure what to say, but he also didn’t want to leave one of their people behind to babysit, and they couldn’t exactly take Aaron with them.
“Bravo One, this is Three. You copy?” Asher came over the line.
“Copy, this is One,” Luke replied.
“We have a situation. We didn’t reach Echo Team in time. Echo Four has already made contact. He’s gone inside.”
Luke’s eyes widened.
“Do we send the boys in after him?” Asher asked, and Luke pivoted his attention to Knox as if not sure what the hell to do right now.
“They’ll be outnumbered,” Luke replied. “Is Echo Four’s cam working? Do we have eyes and ears inside?”
“One sec.” Asher disappeared from the line for a minute.
“We could put up a drone if we have to,” Knox said before Asher returned on the line.
“Roman’s talking to someone,” he began, “and I think they’re buying it. But I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.”
Knox glimpsed his phone as he hurried up the stairwell to get to the hotel suite and meet up with Jessica.
Adriana: Your father is secure. We’re all set here. I’ll call you when I can.
She was on a government phone, and so he couldn’t mention Aaron or anything he’d learned. He gave her a burner phone before she’d left so she could call him when she had a second alone. But seconds were turning into hours. Well, it felt like it, at least.
“My dad’s at the hotel. Safe for now.”
“Some good news, at least,” Luke said, unlocking the door to the suite.
Asher blew past them and hurried to Jessica as if she was the one infiltrating the militia in Texas, not Roman. He practically crushed her against him as he pulled her into his arms.
“What do we know?” Liam asked once Asher released her, and she pivoted the laptop around to showcase the screen.
“I’m sharing Harper’s screen,” she said. “Roman’s okay. It looks like the militia bought his story. If they run a background check on him, the alias I created should hold up.”
“Are we sure they’re buying it and not just letting him think they bought it?” Unease burrowed in the pit of Knox’s stomach. If anything happened to Roman . . .
“Let’s hope so,” she said, worry in her eyes.
“But we’re not going to rely on hope,” Luke said. “You get our tickets to Dallas?”
“Yeah.” Jessica checked her watch. “You have an hour to get to the airport.”
“I hate leaving you.” Asher gripped both her shoulders.
“We can’t exactly leave behind a case full of weapons in the hotel room. And the airline frowns upon rifles being brought on board.” A small smile touched her lips. “I can stay here and work.” She glanced at her brother. “If shit goes south for Roman, what will you do?”
“Private property. American soil. The guys at the compound would have every right to defend themselves if we go in, and we could end up on the wrong side of the jail bars for it,” Luke began, slowly making eye contact with everyone in the room, probably remembering their fallen brother Marcus, who’d gone in alone on an op and died years ago.
“But I don’t give a damn as long as we bring our brother out alive. ”