Chapter 26 #2
Rory was relieved to hear that, but why would a private security company have better software than the CIA?
She opted not to push that topic right now, especially since it sounded as though Jessica might be close to finding the answers they needed.
“Carter has people looking for the crew originally set to pick us up from the Trott brothers last night. He thinks his people will find them today. I assume that’s the crew who chartered a boat yesterday and led you down here. ”
“We can have our guys help,” Chris noted, probably not trusting Carter to handle it alone.
Rory turned to see Carter striding toward them down the stone path from the house.
His dog, Dallas, trotted at his side. Carter was in a different look today.
Khaki linen pants and a blue linen button-down shirt.
Brown loafers for shoes. Maybe his mood would also be a reflection of his casual, beachy outfit.
Bear spotted Dallas, and he started for him with excitement, but Dallas deferred to his master for orders.
I need more time with Bear, so it would seem.
He didn’t check with Chris or me. They were a far cry away from the months of training it’d typically take to turn him into a military working dog, but he was a talented and intelligent animal.
Carter issued a command, surprisingly giving Dallas permission to run off and play with Bear.
The two dogs jumped toward each other in excitement as if they knew each other all of their lives, and one of Carter’s men followed them and tossed a ball into the air out in the grassy open space beyond the dining area.
Asher strode toward Jessica and set a hand to her back. “We’re going to sweep the property.” His gaze went to Carter, his jaw noticeably clenching. “You can fill us in after.” Asher corralled a few of the guys: Liam, Owen, Knox, and Finn, and they all fanned out.
Rory needed to chat with Liam later to check on Elaina. She assumed he’d called her to let her know everyone was safe, though. A.J. had called Jesse for her since she wasn’t ready to fess up to her brother about the truth yet.
Carter stopped a few feet away from Rory and motioned them toward the dining area. “Shall we?”
Rory hesitantly nodded and headed for the table. She sat between A.J. and Chris, opposite of Harper, Roman, and Jessica. Wyatt and Luke remained standing a few feet away from the head of the table, where Carter took a seat like last night.
“Where would you like me to begin?” Carter asked, sending the question Luke’s way as if realizing he was the man in charge.
Luke folded his muscular arms across his chest. “From the beginning.”
Carter poured himself a cup of coffee, his eyes moving to Rory, which she interpreted as a request she start.
Gee, thanks. She looked toward Luke and slowly peeled back the story, layer by layer. Carter added a few details here and there, but he must have assumed there’d be a better chance that Luke would sign on to help if their account of what happened came mostly from her.
“You put Rory’s life on the line. My people’s lives,” Luke said when Rory and Carter finished sharing. “How do I know you won’t do it again? How can I trust you?”
Carter stood and faced Luke. “Do you have a wife?”
Rory checked Luke’s hands. He must have taken off his ring for operations, which was smart. Luke didn’t respond, which didn’t surprise her.
“Assuming you’re married,” Carter began with a lift of his chin, “don’t tell me you wouldn’t do anything and everything in your power to bring her killers to justice.”
“I don’t put innocent lives in danger,” Luke seethed, his blue eyes focused intently on Carter. “I’d cross most any line to save her, but if she were already gone, I wouldn’t do the same merely for the sake of revenge.”
“You say that now, but I hope to hell you never have to find out that you may be lying to yourself.” Carter angled his head, waiting for Luke to challenge his words, but Luke took two steps back as if he didn’t trust himself not to reach out and strangle the guy.
There was a power play going on between the two men, and Rory could feel it. She’d wager a guess everyone at the table felt it.
“If my team agrees, we play by our rules, not yours,” Luke said after meeting Chris’s eyes for a brief moment. “Understood?”
“Fine.” Carter gripped the back of his chair and peered at Jessica, then Harper.
“If anyone can find The Italian’s whereabouts, and figure out who he is, it’s these ladies,” A.J. joined the conversation, speaking for the first time.
Maybe A.J. was right. If Rory had Jessica and Harper’s help, along with whatever information Carter had on The Italian, they could finally take the bastard down. And she could stop looking over her shoulder and live her life. The new life she now realized she desperately wanted with Chris.
“We’ll center our focus on your wife,” Jessica began. “And, Rory, if you could provide us with everything you have on The Italian, and give us that list of twenty-five, that would be helpful.”
“Of course.” Rory thought back to her conversation with A.J. last week in Virginia. That open door A.J. had said she needed to shut hadn’t been about Cutter at all, had it? It was about The Italian—she just didn’t know it at the time.
“My men should find the second crew sent after Rory soon,” Carter spoke up. “I doubt they’ll know The Italian’s identity, though.”
“And Andrew Cutter, are we picking him up as well?” Jessica asked.
“I think we should talk about that first,” Carter said. “He might help as—”
“Bait? I doubt we could use him to draw out The Italian. The Italian hasn’t tried to find Santiago, right? Why would he care about Cutter?” Chris challenged.
“I haven’t tried to draw out The Italian using Santiago, but he may have come for Santiago if he’d known about the CIA’s transport like I did,” Carter said, eyes on Chris. “But—”
“No, I know what you’re thinking, and fuck no.
” Chris was on his feet, and fast, standing directly in front of Carter, and one of Carter’s men was quick to approach, which had Wyatt blocking the guard.
When Carter’s man set a hand to his strapped piece, Wyatt casually removed his sunglasses and angled his head, eying the man in challenge.
“You think The Italian will come for Rory,” Luke clarified Chris’s concerns.
“He also wants me,” Carter said. “I’m sure you’d be fine using me as bait.” His dark brown, nearly coal-colored eyes focused on Chris, most likely attempting to read him.
“Let’s wait on picking up anyone for now. Cutter or his people,” Luke spoke up, a firm note of authority in his tone. “We need a plan first. Now that everyone is safe, I say we wait and watch their moves.”
“That probably makes the most sense,” Chris said in agreement, his shoulders relaxing a bit as he took a step away from Carter.
“But are we really going to work together?” Wyatt asked once Carter’s guard backed down.
“What are everyone’s thoughts? This has to be a unanimous decision.” Luke looked to Chris, and Chris turned to peer at Rory.
“I’m in,” Harper said.
“Me, too,” Roman agreed.
“You know how I feel about human traffickers,” A.J. began, “I’m in.”
“The rest of the team will agree,” Jessica said with a nod, which had Rory letting go of a deep breath.
“The Italian has to have a private army. He’d need a lot of paid guns to defend his trade routes, prevent them from being used without his permission.” Carter returned to his seat when it appeared they’d be working together. “We’ll need as many people as possible if we’re going to go against him.”
“I think I know who might be able to help us. That is if The Italian is really even Italian.” Roman’s words had everyone turning to look at him.
“Who?” Chris asked, an inkling of surprise wrapped around the word.
“Emilia Calibrisi. She’s the billionaire League leader of Italy,” Roman explained.
And The League, weren’t they basically rich vigilantes? Rory had heard of them while in Europe, but she’d assumed they were about as real as Batman or Oliver Queen. Then again, she had been dubbed Red Robin Hood and treated like an elusive myth.
“The League.” The disparaging way Luke said the name hinted that he had personal, possibly negative, feelings regarding the group. But it also sounded as though he believed them to be real. “I know of The League, and my wife’s brother, Harrison, had dealings with them in Ireland.”
“With Sebastian Renaud?” Carter arched a brow, and Luke nodded. “I was tracking a human-trafficking ring in Europe connected to South America several years ago, and by the time I got there, well, Renaud had killed all the men in charge and rescued the women.”
Finn and Asher had returned a few seconds ago from making their rounds, and Finn asked, “So, does that make him a good guy or a bad one?”
“Someone who kidnaps and trades women like cattle is bad in my book, and anyone who stops that from happening is good.” A.J.
had a pretty black-and-white view on the matter, and honestly, Rory was with A.J.
on this one. She’d seen what these men had done with her own eyes, and they deserved to burn in hell.
“The League doesn’t sound all that different from us, then,” Finn commented, seemingly in agreement with A.J.’s assessment of Sebastian Renaud.
“You can trust The League,” Roman said, no hints of indecision in his voice. “I’ve worked with Emilia before. She saved my life. She got stabbed as a result, too.”
“That happen before you were with us?” Luke asked.
“Remember that trip I took to Barcelona five years ago to attend my cousin’s wedding?
” Roman asked, his hand wrapping around the back of his neck, unease crossing his face.
“I met Emilia at the wedding, and well, things sort of went sideways that night.” He visibly swallowed.
“But we’ve been friends ever since. I promise, she’s solid. ”
“So, like A.J. said, it sounds like The League does what we do, just without . . .” Finn suddenly dropped his words. He’d been moving his gaze around the table as he talked, but when he spied Carter, Finn froze, as though just now remembering the man was present.
Well, now Rory was curious for him to finish his statement. Without what?
“Call her,” Luke instructed. “But I still want to do my own research and reach out to my brother-in-law and get his opinion on what he knows about Sebastian as well.”
“We can get a jumpstart on the research,” Jessica said.
“Working with two potential enemies to take down a bad guy,” Chris started, eyes set on Carter before turning to view Rory, “but, I’m in.”