Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“You were right. It’s Davies and his men: former Delta guys turned hired mercenaries. They’ve been working out of France, mostly,” Jessica said over the speaker as Luke raced down the road along the Riviera. “Five men in total, right?”
“Yeah,” Luke said. “Did you confirm payment?”
“It took some digging, but I tracked it to an offshore account. I had no idea Will had that kind of money stashed away.”
“Saving for a rainy fucking day,” Luke rasped.
“Yeah, like needing a team in a hurry to get to Harper and Eva,” Jessica replied. “Well, we’re tracking them. Echo Team is waiting for our command to take them out.”
“I’m almost to Malik’s now. I’ll call and give you the word soon.”
“Okay, be careful.”
“Always.” Luke ended the call and peered at Eva.
“Echo Team? Delta? What’s going on?” Her fingers fused in her lap, a tight band of nervousness stretching her thin.
“You’re familiar with the Bravo guys—Owen, Asher, Knox, Liam, and myself. Echo is the other group.”
“Oh. And the Delta mercenary people? Who are they?”
“The man who took you is former Special Forces. When he got out, he became a private contractor for hire. He started taking jobs for anyone, regardless of their side of the law, a couple years back. He was probably a convenient choice since he and his guys live nearby.”
“And your team is going to get the intel back?” Her hand touched her chest, waiting for the moment when he said yes, so she could breathe again.
“Sort of. Only the top twenty or so documents were legit. The rest of the pages were a bunch of Wikipedia documents we printed out. We assumed they wouldn’t take the time to look at everything.”
“Thank God.”
She was alive.
Luke was alive.
The bad guys would lose.
“That CIA guy, Reggie, is dead. So, who hired them?” she asked as Luke parked outside Malik’s home.
“You’re about to meet him.”
Luke stroked his stubbly jaw and leaned against the Roman-like post in the middle of Malik’s living room.
Malik wasn’t in sight, and Eva had no clue where he was. Luke had motioned for her to sit on the couch between Asher and Knox, and she felt tiny between the men.
Where was Liam, though? She glanced around the room, nervously rubbing her hands up and down her thighs as she tried to figure out what was about to happen.
Owen sat at the bar counter with his palm resting atop his sidearm, his eyes drilling straight at the mystery man standing before Luke.
“You look nervous, Will.” Luke pushed away from the column and crossed his arms before the man.
Will? Didn’t Jessica mention his name on the phone in the car?
“Yeah, of course, I am. I have to call POTUS and tell him we lost the intel.” He slipped his hand in his jeans pocket.
“No, you don’t,” Luke said.
“What do you mean?”
Luke tipped his chin toward the hallway. “The intel’s still in the safe. It hasn’t been removed.”
Will’s head jerked back as if he’d been slapped. “Are you shitting me? Why didn’t you let me know you gave those men false documents? Wasn’t that a bit risky with her life on the line?”
“Why do you seem so upset?” The muscle in Luke’s jaw squeezed.
“I’m not. This is good news.”
Luke’s hand went behind his back, and Eva’s eyes widened when he curled it around the butt of his gun.
“The guys who made the swap for Eva—it’s crazy how easily they believed us, don’t you think?
I mean, sure, they had the show of the snipers, but it’s almost like someone told them to trust the intel was good.
You know, someone who would think the boxes truly had the right content in them.
” Luke took one long stride closer to Will.
“What are you trying to say?”
“How could you do it, man?” A touch of anger sliced through Luke’s words.
“Do what?” Will’s gaze tightened, suspicion crossing over his face.
“For starters, why have those assholes try and kill Harper and take Eva?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Will snapped.
“How long has Yilmaz been blackmailing you? Since the day he sent you the images of you and Reggie murdering innocent people in Afghanistan? Or, did he stumble upon those photos later and only begin to blackmail you recently?”
Will’s mouth fell ajar, and before Eva had a chance to react, Will stretched his arm out, aiming a gun straight at Luke.
Luke’s weapon was pointed right back at him, his shoulders squared, the tension evident in the pinch of his muscles.
Asher, Knox, and Owen were on their feet, sidearms in hand as well.
“So, you did look at the intel,” Will said through gritted teeth.
The fact that Luke brought Eva there meant he knew what he was doing, and so she attempted to allow that detail to comfort her, despite the fact there were five drawn weapons in the room.
“Why’d you kill that woman and child? Why spend fifteen years trying to cover it up?” Luke’s voice dipped lower with a rasp of betrayal.
“It was an accident,” Will said, eying Owen from over his shoulder. “Put your guns down. We don’t need to do this.”
“Put your piece down first,” Luke said as if he knew Will would never do it. “Denise had just died. Your wife was killed overseas by some asshole radical insurgent, and I’m guessing you unleashed hell for revenge.”
Eva’s stomach tightened as she listened to the exchange; images of what Luke said filled her mind.
“It was a mistake,” Will said.
“And it would’ve ended your career. But, I’m betting you didn’t know anyone had seen what you’d done—we were in the middle of war,” Luke said, dragging out his words slowly as if stretching them through the muck.
“I’m not going to let some photos destroy everything I’ve worked for,” he yelled.
“When you learned Yilmaz was turning himself in, you made sure it was Reggie on the op. He probably didn’t even know about the blackmail photos until then—you were the big fish for Yilmaz. The main guy worth blackmailing. How’d you get Reggie to do it? Either way, he was screwed, so . . .”
Will remained quiet, and she spotted a slight tremble in his hand.
“You promised him safety and money if he did it, right?” Luke continued.
“But Reggie had no idea you were going to have us show up for the USB in Berlin. He thought he was meeting with you.” Luke kept his gun steady but turned his head enough to catch sight of Eva out of his peripheral view.
“You were there to take the shot after we left, but with Ender showing up, I took care of your dirty work for you.”
Owen stepped closer, his green eyes tightening as he stared at Will.
“You always planned to use us, didn’t you?
We’d get the safe, you’d grab what you need, then turn it over to POTUS and become a hero.
But with Harper poking around, you got worried we’d connect the dots between you and Reggie and look at what was in the safe. ”
“Harper’s going to live, by the way,” Asher spoke up.
“And clearly, your contingency plan to take Eva failed.” A puff of anger filled out his muscular chest. “How many fucking missions have we been on to clean up your messes? I sure as hell know you don’t have enough money to pay off Yilmaz, so what deals did you make with him? ”
“Answer him,” Luke snapped, anger curling around his words like a tight ribbon squeezing out the life.
“Fuck you.” Will tipped his chin. “I’m a good man. I’ve done what’s best for this country; I never assigned you to anything that didn’t merit it. That pig has been getting away with crimes for years. It was time he was brought down.”
“You don’t hold the scales of justice, man. We’re servants to justice,” Luke said.
Nausea overcame her as she digested everything happening, hating that Luke and his team were facing such betrayal. Her palm rested flat on her abdomen as her lip moved between her teeth, desperate to shut her eyes and wake up tomorrow.
“I won’t go down for this,” Will said, his voice settling somewhere on the frequency of somberness—acceptance of death.
“I know what you’re trying to do, but it won’t work. I won’t kill you.” Luke’s words cut through the air, and she tensed as trepidation filled her.
“I’ll put a bullet in you. I won’t hesitate.” Will’s hand trembled slightly.
“Put the gun down,” Luke said slowly, a plea to his voice.
The blood pumping from her heart went to her ears as Will slowly pivoted, pointing the gun at her. “Can you take the risk with her?”
“You won’t do it,” Luke said.
“Guess we’ll find out.”
She instinctively covered her face, and a gunshot popped in the air a second later.
“Asshole.” Asher’s voice sang in her ears.
She slowly dropped her hands.
“You fucking shot me in the arm!” Will lay curled on the floor, clutching his bleeding arm, the liquid soaking the carpet.
“Better than your face,” Luke said dryly, pain cutting through his words. “You’re gonna rot in prison for what you’ve done.” He tucked his gun into the back of his pants and kicked Will’s weapon away from his reach.
She covered her mouth, blinking rapidly as she assessed what had gone down.
“Are you okay?” Luke grabbed her hand and helped her stand, as Knox created a tourniquet around Will’s arm.
“I think so,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry you had to see that, but I didn’t have time to bring you anywhere else first.” He pulled her in for an embrace, tucking her safely in his arms, and she sniffled against his shirt, trying to keep herself together.
Only thirty minutes had passed since he’d saved her from the masked man, but that felt like an eternity ago.
He stepped back and held her cheeks. “Do you want to get out of here?”
She nodded.
He wrapped an arm around her waist, and they started for the door. “I’ll meet you guys back at the hotel after you’re finished with him. And don’t fuck him up, Asher. I know what you’re thinking.”