Chapter 19
Outskirts of DC
Cullen pulled the SUV over next to the curb in the affluent neighborhood outside of DC and turned off the engine.
“Jankovic is in there,” Mia said, nodding toward the large house through the drizzling rain.
Cullen leaned his elbow on the center console and nodded. “Maybe.”
Following Hewett out of DC had led them to a car shop. After an hour, Mitch returned to DC, but two other men drove in the opposite direction. Cullen and Mia had decided to take a chance and follow the others to see where it led them.
Mia turned her head and gave him a flat look. “Callie said Jankovic was in DC.”
“We’re not in DC anymore, sweetheart,” he pointed out.
“As near as. Callie knows her stuff.”
He ran a hand over his mouth and chin. “I think whoever is in that house has something to do with the Saints.”
“It’s the scientist,” she insisted.
“Why are you so sure?”
She turned her head to him, but her eyes focused on something else. When she didn’t answer, Cullen looked at her to find her mouth hanging open and her eyes widening by the second. He followed her gaze to another car across the street and up a ways.
But it wasn’t until he looked inside the vehicle that he saw what had taken her by surprise—his father.
“Is it really him?” Mia whispered hopefully.
Cullen nodded slowly at seeing father in the passenger seat. The driver was none other than Yuri Markovic. None of them moved.
“I have to see him,” Mia said. “I have to talk to him.”
“Not here.” Cullen started the engine and pulled out onto the road, driving slowly past Orrin and Yuri. He met his father’s gaze and nodded.
Mia turned around in the seat to watch them, while Cullen looked into the rearview mirror. It wasn’t long before the black Range Rover pulled out and did a U-turn on the road to follow.
“Where do we take them and not be seen by the Saints?” Mia asked.
It was a damn good question, one he’d been asking himself. “Somewhere abandoned.”
“I saw a closed strip mall a few miles back.”
“I remember that,” Cullen said, shooting her a smile.
He made his way there, taking precautions to ensure that they weren’t being followed. When they reached the abandoned plaza, Cullen drove around to the back, away from prying eyes.
When Mia started to open the door and get out, he grabbed her arm and shook his head. A moment later, the Range Rover appeared and stopped before them about twenty yards away.
Cullen’s heart raced when the passenger door opened and Orrin stepped out, unconcerned with the sprinkle of rain. This time, there was no stopping Mia as she threw open her door and jumped out, racing toward Orrin.
Cullen watched as she launched herself at his father. Orrin’s smile filled his entire face as he caught Mia in his arms, hugging her. For several minutes, Cullen watched the easy way his father and Mia interacted. Their affection and respect for one another obvious.
Yuri then exited the SUV and spoke to Mia. Cullen knew he needed to get out, and he wanted to talk to his father. The problem was that he didn’t know what to say. Too many years had passed without any sort of communication for there not to be awkwardness.
Orrin’s gaze moved to him. Cullen opened the vehicle door and slowly stood. He didn’t take his eyes from his father as he shut the door. Then he took his first step. The closer he got to Orrin, the more he spotted the faint bruises and cuts from his captivity and torture.
Cullen cut his gaze to Yuri. The Russian was to blame for kidnapping his father and putting him through that hell, but Yuri was also responsible for Orrin’s escape.
When Cullen looked back at his father, the impact of the entire situation hit him. For a short time, he feared he had lost his only living parent. That was when he’d realized how much he loved Orrin—and how much he wanted his father in his life.
There were no words needed as Orrin opened his arms and Cullen walked into them. Cullen squeezed his eyes closed when tears threatened. He hadn’t wanted to admit that he feared this day might never come.
Orrin pulled back, gripping Cullen’s upper arms as he smiled, his gold eyes crinkling. “Damn, it’s good to see you, son.”
“Hi, Dad,” he replied, chuckling.
Mia sniffed loudly before she said, “Now this is a reunion.”
“What the hell are you two doing here?” Yuri demanded.
Orrin gave Cullen a pat before he dropped his arms, his gaze turning serious. “I’d like to know that answer myself.”
“Callie,” Mia said.
Orrin grinned at the mention of her. “Ah.”
“And we’ve been watching Hewett,” Cullen explained.
Yuri crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance as he frowned. “What did you find?”
“Mitch leaves the office frequently to meet up with people,” Mia said.
Cullen added, “They could be Saints, they could be personnel in his division. We don’t know.”
“You won’t until it’s too late,” Orrin said.
Yuri grunted. “Your father did not know that the team he brought to Russia was all Saints.”
“What?” Mia asked in shock.
Yuri shrugged indifferently. “It is why I killed them and took Orrin.”
Cullen digested that information as his gaze met his father’s. “Hewett met with a man in a black trench coat yesterday.”
“Plain-looking?” Orrin asked. “Someone you’d forget meeting?”
Mia nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve got pictures.” She ran to their vehicle and grabbed the camera. When she returned, she handed it to Yuri and Orrin.
“That is the same man that visits the house often,” Yuri said.
“Why are you watching the house?” Cullen asked.
Orrin returned the camera to Mia. “The scientist who developed the bioweapon I stole from Russia is there.”
“Konrad Jankovic,” Cullen said with a nod of his head.
Mia winked at him. “I told you.”
“How do you know of him?” Yuri asked.
Cullen told them about how Owen, Natalie, Wyatt, and Callie had attended a benefit in Dallas and got the Russian ambassador, Egor Dvorak, alone. Dvorak gave up Jankovic as well as Orrin being in Virginia.
“How is Natalie?” Orrin asked.
Cullen smiled, thinking of his middle brother. “Quite happy now that Owen has won her heart again.”
“Now that is good news.” Orrin looked down at the cracked pavement, smiling.
Yuri dropped his arms as he looked upward, blinking against the continuous trickle of rain. “We should not remain out in the open.”
“He’s right,” Mia said. “But now that we’ve found each other, we should work together.”
Orrin pivoted and made his way to the back door of one of the shops. He withdrew a long knife from his boot and pried open the door. Then he motioned everyone inside.
Cullen shook off the rain from his head as he closed the door behind everyone. “What’s our next move? I gather you two were going after Jankovic.”
“Da,” Yuri stated.
Orrin hesitated, he and Yuri exchanging looks.
It was Mia who said, “I know that look, Orrin. What aren’t you telling us?”
“Just spit it out,” Yuri told Orrin.
Cullen waited impatiently before his father blew out a breath and said, “When Callie first came to work for me, she set up a system for me to be able to contact her if I was ever in trouble.”
“You should’ve done that as soon as you and Yuri escaped,” Mia chided him.
Orrin nodded. “I know, but I also knew the Saints were watching all of you. Yuri and I wanted to keep our whereabouts and intentions to ourselves.”
“Understandable,” Cullen said.
“I intended to keep to that until a few days ago,” Orrin continued. “That’s when we came across some information regarding Wyatt.”
Cullen’s attention sharpened. “What information?”
“While working for Delta Force, he and his team had several run-ins with a rather nasty terrorist force led by a man named Ahmadi. Each got several good hits on the other. One such time nearly took Wyatt’s life. He ended up spending several months in a VA hospital in DC with a leg wound.”
Cullen ran a hand through his hair. Everyone who joined the military knew they would one day find themselves in the middle of the crosshairs, but to find out his eldest brother had come close to being killed unsettled him.
“I’m glad these terrorists haven’t made their way here,” Mia said.
Orrin’s face filled with anger. “The Saints brought them in and put them on Wyatt’s trail.”
Cullen was torn between taking out Jankovic and going to help Wyatt. He’d fought radicals many times, so he knew they wouldn’t stop until Wyatt was dead. “You alerted Callie and Wyatt,” he guessed.
“I did,” Orrin replied. “I sent a message. Callie used her skills and managed to find the number to my burner phone.”
Mia’s expression lightened a fraction. “You spoke with her, then?”
“For a few minutes. That’s when she told me her family was after her.”
Cullen spun around and raked a hand through his hair as he paced. The Saints were smart. They were boxing Callie and Wyatt in, which would send the rest of them to help.
“I know how you feel,” Orrin said. “It’s still tearing me up.”
Cullen turned to his father. “Do you know where Callie and Wyatt are?”
“Somewhere in Texas,” Orrin said with a helpless shrug.
Yuri’s lips flattened in distaste. “I will tell you what I told Orrin. You cannot go. It is what the Saints want of you.”
“Of course, it is,” Mia said with a derisive snort. “But we can’t let Callie and Wyatt be killed.”
Orrin merely smiled. “They won’t. Wyatt is too good for that. Callie told me they were staying put.”
“Which means Wyatt is setting traps,” Cullen said.
Mia looked expectantly between the two of them. “What does that mean?”
“It means that no one is sneaking up on Wyatt,” Cullen said.
Orrin chuckled wryly. “Wyatt has a knack for such things.”
“But against three groups?” Mia pointed out.
Cullen moved his gaze to Orrin. Despite his father’s brave face, he was worried, just as Cullen was. Wyatt might be nearly as legendary as Orrin within the military, but everyone had a weakness.
And Cullen knew what Wyatt’s was—Callie.
If Wyatt couldn’t admit that, then it might very well get them both killed before anyone could help.
“What do you know of Wyatt and Callie having a relationship before he left for college?” Cullen asked.
Orrin vacillated for a long moment. Then he said, “Neither have ever admitted anything to me, but I saw them once. It was dusk, and they were coming back from a ride. They were walking hand-in-hand, leading the horses to the barn when he stopped and kissed her.”
“It’s what I suspected. It also makes matters much worse.”
Orrin blew out a breath as he nodded. “Because Wyatt still cares for her.”
“How do you know that?” Mia asked.
His father lifted a dark brow. “Because Wyatt has kept her family away from her all these years.”
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. So what do we do now?” Cullen asked.
Orrin looked at each of them. “We kill the scientist. Tonight.”