Chapter Thirty-Three
Early morning…
P lacing the book aside on the small table near his chair, Dave pushed to his feet and walked to his desk.
He answered the video call coming in from his laptop and took a seat in the dark leather office chair.
William Caldwell, also known as Will, came on screen. The Secretary of Defense crest covered the wall behind the man’s desk located in the Pentagon.
“How’s it going, Will?” Dave eased back in his chair.
“I can’t complain,” Will said with a slight smile. “I tried to keep you out of this one, but that’s not going to be possible.”
“What’s the problem?” Dave squinted.
“I’ve been ordered to recover Senator Child’s stepson, Steven. He’s ten years old and went missing six months ago.”
Movement at his study door caught his attention and he found Stone with two mugs of hot coffee. Dave motioned the man over and gratefully took the cup.
“Go on,” Dave told Will.
“Need to clear the room?”
“No.” Dave shook his head and Stone took a seat just out of view of the video.
“Okay, so I put my team on it and my commander found out that a man named Tanis took Steven. The only problem is that he’s got the boy locked in a bunker that has one door in and out.”
“Where is it located?”
“In the basement of the guy’s fortress.”
“We’ll get Tanis and make him open it.”
“That’s the thing, my man was getting close to a guy by the name of Blue. Blue told him that Tanis has measures in place.
“How so?”
“If Tanis puts in the wrong code in that door, the thing is set to blow and kill everyone including any kids down there and my team.”
“Blue is dead,” Dave murmured.
“I know. The only other way we have into that bunker is through Fisher,” Will said.
“I’ll bring Fisher in,” he said and glanced at Stone.
“That’s the thing. My men took Fisher and Justice, plus a member of Genesis.”
“What the fuck?” Stone growled and Dave held up a hand.
“You should have come to me first.” He locked his eyes with Will’s.
“I was told to keep you out of it as much as possible. You’re set to retire from the teams and POTUS doesn’t want that affected.”
“Where is Fisher?” Dave clenched his jaw.
“I’ll send you the address.”
“Who’s your man?”
“Crow.”
Irritation flooded Dave. Damn it, what the hell had Will been thinking? His men had almost ended Crow on the streets of Los Angeles.
Listen…” Will said. “If I had a choice, I would have brought you in at the very beginning, you know that.”
He did know that. Will was a straight shooter and, although fifteen years his junior, he had known the man for years.
“Next time he tells you to keep me out, give me a call,” Dave told the SecDef.
“Yeah,” Will smirked. “I’ll think about it.”
With that, Dave ended the call and turned to hold Stone’s gaze.
“I have an address. I need you to go get Fisher, Justice, and I suspect, Steel.”
Stone stood, holding his mug of half-finished coffee.
“Stone?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m tired.”
Stone stepped closer and carded his fingers through his hair and Dave closed his eyes.
“I know,” the man murmured, his voice low, deep, and soothing.
“You need to figure out a plan to get Tanis to open that bunker. Otherwise, a lot of people are going to get hurt or worse.”
“I will,” Stone promised, then dropped his hand and stepped away.
“Don’t get dead,” he whispered, and received a sexy smirk in return.
When the big former soldier left his office, it seemed too quiet.
Slowly, he shoved to his feet, lifted his mug, and made his way back to his chair that faced his garden.
And he dreamed about a day where he could buy a house in the country and live out his days.
“Are you okay?” the young voice of Azrael filled the silence and the boy crept closer and into the second leather chair next to his. Thin and small, Azrael pulled his legs into the chair and wrapped his arms around them.
“How much did you hear?” Dave said. The boy had a knack for getting into places he shouldn’t be and this wasn’t the first conversation Azrael had overheard.
“Most of it. I was napping.” The teenager pointed to the corner in the large room where bookshelves reached the ceiling and he’d created a nook for reading.
Azrael had a habit of parking there during the day and he should have checked before speaking.
Dave ran a tired hand over his chin and took a swallow of his cold coffee.
“I need you to put aside what you heard and stay here.”
“I can help,” Azrael insisted.
“I don’t doubt your skills,” he placated, knowing that the boy was not ready for a mission of this magnitude. “These are black ops, military assassins.”
“And they report to the current Secretary of Defense. I got that part.”
Dave smiled and patted Azrael’s arm before he went back to gazing out at the garden. The boy huffed and sat back in the chair.
Pulling out his cell phone from the breast pocket of his blazer, Dave shot a text to Real.
He may need an intervention if Azrael didn’t stay put.