Chapter 20
Jax Andersson bent his six-foot-four frame and peered into a retinal scanner. A metal door opened to a long, lighted hallway and he entered with the heavy stomp of his military boot.
He took a sip of his coffee, the hot brew mixing with the acid in his stomach that had begun churning when he called Logan to have him track Hawk’s cell phone.
He should have known the shit was going to hit the fan when Logan first told HERO Force about the intel that Steele was taking another shipment, more than a month ago.
Hawk had gone ballistic, nearly lunging across the conference table.
“This is our chance to get that son-of-a-bitch,” he’d said, his eyes shining with eagerness.
Jax had matched Hawk’s enthusiasm with a level gaze. “No. The intel’s unconfirmed. We can’t dedicate our resources on some half-assed report that Steele’s involved in human trafficking.”
Hawk had stood up, meeting his stare. “It wouldn’t be the first time he’s done it, Jax. You know that.”
Did he ever. He knew it better than anyone. He knew Trevor Hawkins was hurting from the loss of his friend years earlier, but Ralph’s death had been Jax’s responsibility. It was he who made the call to send HERO Force in, and Ralph’s blood was on Jax’s hands.
He wasn’t about to make the same mistake again. Besides, his hands were tied. There was a reason he couldn’t go after Steele. A reason he wasn’t permitted to share.
Jax braced himself on the table. “Of course I know it. I also know the risk involved in sending a team up that mountain. Steele’s resources are too great for one squad to take him down.”
“So send two squads.”
Jax slammed down a folder. “I can’t justify that from this report, Hawk, and you damn well know it.”
Hawk shook his head, his face reddening. “Two years we’ve been waiting for this, and you’re just going to let it go?”
“It’s my call.” He turned to leave the conference room, but Hawk’s voice stopped him cold.
“Then you’re a coward.”
Jax pivoted on his heel, taking deliberate steps back to Trevor Hawkins.
They were friends. Brothers in arms. Had been through more together than most men would go through in a lifetime.
But Jax was the leader of HERO Force, and Hawk had just crossed the one line Jax couldn’t allow him to cross.
“You just started your vacation two days early, Hawkins. Without pay.”
Hawk said nothing, his eyes piercing Jax’s across the room.
“When you come back to this team,” said Jax, “you’d better remember who is where in the pecking order, or you won’t be on this squad at all.”
Yep. He should have seen it coming a mile away. Jax passed a woman in a formfitting business suit without making eye contact, then turned down another corridor. Several people walked toward him, and he nodded in greeting, his expression discouraging conversation.
A hundred yards down, he opened the door to a conference room and clenched his jaw as he took in the men at the table.
This was the Alpha Squadron of HERO Force, a hand-picked team of ex-military and alphabet agency front men with the knowledge and experience to take on whatever might come their way.
He ought to know. He was the one who picked them.
“Gentlemen, I trust you all enjoyed your vacation.”
Cowboy leaned on the back two legs of his chair, holding the table for balance. “I was about to marry a Mexican princess when you called us back here.”
Logan grinned, lacing his hands behind his head of wavy brown hair. “Finally found true love, eh, Cowboy?”
Cowboy touched the brim of his hat and winked. “Shit, Logan. I didn’t say nothing about love.”
Matteo crossed his arms. “Where’s Hawk?”
“He’s the reason I called you all back here,” said Jax. “Hawk is on Warsaw Mountain.”
“Ah, fuck.” Cowboy leaned forward, slamming his chair to the floor with a loud thud.
“His cell phone was last pinpointed just over eleven miles from Steele’s compound, but it doesn’t seem to be currently transmitting,” said Logan.
“That means one of several things. It was destroyed or the battery was taken out in the hopes we wouldn’t track him, or that cell communications in that area have been affected by the blizzard and subsequent, ongoing ice storm.
The utilities are aware of several downed towers in that general vicinity. ”
“He wouldn’t wait until he got there to take the battery out, if it was detection he was worried about,” said Cowboy.
Jax shook his head. “Doesn’t make a damn bit of difference why the signal stopped.
It tells us he’s there, or was there. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why.
Likewise, there’s no decision to be made about whether or not we go in after him.
The only thing that’s undecided is what our course of action should be.
Stop him — if it’s not too late to do that — or assist in his efforts to take down Steele. ”
Jax looked pointedly at Logan. “How strong is the intel you have right now?”
“Very strong.” Logan opened his laptop. “We know for sure a shipment of girls arrived at his compound on the eighteenth.”
“That was days ago,” said Jax. “Steele wouldn’t hold on to them a minute longer than necessary.”
“True, but the road has been closed since the morning of the nineteenth.” Logan raised his eyebrows. “There’s a good chance those women are still there.”
Matteo leaned back in his chair. “Steele could have heard the weather report and got them off the mountain before the road closed. Then we have no probable cause, and any action on Steele appears unjustified.”
“Hawk is one of our own,” said Jax. “But this mission isn’t like our usual assignments. If this one goes bad, any or all of us might be brought up on charges of murder. I want each of you to think hard about this, but I want an answer right now. I’m going after Hawk. Are you coming with me?”
Cowboy raised his hand. “I’m in.”
“I’m coming, too,” said Logan, closing his laptop.
All eyes moved to Matteo.
“What do you say, Red?” asked Cowboy.
“I don’t know him very well,” said Matteo. He shrugged. “But I like to think a man you’re all willing to die for must be someone I should defend.”
Cowboy cracked a smile. “You could just say yeah, dude.”
Jax wasn’t amused. “Red, prepare the chopper. Cowboy, you pack. We leave at thirteen hundred hours.”
The men stood up in unison and pushed in their chairs.
“It’s high time someone went after that son of a bitch,” said Jax.