Chapter 26
Keel woke when they landed in Italy. Exhaustion held him, but he shook it off as his feet hit the tarmac. Chase was arranging their flight back to the States with a commercial carrier because of timing.
He peeled off his clothes and was in the shower by the time Chase stepped into the bathroom to inform them their flight would leave in about three hours. Getting clean felt good. As he pulled on his clothes, Link stepped out of the shower, drying his back.
“Shit, I stank.”
Keel shook his head. “Is that any different from usual?”
Link snorted. “That’s right, you always stink.”
They worked hard, and it was true that they stank after a mission. He’d tried all kinds of detergents to get rid of some of the funk, but sometimes he just had to purchase new clothes to get rid of the stink.
Chase stepped from the showers, drying his hair. “That felt good.”
“A hot tub would feel good,” Mick said.
Bean was still dripping as he stepped from the showers. “Oh, don’t tease me with a good time.”
“Maybe we should all head to the beach for some R&R once we get home,” Scott said.
Bean nodded. “That would be good.”
Worry hit Keel. “We just have to make sure Forest and his brother aren’t in town or that they are locked up.”
“Oh yeah, that asshole,” Link said. “The management group sent out an email about that idiot. Basically, whoever was friends with him needed to tell him to stay away.”
Keel shook his head. “I’m not telling that to Frankie.”
“I sure as heck wouldn’t,” Bean said.
“Nope, don’t tell her,” Link said. “That would just make her feel guilty. And we all know it wouldn’t do any good. Abusers like her ex don’t listen.”
Chase pulled his shirt over his head. “We need to load up and head to the airport in an hour.”
“Got it, boss,” Stanley said.
They finished dressing and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading out to catch a ride to the airport. Flying commercial meant they would get food, and that was awesome.
They were about twenty minutes from the airport when traffic became a slow crawl. At first, he didn’t pay attention, but then he saw smoke in the distance as they crested a rise.
Keel sat up and leaned forward, looking out the wide windshield of the van they were in. “What’s that?”
Scott leaned forward and grunted. “That’s in the direction of the airport.”
The driver whipped out his phone. “Shit, you’re all fucked.”
“What’s up?” Keel asked.
“A plane crashed on takeoff. One report said it exploded on takeoff. So the airport will be shut down. Your flight is canceled.”
Sure enough, they got the word that their flight was canceled, and they needed to come back to base. They all groaned as the driver took the next exit and they headed back the way they’d come. Now they would be stuck in Italy for another day, maybe two.
When they made it back to base, they were met by a lieutenant in the parking lot. “Gentlemen, looks like they think it was a bomb. The brass wants your expertise.”
A collective sigh escaped before Chase gave a short nod, then followed the lieutenant inside.
The conference room had a few empty seats around the table, but as soon as they walked in, four people stood and told them to take their seats.
They were the experts in terrorism, and they had to determine who the target was.
The general at the head of the table looked them over. “You know, you guys could have been the target.”
Chase shook his head. “It’s doubtful, sir. Most people, even those in the Army, have no idea what our real names are or what our jobs entail. We’re fairly anonymous.”
The general nodded. “So who the hell was the target?”
“We’ll do a deep dive into the passengers. It could just be random terrorism. Have we figured out who placed the bomb?”
A lieutenant at the back of the room approached the table. “We think we have the identity confirmed, but we’re checking on it. There is a video. We believe the person who placed the bomb might be a guy who works in baggage. His ex-wife was on the plane.”
“So some idiot blew up a plane to kill his ex?” The general sounded flabbergasted.
“It’s just the latest working theory,” the lieutenant said.
Keel wasn’t shocked by the theory. After seeing what Forest did to Frankie, he could see a deranged guy doing something like that to an ex. It was sad that he wasn’t surprised by the guy’s actions.
“We don’t know for sure what happened. We’ll watch the video and do an analysis,” Chase said.
“We should keep going through the information, check out everyone else on that plane until it’s confirmed,” Scott said.
“You’re right,” the general agreed.
They kept looking, but there weren’t any other good candidates. Then another video from a security feed came in, showing the guy arriving for work with an extra bag. Keel was pissed that some idiot with a grudge had killed so many.
And more confirmation was given when the baggage guy was found dead by suicide. That pissed them all off so much that a few of the men walked away from the table.
Two of the women in the room exchanged looks, then rolled their eyes and shook their heads.
They’d probably both dealt with awful breakups.
Sadly killing an ex was becoming more common.
The anger he felt inside grew as Keel thought about Frankie.
He vowed to help her, even if she decided she didn’t want to be with him.
He couldn’t solve all her problems, but he could keep her safe, at least he hoped he could.